Sheryl's Great Adventure Year 2: 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.