Nome- the Iditarod Finish

It was such an unbelieveable experience to assist with the finish of the Alaska Iditarod.  I was notified in late Ocotber that I had been selected to be a part of the volunteers in Nome.  I bought my ticket immediately so I wouldn't have any excuse not to go. I applied for Professional Development so several of my days were covered by the school district.  Our flight took us to Kotzebue which is above the Artic Circle.  Boy what a flat town and gorgeous sunset. I couldn't believe the colors in the evening. I took a picture of Kotzebue airport.  If you blink you will miss it. 

They loaded all the baggage and people in just a few minutes.  Let me tell you, those airline stewards really believe in personal comfort. They were at our seats whenever we turned around they were offering snacks, hand wipes, conversations, etc.  Alaska Airlines also allows 3 bags per person when you fly within the state. At NO CHARGE to beat all that.

Remember Nome is the end of the Iditarod Race (1049 miles from Anchorage) because the diptheria epidemic was consuming the town of Nome. The dog teams back in 1925 made their way to Nome with the vital serum in less than 128 hours.  Balto ws the lead dog on the final stretch and became the symbolic hero for all of the dogs involved in the race. Nome became a big gold mining town and to this date they are still mining gold. A local took me to the "white hut" on the Bering Sea to watch the divers dive into the deep COLD sea (remember this was the second week in March) and brought pieces of gold up.  I was told that their diving suits were connected to a pump in the hut that forced warm water through out their dives to keep them warm.  So here I am standing on the Bering Sea watching the sunrise. I stayed with a local Native family and their house was 2 feet from the sea.  The last few miles of the Iditarod Race the mushers come across the Bering Sea and then down the main street to the Burled Arches for the finish line. 

Nome is a very small town of 3000 people. The town has more bars and churches than any other establishments.  The Polar Bar has the best burger I have ever eaten. But Nome is very expensive. A jar of peanute butter cost $8.49; Gallon of milk $10; one yogurt container $2.49 and gas was $10 per gallon.  One local fellow told me he can't afford to retire in Nome.  He said his small house (3 bd) costs him $4500 per month just for utitlities and mortgage.  Wow!  I wonder why you would retire to this small town but it is a favorite "fish camp" in the summer months.  Nome has three major roads.

use the term roads generously. The paved roads (there are about 5 and they go for about one mile in different directions. Then there are roads of dirt or rocks.  To the East is Council Road and this takes you to most of the Native fish camps  The Kougarok Road leads north to the Hot Springs and Teller road lead you to subsistence fishing villages.  As you travel around Nome you will see a variety of wildlife.  The Muskoxen can be seen moaming around as they forage for their food. Caribou, grizzly bear, wolves, fox, beaver, wolveine, lemmings, shrews and all sorts of bird are native to the Nome area.  I was so fortunate to see a heard of muskoxen roaming for food. Nome is also an excellent shopping area for Native arts and crafts including sealskin slippers, mukluks, dolls, gold nugget jewlery, and walrun ivory carvings.  I enjoyed the shopping!
So my first day I spent getting myself aclimated to the area. My host, Uli, was kind enough to drive me around the night before so I could get my bearings with the 5 major buildings (the Burled Arches, the best pizza place in town, the Rec Center, the high school and the SUBWAY) so when I walked I could navigate my way around town. With a population of 3000 I felt like I met most of the people and of course all the Iditarod personnel and Mushers.  I was fortunate enough to participate in several activities my first day. Yep, that is me knitting. We were knitting Muskox yarn (quiviette) into headbands.  This yarn is softer than cashmere and warmer than wool but very expensive.  This is a picture of what Muskox fur looks like before it is processed in Idaho into yarn, this is the tool (I forgot the name) to get the under fun from the Muskox. I asked who had that job since the oxen are Huge!! She said from the tamed muskox or killed oxen. 

So I took advantage of a Snow Trecker trip out to Safety.  Safety is the last check-in spot before the dog teams reach Nome.  Our guide, Vance, was delightful and explained so much to us as we traveled.  He is a Native and when the sun was shining there was just a smidge of a rainbow showing. I pointed to the rainbow and he said that is a Dog Drop and it means that there will be high winds and a storm coming. It had been 38 or more degrees for my first 4 days.  I couldn't believe how beautiful the weather in Nome was since I heard all these freezing weather horror stories.  Two days later the weather turned to minus 20 plus freezing snow that felt like razor blades on my face.  The Natives know so much.

I am looking out the top of the Snow Trecker because Martin Busser and his dog team were going by us. It was amazing to see how beautifully those dogs, athletes, ran even after 1040 miles into the race.  The dogs glanced our way but kept full trot or run ahead.  I love those dogs!

I worked as a volunteer some days for 20 hours.  The first few days there were plenty of volunteers but by the end of the race - 5 - 11 days after John Baker finished first place in record time, volunteers were covering double shifts.  I worked outside at the Dog Yard, where the dogs rested and were kept until they flew home.  It was lovely the first few days but the last few days it was so bitterly cold I kept taking turns between working outside and then a few shifts inside.  I loved working at the Iditarod Headquarters. The "team" members were a bunch of hams! We spent a lot of time working but in between we laughed a lot. I got to talk and get to know most all of the 53 mushers.  If a musher didn't stay for the banquet they did not receive their payment.  So they hung out at the headquarters. Some played cards,some told me tales of their race, Mitch Seavey and I spent a lot of time talking about his injury. I told him I knew a really good lawyer to pursue a product liability claim.  Mary,Mitch is a good guy, so take his case if he calls!!!! I didn't know that so many of the mushers were related or married. I learned how many had dogs from the same kennels. That is so important to keep the bloodlines strong. We, the mushers and spouses, shared a lot of food as the midnight hours neared because another dog team was coming into town. The dog teams arrived at all hours and during the day many locals and voluneers came to the finish line to welcome in the team.  But at midnight until 7 am it seemed only the mushers would welcome the teams to the Burled Arches.

This is Kristi Tarrington arriving in Nome. A siren sounds when the dog team is leaving the Bering Sea and entering the main road.  Since I was a Dog Handler in Anchorage I wore my badges in Nome and had extra privledges such as being inside the finish chute, petting the dogs, talking to musher went then arrived and then being able to walk the dog kennel any time. 

Here is the proud Kristi finishing and before most mushers give an interview they walk to each dog and thank them and give them a wonderful massage.  Then comes the dog snack.  I was one of the few people who got this wonderful photo of Kristi snacking her dogs with frozen treats at the finish line.  She is truly an amazing young athlete.  Her twin sister was there waiting for her and both of them are going to run the Iditarod next year!!

Does she look tired? She said, "That was a great race!"  Here she is snacking her dog!

This is the dog lot.  Each team has a designated spot to "house" the dog athletes.  They were so happy when the weather got colder.  Most sit in their fluffy pile of hay vs in the container..Here is an athlete cleaning up after her long race

I was standing next to the Iditarod vet, Stewart, and asked him what was wrong with the dog's eyes?  He chuckled at me, as he has done for several days will all my questions, and said, "this is one tired dog and he is asleep on his feet."  I guess I would be too if I just ran 1049 miles in 9 days.

I was a big supporter of Angie Taggert, a rookie musher She is a teacher from Ketchikan and we were friends from Anchorage.  I sold her beautiful tee shirts for her fund raiser.  This is Angie and her dog team coming up the main road.  Family and friends waiting at the finish line.  Well, her dogs decided in the middle of the road they needed a bathroom break  She giggled and asked them to finish quickly so they can finish the race.  They did!  Here she is at the finish line.  Her first words were, "that was awesome, let's do it again! I don't want it to end."  That is a delightful women and a wonderful dog team.

Way to go Angie!!!

Isn't this little girl adorable!!! This is the grandson of one of the mushers at the finish line.

I received kisses from one of Angie's dogs.  What an athlete!

Here is a beautiful sunset from Nome over the Bering Sea.  I will close now and hopefully post again soon

Be safe and have a wonderful Easter. Sheryl the Nanquk of the North.

Iditarod Re-Start 2011

Hello everyone  I am sure you thought I was never going to write on my blog again.  The truth is that I wasn't in Anchorage one weekend in the entire month of March.  I only taught 9 days because of all my travels and adventures.  I have enough pictures to keep the blog going for about 3 months so stay tuned.

The outhouse toilet seat is freshly wrapped in bubble wrap. They did it just for us - company.  This way your cheeks don't freeze to the seat. Do I have to remind you that on this particular day it was 7 degrees and minus 20 with wind chill.  I was so glad the outhouse didn't have an open window!!!

This is my friend's cabin which I had the opportunity to visit on Day 2 of the Iditarod - the Real Start of the race.  This wonderful cabin is on Nancy Lake about 4 -5 miles from the starting line of the Re-Start.  So Niki and I drove there early in the morning and then we hopped on snow machines (aka snowmobiles in the lower 48) and went to watch the Athletes get ready for the official start of the race. The athletes I am referring to are the dogs.  I learned sooo much this year because when I talked to the "inside" people at the start and finish line in Nome I asked a million questions.  Did you know these athletes, dogs, have a strict diet to keep them slim and trim.  The veterinarian told me that the dogs have about 7% body fat..  I was even more surprised to learn that Lance Mackey has only 6% body fat.  That is a fit athlete. These dogs are care for more that most athletes.  I wish PETA would come and see what I see. These dogs are so happy running and they don't want to stop running.  By the way, do PETA people wear leather coats or shoes?

So here is one of the dog team trucks arriving to prepare for the race start.  You can definitely tell the teams that have a BIG sponsor and those who don't. This team is not sponsored by a major sponsor.  However, it doesn't stop the mushing spirit.  The dogs were all so excited to get out of the truck and "git runnin'".  This musher was waxing the runners before take-off.  No matter how much work it takes to get ready for the biggest race of the year do you notice how they pack the supplies - In Wal-Mart plastic bags!!!!

This is a bit of a personal photo and I didn't exactly ask the athlete's permission to take the photo.  What you are looking at is the drug testing of the athletes.  The dog teams and the mushers are all eligible for drug testing.  This is how they get the urine from the dogs.  They randomly test several dogs from each team and then randomly from the mushers.  They are testing for over 200 drugs for the dogs and about 250 for the mushers.  Lance Mackey is allowed to use marijuana because of his esophagus cancer. 

This is some of the entertainment that went past us waiting for the dog teams to come by.  We were out about 4 miles out from the start on Nancy Lake. The lake was about 3 1/2 foot of frozen ice. Our hosts used the inside tub of an old washing machine as our fire container.  The wood burned so evenly and they used wax cubes to start the fire. Very creative.  These fun-loving friends are taking a ride on a couch with skies.  They forgot to put a foot rest on the couch for them. 

This family wanted to get a bit farther so they skied to the next lake to watch the dog sled teams leave for their journey to Nome.  Don't you love the way Dad is harnessed so the darling daughter gives the directions.  She is happy on her snow machine - Dad driven!

This plane as well as 10 others landed on the lakes to watch the dog teams go by.  The advantage of being on the lake you got to touch the mushers as they passed by.  The dog teams left the start line every two minutes and then after 5 teams there was a 5 minute commercial break.  It was fun watching the teams come down through the woods and some of the teams passed each other as they went by.  The group next to us handed the mushers a beer as they came by.  It was so awesome to give a handshake to the mushers and say, "Safe trip and I will see you in Nome!" I could hardly wait to get to Nome after this fantastic day.

And the race is on!  The finish line is 1,049 miles away. The course is very beautiful and hazardous. They cross the Alaskan Mountains, down the Yukon River, and survive winds that reach 50 degrees BELOW zero, cross paths with Moose and wolves and spend day and night by yourself. I found out a lot of the mushers listen to music on their I-Pods and books on tape.

Even a homemade ultra light wanted a bird's eye view of the dog teams. 

Then the last dog team (63) of them moved past us everyone put out the fires, packed up the picnic baskets, loaded up the snow machines and headed home.  The planes were awesome watching them take off.

And when all the teams were gone all that was left was this pile of Idita-poop!  I don't remember which dog team left it behind but these dogs have mastered the task of urinating and pooping on the run.  They stop every couple of hours to "snack" the dogs with frozen fish or meat chunks and water.  Then the dogs are checked by the vets every check point and they are well fed.  The mushers have to carry 3 days of food and supplies on the sleds.  I am sure you all have read this year's results and 9 mushers had to drop out of the race for various reasons.

I had such high hopes that Lance would have won for his 5th time but this year wasn't meant to be.  John Baker the musher from Koetzebue won in a race record.  He was the first Western Native Alaskan to win. As he crossed the finish line he was greeted with Native drums and dancers.  Way to go John Baker.

More on my trip to cabin with the girls for spring break. I returned from spring break and worked 2  1/2 days and then I left for Nome, AK.  Then I returned from Nome and worked 3 days and David arrived for a long weekend.  Then David left and I worked the rest of the week and March as over.  April is a busy time for school with State testing, talent shows, musicals, finishing up the rest of the curriculum to prepare for May. Our last day is May 20.  I hope you enjoyed the photos of Iditarod Re-Start or the "real start".

I will post my cabin trips next and then Nome. That was quite an experience and can't wait to return to Nome next year.  I will be going with several of my teacher friends since they enjoyed all my experiences.

I hope you all are enjoying your spring.  We are up to almost 14 hours of daylight every day. We gain 5 mins and 39 sec of light every day.  We are having 40 - 50 degree weather and the roads are free of snow and ice. Most of the side streets and driveways are clear of ice too.  The curbs and playgrounds still have several feet of packed snow.  It is getting harder for the kids to go inside at night since sunset is after 9:20 pm.  Enjoy your day.  Hugs from Nanuq of the North.