| Day |
Itinerary |
| 01 |
Anchorage
Individual Arrival in Anchorage. Transfer to your hotel in downtown location. Spend the remaining day to explore the different sights Anchorage has to offer. TIP: Visit the Alaska Native Heritage Center with it's interactive displays, shows, and five separate culture galleries about the different native groups that used to live in Alaska. Don't miss a seafood dinner at Anchorage's famous restaurant "Crow's Nest Restaurant". |
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| 02 |
Anchorage / Race Start
Morning: The tour guide will meet you in the lobby for an introduction. The Iditarod race starts at 10:00 am on 4th. Avenue in Alaska's largest city. Observe the start preparations, take close up pictures from and with the mushers and the dog teams and enjoy the bustling atmosphere. More than 60 mushers and 800 dogs are leaving from the start line for the "1050 mile race to Nome". Evening: Welcome dinner at 7:00 pm at one of Anchorage’s reknown Seafood Restaurants. |
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| 03 |
Anchorage - Yentna Station - Finger Lakes (Flight)
Afternoon fly out to Yentna Station the first checkpoint in the wilderness. Continue to a remote lodge near the Iditarod Trail. Plenty of time to relax or for ice fishing, snowshoe tours or snowmobile rides. Overnight & Dinner at the wilderness lodge. After a delicious dinner at the lodge we gather around the campfire at Yentna River, right next to the Iditarod trail. During the evening mushers and their dog teams will stop and enjoy a cup of tea before heading to their checkpoint. Watch tonight the Northern Lights dancing across the sky. |
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| 04 |
Finger Lakes (Flight)
After a hearty breakfast we fly out to Finger Lakes area on the eastern fringe of the Alaska Range. Lunch included. Observe various mushing activities and watch the mushers gearing up for the difficult trip across famous Rainy Pass. You are in the heart of the snow country and it is not uncommon to have 10 ft. of snow on the ground. Late afternoon, return flight to our Wilderness Lodge. |
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| 05 |
Finger Lakes - Rainy Pass Area - Nikolai (Flight) *
Morning at Finger Lakes Checkpoint. Flight into the majestic Alaska Range. Stopover at Rainy Pass, - Puntilla Lakes, - and Rohn Roadhouse Checkpoints. Continue across the Farewell Burn area to Nikolai. |
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| 06 |
Nikolai *
With a population of 125 people Nikolai is the first of many Native villages along the Iditarod Trail. Area orientation and introduction to dog mushing. Opportunity to run a dog team and explore / photograph the surrounding countryside. This is usually the area were the leading dog teams are taking their mandatory 24 hour layover. Overnight. |
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| 07 |
Nikolai - McGrath - Ruby, Galena or Anvik (Flight) *
We continue to fly along the trail and spot teams from the air. Frequent landings with excellent photo opportunities. Located at the confluence of the Kuskokwim and Takotna Rivers, McGrath is a regional hub with a full-service airport. In Ophir the race route splits. On even numbered years, it follows the northern route to Cripple. On odd numbered years, it follows the southern route to Iditarod. Now a ghost town, Ophir was founded in 1908 after the discovery of gold nearby. Visit Anvik at the Yukon River or Galena, also an Athabascan village and the hometown of the last living participant of the 1925 diphtheria serum run, Edgar Nollner. |
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| 08 |
Anvik - Kaltag - White Mountain - Nome
Flight via Kaltag and the White Mountain area to Nome. At Kaltag, the southern and northern routes converge, so the mushers pass through the village every year. Kaltag is the last Athabascan Indian village before mushers cross an invisible boundary into Inupiat Eskimo country. From here, the trail leaves the Yukon River and heads into the Nulato Hills to reach the Bering Sea. In White Mountain, mushers are required to take an eight-hour layover. Evening arrival in Nome. The first mushers are expected to cross the finishing line in Nome between the 7-9th day. Overnight. |
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| 09 |
Nome
Day on your own. As the leading mushers approach, spectators line the street. The event is televised state-wide. Post-race interviews and picture taking sessions of the champion with the lead dogs draped in yellow roses. Nome stays on alert until the last of the mushers crosses the finish line. |
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| 10 |
Nome
Day on your own. You may attend a city tour where you will learn more about the rich history of this gold rush town and the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Visit a dog musher's camp to experience sled dog teams in action. In Little Creek Mining Station you can pan for your own gold and see modern day prospectors looking for the big strike. Plenty of time to shop for exquisite jade, hand-carved ivory and skin sewings. |
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| 11 |
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| 12 |
Nome - Anchorage
Scheduled return flight to Anchorage. Hotel transfer, Overnight. End of Services |
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