Iditarod 2008

On March 1st of every year, dog mushers from around the world begin their journey from Anchorage to Nome. The Iditarod race is held annually in honor of the historical serum run which took place in 1925. That year, a series of dog mushers carried medicine across Alaska to help citizens in Nome during a diptheria epidemic for which the only cure was found in a serum which was quickly running out. Delivery by dogsled, it turned out, was the only option. Air traffic wasn't advanced enough; the ocean was frozen, so boats were out for the season; and there is no road system connecting Nome to any other major city in the state. The efforts were successful, and thanks to the mushers, many children's lives were saved. Dog mushing is a huge part of Alaska's history and culture; it is amazing to watch it happen live, to watch so many people run their dogs for so many miles in honor of this place.

The journey is 1150 miles. There are several checkpoints along the way, and Unalakleet is the one at which mushers meet the coast and turn north towards Nome. The first musher to reach Unalakleet receives $2500 in gold pieces - literally. It's kind of cool. This year, the first to reach UNK was Jeff King. There were cameras and people and interviews and radda radda ra. It's amazing the number of people that show up for this! Literally, people from around the world were in our little village just to watch the Iditarod pass through. We talked to people from Norway who just wanted to follow the race. It's nuts. The second to run through was Lance Mackey (the winner of Iditarod 2008, defending champion, and cool guy).



Carrie and I walked down together to see the arrival of the first two mushers come in, but as you can see, we were accompanied by pretty much the entire village and then some. In this photo is Lance Mackey, his amazing dogs, and over to the right Carrie and I have front row seats. :)


Enjoying a lovely evening at the checkpoint

The big event for the week, though, was the arrival of Rick Holt. I've only met him and his family once when we drove through Talkeetna during winter break on the way back from Fairbanks. He's the one who took me on my first dogsled adventure! He's a great guy, and I really enjoyed talking with him while we were out on that adventure. He used to work for BSSD, so a lot of people here know him and are good friends with him.



We had as much of a welcoming crew as we could muster. Four guys painted their chests with H-O-L-T to welcome him in. It was pretty sweet. We had signs, we cheered, and we even stretched our Eluciq Kennel (that's Rick) shirts that we bought to support his Iditarod run OVER our coats.


Rick tending to his dogs and the line.


Taking off the booties - their poor feet have been running for a loooong time! Such good dogs!! Good thing this is what they love and are bred for. :)


Taking a well-earned rest after a hard day's work.

Anyway, like I said, we all wore our shirts over our coats. We were all so excited to get them signed by THE Rick Holt, Iditarod Man!!


Carrie Kim


Me Janelle

Although it all happens very quickly, it's still an unbelievable thing to watch the real mushers go through. For 10-17 days (Rick made it to Nome in a little over 12) the mushers run a sled of 6-16 dogs (usually they start with 16, drop some off along the way if they get sick or injured, but they have to end in Nome with at least 6), sleep very little, and rest only every now and then. The care of the dogs is a huge task, feeding, checking lines, melting snow, making their own food, keeping everyone warm and healthy - Rick told stories of his halucinations from sheer exhaustion. He said at one point he was so tired he couldn't even remember falling asleep. One minute he was standing on the sled, the next he woke up laying down in the snow! It's quite a journey!


Rick making food for dogs, after laying bedding


Before the race, mushers mail their drop bags to each checkpoint, which are filled with food refills for their next leg.



Adrianna and I were both very excited to experience our first Iditarod. :) It was awesome!! I'm not sure I would want to do the Iditarod ever... mushing dogs isn't so much a passion. But I have so much respect for the people that do it! Anyway, that has been my Iditarod adventure. For more information, visit www.iditarod.com - the Official Site of the Iditarod. I have a feeling this race - the Last Great Race, as it were - is going to quickly become an obsession of mine every year... sweet.

Old Woman

There is a cabin about 35-40 miles east of Unalakleet. It's a public shelter on the Iditarod trail; many a traveler or camper stops in for a stay for a night or two. It's a sweet little spot - I've heard a lot about it. This was my first time. And I loved it.

I returned from Anchorage on Friday morning, spent the day in preparation for the trip, and on Friday afternoon headed out with Kim on her one-person snowmachine. It was a sweet 2-hour ride. I actually thought a few times that I was going to die, but I did alright. I was really glad to see the cabin, though. Carrie had gone up that morning; she was waiting at the front door, camera in hand. (The hill to the left is Old Woman, to give you perspective in later pictures.)



We unloaded and went inside to the sweet smell of log cabin and wood stove. This is also known as the smell of happiness. It is quiet and peace and serendipity and inherent, intrinsic joy. Kim went out for an evening ski. It was beautiful - the sun was out, the sky was clear blue, and it wasn't too cold. I borrowed Kim's snow shoes, and Carrie and I hiked out to find some dead trees. Her snow shoes are longer, so she was able to float on top of the snow a bit easier. However, I sank quite a bit. It was way fun. There is a video somewhere in camera-land... We found a trail, we found a tree, we cut, we conquered. Well okay, we got one tree down, but we decided to go out for another. And another. So we ended up with three trees, two of which were wicked heavy. The third was way out, so we carried it on our shoulders for a ways. I fell once... We got to where we left the 2nd tree, and I decided that I could totally carry it on my shoulders the rest of the way back. It was shorter, so I swung it over and began my trek back to the cabin. Carrie took the big long one and dragged it behind me. I'm glad I didn't decide to swing that one over my shoulders - Lord knows I would have tried... Anyway, I found out that I really do fall a lot. This is probably why I think it's so funny to see other people fall. I fell a few times with the big log on my back, mostly when the snow was too deep. Also partly because I think my body was wondering why the heck I was carrying a giant log on my shoulders. But I made it back, and I was fine. We were all fine.



It began as a quiet evening. Mostly I just enjoyed listening and watching and thinking and relaxing. And then they came - three snow machines. They pulled up a little after 10, three guys hauling goods up to Nome for mushers in the Sweepstakes Race. Although we were looking forward to a free cabin for the night, they were very nice, and it was of course no big deal to share the space. We chatted for a while (well, mostly I listened - but it was still nice), and then we headed to bed, complete with a warning about snoring. Hmm. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper in most cases, and I can even fall asleep under most circumstances. I've been known to sleep through some pretty loud [bad] singing while on a roadtrip. But snoring is that one thing, that vice that can keep me up all night, no matter how tired I am. I was concerned, but hopeful that I would fall asleep before he did. Yeah, right.


This is the loft where we slept.


This is underneath the loft.

Kim likes to get photos of us at our best...

That night while laying in my bag, listening to the dreadful, choking, shocking snorts of one particular snowmachiner (who really is a very nice person), I felt a tender tap on my leg. Thinking it was only Kim jerking in the night, probably just as frustrated as I was, judging by her restlessness, I ignored it. A few moments later, she grabbed my leg. "Yeah?" I whispered. "Oh," she said, "I thought that was you." Speaking about the snoring, I replied with a laugh, "Oh, yeah-no." For a moment we both laid back down to try to ignore it once more. But after one of the big shocker snores, we both sat up. "There has to be something we can throw at him," I said. Kim began feeling around the loft. "How about a fur hat?" she said, holding up what I knew was my hat. "Okay," I said tentatively, taking it from her hands, as I was closest to the ladder. I leaned over the edge gently, tossed the hat down on top of the sleeping snorer, and promptly laid back down in my bag. We heard a rustling of snores, a heavy sigh, and then nothing. Silence! Kim shook her fist in the air in victory, and we both returned to our attempts at sleep. We were soon after disturbed again, though. The snorer was relentless. It was in and out, and I got very little sleep that night. I was exhausted in the morning. I could easily sleep through the talking and rustling and moving about. When I laid back down at one point, Carrie was still sleeping up by my head. When I woke up again, the loft was empty, her bag was packed, and everyone was chatting downstairs. I think I went back to sleep. Talking I can handle. Snoring I cannot.

Anyway, it was pretty cold in the morning, but when the sun came out it was beautiful. It warmed up pretty well, and we decided it was time to go for a ski.


Carrie and I - the hill in the background is Old Woman.


That's me skiing around a bend.


Carrie is very serious...


Old Woman again


Old Woman plus the mountains

Pretty much, I love living in cabins. Pretty much, I loved it there. Pretty much I really want to go back up before the season is over. Maybe I can borrow a snow machine so I don't have to be a bum on the back of someone else's machine... Although, Carrie let me drive most of the way back on Saturday. I rode back with her, and somewhere down the trail, she stopped the machine, got off, and said, "Your turn." So I drove the rest of the way. We'll just say, it went fine. :) My thumb was tired, though. The drive is really cool. It's the Iditarod trail, so fairly easy to follow. On the way up we passed the fishing lodge. There are a ton of really cool houses up there. It's a pretty sweet spot. Maybe I'll get to go there this summer! (Here's hoping!)

Anyway, I have Iditarod pictures now, so soon and very soon you'll be getting a fun update on that adventure! :)

Anchorage: Part Two

I'll make this short, since there are much cooler things to talk about other than my day in Anchorage. This is what I did:

After a night of listening to the other woman in our hostel room snore all night (and apparently I had a phone conversation in my sleep), Carrie and I got up and began our day. We went to a bagel shop where we each got a [baker's] dozen to freeze and enjoy at home. We also got a yummy bagel sandwich breakfast. I drove her to the airport, and began my day-long quest to find the DMV. I got directions from the bagel shop, but I went to the airport in between, and so that didn't work. I even called a friend who lives in Pittsburgh, and she tried to Mapquest it for me, but we were still unsuccessful in the morning time. During that time, however, I found my dentist's office, which was nice, since I'd already been there once. So I made my way there, got my teeth cleaned, got 4 cavities filled - it wasn't fun, but it was good. They were very nice. I am now a religious brusher and flosser. I've been converted.

The next stop was to apply for a passport. I already had 2 photos for this purpose, but the guy said they wouldn't work because they didn't have a white background and my face ratio was off. Whatever. So I had to go upstairs and get two professional passport photos taken. It was pretty awesome because half my face was numb from the 4 shots I got to fill my cavities. I made my I-feel-like-junk, can't-move-my-face half-smile, got the sweet pictures of me, and finished the process. I will have a passport by May. The journey to New Zealand continues. :)

The next place was REI. I needed ski boots. Unfortunately, neither ski shop had back country ski boots in my size. I was way bumming, trying to figure out what I would do, and finally asked customer service if I could just have my old ill-fitting boots back, because I have to ski!! It took some skill and effort, but we were successful, and I got them back. I got a few more necessities from my favorite store (still at REI), and then had to return to the dentist for a polishing of the fillings. It was super fun. We're best friends over there.

The evening got slower and slower. I went for a long walk around town, I sat in a cafe, I went to the bookstore and got a couple things, I wandered around Barnes & Noble, then sat for a long time reading in their coffee shop. And then I went to bed. And it was good, because the snoring lady went to bed way after me, so I slept for most of the night. :)

And the next morning I came home. I returned a fully in-tact car, which was sweet. The end.

Anchorage: Part One

We (especially me) should all be aware of how normally things never go whenever it is I try to do something normal. In the end, I always enjoy myself, so it matters little.

I had to go into Anchorage this week, which is spring break, even though I didn't particularly want to. Overall, the week has been pretty good. I've done some hanging out here during the first part, skiing, etc. On Sunday Kim and I went up river and skied through some ridiculously deep snow, and I skied for about 2 hours (longer?) - I was beat. But it was good. On Monday Carrie and I went for a ride way out and skied for a little over an hour, saw moose tracks, enjoyed being outside. It was pleasant, as the out of doors usually is. Anyway, chaperoning for skills camp, watching movies, random tidbits of jobs here and there, and on Wednesday morning I flew out to Anchorage. My goals were: passport, dentist, REI, and AK driver's license. Maybe a few other things.

Cool: Carrie ended up having to go in the day before me, so we hung out Wednesday afternoon when I got into town. Not Cool: Because I waited so long to make appointments, I had to be in offices all afternoon instead of having fun. Cool: Cheap car rental and plenty of time to get the car and pick up Carrie. Not Cool: They wanted written proof from the airline that I was actually going to leave town again. ?? So I had to walk all the way across the airport (no, not exaggerating) to PenAir (not as far as Hageland) to get a printed itinerary. Whatever. Running out of time. Got the car, got into the wrong car, switched to the right car, was so glad I didn't get lost on my way into town.

Welp, I had my dentist appointment, and really only had room for an exam and a filling (I knew I had a cavity). When I got there, they were all like, "Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Yeah, well, a college student with no dental insurance?? Yeah, it's been a while. The dentist looked at my x-rays and started rattling off numbers and letters: "Number 21's a D.O., number 23's a D.O., number 26... number 28..." and so on and so forth. I'm all, "What's a D.O.?" "Cavity." As it turns out, I had SIX (6) cavities. Since I live in the bush, they are very accommodating to my schedule, which is very nice of them. There was a cancellation on Thursday, so he fit me in for a cleaning, which he said I really really needed, and would fill 4 of the 6 cavities that were on one side, but would save the other 2 for when I'm in town next, because now I don't have a choice, I am going to the dentist. Okay.

After this, we made a run to REI to return my bumb ski boots and get new ones. So I returned them, went to find a new pair, and found that they had no more BC (back country) boots in my size - it's the end of the season. So we went over to AMH, a very serious ski shop, and they also had no BC boots in my size. Now I'm really bumming because we had made plans to camp out this weekend and ski. We were both hungry, but then I was sad and hungry, which makes me cranky a little, so Carrie gave me a couple gummy bears and directed us to the sushi place. And we had the best sushi in the entire world. :)

After filling ourselves to satisfaction, we checked ourselves into the hostel and laid down for a bit of rest, which was really me toggling and Carrie on the phone, some quiet time, and some talking, but restful nonetheless. We went for our Fred Meyer run (food), and returned to the hostel to prepare for our evening of dancing. And we danced until 2. :) (Isn't that a line in a song?)

It was pretty fantastic. Sorry for the lack of photos. And the Iditarod ones will come eventually, fear not. There are many things I have failed to report out on. I haven't been as religious in taking pictures lately... This blog thing is a lot more work than I have been able to keep up with.

Briefly

I realize it has been ages. I apologize. But Iditarod pictures will be coming soon. And it has been psycho busy the past few weeks. Non-stop work, literally - we had work days last weekend, so not much of a break. But these details will be related to you later. I just want all my faithful readers to know that I haven't forgotten about my commitment to inform the world of what I see and experience.

Right now there are a few things on my mind:
- Work next year. (I am here, other people are not.)
- It's spring break!!
- Still lots of work to do.
- I need to leave in 20 minutes - can I get any work done before then? Probably not...
- Where is my dog?
- It's too windy to ski. Bummer.
- New Zealand this summer - traveling is NOT an option.
- Living arrangments next year. (A few things to consider.)
- So much I want to do this week.

That's all for now. Check back the end of this week for a real post.
Peace to you and through you -