Iditarod 2012

Everyone keep your fingers crossed!  I am starting a new posting about my Iditarod adventures because my previous one froze up and I can no longer access it....grrrrr!  It was going so well...until I tried adding photos.  Let's see....it started something like this....

Honest to goodness, how lucky can one person get?  I had the opportunity to see the Iditarod in person in Unalakleet over the weekend of March 10 -11.  I have posted lots of pictures on my Facebook page and now I'm afraid to try to post them on here.  I might just post this story and then try a different one for just photos.  That way, if it freezes up on me again, at least my story will appear!

First of all, if you are new to the Iditarod or would like more information on the route (changes from year to year) or the mushers, go to Iditarod.com.

On March 8, I flew from Shishmaref (by the way, up here we all tend to use the airport codes...SHH) to UNK (Unalakleet) for an ECE (Early Childhood Education) working weekend.  I stayed in the District dorms with several other ECE staff members.  That in itself was a hoot!  During the flight from SHH to UNK, we stopped in several of the villages to pick up other ECE teachers.  It was interesting to see the other villages from the air and also to see the terrain the mushers would be covering on their way to Nome.

Upon our arrival that evening, we were treated to the most incredible display of Northern Lights that I have EVER seen in my entire life....no kidding.  We were told that there would be more the following night but despite our "whistling and dancing", they didn't appear (check out Northern Lights lore).  It's a wonder that the neighbors didn't report us to the Alaska State Troopers as their office building was located right across the road from the dorms!

Our working weekend ended on Saturday afternoon.  My dear friends left Unalakleet for their home villages but I stayed put.  I had made arrangements to stay over until Monday so that I could see the Iditarod mushers come through that particular checkpoint.  Again, this is so exciting for me just thinking about it...my heart is racing!  I hope you can feel the excitement of yet another Alaskan adventure for me.

I walked down to the post office where the food bags and bales of straw for the dogs were set out for the 66 incoming teams (unless they had already scratched).  I talked with some of the volunteers who told me that the front runners would begin arriving in the wee hours of Sunday morning (March 11).  Aliy Zirkle was in front, followed by Dallas Seavey.  So, after taking some pictures...which, like I said, I will try posting on a different entry...I headed back to the dorms.

That evening, after a nice dinner at her house, my good friend, Julie, and her family took me to a concert at the school gym.  "Broken Walls" was the name of the group.  Check them out online.  Valid message for all of Alaska and beyond...and great music.  The drummer was awesome...well, they all were.  There was a Native dancer with them as well.  Great time....thanks, Julie!

Oh, I don't want to forget this....at one point during my extended weekend, I went to eat at the "Peace On Earth" restaurant.  Two things....first of all, I realize the crowds coming in for the Iditarod were from all over the place but one thing I've noticed about up here in Alaska is that a great number of people are from "someplace else"....mostly from locations in the Lower 48....mostly from the northern sections of the continental United States....because we're used to snow and cold weather.  Uhhh...wait....now that I've said that, I understand that the weather back in Northern Michigan this past winter has been anything but normal with very little snow and temperatures last week in the 80s.  Good grief!  What is up with that?

Anyway, in overhearing many conversations...OK..OK...so I was eavesdropping....I heard so many people asking others, "So, where are you from?"  I find it rather interesting that so many of us are transplanted for one reason or another.

The other thing I don't want to forget is this....WOWZER DOWZER!  There is one HUGE white, fluffy dog living right near the restaurant.  I mean...HUGE!  If you were to come across this dog at night, you would swear you've just met up with a polar bear.  I am NOT kidding.  HUMONGOUS!  I guess it belongs to the minister living in that house.  I hope I can somehow get a picture of the dog.  Wouldn't you know it?  I did not have my camera with me at that moment.

Now, I'm back at the dorm and trying to get some shut-eye because I knew I'd be up in the wee hours of the morning.  I was trying to follow the GPS tracking of the mushers on my laptop and keeping one eye open while trying to rest.  Yeah, I know...I am NOT good at electronic gadgets....I did not know how to set the alarm on my phone!  Around 3:45 a.m., I wake up and immediately enter panic-mode thinking I might have missed the excitement down at the checkpoint.  I hurry up and get my layers on and head down there.  It's dark and very few people are outside at that point.  There was a guy setting up a camera tripod and he quickly introduced himself....Greg from Iditarod Insider...taking official pictures along the trail.  Very friendly and very helpful....telling me where I should stand and that, yes, of course, I can be right down where all the action is going to be...just try not to block any of his photo opportunities....HA!  Another media person arrived and informed me that I could go into the warming house, too.  Can you believe that?  I got to go inside where all the arriving mushers would have their breakfast and meet with the media folks and try to catch some sleep before moving on to the next checkpoint.  I could not believe my luck.

As the hours ticked by and the cold seeped into my clothes and boots, the number of onlookers grew.  Then someone announced that Aliy was within 45 minutes of arriving and we all started looking out over the dark horizon for a headlamp to appear.  It finally did....bobbing in the dark....whoa....I was about to see my first Iditarod team arrive in person...and in dog!  There they were...the dogs...and Aliy....and...and...my camera died in the cold!  But I will not forget what it looked like.  The dogs were smaller than I expected and they arrived wearing red "leggings" pulling a frosty sled and heavily coated Aliy.  Her hood ruff was rather large....couldn't see her face.  At that point, I ran back up to the warming house to change batteries in my camera.  By the time I got back down to the site, Aliy had already been given $2500 in gold nuggets.  It was a prize given to the first musher to reach the "Gold Coast".  I was able to get several pictures after that of Aliy taking care of her dogs and then back up in the warming house where she ate and talked briefly with folks before heading into one of the rooms to sleep.

I was able to get pictures of Dallas Seavey and John Baker and other front runners.  It was so exciting to be right down by the racers, the dogs, and the sleds.  I ran my hand over the handle of Dallas Seavey's sled....not realizing at the time that he would eventually become this year's champion in Nome.  I think, looking back on it now, he had a pretty good idea of his chances because while listening in on his interview with the media up in the warming house (not even five feet from him), he was saying that he and Aliy were the ones to beat at that point.

John Baker was an interesting musher to see.  He's a Native from Kotzebue so when he came in, I said, "The folks in Shishmaref are rooting for you!"  It's exciting for those in Shishmaref to see locals in the race because Herbie Nayokpuk, the "Shishmaref Cannonball"(now deceased), was an Iditarod musher.  His family members still raise sled dogs and participate in local races.  I am told that DeeDee Jonrowe (came in 10th in this year's race) bought some of the Herbie's dogs.  I do have pictures of DeeDee and I also have one of her dog's hot pink booties...for my great niece in Illinois.  It's coming, Maddie....I'll send it when I send Flat Stanley back to you!

Yes, folks....Flat Stanley has come to Shishmaref, Alaska!  We had to make a fur-lined parka, mittens and mukluks for him though.  It is way too cold up here not to be dressed for it!

Back to the Iditarod...I took many more pictures and watched more mushers arrive.  The dogs all looked so excited (and frost-covered) when they came in.  Once the vets were done with them and the straw was spread out, they immediately curled up and went to sleep.  It didn't bother them a bit to have people walking around them taking pictures.

The whole event....what an experience!  I am so lucky to be here right now!   I hope to be able to see it again from another checkpoint next year.  Other SHH staff members went to Nome for the final days.  I am sure that was exciting, too...but with far more people to contend with.  Me?  Give me one of the checkpoints where you can see them up close and personal!  I sure hope I can post my pictures....wish me technological luck!