A Soft Pillow

I arrived in White Mountain today to be greeted by a warm sun with temperatures in the upper 30’s.  The dogs were soaking up the sun as they relaxed on their straw beds.  I was interested in hearing what the mushers had to say about the warmer weather and how it might affect their strategy for completing the race.

Trent Herbst

There were 3 mushers at the checkpoint when I got there; Trent Herbst, Scott White, and Chris Adkins.  Trent has only dropped 4 dogs from his team of yearlings.  He said his team is doing great, however on warm days, such as today, he doesn’t run them hard and tries to run more at night.  Warm temperatures are hard on the dogs because they can overheat.  Trent said he will wait until the sun goes down before he leaves White Mountain.

Chris Talks With Some Fans

Chris Adkins is the son of one of the first Iditarod veterinarians.  He came to compete in the Iditarod because he heard his father describe the things he saw and this motivated Chris’s desire to see the same thing.  Chris has been mushing with 8 dogs since Galena. He feels the 8 dogs he has are race hardened and will be able to finish the race without a problem.  Chris also said the warm weather takes a lot out of the dogs and that he will not push them hard.  Chris is enjoying his trip up the Iditarod Trail and is taking a lot of pictures as he goes.

Scott Enjoying the Sun

Scott White is another back of the pack musher who is enjoying his trip.  Scott is from the state of Washington and runs a construction company.  Scott has 7 dogs still running out of his original 16 and feels his dogs are up to the challenge of finishing the race.  He said he doesn’t really feel any pressure to beat anyone but just wants to finish. 

I think these 3 back of the pack racers should be commended for the great attitude they have about the task before them.  They are not worried about what anyone else is doing or has done in the past.  They are concentrating on doing the best job they can personally do and focusing on good dog care. 

Martin L. Olson School

I arrived in Golovin Wednesday.  Golovin is a very beautiful village on the coast.  The school has 45 students in grades k through 12.  Again, the  people made me feel very welcome here.  The native Alaskans have gone out of their way time and time again to introduce themselves to me.  Half the people in the villages know my name before I leave and greet me every day with a smile and a hand shake. It is always sad to leave the friends you have made in each village.

Baldy

This is the hill where the kids slide down called Baldy.  It looks like a lot of fun!!!

They have a well equipped health clinic.

Golovin Power Plant

All of the remote villages that I visited have their own power plant that generates the electricity for the village. Most of the power plants have 3 or 4 diesel generators. The generators are run 1 at a time.

Golovin Books to the Trail

This is some of the students with the books from the “Books to the Trail” program.  Reading plays an important part in all content areas.  Reading the book “The Cruelest Miles” is how I got interested in the Iditarod.

Jay and Tracey

This is Jay and Tracey Petervary. They are biking from Knik to Nome. Tracy is on pace to break the woman’s record. The trip from Knik to Nome is about 800 miles and will take them about 18 days. Go Tracey and Jay !!! Read more about there biking adventure on alaskaultrasport.com

MVI_2428 -  Click to View – Golovin From the Air

The Trail Winds Its Way From Unalakleet

A Musher on the Way to Shaktoolik

Dee Dee Going In To Shaktoolik

Besboro Island

Norton Sound

Old Shaktoolik

The snowy crags seemed to reach out toward the tips of the bush plane’s wings as we snaked our way along,  800 feet above the Iditarod Trail.  As we meandered along, the picture in my mind was that of a heavy wooden freight sled pulled by a team of large, well haired huskies driven by none other than Joe Redington, the father of the Iditarod.

Unalakleet suddenly came into view, just like it had been dropped from a space ship onto the edge of the sea.

 As we approached the village of Unalakleet, its appearance was much like that of a ghost town in the middle of a dry desert. The snow looked like wisps of sand being blown across the lonely surface by a constant wind.

The above is the best I can do at describing Unalakleet.  Unalakleet is like no other place I have ever been, and I’ve been a lot of places.  It’s a place that you have to see in order to understand.

 This is Nancy Persons the 3^rd grade teacher from Unalakleet. Nancy has had an interesting teaching career.  She hasn’t spent her time teaching in one place, but rather has used her teaching degree as a tool to experience life in a variety of locations world wide. What an interesting approach to life. She hasn’t used her college degree to reach the end of her trail, but rather has used it to expand her trail. Nancy has taught in Peru, Bolivia, Oman, and Morocco.  Since coming to Unalakleet, Nancy has rejuvenated the ski program. She has her team practicing skiing for 6 months out of the year!!! I’m jealous Nancy. I wish our skiing season in Pennsylvania was 6 months. Her team will be going to the Arctic Winter Games, which every country that touches the Arctic Circle can compete.  They even have dog mushing and biathlon, which is skiing and shooting, at the Winter Games.

Preserving the Traditional Ways

 Meet Donna.  Donna works at PennAir in Unalakleet.  Donna was raised in Barrow, Alaska. Barrow is north of the Arctic Circle. When Donna was in 6 through 12 grades, she had classes in Arctic Survival.  She learned things such as navigation by the stars, building snow shelters, and building fire using a certain kind of rock with gold specks. I thought that was great, but I had to wonder what they used for fuel. I look across the landscape and all I see is snow, and snow doesn’t burn well at all. So, I had to ask her what they used for fuel.  She said there is a certain kind of moss that will burn.  She learned how to build 2 different kinds of snow shelters.  One was the traditional igloo type; the other was the cave type, which was built if time was limited. She also learned how to hunt polar bear, seal.  To this very day, the fishermen bring her seals because they know that she has the skill to process them the old way. She uses every part of the seal.  For example, the intestines are dried and can be used for making raincoats and the bladder can be used for making a bag.  Donna also teaches a community coarse on making Heart Sole Mukluks. This is the traditional boot with a seal skin sole. 

Donna is interested in preserving the old ways which were taught by the elders and have been passed down from generation to generation. The value in learning the old ways gives us “a sense of who we are,” Donna said. 

Wow Donna!!! That is a profound statement.  I agree with you 100%.  As a matter of fact, that is exactly what the Trail to Every Classroom program from the National Park Service is all about. This program, if you read in an earlier post on my blog, is being adopted by the United States Forest Service for the Iditarod Trail. I hope Donna will get involved with this program and hopefully get some support for educating students in traditional Alaskan ways.

 Going at the Shak

 The toilet at Shaktoolik is not the traditional toilet, or maybe it is. I guess it depends on who you are and where you live.  Going at the Shak requires climbing skills.  In order to sit upon the throne you have go up several steps.  This is required because it is a composting toilet which has a mechanical devise for stirring.  The stirring devise needs room in order to operate properly, therefore, the raised platform.  When the contents have sufficiently decomposed, they can then be removed.  There are several types of composting toilets.  Check them out online.  If you want to really find out something interesting, go to the NASA sight and find out how they treat waste in space. 

Sebastian Dances Up a Storm – Sebastian Dances Up a Storm2 (Click for the full effect.)

The Kids Were Great –

A Little Time for Computer Work –

Snowboarding behing a snow machine –

Volunteer (Picture later) This is Tracey.  She is from New Zealand.  She was a volunteer at the Iditarod last year and got hooked on dog mushing.  She corresponded with some Iditarod mushers and ended up at Jeff King’s kennel as a handler.  She wants to see the world so she is taking some time off and traveling the world.  She is certified in Canine Behavior, and has a diploma in veterinary nursing. She wants to do further studies in the field of Canine Behavior in order to become a specialist.  We want to wish Tracey lots of luck in her endeavors and thank her for working as a volunteer.  Question of the day: In what hemisphere is New Zealand?

(picture later)  This is Ruth.  Ruth is a veterinarian from Germany.  Ruth volunteered with the Iditarod because a fellow veterinarian had visited Seavey’s kennel and talked her into applying. Ruth has enjoyed her visit to Alaska and loves working with the dogs.  Danke schoen Ruth.  We appreciate your efforts.

Connections With People

Tom Jarding from Pennsylvania is walking the a Trail from Knik to Nome.  Tom lives about an hour from where I live back  in Pennsylvania.  He walks about 50-60 miles per day.  Tom pulls a sled behind him with food, a sleeping bag, and white gas for his stove. He doesn’t have a tent, but has devised a system by which he sleeps on his sled and uses the tarp as a tent.  Tom is on pace to break the record of 22 days and 6 hours to walk the trail. I saw Tom from the airplane as we were flying from Galena to Nulato. We buzzed him a couple times and waved the wings at him.  He was really trucking. Go Tom go!!!  We’re pulling for you!!! (Don’t forget to duck next time Tom.)

(picture later) This beautiful family is Keith Ramos, his wife Tabitha, and their son Kaden.  They moved to Alaska from sunny Florida.  Keith works for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.  Tabitha is studying to be a physical education teacher.  Tabitha and Keith love Alaska and feel that it is a healthy place to live and raise a family.  I actually have 2 connections with Keith.  The first one is we both have had training at the National Conservation Training Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which is a great place to study and eat, and eat, and eat. . . . The second connection is that we both have taken classes in Missoula, Montana. Keith has mule packed in the Bob Marshal Wilderness. (Check the Bob Marshal Wilderness out online, and then go there.) As some of my readers know, I mule packed for the United States Forest Service and mule pack recreationally.  We wish Keith, Tabitha, and Kaden well and hope our trails cross again.

(picture later) This is Monica from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. She is a volunteer at the Nulato checkpoint. Dillsburg is about an hour from where I live. Monica and I both know Urtha Lenharr, an Iditarod finisher from Pennsylvania.  See you back in PA Monica!!!

(picture later) This is Melanie Hans.  I ran into Melanie last year at the National Conservation Training Center.  She is a biologist for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in Galena, Alaska. It was wonderful to be able to go so far away from home and see a familiar face.  Melanie was one of the followers of our NCTC band.  Many a day was spent studying, and many a night was spent playing music at the social center. Stay warm Melanie!!!!

This is George Nyce.  George has been a resident of Alaska all of his adult life, but he was actually born in the same town in Pennsylvania where I was born.  The connection doesn’t stop there though. His father owned a planning mill in Doylestown, PA where we used to buy lumber 40 years ago.  It’s a small world!!!  What are the chances of occurrences such as this happening.  I traveled thousands of miles to walk on a snow covered road in Alaska’s interior(a place with no roads to or from) to meet this man.  George, it was great meeting you.  We’ll have to do it again sometime. 

Folks, these trail crossings are wonderful experiences, but they only happen if you take that first step.  It may be as simple as saying, “hey, how’s it going,”  or as simple as stopping and helping someone along the way.  One connection may be all it takes to change your life or to help someone who has lost their way along the trail of life.

Oh Howl I Can Sing

Check out the all the good music at Takotna.  Join in!!! Let’s hear you howl!!!

A Team Being Left Behind (Click to hear song) – Hey Wait For Me

A Team Leaving (Click to hear song) – Meet Me In Nome

A Tribute to Newton Marshall from Jamaica -(Must have the Insider)  http://insider.iditarod.com/index.cfm?event=media.show&mediaID=5114F857-EEF8-4EF8-3FAD1E089BCA804B

Post Office

School

Takotna is a fine place to be.  I visited the school yesterday.  There are 2 elementary students, one in kindergarten, and one in sixth grade.  The high school students and the elementary students are in the same building.

This is Regan.  She is a comms person at the Takotna Checkpoint.  She remembers her 3^rd grade teacher using the Iditarod in the classroom as a teaching tool.  She also remembers reading books by the author, Jack London, who wrote stories about the north. Between her sophomore and junior years in college, she joined AmeriCorps and ended up in Anchorage.  While in Anchorage, the Iditarod Ceremonial start rekindled her interest in sled dogs and the Iditarod.  At the start of the race, she saw how excited the dogs were about pulling.  She said they tugged and barked and were having so much fun.  Last year she was an official comms person in Nome, this year in Takotna. Regan said, “I love volunteering and watching the mushers interact with their teams. Iditarod ensures that mushing skills are passed on to the next generation. The bond between mushers and dogs is neat.”

Thanks Regan!!! And, all you 3^rd graders watch out if your teacher is using the Iditarod in your classroom.  You might end up in Alaska as a volunteer at the Iditarod.

Larry is a native Alaskan.  He is a race judge.  He grew up with dogs in the north western part of Alaska.  While he was growing up, his family depended on dogs for hunting and transportation. He said the original Alaskan huskies were much bigger than dogs used in the Iditarod today.  Their hair was thicker and they weighed more. Dogs back then were bred for pulling heavy loads, not for going fast.  He started competing in dog sled races in the 1960’s and raced for several years. Unfortunately, he found it too expensive and time consuming to continue since he had to provide for his own family. He was away from dogs for many years, but dogs have always been in his blood. He is glad to be back around the dogs as a race judge.  We are glad he is here also, and love that he shares his knowledge and experience about dogs with us. Thanks Larry!!!

A team rests in Takotna.

The landing strip on the river in Takotna is marked with spruce bows.

Coming into Nikolai.  You can see the dogs lined up on their straw at the checkpoint.

It was -36 last night. So, the planes are frozen up as of 12:00 noon.  I may not get out of Nikolai today.  Not that I want to leave.  The people are very friendly here.  It was so cold, the Insider movie cameras were freezing up.  Even during the day today they could only stay outside for a short period of time before their cameras would stop working.  The picture is the road through the center of the village.

This is the tent being used as a resting place for the mushers.  The kids put spruce bows on the ground inside, so it is soft and it smells like Christmas.

The stove keeps it toasty warm inside.

This is a native Alaskan by the name of Philip who is a hunting guide.  He tells some great grizzly bear hunting stories, and stories about surviving bush plane crashes.  We sat around the stove for a while and listened to him spin a yarn.  Maybe sometime I will hire him to guide me on a hunting trip in the Alaska Range.

I spoke to the K-6 classes this morning.  The picture doesn’t include all of them.  I think there’s a total of 11.

Breaking Trail for You,

Herb

Target 2010 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail