ANCHORAGE, Alaska – May the sled dog devoured a hearty, steaming serving of canned salmon and kibble stew Wednesday night in Birchwood, her first real meal since getting loose from her team 6 days earlier in the 41st Iditarod.

May, a strawberry-blonde female, probably logged 300 to 400 miles in her homeward-bound trip across some of the most rugged country Alaska serves up, said Iditarod veteran Stan Smith, who is giving love, food and temporary shelter to May.

“She traveled several times from Rohn to Nikolai, all the way up the Dalzell Gorge, up the Alaska Range to the other side, through Rainy Pass, across Shell Lake; she was spotted multiple times in Skwentna,” Smith said.