Not exactly the finish I was hoping for but, an Iditarod fiinish still beats a scratch! Ok, here’s a brief (ha, ha ), synopsis of our race. Started with Thelma and Ollie in lead; it’s always nice to have veterans up front for the start that aren’t your fastest leaders but solid and reliable. Here’s the rest of the team by order from point (team just behind the leaders.), to wheel position: Starbuck, Froggie, Ellie, honda, Walter, Johnny, Anvik, Screamer, Louise, Taj, Peak, Loader, Geyser, Cash. The run down the river was solid, averaging 12 mph. dogs ate well and rested well but I didn’t get much sleep as the small cabin at Skwentna was filled with 30+ mushers.
Run to Finger Lake was ok but Geyser was not feeling that sharp; took 5 1/2 hours ( ‘08 took 4:30), picked up straw and went another 2:45 to the cabin at Fin Bear Lake. Led this run with Walter and Johny. The trail to Finger was soft and trenchy due to the recent snow and the IronDog race washboarding the base. It’s not on the checkpoint map for Iditarod but is nice as it splits the first 3 runs evenly to 3-65 mile runs with good rests in between.
Good run from Fin Bear to Rohn; went through Rainy Pass without a stop except to put my wind anorak on as the checker at Rainy said said, “it’s getting windy on top of the pass.”Led this run with Thelma and Johny as it required good intuitive leaders to keep finding the trail and staying on it when possible. Spent the next 2 1/2 hours going from marker to marker as it was almost a total whiteout/ ground blizzard. Quinn Iten came up behind so we went down the gorge together. It’s the best trip I’ve had down the Dazell, conditions almost perfect. The creek was frozen so we didn’t have to get dogs through open water, which it usually is. It was already starting to get colder but veery manageable.
Good run from Rohn to Nikolai with the exception that due to no snow in some sections, the exposed tussocks were tough on the musher, although the dogs seem to cruise through them like that karioki drill we used to do in football camp. Took a 2 hr. rest at Buffalo Camp (splits the run in to 2-40s’) A snow bridge was out between Buffalo and Nikolai and the 4 teams there all helped each other out. (cindy Gallea, Judy Currier, Alan Moore, myself.)
2 dogs, Screamer and Loader appeared to be dealing with injuries so I dropped them and went on to McGrath. My apologies for oversleeping in Nikolai, I need to learn how to rest better myself at checkpoints/rest spots as it caught up with me at Nikolai; that was a 4 hr. mistake right there. Had great run to McGrath with Louise and Taj leading. Anvik was having a challenge with diahrea and wasn’t eating or drinking much. I decided to take Anvik in the sled bag( he’s our fastest leader and a 110% on the tug.) the next 18 miles to Takotna and hope he’d be able to recover.
Had a good 24 hr. rest in Takotna but Anvik was not looking good. Johnny had post-holed coming down in to Takotna and seemed a bit sore up front. Took all the dogs on a walk during their 24 and was able to get a showere at the Washateria.
On the run from Takotna to Ophir Johnny still wasn’t traveling right so I dropped him at Ophir as I had a 100+ mile stretch ahead of me and the team and it was 30 below by now. Went 6 hrs. out and ended up resting with Kristy Berington in a wide-open burn area with very little firewood available. should have gone another 20-30 minutes and would have had better wind-break and firewood.( should have remebered from past experience.) Kept a fire going the whole 4-hr. rest, having to re-stoke it every 15 minutes as the wood in the interior is all stunted from being in a permafrost-swamp. All dogs were jacketed at this point. Estimated temp. was 45-50 below; fortunately no wind.
Sunny and cold going in to Cripple, the checkpoint you love to leave; this year the big surprise was hot water available. Usually, you have to melt snow at Cripple which is a time-consuming pain in the rear-end!
Went about 4 hrs. out of Cripple and rested 2hrs; another fire and plenty of heat pack handwarmers in the boots and in my mitts. I got this pair of Beaver/moosehide 5 yrs. ago and they have saved my fingers many times; still beat anything synthetic I’ve tried.
At Ruby it was starting to get more human; the temp warming to 15 below. A few sore feet from letting them run too long before replacing booties that came off during the run. Have to keep a better eye on booties; snow is really abrasive at these temps.
Usually you get a tailwind from Ruby to Kaltag, but now it was in the face all the way to Galena. Probably 10-15mph. dogs seemed to really slow down, i think the cold in the interior might have zapped a bit of their power. Was an hour slower to Galena than other racers I was comparable to earlier in the race.
At Galena had to drop Honda with a sore foot. Felt like we crawled to Nulato; barely 6 mph; that was preying on my mind but I tried to not let the dogs know how I felt. Did a lot of polling and kicking to help the dogs out. Passed an ultrasport competitor and was very grateful to not be him.
The run from Nulato to Kaltag started slowly but they seemed to rebound a bit toward the end ; a lot more polling/kicking to help the cause.
The trail out of Kaltag was hideous for the first 15-20 miles as the washboard formed by the Irondog race was so short and steep that it about stopped your sled by the time you’d reach the peaks. Took a 4hr. break at Old woman Cabin, leaving just 38 downhill miles in to Unalakleet. Thelma single-led this run and may have saved me having to scratch as leaving Old Woman we were at a snail’s pace for some reason until I put Thelma up by herself.
Called Linda at Unalakleet as I wasn’t sure about the dogs ability to carry on. Finally left Unk. after 10+ hr. rest and moved quite well until we hit the blueberry hills. Felt like I ran every one of those hills; was soaked with sweat at the top and froze solid during the short, 10 minute run back down to the sea ice. Fortunately at Shaktoolik I was able to hang and dry most of the layers that had gotten wet.
Another crawl out of Shak. to Koyuk but the last 1/2 of the run they were moving much better. Passed another ultrsporter on the trail and again was very happy to not be him.
Things were starting to pick up again as we made the run to Elim at 8 mph.; which about right for this time in the race. AT Unk. I had put Walter back in the lead to help support Thelma and he performed admirably leading the rest of the way to Nome just about.
Had another good run from Elim to white Mt. considering all the ridges to clime, including the last ridge nicknamed, “Little McKinley”, before a luge run down on to Golovin Bay, through Golovin and across 15 miles of sea ice to the nirvana called White Mt., the last checkpoint before Nome. By now I knew we could finish strongly despite the let-down earlier which cost a lot of time that just couldn’t be made up. I can’t even describe the feeling of scratching, so I felt so blessed that the team had come back this late in the race.
The final run started a little wobbly as they sometimes do but, eventually we got rolling and even picked up significantly when we passed a moose about fifty yards off the trail to my right. I ran the base portions of all the Topkok hills and snacked the dogs with a soaked kibble feed before heading down to the beach and the infamous Solomon Blowhole. The temp was rising and must have been in the upper 30s’-low 40s’ as we cruised along the beach with out a breath of wind. Safety was a welcome sight but i was really intent on not stoppi ng any longer than to sign the checkers form. Thelma was acting as if she’d like to find some straw so I put ollie up with her and climbed up over Cape Nome and towards the city of Nome. On the way down the other side Ellie began to show signs of an injury so I bagged her and went on in to Nome.
The feeling of coming up Front Street after the challenges we had on the trail was indescribrible! Linda and a close friend Alison Peticolas wee there to greet us under the Arch. Linda had trained 1/2 of the team and Alison had put in some training miles as well; so I know they had as much a stake in finishing as I did.
Hope this ok for most; call, e-mail, or write if you want more detail; I still have enough stories to fill a few books. Thanks to all of those who supported our run this year whether emotionally or financially. Can’t thank tom Denison and Active Ion enough for allowing us to run Iditarod this year. If it works out, We loved to run again next yaer and try to attain that goal of under 11 days; which would probably also put us in the top 30; I beleive we have the team that can do it and have some great new young dogs that will be ready to run next year when they’re the right age for Iditarod.
The stars would have to be Thelma, Ollie, Walter, and Starbuck, who completed this Iditarod as a yearling.
