Alaska - 20 Denali to Happy Trails to Alyeska

They changed the name of the mountain from McKinley to Denali, but they did not change the name of the village, still called McKinley Park. Although the Grand Denali Hotel was more like a Motel 6 than not, it did have a commanding view of the surroundings and was probably one of the better hotels in the area. We departed the morning of the 20th enroute to see the Buser Dogs and stay at the Alyeska Hotel. The Mary Carey rest stop with bakery and gift shop was interesting. Mary was one of first women to settle into the wilds of Alaska against all advice to contrary. Plenty of full size prints of wildlife and landscape for sale. Happy Trails Kennel is the home of four-time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser and family. It was established in 1982 with the express purpose to raise and train happy, fast long distance sled dogs to race and win the Iditarod. The kennel began with the cross of an Yukon River village dog named Petuk and a German Short-Haired Pointer named Faulk. In the beginning years, Martin Buser began to believe that the sprint dogs raised and raced by prominent sprint mushers Gareth Wright and George Attla could be trained for long distance. Martin and sprint musher, Jim Welch, who also lived in the Eagle River area at the time, became friends. Martin had, in the mean time, acquired genes of some of the most athletic fastest dogs in Alaska. They were termed hounds due to a relatively shorter hair, sloping back and sharply angulated front shoulders. Many well established Iditarod mushers laughed at Martin's experiment, said the dogs would never survive the rigors of the Norton Sound coastal winds, would lose their appetite and would have to be babied all the way to Nome. Indeed, they did require some babying and still do today but they fought through one of the Iditarod's most dangerous storms in 1991 to arrive second in Nome.