LET THE BIDDING BEGIN!!

Okay, the site is ready for the silent auction!  You may get there by clicking here or clicking on Karin's "dreamy" picture to the right. (Perhaps she is dreaming of the new sled she has to buy!  Let's help her.)

Here's the reminder of the repair Karin had to do on her sled 

The auction is open until 10:00 p.m. MDT on April 19th, 2013.

Flat Stanley keeping us company
at breakfast.

Justin "AJ" Savidis, Angie Taggart and
Karin Hendrickson 3 mushers with
Idaho connections

So here is my last block about the Iditarod for this year. The banquet last Sunday lived up to expectations for great food, a few good stories - though more would have been good - and recognition for all those who finished the race. The last musher, winner of the red lantern, arrived Sunday afternoon at 1:36 in time to take a shower before the banquet. The doors open at 3 and the dinner doesn't start until about 5. Hobo Jim kept us entertained with his songs and there was just a lot of chatter amongst the mushers and their fans. 

Nome really has no trees but each winter at the time of the Iditarod the Nome Forest appears.  I don't know if they just let them sink in the bay or ???

Karin and Varan had a couple of in Nome to have some fun after their dogs had flown home (their dog handler, Miriam, picked the dogs up and took care of them).  We all flew back from Nome late Sunday night to Anchorage and they drove on home.  That gave Karin the remainder of Monday to get ready for work on Tuesday.  The dogs have a 300 mile race with Miriam this week-end and thus ends the racing season for Blue on Black Kennels.

The work now begins for finding sponsors - big and small - to help be part of this adventure.  My sister will be having the annual salmon dinner (chicken and vegetarian dishes available) on April 20th.  $40 for the dinner and a free Tales of the Trail 2013 power point presentation.

NEXT EVENT:  A SILENT AUCTION FROM APRIL 2ND THRU 19TH 2013

CHECK BACK RIGHT HERE. =)

 

and hopefully a cookbook by autumn.

 

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and for your welcomed comments.  Hope you find the silent auction goodies of interest.  There are items that will start at 50 cents on up to $40.



Backside of the burl arch.  Finish sign down because the wind
had been so strong.  Waiting for Karin to get up on Front St.

Just one more gee and then a haw and up the shute to the arch.

In the shute: snacks from Karin while Varan takes off booties.

Karin: bib, white wind breaker, fur from hood of her blue parka.
Shortly after this she did a strip of several layers.

This morning, Friday, Gwen and I were going to have breakfast with Karin and Varan.  They arrived first and ordered their breakfasts and got a few bites in  before they got a call saying the dogs needed to be ready NOW for their flight.  What happened to the "we'll call you and give you a heads up"?  So they ran out the door as we arrived, went to the dog yard and got the dogs ready in time.  By the time they got back we were through with our breakfasts and the dogs were in the air.  They called Miriam, their great dog handler, and told her the dogs were arriving at 1:30 in Anchorage.  It was 12:15 when they called her and it is a 2 hour drive in.  Oh well.  So, now for the first time Karin and Varan can enjoy Nome with no dogs to feed or exercise or worry about.  Lots of good entertainment in the bars.

 

Did I tell you she dropped Alis in Shaktoolik?  Anyway she did and I don't know the reason.

 

The banquet here in Nome is on Sunday.  It is a much less formal affair than the beginning banquet in Anchorage.  Not a sitdown dinner but a buffet with prime rib and a sled on each of the 2 serving tables filled with strawberries and 2 tables full of desserts.  The mushers go across the stage one at a time to get their patch and recognition.  Often there are wonderful 'tales from the trail.'

Working, even volunteer work, is taking too much of my time.  As many of you already know Karin came in under the burl arch - the finish of the Iditarod - today (well, it was Thursday when I started this) at 4:44 p.m. with 10 dogs.  She was in 40th place.  This is her slowest race at 11 days, 1 hour, 44 minutes and 48 seconds.  (Don't ask, I don't know how they figure it down to the second.)  She was in very good spirits and extremely proud of her youngest dog, Elway, whom she had put in lead position along with Cutter.

Okay, I got off duty a little over an hour ago having started 15 minutes after Karin came in.  Now they are wanting to close this building down as the last musher until tomorrow afternoon is coming in and nobody will have to stay here tonight.  Ah, the poor town kiddos what are they going to do?  They usually hang out here for much of the night.  Where are the parents?! 

Will try to get pictures in tomorrow.  Maybe, maybe I can find a connection at the hotel.

One more comment, Newton's dog Mae made her way home.  Once she was back into territory she knew well she willingly got into someone's car and was taken home.  Happy ending!!

One more comment, there are now 12 mushers who have scratched - actually one was withdrawn.

Okay, now that I have internet let me fill in a few details.  Mitch left White Mountain after his mandatory 8 hour rest at 13:11 the afternoon of 3/12.  Aliy left 13 minutes later after her 8 hours.  They finished 34 minutes apart with Mitch's dogs having made the 77 mile run into Nome in 9 hours and 28 minutes.

Karin left White Mountain this morning at 7:20, has passed through Safety and is now only 22 miles out from Nome.  It is 1:36 p.m. local time.  The dogs are 'cookin'': speed listed as 9.6!  Maybe they are going downhill, but they are on a little spit of land that goes between the Bering Sea and Safety Sound.  They do have a hill to climb up ahead of them.  It would appear that she wll come in 39th; she won't be real happy with that.  She has realized that her dogs are faster than she thought and that it is the lenght of the rest stops that is delaying her.  The heat has not helped. 

One gets a bit warped up here as to what is warm.  It is a very pleasant 10 degrees above today here in Nome.  I have yet to put on my padded coveralls but have been wearing my lined jeans with thin long johns and I only have on an undershirt and long sleeve tee-shirt (Blue on Black Kennels, of course) under my parka when I'm outside.  My boots are good, but I'm doing fine without a hat though I have put up my parka hood when the wind is blowing.

I know what I wanted to tell you and should have days ago, when you are looking at the GPS Tracker on iditarod.com the positions on the left hand side are not accurate.  They are fine for those on the trail but when people are in a checkpoint going 0.0 mph they seem to put them in numerical bib order.  Oh well, it will be a finish for Karin soon.

Shoot, Beals #22 just passed her!  They are 18 miles out.  This too may be a race!  will keep an eye on it.  I don't have to be to work until 5 and she should be in before then.  Oh dang, I need to go back to the hotel and get my camera.  Later.

I sent a text to my cousin who has access to this blog to let you know I was having computer problems but I see she must not have gotten my text.  Dang.  Well I am now at the Mini Convention Center in Nome where they have Internet connection that I can use. =)  Here's what I wrote this morning.

Writing off line so I can copy this into the blog later. I’m in my room at the Nugget Inn, Nome, Alaska. Frustration is beginning to really get to me. The finish for first and second place was exciting. Tuesday we were in the air flying from Unalakleet to Nome. We flew over one of the mushers…a cute little, tiny chain of dogs and sled with musher. Not certain whom we saw, but I think it had to be Mitch. Interesting to see the trail from the air. Mitch came in first and Aliy once again lost to a Seavey: Mitch this year and his son Dallas last year. More after I get on the web. *grrr*

Last evening, Wednesday, we had a bit of a scare for we saw on the GPS tracker that Karin had stopped 12 miles out of Elim after having taken a 6 hour rest there. As many of you may remember it was outside of Elim a couple of years ago that Karin had trouble and was rescued by musher Allen Moore (husband of Aliy Zirkle). We thought “Oh no, not again.” but after what seemed like forever she got underway again. *whew*

This morning, Thursday, Karin left White Mountain shortly after 7. Since at this juncture I still can’t get on the internet with my computer and I have yet to get to a computer where I can get information I am not sure of the exact time. It does tell me, however, that she got into White Mountain without further problems and shortly after 11 last night as I had anticipated. Expected her in around 5 this evening. Her husband is now here in Nome. Varan was taking care of the dog boxes this morning getting them to the dog lot in preparation. He told us that the dogs just didn’t want to run in the heat of the day, hence the out-of-Elim stop. Guess she talked to him during her mandatory 8 hour rest there in White Mountain.

On the lighter side, when Gwen and I got through with our volunteer duties last night we went down to one of the bars, of which there are MANY, to hear Hobo Jim. He has been writing songs about Alaska including the Iditarod for many years. He always plays before the banquest gets underway in Anchorage and then plays up here at the end of the race. Another late night, but when it doesn’t get dark until 10 it doesn’t seem so bad.

Karin is now crossing the Norton Bay and 22 miles out of Koyuk traveling at 7+mph.  (Yes, that part of Alaska has remained cold enough that the ice has not broken up.)  She remains in 36th position but could move up a spot or two.  Last year she came in 36th. 

Meanwhile Mitch Seavey and Aliy Zirkle have left White Mountain having finished the mandatory 8 hours - and not a minute more.  It is 77 miles to Nome and usually takes a musher about 10 hours.  The mushers now have their bibs again.  There is an ever so brief stop in Safety and then about 20 miles to Nome.  (One year a team quit on a musher about 7 miles out of Nome.)  The excitement builds.  Will Aliy finally win this year?  She lost by so little last year.

The dark horse is Dallas Seavey, last year's winner, who is nearly 3 hours behind them and anxiously awaiting his release from White Mountain.  He has a light sled that he can run behind and he is in his mid 20's and....well, we will know about 11 tonight.

Gwen and I should actually be in Nome to see the finish for first.  If we have the same room as last year we have only to step out of our room to the window in the hallway to look down on the finish line AND to be able to see Main Street for several yards.  What a finish it could be.  When I last checked the tracker Aliy was only 2 miles behind Mitch.  Go Aliy!  Go dogs go...but don't wear yourselves out before the finish!

Karin arriving in Unalakleet shortly after sunset.

Karin at Unalakleet - lightened version.

A somewhat tired musher feeling better having just
finished a moose burger with bacon
and cheese.

The repair job of part of the broken part of the sled. 
There is another part that goes to the other side of
the sled that is also 'mended.  It is all holding!
 

A few quick words before I fall asleep.  Karin got in at 9:10 tonight/Monday and plans to leave in 4 hours or so, about 1:30.  I found out tha she dropped both Harp and Lyra in Eagle Island due to injuries from the rough trail - nothing seriouos, but they needed to be dropped.  She dropped Spartan in Kaltag for something like she was leery that he wouldn't make it all the way to Unalakleet and he is too big to carry in the sled.  I may not have heard all of that correctly.  She is also dropping Hatchet here in Unalakleet because of a hind leg injury.  But all of the dogs are doing well and are happy.  Karin was in great spirits and planned to get an hour of sleep.  I'll post some pictures in the morning but for now I am going to bed.

A bit ago I noticed that I had really been unobservant as when I noted that Karin had dropped a dog in Kaltag it was an 'oops' moment: that brought her count down to 12 dogs.  What happened to the other two?  But with minimal search I found she dropped two at Eagle Island checkpoint.  I won't know which dogs until Karin gets in tonight and then I will add that info to my post.  I will also post a picture of the damage to her sled from when she caught that tree branch back before Nikolai, 5-6 days ago.  The repair job should be interesting; it seems to have held.

Since one of the things I work at doing for Karin is raising money (any ideas?) and trying to find sponsors (hello?) I figure I should mention that one of Karin's fans wrote to Gwen that we should set a goal of financing the purchase of a new sled for Karin.  They cost several thousand dollars so.....Gwen is changing the name of the dinner on April 20th this year from Fishing for Dollars to Fishing for Sled Dollars.  The dinner is an annual affair in Mt. Baldy, CA, with adult beverages served at my sister's and the barbequed salmon - and other protein - dinner served at the elementary school there in Mt. Baldy.  Karin will fly down and give a power point presentation: Tales From the Trail.  All are welcome; just write to me or my sister for details.

I will also be working with Karin to put out a small cookbook with her favorite recipes (she is a good cook, too!) and recipes from her fans.  Need a title, something catchy.  Any ideas?  Let me know before June 1st and you might win one of the cookbooks.  They should sell for $15.00 and I hope to have them available before the end of summer...in plenty of time for Thanksgiving hostess gifts or Christmas/Chanukkah.

End of ad.

Good morning!  Karin got into Kaltag 8:50 last night, took her mandatory 8 hours and left after 8 hours and 4 minutes at 4:54 a.m.  Yeah, she is on her way to Unalakleet and in 36th position.  It seems to take 9-12 hours to get here, so Karin should be in in time for dinner at the Community Center. =)

The weather it took a change yesterday.  Not often you can go some place with the wind at your back and return with the wind at your back; a 180 degree change in the wind and with it we dropped from a high of 28 degrees above yesterday to a minus 5 this morning.

Flat Stanley's new friend from the village.

On a lighter note, my sister still has Flat Stanley with us.  Did I tell you she made a parka with a fur ruff for him?  Here he is with the Unalakleet dog lot in the background - and the hills across the frozen slough where the children are playing.

Karen is 34 miles out of Kaltag and has stopped - perhaps to snack the dogs, hopefully not because of her sled problems.  If she gets to Kaltag by 6 tonight then she can get her 8 hour mandatory rest in and still be in Unalakleet in the afternoon of tomorrow.  Oh the guessing we do trying to figure out what is going on.

Martin Buser is in 13th place at this juncture.  My guess is his dogs are still pretty tired from their gruelling 12hour + trip breaking trail into Kaltag.  The other news is the storm coming in.  It can be really, really wicked between here and Koyuk with high winds and whiteouts.  In the past the markers for the trail have been ripped out by the wind.  This is always an interesting race and it ain't over until the last leader dog gets to the burl in Nome.

This is the back of the Post Office and Community Center where the bags with food and gear that the mushers sent out last month.  It is just short walk - down hill - to the dog lot.  The community has losts of food for the mushers and 3 or 4 rooms set up with beds so they can crash is relative isolation.

I'm off to go watch some more dogs come in.



Mitch Seavey coming into Unalakleet.  The lead dog seems to
be enjoying the view.



Mitch Seavey on his sled as his dogs
take him to their
parking place in Unalakleet.

We got up at 4:30 this morning as someone had thought the first musher would be in before 6.  After looking at the computer we went back to bed.  Mitch Seavey was the first musher into Unalakleet and arrived at 10:13.  Aaron Burmeister arrived at 10:27.  Those two had been exchanging lead back and forth from Kaltag.  I would say there were a couple hundred people out to see them come in.  Mitch, being first, received the gold nuggets valued at $2500 for being the first musher to reach the Bering Sea.



Aaron Burmeister ready to
drop the snow hook.



Aaron and his team taking one of the final turns into Unalakleet.

Here's a link to an interesting graphic: http://iditarod.ionearth.com/2013/iditarod/analytics/3227.  Don't know if you will be able to get on as that is part of the Insider-pay-to-watch, but IF you can... The top line is the elevation map from Willow (on the left side of the graph).

Last year's picture of Unalakleet.  This
year is hardly any snow, but I didn'tget
a picture.  This is nearly the whole town.

We made it to Unalakleet safely and about on time.  We were met by our host, Ron, and his truck for the 1/3 mile ride to his and Kathy's home.  Unalakleet is small.  There is a population of about 700 people.  Temp is 21 degrees right now...last year it was minus 30 or more!

Expect the first musher into Unalakleet tomorrow morning.  It is 85 miles from Kaltag. 

The trail from Eagle Island was horrible today when Martin Buser was traveling.  It took him 11 hours and 43 minutes.  A few hours later someone made it in 9 hours plus.  So Martin lost 3 hours of lead time and has tired dogs.  Aliy Zerkle just breezed through and has passed Martin.  This could be a really interesting race and there are miles to go.

Karin left Shageluk this morning at 5:07 with 15 dogs still.  As I look at the Current Standings the last four teams into Anvik have taken just over four hours to get there.  So I would think that before 10 she should be there and then she will be on the Yukon River.  Temperature this morning on the river is 19 with a 10 mph wiind making it feel like 8.  High today is predicted to be 28 ans there is light snow and wind.  So a much cooler day and I can stop wondering about what the mushers do if the river is thawing.  They are on the Yukon from Anvik to Kaltag a distance of 140 miles.  Oh yes, the wind: it is blowing in their faces, coming down stream.  In Karin's first year it was much colder, the wind was high and she left Grayling in a whiteout!

Martin Buser is maintaining his lead by some 3 hours ahead of Aliy Zirkle, but only 17 miles and a long way yet to go.  They have both taken their mandatory 8 hour rest required on this part of the race.  (Wonder where Karin will take hers?)

The other musher that Gwen and I watch with added interest is Ray Redington, Jr., the grandson of Joe Redington who is considered the Father of the Iditarod.  It is with Ray's mother we stay in Unalakleet.  Ray is currently in 13th position and arrived at Eagle Island about 6 this morning having already taken his 8 hour.  He came in one minute later than last year's champ Dallas Seavey.  That could be an interesting little race; wonder who will leave first.

Last night we went to a local playhouse and saw At Home With the Clarks.  A play set in the 1960's mid America with all the concerns about nuclear war, changes in language and parental rule, zombies...anyway it was funny if just for comments about television and how someday it would come on instantly and how there were 3 stations and nothing worth watching.

Gwen and I leave at noon today to fly out to Unalakleet.  We will have breakfast at Gwennie's first.  We will not be doing any volunteer work until we get to Nome on Tuesday or Wednesday. This is what we are leaving behind: 

Retail store in hotel lobby.



Gwen showing what we do in the phone room.

Stats: checking and rechecking info.

Ah, here's the link and the story as sent to me by faithful reader and enthusiast Kat.  Many thanks! 

 

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130307/iditablog-plucky-takotna-solves-its-missing-pie-filling-crisis

Update 10:30 a.m., Thursday, March 7

TAKOTNA -- Two boxes of pie filling didn't make it here for various reasons before the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the first time in memory that has happened. No matter. The community of 50 residents cleaned out cupboards to make sure mushers would be treated to around-the-clock pies, one of the 1,000-mile race’s most-anticipated rituals.

One of the boxes from Anchorage got lost in the shuffle, with bad flying weather and once-a-week mail service mucking things up further, according to Iditarod checker Nell Huffman, who's lived in Takotna 27 years. She quickly dispatched someone to buy all the pie filling in McGrath -- some $250 worth. That didn't make it here, either.

 

So instead, the community of Takotna cleared out their cupboards, taking whatever canned fruit and leftover pie filling they could find to make the 100 or so pies that are a constant presence and a hallmark of the checkpoint.

There're still apple, pear, peanut butter and cherry pies in rotation. With at least three pies on the table at all times, you'd never know there had been pie-fillings crisis.

Huffman said for some Takotna children, seeing families make pie out of actual fruit -- and not just from canned pie pilling -- has been an eye opener.

"The young kids are like, 'You can make pies out of fruit?'" she said.

Latest word from the Iditarod communications operator Troy Zachary is that the missing pie filling might be headed to Iditarod by mistake -- though it’s not going to do much good in the ghost town. And, really, who knows?

"They could be from one end (of the trail) to the other," he said. "But they're definitely not here."

No matter for Huffman and the rest of Takotna, The fillings will make it when they make it, and there’s no question Takotna will be ready next year.

"They will end up in the right place eventually," Huffman said. "It's pure sugar. It'll keep."

Karin is 36 miles out of Takotna and taking another rest.  Generally she runs about 6 hours and rests 6 hours.  Shoot by the time I finish writing this she may be back on the trail.

Read a cute article about Takotna today, dang if I can find it now.  It was about how the shipment of pie filling had not arrived in the town and they are known for their pies...about 100 pies for the 66 mushers plus officials, veterinarian, press.  Anyway, the town went to their cupboards and gathered all the fruit, pie filling and anything else that would do and the pies were made.  Eventually the ordered pie filling will arrive and they will be ready for next year.  I guess some of the children were amazed that pies can be made from fruit...they have only seen canned filling. =)


Doc

Here is this link to an article about Takotna that will give you an idea of this 'town'. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/slideshow/photos-iditarod-2013-takotna

To backtrack a bit, when Karin got into Rohn she dropped a dog and I have now found out from Varan, her husband, that it was Doc.  Apparently he had a sore shoulder and sore ribs do not know the cause.  Guess we will have to wait for the Tales from the Trail.

Meanwhile the race at the lead is getting interesting with Martin Buser in the lead but some of the others gaining.  Several are out of Iditarod which is the half way point.

Karin got into Takotna at 0958 and should, therefore, be back on the trail at 1114 having  completed her mandatory 24 hour + rest.  (Hopefully she has been able to repair her sled statisfactorily and it will hold together until Nome.) 

I've had a few great questions asked so let me answer those this morning before I charge off to work.  Here is a link for finding out where the various mushers are.  www.Iditarod.com  then click on 2013 Race and click on current standings.  These are updated as the information gets into comms and then to stats where we put the information into the computer and publish the log.

Food for the dogs and for the musher are shipped out in February to the various checkpoints.  They must also carry on their sled enough food for an emergency, should they get stranded between checkpoints and have to campout.  Karin takes a variety of food for herself never knowing what will sound good when extremely tired.  I know that in the past she has had macaroni and cheese, burritos, pizza, stew.  These are all strink wrapped in individual servings so that when she is heating water for the dogs meals she can put one into the cooker and heat up her frozen meal.  A problem for both dogs and mushers is hydration and this year with it being so warm I would imagine that the dogs are not as interested in warm water as when it is minus 20 or minus 40.  In the past the water is heated and served with the food.  The dogs also eat a lot of frozen salmon, other fish and meat.  They need 12000 calories a day on the trail so that can be a challenge.  A lot of fatty foods are needed.

Time to get to work.  Later.  Oh, please note that there is a map of the trail, but it is to the right of where the little white rectangle is and maybe you can get to it by clicking on the ornage letters that say map.

Karin is now in Takotna where I am sure she will do her 24 hour mandatory rest, which for her is 25 hours 16 minutes.  Takotna is her favorite checkpoint as the village goes all out for the mushers and feed them very well.  She has repairs to do on her sled as I understand from an article in the Alaska Dispatch, a local newspaper.

"Karin Hendrickson asked for extra hose clamps, hoping to add more sturdiness to the back of her sled. She slammed into a tree branch 10 miles past an ice flow known as the Post River glacier, knocking her sled apart. She was able to rig it back together with clamps, tape and string, though she wasn't sure how long it would hold, and she doesn't have a backup sled.
'It's not going all the way to Nome like that,' she said. 'So it should be interesting.'"

I feel as though I'm living in parallel worlds knowing that the mushers are out in the wilderness doing their thing and I am watching on the GPS and the updates as well as working in the various sections of the vounteer groups.  And then there is your world.

Hope to add some pictures tomorrow.  Today was not a great day, but I'm back up to 90%.  I did, however, have to reschedule a hot stone massage I was so looking forward to.   Will now have it done on Friday afternoon.

By the way, I am trying to get the map so you can use it more easily.  It is currently to the right of the blog.  I also have 4 more dogs picture to get up.  Karin has dropped one dog but I don't know who or why.

Martin Buser, who basically ran his team the 168 miles to Rohn, has finished his mandatory 24 hour rest and is back on the trail.  Now the mandatory 24 hour rest can be taken at any checkpoint and is what evens out the race.  As you recall, the teams start at 2 minute intervals.  When the 24 hour rest is taken the additional time is added so that if you are the last musher (bib #67 this year) you only have to do 24 hours.  If you have bib #66 you will do 24 hours and 2 minutes; bib #65 will do 24 hours 4 minutes, etc.  Martin Buser has bib #2 and had to do 26 hours and 10 minutes.  He is the first musher to do the '24' so he may look behind but the mushers in front of him still have theirs to do.

Besides the mandatory '24' there is a mandatory 8 hours that has to be taken in one of the checkpoints on the Yukon River.  Lastly all the mushers have to spend 8 hours in White Mountain which is 70 miles from Nome.  All additional rests are taken when and where the musher wants, at a checkpoint or not.  Mushers have food and supplies at each checkpoint that they shipped last month.  The checkpoints also have straw on which to bed the dogs and water available, sometimes from a hole in a lake.  A musher who wants to campout away from a checkpoint can pick up a bale and take it with them along with their bags of food/supplies.

Karin rested at mile 199 and is now less than 40 miles (about 5-6 hours) out from McGrath.  She is currently listed as being in position 42.  It is really , really warm for the dogs with the temp in the 30's ABOVE zero.  They'd be happier and faster if it were 30 below.

Wrong again: Karin has been in Rohn since shortly after 1 a.m..  I thought she get back on the trail sooner since it is to hot.  I don't believe it is below zero anywhere on the trail.  There is a 'severe storm warning' for several of the checkpoints but only until Wednesday night, for now.  So maybe it will get colder.  It has been in the 30's here in Anchorage with the low in the 20's.  Pretty balmy.

Off to work.  Working in retail sales this morning and then back up to stats.  Will write later about the mandatory 24 hour layover as one of the mushers is already taking his.

Worked in the phone room from 7 to 9 this morning.  In the days before computers, the internet and so many users of such, the phone room was a very busy place with people calling to find out where their favorite mushers were and who was in first, etc.  Now days there are few calls and a lot fewer people answering the calls.  Still there is a need as some to not have computers.  We also answer questions for school children doing assignments and people trying to locate various things or people. Having stayed up late last night I took a nap until my noon time shift in the stats room.  Worked in stats until 6 tonight.  It is in stats where the information of mushers progress is entered in to the computer for people to see.  As the mushers arrive at a check point they have to sign in and when they leave they are to let someone know.  This information along with how many dogs are on the team at arrival and departure is sent to comms who then sent it to stats so that the world can know.

Often a musher prefers not to stay at a check point but to travel on and camp on the trail or go on to the next check point.  There are 21 check points plus the start line and the finish line.  Karin has passed Rainy Pass (the 4th check point) and is on her way to Rohn.  Her game plan often is to travel 6-8 hours and then take a 6 hour rest.   It has been so warm during the day that I imagine she will travel quite a bit tonight.  The dogs are most comfortable traveling in zero to minus 10 degree weather...or even colder.

Tonight I have entered pictures of 12 of Karin's team members.  I hope I got them right as I find it hard to tell who is who.  Tomorrow I will get the remaining 4 in so that you can see all 16 by clicking on their name at the top of the page.

Work the rest of the week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There they go.

Here they come.

What a great parade/ceremonial start Saturday.  Gwen and I had a great view out on the airstrip very near the end of the race.  The dogs were too warm and some of the mushers stopped near us to let their dogs roll in the snow and eat some snow.  All seemed to be having a good time.  Karin came by with her handler, Miriam, on the second sled.  They were waving sticks with ribbons/streamers and Karin had on a hat with black and blue 'dred locks'.

Afterward Gwen and I met a few friends in town at The White Spot, a local cafe known for its halibut sandwiches.  YUMMY!  And then it was time for a brief horizontal stretch and then off to Karin's nearly to Talkeetna.  Lasagna, salad and carrot cake for dinner.  Karin packed her sled.

Start line.



View of the mushers' parking area.



Team line-up

Sunday morning started fairly late with most sleeping in until nearly 8 o'clock.  The dogs sang to us a couple of times during the night; it actually sounds neat.  One will bark a bit and then another joins in and soon all are howling/singing and then it suddenly stops.  Anyway, coffee, sweet rolls, warmed up sausage links and left over carrot cake for breakfast and even time to visit the dogs before heading out to Willow and the start.  We mere volunteers needed to be there by 10:30 and Karin etal. didn't need to be there until noonish.  My post was super: post 7 which was a VIP entrance to the mushers' parking area; it also happened to be right where #29 was to park and so I got to watch the whole set up.

Harnesses are on.

Booties next.

Walk out to the line position.

Ready and just waiting.

 

 Note team/sled are tied to trailer.
 

The race started exactly at 2:00 p.m. with bib #2 leaving.  As bib number 29 Karin's start time was, and here is my disclaimer - 'if my calculation is right', 2:56 p.m.  I'll be following here on the computer not only by her check-in to the various check-points but also by the GPS that is attached to her sled.  I'll see her in Unalakleet next week.

 

Lots more to write, but it is nearly midnight and I have to be in the phone room at the Millenium by 7 in the morning.  Night.



This article was sent to me by a friend who has volunteer many years but unable to be here this year.

Iditarod Dogs Get Medical Checks Before Last Great Race

Originally printed at http://www.ktva.com/home/outbound-xml-feeds/Iditarod-Dogs-Get-Medical-Checks-Before-Last-Great-Race-190956331.html

By Heather Hintze
February 12, 2013

WASILLA - Karin Hendrickson’s huskies are ready to trek a thousand miles through the Alaskan wilderness. Before they can take off though, they have to make a trip to the vet.
“Good job, sweetheart,” Misty Libby, a licensed vet tech, whispered to one of the dogs while she’s getting her blood drawn.
“We check for 24 different chemistries, kidney function as well as a CBC which is a complete blood count. We check white blood cells, red blood cells, make sure everything is going well and there are no problems,” said Sabrina Pennington, a licensed vet tech.
Drawing the dogs’ blood is the easy part.
“The dogs are surprisingly wonderful about it. They tolerate what we do very well,” said Pennington.
It’s getting them to hold still for a heart check up that presented problems for a few pups.
“They're sled dogs. They know one thing and one thing only and they like to run. They think that's fun. This here's not so fun. They think it's a silly human trick,” said Cassandra Winslow, the Assistant Head Vet Tech for the Iditarod.
In the three weeks leading up to the Last Great Race, veterinarians will test nearly 1,400. Each musher is allowed to have up to 24 checked. “I brought 22 dogs,” said veteran Iditarod musher Karin Hendrickson. "I have a pretty small kennel so that's pretty much everything I've got.”
While the health of the dogs is always a top priority for the Iditarod, this year testing may be more important than ever. Four dogs have already died in races across the state. Mushers said while they can’t control what happens on the trail, they do everything they can up front to make sure their dogs are in good shape.
“Last year I had a dog with a little bit of a problem that we caught during blood work. We were able to treat her and she ended up finishing in lead for me. Without the blood work, we wouldn't have known. It's huge,” said Hendrickson.
This is just one of many steps at the start of the race to ensure all the dogs are able to make it across the finish line.

Not this year's picture, but ....

 

Today is an exciting day for the Iditariders.  They are people who have paid anywhere from $600 to $7500 to ride in the basket of the sled with a musher for the 11 miles of the Ceremonial Start through downtown Anchorage and out to Campbell Airstrip Airport on the BLM on the outskirts of town.  The mushers do not use their full team of 16 dogs but take only 8-12.  They also have a second sled with another musher, usually their dog handler, attached to the first sled.  All of this extra weight makes the speed along this trail more acceptable for intown travel and the 'parade' this day really is.  These dogs want to run!

The picture above shows you several things: the harnesses, the pull lines that go from the harness to the gang line that comes in 6-8 foot sections with a place to attack 2 pull lines (so there are 4 sections in the above picture) and the front of a sled.  This picture was taken out at Karin's when the dogs were doing just a short run and did not need to have booties on.  Today and during the actual race they will wear booties that are changed about every 50 miles and cost nearly a dollar each.  Booties are made of a strong cloth and have a velcro top; they protect the dogs paw pads and keep the snow from getting packed into the paw.

The first musher today will be the winner of the Jr. Iditarod, Noah Pereira of New York, who will wear the honorary bib #1 and will leave the start line at 9:56 a.m. followed by the Iditarod mushers starting at 10 a.m. and every 2 minutes thereafter x 66 mushers.  And, if I have done my math right, the last musher - bib # 67 - will leave the start line at 12:10 p.m.  It should take about two hours to do the 11 miles.  Gwen and I are stationed close to the end of the trail so I guess we will be there until after 2.  At least we don't have to be there until nearly 10 to help make sure the people park in the right areas and don't mess up the trail.  Karin should be through about 1 o'clock and will then head home to start packing her sled in earnest.

It is 23 degrees right now and should be up to 31 by the time we are through.  No need for a gazillion layers but I will wear my good boots and take my tennis (?) shoes with me in case I get too warm.  Here is a link to a cute video Karin did on how to dress for minus 50 degrees, done in the office/spare bedroom of her home in Willow/Talkeetna.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRPiEsYOYuc

The little circle picture is Karin.
Middle bottle.

I need to go back to yesterday, Thursday, a day I thought I was going to get caught up on blogging and relaxation and a day for which my sister said "Sure, I'll help and CJ will, too."  So we were down at the Millenium Hotel by 8 o'clock in the morning and met with a group working on the 'caches', which in this case is a packet that represents and commenorates the mail that used to be sent over the Iditarod Trail.  The cool thing was that we were in the mushers mandatory meeting with all 66 of this year's mushers and got to see the goodies they were given, i.e. tee shirts from Wells Fargo, althletic bag, carrier and hat from another sponsor, a couple of bottles of wine with their name on it.  Each mushers was given a 'cache' packet with 25 cards about the size of a business envelope on which is this year's design.  Each musher must sign each card as well as the 2 or 3 letters from elementary aged children from all over the USA and beyond.  We then collected the packets, all 66 of them and left for breakfast.  From there it was off to a business that does shrink-wrapping where we took each packet out of its envelope, marked it with the musher's name, put it a shrink wrap bag and sealed it.  That was then put in another shrink wrap bag with a return address label inserted, sealed and then the work began.  Each packet was then made as small as possible and taped with packing tape so that there are no sharp edges or  possible places to get snagged. Since the sleds occassionally get wet all the sealing is also to hopefulling keep the 'mail' dry.  We were finally back to the Millenium by 2 p.m. in time for the out-of-towner volunteers. 

Back to the house we had time for a brief nap before leaving for the Mushers' Banquet at the Dena'ina Convention Center downtown Anchorage.  Arriving about 5 p.m. we found the table marked with KARIN HENDRICKSON, bought an adult beverage, went over to the ExxonMobile table to get my free poster with a Jeff Schultz photograph and bought a raffle ticket.  Hobo Jim was playing his guitar and singing his Iditarod/Alaska songs as he does every year before the dinner.  Invocation was done by Mike Williams, a Yupiaq Eskimo, in his native tongue and then in English.  The national anthem was sung as well as the Alaskan state song.  Dinner was steak and surprisingly good with a to-die-for cake for dessert.  (Can you imagine getting more than 1000 -1500 dinners out with the food still hot nearly all at the same time?!)

Finally after a few speeches, recognition of the major sponsors and an auction, the mushers started lining up to draw their bib number.  As you know, Karin drew bib number #29.

For those of you that are new or need a review, the bib number gives the order for line up for both the start of the ceremonial start and the real start.  The honorary bib number is number 1 and is worn the winner of the Junior Iditarod at the Saturday race/parade of 11 miles: the Ceremonial Start.  The mushers are started at 2 minute intervals and same order is used on Sunday out at Willow for the real begining of the race.  I will explain how the time difference is made up in a couple of days when the madness of the activites calm down.

Today, Friday, I worked at the registration desk from 8-1 and we were busy.  At 1:30 I took advantage of a group that was doing massage for a dollar a minute for the Alaska MS (multiple sclerosis) - 30 minutes of bliss.  The gal was so good I'm going to see her Wednesday evening when I get off work and see if I can't get the knots out.  Ate lunch at the Fancy Moose again and then came home to start this.  Now we are running out the door to go to a reception at the Snow City Cafe where several mushers, including Karin, will be along with the photographer Albert Lewis who has done a beautiful book on the sled dogs.  www.SeeSpotRun.com

Later

It is late on Thurday night so I am going to make this very fast.  At the Mushers' Banquet tonight Karin drew number 29.  That will be her bib number and her start postion both Saturday at the ceremonial start and Sunday at the restart/real start.  Much more about all of this later.  Must get some sleep as I am working the registration desk at 8 tomorrow morning.  So much to tell you all about, but night-night for now.

Shoot, I forgot to take my camera with me this morning.  I wanted to take a picture of the Millenium Hotel which is the Iditarod Headquarters here in Anchorage.  (I'll add it tomorrow and edit this posting - some will never know.)  It's a great hotel that happily they are finally upgrading as it was looking rather worn last year. 

Ad view

Front view

So, what did I do today? I worked at the registration desk from 9-1 where the volunteers sign in, sign the liablitly/insurance paper, pay $10 if not a member of the Iditarod Trail Committee, get the badge, lanyard, volunteer hat/baseball cap, and a coupon for a free meal at the Golden Corral.  Data entry of all the information is also done.  We answer a wide variety of questions regarding the race, the mushers, the dogs, banquet tickets...well, you know how it goes. We do sell the tickets for the bus ride out to the real start in Willow on Sunday.   After my shift I went with a couple of other volunteers to the Fancy Moose for lunch and had an Alaskan White so that I could get this year's Iditarod beer glass...hey, it only costs $3.00 that way; if I buy the glass alone it costs $5.00. 

For those of you who are new to this, there are three big events over the next four days.  Thursday is the Mushers' Banquet at which the mushers draw their bib/start number.  This number gives the order in how they line up for the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage on Saturday and the real start at Willow on Sunday.  On both days the mushers start exactly two minutes apart.  More later.

Flying into Anchorage

We can see the airport!

Lining up with the runway

The view without the wing.

As planned we left Southern California's Ontario airport on Alaska Airlines at 6:30 this morning, which meant we got up at 4:20 and left my sister's home in Mt. Baldy at 5 sharp.  Slept part of the way and arrived in Seattle (SEA-TAC) in time to get to the next gate in time to board the next plane.  Arrived in Anchorage at 12:40 p.m. local time and were picked up by our hostess, Martha.  Next stop: Enterprise to get our car...upgraded to a Chrysler Town and Country Minivan!  (That will certainly make the trip out to Karin's more comfortable with five of us and our cold weather gear.)  Then we were off to the Millenium hotel that is the Iditarod Headquarters for the race.  We signed in, received our badges, volunteer hat and coupon for a free meal at the Golden Corral.  Having said "hello" to our yearly friends we headed to the Fancy Moose - the bar within the Millenium - and had lunch.  Now we are unpacked; Martha is fixing dinner; I am working on the blog and my sister is making a cold weather jumpsuit for Flat Stanley (she taught elementary school).

Thursday morning scenery along I-10.

The first day of travel was all in Florida - over 500 miles and I was still within the state.  Tuesday was fun as I not only left Florida but entered and left Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and then entered Texas.  Wednesday found me driving endless miles in the open lands of Texas but ending the day in Deming, New Mexico.  When I pulled in for the night I learned that it was snowing in Tuscon.  My view on the first part of the drive Thursday was white on the ground, mostly dry roads and cloudy skies.  Arrived in Tuscon about noon, by then it was clear and warm.  Made it to Mt. Baldy Thursday night to the pleasure of all:  my sister, my dog and me.  I had dodged yet another storm.  (On my way to Florida I had spent a night in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, two days before the tornado hit there.)

My view each morning; I'll miss it.

Greetings from Florida.  This is my last day here and in 12 hours I will be on the road heading to Mt. Baldy, California, from whence I will head to Alaska via Alaska Airlines on the 26th.  My dog, Journey, who hates travel has been my companion.  She does well once we are on the road but it often takes a leash to get her in the car and I will need it tomorrow to get her in the car to start back.  She will be happy at my sister's (Mt. Baldy) where her favorite dogfriend lives...3 weeks of heaven for her before we head back on the road to Idaho.