Friends,
I just posted a few last photos from the trip, including a couple obligatory beautiful scenery shots of Alaska. I am back home in SF now, happy to be with my husband and kiddos.
If your interest in the competition has been piqued, I encourage you to check out Iditarod.com, where up to date race standings can be found. It will all be decided by some time tomorrow. Currently four time winner Jeff King is in the lead. The first time he won was 1993. How many sports can you think of in which someone can be at the top of the playing field for 20 years?
There is also a short news clip about the volunteer vets here: http://www.ktuu.com/videogallery/74745499/Sports/Iditarod-Veterinarians-
Several of my new friends are in it.
I'm signing off now. If you have any questions or comments or want to hear more, just email me, FB me, or comment here. Thanks so much again for reading and for staying with me through this journey.
Monday, March 11, 2013
A few more photos
Resting in the sunshine
Cindy Abbot, last to arrive at Takotna
James Volek, last to leave Takotna. James was all about taking care of the dogs.
Kevin Saiki, race judge and new friend
Mt Takotna
Bill, Carol, Nic, and Alan
Checking on a dropped dog and getting kisses
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Ps
Aliy Zirkle blew by Martin Buser at Kaltag and is now in the lead. Go Aliy!!!
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Winding down
As I suspected, my flight out of Takotna was followed by a flight out of McGrath to anchorage. While I was a bit disappointed at first, I was comforted to learn that I was not alone. Basically inclement weather had prevented our little Iditarod Air Force planes from flying Into many of the sites down the trail. It was a tough situation, because some of the checkpoints further ahead were a little thinner than ideal on vets, and there was a large group of us who ended up heading back to anchorage early. I ran into Stu at the airport in McGrath and we talked about it. There was nothing he could do about it. The mushers at Eagle Island almost didn't get their food drops for the same reason. Fortunately, the food arrived minutes before the first musher pulled in there.
So, I m back in the Anchorage airport now, ready to go home. I was able to change my ticket in order to come back a couple days early rather than sit in anchorage until Monday afternoon. I would have tried to get out and see something in the area, but I'm hoping Ill have plenty of opportunities to do that in the future. For right now, I am excited to see my family again.
I'm extremely grateful for this experience so far outside my normal daily life. I have learned a lot about working with people very different from myself, and I have enjoyed most minutes of it. It was clearly such a privilege for me to be here, yet everywhere I went, when people saw my Iditarod vet badge or heard why I was here, they thanked me for my service. Alaskans take a lot of pride in this race; it is extremely important to them, and it pleases them immensely to see people coming from all over the world to help out and participate in different ways. Any time someone thanked me, I had to say with all sincerity that it is an honor to be here. And I have every intention of coming back.
I have a few more photos that will be posted within the next day or so, and after that I will sign off. Thanks for reading and for keeping me company on this adventure.
So, I m back in the Anchorage airport now, ready to go home. I was able to change my ticket in order to come back a couple days early rather than sit in anchorage until Monday afternoon. I would have tried to get out and see something in the area, but I'm hoping Ill have plenty of opportunities to do that in the future. For right now, I am excited to see my family again.
I'm extremely grateful for this experience so far outside my normal daily life. I have learned a lot about working with people very different from myself, and I have enjoyed most minutes of it. It was clearly such a privilege for me to be here, yet everywhere I went, when people saw my Iditarod vet badge or heard why I was here, they thanked me for my service. Alaskans take a lot of pride in this race; it is extremely important to them, and it pleases them immensely to see people coming from all over the world to help out and participate in different ways. Any time someone thanked me, I had to say with all sincerity that it is an honor to be here. And I have every intention of coming back.
I have a few more photos that will be posted within the next day or so, and after that I will sign off. Thanks for reading and for keeping me company on this adventure.
Dropped dogs
Bitches in heat
More play time
Lets go lets go lets go
Foot care
notes from Takotna 3/8/13
22:50
Note- I wrote this earlier today. Only one of us vets got out of Takotna today, whic means 5 of us remain. We found out why this evening when someone pulled up an aviation weather map. The Iditarod Air Force planes are visual flight rules only, and the weather conditions for where we will need to fly through calls for Instrument Flight Rules. That's a good reason.
Takotna 3/8/13 15:22
The last team led by James Volek left just now, so our work is officially done at this checkpoint, although in reality the work has tapered off long before now with most o fthe teams leaving yesterday. None of us has heard where we're going next. It being so late in the day, I have to face the possibility that this may be my endpoint in the Iditarod this year. It is Friday afternoon and I have a flight out of Anchorage on Monday to go back home. The powers that be may decide to that they have eough vets up the trail and it makes more sense to get me back rather than send me further out. Hopefully we;ll here something soon.
The race is getting pretty exciting. Most of the teams have passed Iditarod, a former gold rush boom town and current halfway point for the race. The rankings are ever changing but a few interesting things stand out. At the moment Martin Buser is holding the lead by about five hohrs which is pretty significant at this stage. Originally from Switzerland, he is one of the big names in sled dog racing and particularly in the Iditarod, having won it four times. Only one person, Rick Swenson, has won more than four times, and he opted not to participate this year. Martin surprised everyone and has caused a big stir by takig his mandatory 24 hour break at Rohn, which is very early in the race. No one has ever done that before, and so far the strategy seems to be working. The riders also have to take two eight hour breaks: one anywhere on the Yukon River an then another one at White Mountain, which is about 70 miles shy of the finish. Martin also took his 8 hour break already, today, which is also on the early side. The test will be whether he and his dogs keep up their pace through the last leg of the race having taken their big rest so long ago. Once they hit the coast, the conditions can be rough and unpredictable, with brutal winds and suddern storms kicking up. These environmental factors have change the game in past races.
Another one to watch is Aliy Zirkle. She was in the lead during much of the race last year and ended up finishing second behind Dallas Seavey, the youngest musher ever to win and the son of an Iditarod dynasty, with both his father and Iditarod champion (Mitch, also mushing in this year's race) and grandfather a past participant. Aliy was also the first rookie to win the Yukon Quest. Personally, I think it would be really great to see a woma win te Iditarod again. There are certainly many accomplished female mushers; it is one of the few sports in which men and women compete in the same pool.
Another one I'm interested in and quietly routing for is Joar Ulsom from Norway. He is a rookie and has been in the top ten and flirting with the top 5 so far in this rae. As a rookie in the Yukon Quest last year, he came in sixth, which is an impressive showing, and then went on to win the Nadezhda Hope Race in Russia. He was the first non-native to win that race in 20 years, and he did so with the fastest time ever. The only time the Iditarod was won by a rookie musher was in 2003, by Robert Sorlie, also a Norwegian. Sorlie went on to win in 2005 as well.
Oe of the things that is so different about this sport is the variability in the successful mushers' ages and physiques. Martin Buser is in his fifties, his last win was 11 years ago , and he may well win this year for the fifth time. His experience, strategy, intelligence, and the strength of his physical team have all propelled him to the front of the pack at this point. Compare that to 26 year old former wrestling champion Dallas Seavey who won last year, running a very physical race, often stepping off the sled to run behind his dogs. This is also one of Joar's strengths; he is thin and lanky and will run through much of the hilly and mountainous areas, which is more like the terrain he is used to.
Finally one of the most interesting and well known characters in the race is Lancy Mackey. He comes from a mushing family like Dallas. In his early thirties he was diagnosed with throat cancer and was given a guarded prognosis. After battling illness and against the odds, he went on to win the Iditarod four years in a row, starting in 2007. He has had a tough couple years since then in the race, possibly in part due to the retirement of his lead dog, Larry, but he is making a strong showing this year, having won the halfway point in the race at Iditarod. I should probably make a disclaimer at this point that I am trying hard for accuracy in all these reports, but my sources are mostly the people around me, so I apologize if any of the facts are slightly off. When possible I've been sourcing info from the Iditarod website, archives, and published material.
Well, everyone else has gone to bed, I'm left holding the red lantern, so to speak, so time for me to get some sleep tonight.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, March 8, 2013
notes from Takotna 3/7/13
4 am and my six hour shift started an hour ago. Two teams have come thorugh and kept going after a brief top. I arrived yesterday around 3pm after a flight from Anchorage to MGrath on a jet plane. In McGrath we were briefly grounded due to poor viz and snow. There were proably 10-15 of us vets flying in from Anchorage. We walked down the road from the airport to Susie's Cafe, where many of us joyfully reunited with some of the other vets we had met the first week. It felt like seeing old friends. Stu was there too, pacing around with his clipboard. I can imagine hohw little it pleased him to have such a significant portion of his veterinary team idling in a cafe unable to hit the trail. Fortunately after not too long, they alowed a flight carryign to passengers to Takotna, which is just a hop away. When our pilot on that flight reported back to ground control that he could see about five miles, they started sending more flights out.
Takotna is a village, pop about 50. We share the community library with the mushers as our sleeping quarters. Each team is required to take a 24 hour stop at a checkpoint of their choosing, prior to hitting the Yukon River. Many teams opt to do it here because of the comfortable amenities and good, cooked food. So when I arrived in the afternooon, there were teams of dogs bedded down through the town, up and down the hillside, rows of canine concatenations sleeping in the snow.
Nicolette Zarday, DVM, MPH
quick dispatch from Takotna
Friday afternoon, our work is pretty much done, and we're waiting to get shipped out, to as yet undisclosed destinations. The most remarkable thing that has happened here is the weather. Late yesterday afternoon the sun came out, parkas came off, makeshift sleds were fabricated, and fun was had. Most of the teams had moved through, so we were able to relax a little bit and bask in a warmth that is rare for this time of year. Today is even warmer, probably around 50F in the sun. It is nice to see everyone spilling out of the lodge in shirtsleeves, enjoying summer in March.
There are only two teams remaining at this checkpoint, one of which is James Volek's. He is a rookie musher who is leading a team of yearlings ("Puppy team") belonging to Martin Buser, 4 time Iditarod champion and serious contender for this year. I got a chance to talk with him this morning a bit. Martin has an internship type program which James participated in, in which he is hired on to take care of the kennel and the dogs for a year, training them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, and in exchange he gets Martin's mentorship and the opportunity to run the Iditarod with a yearling team. His goal is to get the dogs out there, keep them healthy, train them to run a distance event, etc... It is a great opportunity There is no pressure to get a head and compete for time, and I think James appreciates this opportunity.
gotta run- getting a snow mobile tour of the area!
N
Nicolette Zarday, DVM, MPH
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Grounded in McGrath
Waiting at the airport
Starting where I left off talking about some of my veterinary teammates...
Sterling Thomas, from Oregon, cut from the same cloth as Stu. Lives in the Dalles, Oregon, and he spends a lot of time in Molokai, HI, where he set up the first vet clinic on the island. He is getting involved with the Hawaiian monk seal project out there and wants to do more with them. He has done search and rescue in Oregon and has some crazy stories about rescuing people and unfortunately recovering bodies in the Oregon wilderness. Burly. Not surprisingly he was selected as one of the drs to vet the finger lake checkpoint, which basically consists of a couple tents and an "out tent," ie a tent with a bucket in it. Unlike us slackers at Skwentna, the vets at finger lake had to do everything - set up the tents, distribute the straw, the food, cook the food for the volunteers, and do all the dropped dog management. This is sterling's first year on the Iditarod.
We also have Beth,whose last name I don't have handy, from North Carolina. She is a real spitfire. She has five kids and 17 grandchildren, owns her own practice, and is a real asset to the spirit of the team. She was disappointed that she didn't get to go to finger lake because the other checkpoints are too cushy.
There is Kathy who also is at least in her late sixties and did go to finger lake. When we reconvened back in Anchorage, she told us, " I cooked 72 hamburgers! On a camp stove!" Word from the others at that checkpoint was that she was a workhorse. They worked (not including the setup and breakdown of the site) from 01:30 to 19:30 on Monday.
On the way to the airport just now I met Lee from Maryland, when we shared a front seat of a pick up truck. After I had climbed into the front seat next to and partly on top of him, he introduced himself and made some commment about how this was like a lap dance and he should have kept a few dollars handy to tip me. I quickly retorted " the same rules apply. no hands." It was a proud moment for me- i usually think of the come back about five days later in the middle of the night. i donte want to give the wrong impression, because he really is not a sleaze bag At all but a very nice guy. He owns a practice in Georgetown and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He is a self described space geek, and he used to work as a marine biologist for NASA, prior to becoming a veterinarian. He has applied several years in a row for the astronaut program and has gotten as far as passing the physical but hasn't been selected. I'm routing for him.
Sterling Thomas, from Oregon, cut from the same cloth as Stu. Lives in the Dalles, Oregon, and he spends a lot of time in Molokai, HI, where he set up the first vet clinic on the island. He is getting involved with the Hawaiian monk seal project out there and wants to do more with them. He has done search and rescue in Oregon and has some crazy stories about rescuing people and unfortunately recovering bodies in the Oregon wilderness. Burly. Not surprisingly he was selected as one of the drs to vet the finger lake checkpoint, which basically consists of a couple tents and an "out tent," ie a tent with a bucket in it. Unlike us slackers at Skwentna, the vets at finger lake had to do everything - set up the tents, distribute the straw, the food, cook the food for the volunteers, and do all the dropped dog management. This is sterling's first year on the Iditarod.
We also have Beth,whose last name I don't have handy, from North Carolina. She is a real spitfire. She has five kids and 17 grandchildren, owns her own practice, and is a real asset to the spirit of the team. She was disappointed that she didn't get to go to finger lake because the other checkpoints are too cushy.
There is Kathy who also is at least in her late sixties and did go to finger lake. When we reconvened back in Anchorage, she told us, " I cooked 72 hamburgers! On a camp stove!" Word from the others at that checkpoint was that she was a workhorse. They worked (not including the setup and breakdown of the site) from 01:30 to 19:30 on Monday.
On the way to the airport just now I met Lee from Maryland, when we shared a front seat of a pick up truck. After I had climbed into the front seat next to and partly on top of him, he introduced himself and made some commment about how this was like a lap dance and he should have kept a few dollars handy to tip me. I quickly retorted " the same rules apply. no hands." It was a proud moment for me- i usually think of the come back about five days later in the middle of the night. i donte want to give the wrong impression, because he really is not a sleaze bag At all but a very nice guy. He owns a practice in Georgetown and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He is a self described space geek, and he used to work as a marine biologist for NASA, prior to becoming a veterinarian. He has applied several years in a row for the astronaut program and has gotten as far as passing the physical but hasn't been selected. I'm routing for him.
Two Men and Large Fish
Waiting to fly
On deck to depart from Anchorage.
We will leave Anchorage in about an hour from now on a large commercial flight to McGrath, a major hub on the western side of the Alaska range, from which I'll depart in a little plane to Takotna. I wouldn't be surprised however if I get reassigned to a different checkpoint because several of the teams are well beyond that point.
Not Whole helluva lot has happened with me in the last 24 hours so I thought I d write a little about the people I've met and seen.
Stu Nelson is the Iditarod chief vet and has been since 1996. Before that he worked the race as a volunteer for ten years. I had been in email contact with him for the last 8 months or so, and had a mental image of him as a codgery old school crusty vet, largely based on the fact that he has been doing it so long. NOT. Don't know if this acronym has been coined yet but I'd put him in the category of GLOM (good looking older man.) He is a tall strapping burly dude who does solo river trips in the Yukon Territory in his spare time, with a gentle and assuring demeanor. He is trying very hard and quite successfully to raise the bar on the veterinary care we provide during the race as well as on the way the mushers prepare and care for their dogs. He has been instrumental in fostering lots of research on sled dogs physiology and medicine, and is pushing hard for practices to be based on evidence rather than lore. He is well respected in this world.
Alan Hallman is the vet I worked with a lot in Skwentna. He is also an experienced sled dog vet, having been the chief vet for the Yukon Quest several times. He owns a practice in Arizona. He s dr red-state-hunting-fishing-Obama-bashing-Man's man guy, which makes it somewhat surprising how well we worked together. He was the one I worked with on that kerfuffle the other day, and we really supported each other well through that, and were able to have a good time working in spite of it.
In general the vets have been a joy to work with. Such a great group of people, so excited to be here and many off them doing such interesting things with their lives. I have to go get readY for our flight now but I will try to continue my personality pofiles when I can.
Not Whole helluva lot has happened with me in the last 24 hours so I thought I d write a little about the people I've met and seen.
Stu Nelson is the Iditarod chief vet and has been since 1996. Before that he worked the race as a volunteer for ten years. I had been in email contact with him for the last 8 months or so, and had a mental image of him as a codgery old school crusty vet, largely based on the fact that he has been doing it so long. NOT. Don't know if this acronym has been coined yet but I'd put him in the category of GLOM (good looking older man.) He is a tall strapping burly dude who does solo river trips in the Yukon Territory in his spare time, with a gentle and assuring demeanor. He is trying very hard and quite successfully to raise the bar on the veterinary care we provide during the race as well as on the way the mushers prepare and care for their dogs. He has been instrumental in fostering lots of research on sled dogs physiology and medicine, and is pushing hard for practices to be based on evidence rather than lore. He is well respected in this world.
Alan Hallman is the vet I worked with a lot in Skwentna. He is also an experienced sled dog vet, having been the chief vet for the Yukon Quest several times. He owns a practice in Arizona. He s dr red-state-hunting-fishing-Obama-bashing-Man's man guy, which makes it somewhat surprising how well we worked together. He was the one I worked with on that kerfuffle the other day, and we really supported each other well through that, and were able to have a good time working in spite of it.
In general the vets have been a joy to work with. Such a great group of people, so excited to be here and many off them doing such interesting things with their lives. I have to go get readY for our flight now but I will try to continue my personality pofiles when I can.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The first team arrives
Starting from where I left off last time, Most of Sunday consisted of waiting. The official start of the race was in Willow at 2pm ( the photos I posted previously were from the ceremonial start in Anchorage). Mushers typically start arriving to Skwentna around 8:30-9pm. Since it is early in the race, many of them opt not to stop for long, and instead push through. Our job as vets is to check over hopefully all the animals of the teams that are stopping, and to sign off on the teams that are not. Each musher carries a "vet book" which must be signed by the musher and a vet at each checkpoint. If they don't want to stay, we check off the "no exam" box, they usually grab their previously dropped off food supplies and off they go. Many mushers choose to camp out for a few hours either before or after the checkpoints, because it is quieter, less media and fans, less stimulation for the dogs, etc or because they want to rest during the warm part of the day and push through when the sun goes down so the dogs don't get hyperthermia. If further down the trail a musher has only "no exam" checked off for several checkpoints in a row, they are "strongly encouraged" to stop so we can check out the dogs and make sure everyone is doing ok.
At 6pm we had another delicious meal that couldn't be beat, and then went back to our post office to try to rest a bit before the long night ahead. Of course at that point it was pretty difficult to take a nap, with the anticipation mounting as the the sky got darker. (Incidentally there is still some daylight until around 18:45 or even later here, which was surprising to me.) Also, our humble abode was situated right alongside the snow machine (snow mobile) path and Skwentna also serves as a snow machine gas station. There is a certain type of person (often male, I'm just saying) who loses the ability to use their legs for walking when a snow mobile becomes available to them. I would really like it if someone would come up with a hybrid solar powered snow mobile that was quiet like a Prius. I wonder if the snow mobile demographic would embrace that.
In addition to the chainsaw sounds of the snowmobiles, around 8:30pm, we heard a helicopter chopping over us. There is something about that sound that makes you feel like something of significance is happening. Or that someone is in serious trouble. In this case it was probably the Iditarod Insider which is the main web based news source for the Iditarod. The mushers were getting close.
At that point we got suited up and walked down to the river. We had six veterinarians, three rookies like me and three experienced vets. We would roughly try to pair up for each team of dogs so that a rookie was with an experienced vet. As I walked over to the welcome banner with Alan, one of our most experienced sled dog vets, we could see a light approaching from down the trail. People gathered on either side of the banner, and instructions were yelled back and forth between the checkers, the runners, the flagger, and other volunteers. Finally what for minutes had been a light off in the distance suddenly turned into a team of running dogs and the crowd let up a big "whoop!" Martin Buser, many time champion, was the first musher to arrive. As he pulled to a stop, the checker welcomed him to Skwentna, recorded his arrival time, and asked him if he planned to stay. He said about 45 minutes, so "he s staying!" Was yelled out, a runner grabbed the gang line between the two lead dogs, and he was escorted down the line and then over to the side where a flagger waving a red glowing wand stood. Martin did not waste a moment idling. As soon as the team came to a stop, he set the brakes (which consist of two large claw like metal anchors that are hooked into the snow behind the sled) grabbed some things out of his sled and immediately started going down the team. Somewhere in there he tossed us the vet book and said we could look at the dogs as soon as he got the booties off. He walked down the line, connecting with each dog, pulling booties off, giving each one a vitamin E capsule, which has been show to decrease oxidative stress in sled dogs, talking to them and giving them a little love. As we did our exams he got hot water, food, and straw, all the while swarmed by journalists.The dogs are almost more excited about the straw as they are about the food. As soon as they have a little pile, they plop down and get comfy (ok some turn three times in a circle and then plop down). The dogs looked great. Within minutes of arrival, they were breathing at a normal rate, their heart rates were coming down, and they looked relaxed. And they were so nice. Sweet and affectionate, some a little shy and nervous, but not terrified. After the dogs were fed and watered, had been examined, and re-bootied, it wasn't long before he took off down the trail.
At 6pm we had another delicious meal that couldn't be beat, and then went back to our post office to try to rest a bit before the long night ahead. Of course at that point it was pretty difficult to take a nap, with the anticipation mounting as the the sky got darker. (Incidentally there is still some daylight until around 18:45 or even later here, which was surprising to me.) Also, our humble abode was situated right alongside the snow machine (snow mobile) path and Skwentna also serves as a snow machine gas station. There is a certain type of person (often male, I'm just saying) who loses the ability to use their legs for walking when a snow mobile becomes available to them. I would really like it if someone would come up with a hybrid solar powered snow mobile that was quiet like a Prius. I wonder if the snow mobile demographic would embrace that.
In addition to the chainsaw sounds of the snowmobiles, around 8:30pm, we heard a helicopter chopping over us. There is something about that sound that makes you feel like something of significance is happening. Or that someone is in serious trouble. In this case it was probably the Iditarod Insider which is the main web based news source for the Iditarod. The mushers were getting close.
At that point we got suited up and walked down to the river. We had six veterinarians, three rookies like me and three experienced vets. We would roughly try to pair up for each team of dogs so that a rookie was with an experienced vet. As I walked over to the welcome banner with Alan, one of our most experienced sled dog vets, we could see a light approaching from down the trail. People gathered on either side of the banner, and instructions were yelled back and forth between the checkers, the runners, the flagger, and other volunteers. Finally what for minutes had been a light off in the distance suddenly turned into a team of running dogs and the crowd let up a big "whoop!" Martin Buser, many time champion, was the first musher to arrive. As he pulled to a stop, the checker welcomed him to Skwentna, recorded his arrival time, and asked him if he planned to stay. He said about 45 minutes, so "he s staying!" Was yelled out, a runner grabbed the gang line between the two lead dogs, and he was escorted down the line and then over to the side where a flagger waving a red glowing wand stood. Martin did not waste a moment idling. As soon as the team came to a stop, he set the brakes (which consist of two large claw like metal anchors that are hooked into the snow behind the sled) grabbed some things out of his sled and immediately started going down the team. Somewhere in there he tossed us the vet book and said we could look at the dogs as soon as he got the booties off. He walked down the line, connecting with each dog, pulling booties off, giving each one a vitamin E capsule, which has been show to decrease oxidative stress in sled dogs, talking to them and giving them a little love. As we did our exams he got hot water, food, and straw, all the while swarmed by journalists.The dogs are almost more excited about the straw as they are about the food. As soon as they have a little pile, they plop down and get comfy (ok some turn three times in a circle and then plop down). The dogs looked great. Within minutes of arrival, they were breathing at a normal rate, their heart rates were coming down, and they looked relaxed. And they were so nice. Sweet and affectionate, some a little shy and nervous, but not terrified. After the dogs were fed and watered, had been examined, and re-bootied, it wasn't long before he took off down the trail.
First Iditarod checkpoint experience
Holy cannoli. I'm way too exhausted to go into details right now having spent 1.5 of the last 40 hours sleeping. I have a day of nothing again tomorrow so Ill fill in the gory details then. In the meantime, lets just say it was fun, it was cold at times, there was drama, there were many dogs, and there was another little plane.
I'll post a few photos to whet the appetite.
N
I'll post a few photos to whet the appetite.
N
Monday, March 4, 2013
Check point set up
N
We are about to start boarding
Notes from Skwentna 3/3
Notes from Skwentna 3/3
We flew out Saturday afternoon after the fog lifted. Sterling and I boarded a little blue plane piloted by a friendly fellow named Scott. Prior to boarding, he ran through all the various safety equipment, emergency communications devices and beacons, and emergency food and other survival supplies, I suppose so wed have a chance of making it even if he was unconscious or worse. I found the forethought that went into providing these items both comforting and disconcerting at the same time. In any case we had beautiful clear skies and barely a bump the entire ride. Below us was forest and frozen rivers, an occasional road, and lots of snow. The Alaska range was up ahead to our left, and out the right side of the plane was Denali, bathed in warm afternoon sunlight.
We landed gently on the snowy runway and came to a stop. I was quickly whisked away by a snow machine, aka snow mobile, up to the Skwentna homestead. W crossed the frozen river and climbed up the bank, stopped in front of a log cabin where a group of around 30 people were congregating. I was expecting a skeleton crew but was met instead by this cheerful group of fresh faced and extremely friendly group. They all seemed to be long lost friends - they were hugging each other warmly, hugging me warmly, slapping each other on the back, smiling and laughing. I felt like i had landed in some secret magical kingdom of happy people. Brigadoon in a Alaska? A number of the women were wearing bright red matching aprons, suggesting that some culinary delights might be served up later. I later learned that they went by the name "Sweeties," a well- deserved term. Apparently the Skwentna volunteer group consisted of friends, and friends of friends, many of whom had been coming up here for years. They were so happy to be here and their warmth and energy infused the place. They were also extremely organized- everybody had their designated jobs, the sweeties had already been preparing dinner, which was delicious, all prepared without running water. I definitely had arrived at the Ritz Carlton of checkpoints.
That night we six vets slept in the post office, heated by a wood stove. The next morning was warm and clear, and after a breakfast of French toast, eggs, sausage, avocado (!!!), and fresh fruit, a couple of the other vets and I went for a walk. There wasn't much work for us to do yet. The official start of the race in willow wouldn't be until two pm, and the Skwentna volunteer team seemed to be on top of all the checkpoint preparations. The night before, after dinnerthey Had packed down the snow on the river with snow mobile style Zambonis to make it easier for everyone to walk around the check point. In the morning they started distributing the straw bales that the mushers would use to bed their dogs, if they decided to stay, and organizing all the dropped shipment of food , setting up me checkpoint banner, etc... I felt a little guilty but it was pretty clear that my services were not needed. So we walked a couple miles down the middle of the frozen river to the confluence of the Skwentna and Yentna rivers, enjoying the relative warmth and fresh air.
Our work will be tonight. The first teams are expected around nine pm, end they'll be streaming in through the wee hours of the am. Well be trying to examine as many dogs as we can, although many of the teams tr to blow throw this checkpoint quickly and camp further up the trail. We do have to keep an eye out for hyperthermia as it has been in the mid thirties f today without much wind. The conditions that are comfortable for us can lead to overheating for the dogs. In this warm weather, we may see more teams than usual trying to push through the night so they can rest their dogs during the warmer weather during the day. This may be especially true tonight since there is a mountain pass coming up the trail.
Sent from my iPad
We flew out Saturday afternoon after the fog lifted. Sterling and I boarded a little blue plane piloted by a friendly fellow named Scott. Prior to boarding, he ran through all the various safety equipment, emergency communications devices and beacons, and emergency food and other survival supplies, I suppose so wed have a chance of making it even if he was unconscious or worse. I found the forethought that went into providing these items both comforting and disconcerting at the same time. In any case we had beautiful clear skies and barely a bump the entire ride. Below us was forest and frozen rivers, an occasional road, and lots of snow. The Alaska range was up ahead to our left, and out the right side of the plane was Denali, bathed in warm afternoon sunlight.
We landed gently on the snowy runway and came to a stop. I was quickly whisked away by a snow machine, aka snow mobile, up to the Skwentna homestead. W crossed the frozen river and climbed up the bank, stopped in front of a log cabin where a group of around 30 people were congregating. I was expecting a skeleton crew but was met instead by this cheerful group of fresh faced and extremely friendly group. They all seemed to be long lost friends - they were hugging each other warmly, hugging me warmly, slapping each other on the back, smiling and laughing. I felt like i had landed in some secret magical kingdom of happy people. Brigadoon in a Alaska? A number of the women were wearing bright red matching aprons, suggesting that some culinary delights might be served up later. I later learned that they went by the name "Sweeties," a well- deserved term. Apparently the Skwentna volunteer group consisted of friends, and friends of friends, many of whom had been coming up here for years. They were so happy to be here and their warmth and energy infused the place. They were also extremely organized- everybody had their designated jobs, the sweeties had already been preparing dinner, which was delicious, all prepared without running water. I definitely had arrived at the Ritz Carlton of checkpoints.
That night we six vets slept in the post office, heated by a wood stove. The next morning was warm and clear, and after a breakfast of French toast, eggs, sausage, avocado (!!!), and fresh fruit, a couple of the other vets and I went for a walk. There wasn't much work for us to do yet. The official start of the race in willow wouldn't be until two pm, and the Skwentna volunteer team seemed to be on top of all the checkpoint preparations. The night before, after dinnerthey Had packed down the snow on the river with snow mobile style Zambonis to make it easier for everyone to walk around the check point. In the morning they started distributing the straw bales that the mushers would use to bed their dogs, if they decided to stay, and organizing all the dropped shipment of food , setting up me checkpoint banner, etc... I felt a little guilty but it was pretty clear that my services were not needed. So we walked a couple miles down the middle of the frozen river to the confluence of the Skwentna and Yentna rivers, enjoying the relative warmth and fresh air.
Our work will be tonight. The first teams are expected around nine pm, end they'll be streaming in through the wee hours of the am. Well be trying to examine as many dogs as we can, although many of the teams tr to blow throw this checkpoint quickly and camp further up the trail. We do have to keep an eye out for hyperthermia as it has been in the mid thirties f today without much wind. The conditions that are comfortable for us can lead to overheating for the dogs. In this warm weather, we may see more teams than usual trying to push through the night so they can rest their dogs during the warmer weather during the day. This may be especially true tonight since there is a mountain pass coming up the trail.
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Lance Mackey
Iditarod ceremonial start today!
The race got off to a start this morning,at least ceremonially, in Anchorage. I'm taking off by little plane to Skwentna in about an hour, hopefully, so rather than write a lot here (I'm too nervous and distracted to do that) I'll post some photos from this am.
Waiting at the start
This was the first team waiting on the start line. Check out how psyched they are!!
Fwd: The musher's banquet
> I shared a van with him and some other people to the banquet. Nice guy. In a small world coincidence, two of the trail volunteers in the van were from San Jose (Ca). Guess where they take their dogs for veterinary care?! Adobe!
>
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