/ 2008 Archived Material / Arizona Mushers

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Arizona Mushers

by Jane Blaile

The idea of an Arizona girl being dropped into the Alaskan winter weather along the Iditarod Trail probably causes a few people to smile.  But I have been working on finding a common thread between the Iditarod and Arizona.  One I have found is a group called the Arizona Mountain Mushers.  They come from all over the state, from Tucson to north of Flagstaff, to do what the Iditarod mushers do - run dogs.

There are distinct differences between the two experiences, though.  This club is a sprint racing group.  Their dogs race 4, 6, 8, 10, or maybe a few miles more at top speeds.  For training, they run short 1-3 mile runs.  And their running surface is seldom snow.

Climate change has affected northern Arizona so drastically, Flagstaff is fortunate to receive one major snowfall, let alone its historical amounts.  So, the Arizona Mountain Mushers train on the Forest Service Roads, which are rock and dirt, for almost the entire season.

There are distinct similarities as well.  Their dogs are housed in yards, are transported in dog boxes, wear booties when they get to Colorado to race in snow, (Colorado is struggling with adequate snowfall as well.), and are Siberian or Alaskan huskies.  The mushers have ganglines and snow hooks and all the same equipment.  And, they love their sport as passionately as the famed Iditarod mushers do.

I had the pleasure of joining up with some of them this morning outside of Flagstaff, AZ for a training run.  Riding behind Frank on the quad, I was once again thrilled by the same fascinations I've experienced in Alaska:  the dogsongs as they wait to run, the silence as they run, the reaction to a quietly spoken command, and the affection they give and demand.

Then when we returned, the 5 month old puppies were unloaded and chained to the truck.  It's all part of their training.  Then we put them in an itty-bitty harness and hooked them to a small tire to try to teach them to be comfortable with something behind them.  Some of them ran like crazy, some didn't.

Talking with these mushers affirmed that they are just like any musher in the Iditarod:  passionate, caring, hard-working, and lots of fun.