WiLDFILLY's ALASKA ! Thursday

Thursday

found us heading back north again. Yes, I know it seems like

we may have done a lot of zig-zagging back and forth, but it

was a great way to see stuff we'd missed the first time. Except

for moose......we never DID see any in the wild, grrrrrrr.

It was back to Wasilla again, and my friend Mark, turned tour-

guide for our trip. Never mind the fact that I took a wrong turn

and had to end up calling him for directions to his house....like

the song goes, "guys do it all the time !" Laughing.....

By this time, I was getting a bit burned out on swapping all the

cameras back and forth, and I confess I didn't take many

pictures this day. The only digital pics I took were at

Petersville Kennels, but they didn't come out that great, and

I hope to scan those I took with the 35 mm soon.

Petersville Kennels is located 30 miles below the summit of

Denali, (Mount McKinley), which is the highest peak in North

America.

The kennels are owned & run by Fred Agree and Vicki Talbot,

both veterans of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race - Vicki is no longer

a "rookie", having finished on her first attempt just this year.

Forgive me, but I'm going to speak my mind here for a minute.

Remember what they say, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" ?

Well, in this modern age......don't judge people or their abilities

by what you see and conclude from this internet alone.

I had only corresponded briefly with Fred, after finding his

e-mail address from their web pages that my partner had built.

I impulsively sent an e-mail, wishing Vicki good luck in the

Iditarod, never expecting to hear back. Upon receiving a

reply, thanking me for my wishes, we then corresponded a few

more times over the course of the race. Most of his answers

to specific questions were short, clipped, and curt. I thought,

'well, he's taken it upon himself to be her press secretary, and

who knows how many people he's having to answer?' I also

assumed, I guess just based on his name, that he must be an

Alaskan native. In person, Fred was very talkative, and

had an excellent sense of humor !

Vicki, I assumed, would be a stoutly built woman, as it must

take incredible strength to control those dogs and simply last

all those days in such rugged conditions. After meeting them

all, I'm pretty sure most of the dogs outweigh Vicki !

Boy, was I ever WRONG for making assumptions !

Strength appears in many different forms.......

We were lucky to meet Fred, Vicki, and the stars of her 2000

Iditarod team. We even went for pizza, after meeting the dogs -

man, I NEED to get the name of that place......best pizza & brew

I think I've ever had !

You can read about all of Fred & Vicki's travels & affiliations

on their web page, and the background is very interesting.

I won't go into details, but let me just say that dynamite most

certainly does come in smaller sized packages, and it packs a

most powerful punch. I was very impressed with both Fred

and Vicki.....and I am very happy we got to meet them.

Trapper Creek,

the southern gateway to Denali National Park is at the

intersection of Petersonville Road and the Parks Highway,

13 miles northwest of the community of Willow. While

Petersonville Road extends about 40 miles into the wilderness

towards Denali, only the first 14 miles are maintained, and

there is no winter maintenance. Miners first built the road

in the 1920's, and homesteading soon followed.

It is in this beautiful rugged wilderness that Fred and Vicki

condition their dogs & share the joys of dogsledding with

tourists and friends alike !

Denali National Park

covers more than 6,000,000 acres and is home to grizzly

bears, Dall Sheep, moose, and North America's highest peak,

Mount McKinley.

Talkeetna, Alaska, is the mountaineering headquarters for

climbers, and is located about 100 miles north of Anchorage.

Join us on our journey !
By Day	By Location
	Anchorage
Sunday	Matanuska Glacier
Monday	Portage Glacier
Tuesday	Big Game Alaska
Wednesday	Whittier
Thursday	Prince William Sound
Friday	Kenai Peninsula
	Trapper Creek
Moose	Alaska Facts
Denali	Chugach Range
Approximate Driving Distances

COOL Alaska links
AWARDS