Prior to the final TSD section of the rally, the teams had the opportunity to visit the Iditarod Trail Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska. The 1996 running of the Iditarod was in progress while the rally was in the area, but the only sled dog I saw is pictured below.
It is a National Historic Trail, so designated by the Congress of the United States, from Seward on the South Central Coast to Nome on the Bearing Sea. It was a highway, a mail route, a gold avenue from the interior. Part of it became a lifeline for diphtheria serum to be carried to Nome during the epidemic of 1925.
It is now a trappers trail, a recreation trail, still a "lifeline" for some villages, and the avenue for the most challenging and demanding long distance sled dog race in the world . . . "The Iditarod". 1049 miles, Anchorage to Nome, through Alaska's wilderness, over mountain passes, down frozen rivers, and along the wind swept sea coast. Truly the majesty and mystery that is "The Last Great Race on Earth".
Rick Swenson - Owner
These are examples of buildings found along the trail.
Go to additional Mt McKinley area pictures