First Saturday in March the Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska will start in Anchorage. Finish in Nome, 1100 miles away. I just finished two books about the race that I enjoyed very much.

Gary Paulson, Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod, is the story of Paulson's trek across Alaska, how he got started in Minnesota, moved to Alaska, and ran -- or followed his dogs. This is a well-written book with a very taut style, lots of self-deprecating humor, quite a bit of introspection: why would anyone do this?

Don Bowers, Back of the PAck: An Iditarod Rookie Musher's Alaska Pilgrimage to Nome, is a diary of a two year effort. In the first attempt, Bowers had to scratch in the first couple hundred miles. In the second, he literally is the last official finisher. Lots of the somewhat technical stuff, e.g., how the trail gets laid out, how supplies get into the bush, what happens if a dog or musher is hurt.

Guess I'm too old to buy some dogs for next year.

Tim