Hiking on the Iditarod Trail



One hundred years ago in 1925, the Great Race of Mercy, also known as The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin by dog sled across the US territory of Alaska. The run was made by 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs across 674 miles in 5.5 days saving the town of Nome and surrounding communities from developing an epidemic of diphtheria.



This morning we left the Kenai Pennisula and traveled into the Chugach National Forest. As you can see from the photo and the radar, we did NOT have the sunny skies we've been so lucky to have the last four days. 



We were going to have an opportunity to hike on a part of the historic Iditarod Trail that is still used today for the annual Iditarod Sled-dog Race that runs from Anchorage to Nome. 





Since we all had brought rain gear, we dug into our packs and pulled it out to use for our hike today. 







One of the nice things about each day is that we have "hike options." Many of us chose to do the medium level hike to Monarch Mine Ruins. We were then able to get back down to our transport van by about 2 pm and travel, soaking wet, to Alyeska Resort where we are staying the night. 

A much smaller ambitious group (which included Greg) went on the longer option traveling up 2100 feet to see Raven Glacier. 







The rain made all the colors of the wildflower pop so we enjoyed the spectacular scenery. 










Here's the group of hikers that made it to the top where they got a great view of Raven Glacier. They were really cold and wet when they got back!







On our last night with our Backroads group, we are staying at the Alyeska Resort. It is a beautiful resort at a ski area near Girdwood, Alaska. Many of us enjoyed going into the hot tub before our last dinner together. 

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