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Author

Patrice La Vigne

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How wild west homesteading spawned Denali’s tourism zone When traveling the 350-plus miles between Anchorage and Fairbanks on the George Parks Highway, there are very few pauses in the undeveloped wilderness. One such pocket of civilization is the half-mile swath of roadside businesses outside of Denali National Park and Preserve, commonly known as the Canyon. Since I live in the area and drive by the Canyon often, I became curious about the origins of the place. There had to be a story behind this flashy strip mall that sells Alaskan license plate keepsakes, beckons growling stomachs with a variety of food, and fills RV tanks with gas. Turns out, the Canyon began with three entrepreneurial hippies staking a claim on land for development. But to understand the evolution fully, we must dig deeper. First, let’s go back to pre-1923 when Denali National Park and Preserve (previously known as Mt. McKinley…

Iditarod volunteers make a difference It’s natural to attribute the howling success of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to its dogs and mushers, but the event might not happen without its volunteers. My husband, Justin, and I worked with the Iditarod in 2022, and it was exhilarating to be the backbone of something so big, in conjunction with so many other passionate people. Janis Young, from Washington, says she’s been volunteering for 22 years because it’s a big reunion. “The dogs, people, mushers, villagers, snow, cold, storms, lack of sleep, hard work, northern lights…I look forward to seeing my Iditarod family each year. It just feels good to help put on this race.” Young is just one of the nearly 2,000 people who come from near and far each year to help with the challenging logistics of running the Iditarod in early March. Volunteer crews hold various responsibilities—communications, logistics,…