Photos: Weeks after accident, Iditarod musher Hendrickson races forward

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Karin Hendrickson, right, goes over trail notes with Bryan Bearss, who will run her team in the Iditarod, on Tuesday morning, December 23, 2014, at her home north of Willow.

Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race finisher Karin Hendrickson is up and walking around, but admits that after breaking parts of her back in a training accident, anything other than lying down is "pretty difficult."

"For somebody as active as me, this has been harder than anything I've ever done," said Hendrickson, who's started six consecutive Iditarods, with a best finish of 36th place.

Hendrickson is recovering from an accident last month along the Parks Highway, when a vehicle lost control on an icy patch of road and slammed into Hendrickson and her 14-dog team. None of the dogs was seriously injured, but the crash left Hendrickson, 44, with severe bruising and three broken vertebrae.

However, Hendrickson, known for her upbeat attitude on the trail, is moving forward. While she won't be racing in the 2015 Iditarod, fellow race veteran Bryan Bearss is taking over her team so her dogs can run. Bearss is a longtime friend she has known since they both worked as handlers for mushers in the Chugiak area, and she suggested he take over her team this season.

Read more: Weeks after accident, Iditarod musher Hendrickson races forward