Author Archives: Helen Hegener

About Helen Hegener

Author and publisher, Northern Light Media

The 1973 Iditarod

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The First Iditarod: Mushers’ Tales from the 1973 Race, by Helen Hegener. Published in March, 2015 by Northern Light Media. 156 pages. ISBN-13 978-0-9843977-6-1 Format 6″ x 9″ perfect bound, text only, no photos. $20.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books | Tagged 1973 Iditarod, Bill Sherwonit, George Attla, Helen Hegener, Herbie Nayokpuk, Iditarod, Joe Redington, mushing history, Northern Light Media, Old Iditarod Gang, sled dog race | Leave a comment

Yukon Quest Checkpoint 101

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Helen Hegener

Driving up the western flank of the White Mountains one passes the colorful Yukon Quest checkpoint of 101, so named because it is, in fact, 101 miles from Fairbanks on the 161-mile long Steese Highway. Starting out as only a … Continue reading →

Posted in Sled Dog Races | Tagged 101 checkpoint, Albert Marquez, Eagle Summit, Peter Kamper, Steese Highway, Yukon Quest | Leave a comment

Leonhard Seppala’s Cabin

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The legendary Alaskan dog musher Leonhard Seppala, who won the All Alaska Sweepstakes three times and played a key role in delivering the life-saving serum to Nome in 1925, lived in many places, from Norway to Nome, Maine, and Seattle, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History | Tagged Albert Marquez, Chatanika, Davidson Ditch, F.E. Co. Gold Camp, Fairbanks, Helen Hegener, Leonhard Seppala, mushing history, Steese Highway | Leave a comment

2015 Northern Lights 300

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The 2015 Northern Lights 300 sled dog race from Big Lake to Finger Lake drew a diverse field of mushers from many areas of Alaska, with some mushers racing to qualify for the long distance Iditarod and Yukon Quest races, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sled Dog Races | Tagged Albert Marquez, Anna Berington, Barry Munsell, Bud Smyth, Charley Bejna, Christine Roalofs, Darrin Lee, Ellen Halverson, Finger Lake, Flat Horn Lake, Happy Trails Kennel, Helen Hegener, Iditarod Trail, Jodi Bailey, Kevin Saiki, Kristy Berington, Louis Schrader, Martin Buser, mushing, NL300, Noah Pereira, Northern Light Media, Northern Lights 300, Planet Earth Adventures, Richard Plack, Robert Redington, Roger Phillips, sled dog race, sled dog racing, sled dogs, Stan Smith, Sue Allen, Talvista Lodge, Tom Jamgochian, Yentna Station | Leave a comment

BLM Idita-Tweet Chat

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Helen Hegener

The BLM Alaska will be hosting a “Women of the Iditarod” Tweet Chat on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 9 to 11 a.m. (AKST; 1 to 3 p.m. EST), focusing on women mushers, the history of women mushers, the Iditarod National … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Information | Tagged Aliy Zirkle, BLM Alaska, Heidi Sutter, Helen Hegener, Iditachat, Iditarod mushers, Iditarod National Historic Trail, Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Jodi Bailey, Karin Hendrickson, Kevin Keeler, Lisbet Skogan Norris, Liz Parrish, Northern Light Media, Tweet Chat, Women of the Iditarod | Leave a comment

A One-Thousand-Mile Race

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Helen Hegener

Joe Redington, Sr., known as the “Father of the Iditarod,” was born on February 1, 1917, in a tent on the banks of the Cimarron River, north of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, on the famous Chisholm Trail. It was a fitting … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Anchorage, Dick Mackey, Helen Hegener, Iditarod, Isaac Okleasik, Joe Redington, Knik, Leonhard Seppala, mushing, mushing history, Nome, Northern Light Media, sled dog race | Leave a comment

The First Iditarod

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Helen Hegener

The book I’m currently working on is the result of several years of researching, interviewing, and writing, beginning with an idea which took shape in 2007. That’s when I learned that a musher from the very first Iditarod Trail Sled … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books | Tagged 1973, Barry MacAlpine, Helen Hegener, Herbie Nayokpuk, Iditarod, Joe Redington, Northern Light Media, sled dog race, sled dog racing, sled dogs | 1 Comment

Baldy of Nome

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Helen Hegener

Scotty Allan’s Legendary Leader A chapter from Along Alaskan Trails, Adventures in Sled Dog History In Esther Birdsall Darling’s classic book, Baldy of Nome, a story is told of a driverless dog team in the 60-mile-long Solomon Derby, a race … Continue reading →

Posted in Alaska History, Books | Tagged Alaska, All Alaska Sweepstakes, Allan Alexander Allan, Baldy of Nome, Helen Hegener, mushing, mushing history, Nome, Northern Light Media, Percy Blatchford, Scotty Allan, sled dog race, sled dog racing, sled dogs | Leave a comment

A Look at The Yukon Quest Trail

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Helen Hegener

The newest book from Northern Light Media is a captivating journey traced each February by hardy mushers and their teams of lionhearted sled dogs, traveling, as the subtitle states, ‘1,000 miles across northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory.’ Over frozen … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Sled Dog Races | Tagged Alaska, Dawson City, Eric Vercammen, Fairbanks, Helen Hegener, Lance Mackey, mushing, mushing history, Northern Light Media, Robert Service, Scott Chesney, sled dog race, sled dog racing, sled dogs, The Spell of the Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon Quest | 1 Comment

The Yukon Quest Trail

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Helen Hegener

The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race spans some of the harshest and most beautiful winter territory anywhere: 1,000 miles between Fairbanks, Alaska and the city of Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory. Known as ‘The World’s Toughest Sled Dog Race,’ it’s … Continue reading →