(Continued)  Picking the brain of vetran Iditarod racer, Bob Chupack on why he loves this race.

He continued, “not to sound kooky or anything… but I feel that there’s a whole spiritual world that we’re not functioning with. When you are out running the dogs and your brain loosens up, sometimes you can pick up on that. And the dogs are more in tune with that than we will ever give them credit for. They have an incredible intuition and sixth sense.

A siberian Husky, one of the breeds of dogs that runs Iditarod

I’ve had many moments when I’ve seen things on the trail, but its hard to say if I was just sleep deprived and hallucinating, or if what i saw truly existed. For instance when I came up on a road house once, I could swear I saw some people inside it carrying glowing lanterns… when I got up close to the house. It was dark and no one was there. I’ve heard stories from other guys who saw their dogs all follow something with their eyes that they couldn’t perceive.

“So thats the other thing I like about the whole thing,” he tells me. “It sends tingles up the spine. You can go out on a snowmobile but i don’t get the same feeling from that. Not from skiing either.”

A musher rides into the night under the northern lights (Photo courtesy of ronlevy.photoshelter.com)

Intrigued now, I find myself wanting  to experience what it’s like to be in the middle of nowhere with a mind as open as the tundra.

Tomorrow is the ceremonial start  of the Iditarod and I will have the chance to know what is is like to ride in a sled, on the trail, behind a team of running dogs.