The John Beargrease Sled Dog Race

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The last weekend of January has many people thinking about vacations in Florida or other warm areas of the world. Not me, I chose to venture to northern Minnesota for five days and follow sled dogs from Two Harbors, up to Grand Portage, and back down to Billy’s bar in Northern Duluth. The purpose for this crazy adventure was to photograph the John Beargrease sled dog race which started in 1980 and is the longest sled dog race in the lower 48 states at nearly 400 miles. It started to honor John Beargrease and his relentless commitment to deliver the mail between Two Harbors and Grand Portage Minnesota. To read more of the history of this dedicated man please visit: http://www.beargrease.com/aboutjohnbeargrease.htm
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My journey was a bit crazy, up at 4:00 A.M, back to the hotel well past midnight, missed meals, but all worth it to photograph these amazing four legged athletes and their dedicated mushers. You can tell that these dogs love to run. They bark, howl and carry on when they know it’s getting close to race time. I envy the amount of energy these dogs possess.
I met so many interesting people, petted all the dogs I could and took tons of photos along the way. I am already looking forward to next year’s race and I hope that one day I can go all the way to Alaska and follow the dogs of the Iditarod. Maybe I’ll even see you up on the trail next year.John Beargrease-4082

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