

Four-time consecutive Iditarod champion Lancy Mackey stares blankly after leaving the Elim checkpoint last week. Invincible just a couple of years ago, Mackey finished the race in 22nd place, his worst Iditarod finish.


Rick Swenson of Two Rivers drives his team past snow covered seasonal camps along Safety Sound near Nome during the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Swenson, who is the only five-time winner of the race, finished 30th in the 2012 race.
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Is Lance Mackey the best musher ever born, or could it be Rick Swenson, the previous youngest winner at 26 and the only five-time winner? The debate rages on. My vote: Mackey. He showed us what could be done, what was unimaginable before him. Winning the Quest and Iditard back-to-back. But Swenson supporters could reasonably say that he is as great, or greater.


I made it to Nome yesterday, just in time for the finish of the 2012 Iditarod today. Saw some Northern Lights last night, but more importantly saw a couple of herds of muskoxen on Anvil Mountain. It’s great to be back in Alaska!
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Oh, I’m so jealous! For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to see muskoxen in the wild AND the Northern Lights. I should have gone to Nome with your group.


Back in Alaska, time for one more reflection – the colorful convergence of penguin guano, green algae, and dark menacing clouds at Peterman Island. This landscape is more reminiscent of Greenland or the Canadian Arctic than Antarctica. Snow algae grow in semi-permanent to permanent snow or ice in the alpine or polar regions of the world. Their optimum growth temperatures are generally below 10° C. These algae have successfully adapted to their harsh environment through the development of a number of features such as pigments, polyols (sugar alcohols, e.g. glycerine), sugars and lipids (oils).
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So, as we know, everywhere we go, there is life on our planet, and it grows and evolves with or without our help. Let it alone, let there be liberty, let it go and grow. Stop the state that wants to control.


Back in Ushuaia and now the marathon journey from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere starts. Ushuaia – Buenos Aires – Miami – Seattle – Anchorage – Nome – in 24 hours. Can’t wait to start guiding the 2012 Iditarod Finish & Northern Lights Tour for Wild Alaska Travel!
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