Nulato on the Yukon River

The village of Nulato (nu-LAU-toe) is situated on the mighty Yukon 52 miles down river from Galena. Well before the town was incorporated in 1963, Athabascans from the interior and Eskimos from the coast met at Nulato for trading. After the Russian explorer Malakov arrived in the 1830, an actual trading post was built. Because of trade disputes disgruntled natives, not once but twice burned the post to the ground. As contact with the outside world increased through missionaries, explorers and gold prospectors so did disease. Smallpox in 1839 was the first epidemic to wipe out large numbers of the native population followed later by food shortages and measles. Our Lady of Snows, a Roman Catholic school and mission was completed in 1887 and many of the area natives moved into the village. The influence of the mission continues today as most Nulato residents call themselves Roman Catholics. The post office opened in 1897. At the peak of the gold rush, there were 46 steamers that navigated the Yukon. When the river was ice free, a couple of ships each day would stop at Nulato to purchase wood to fire their boilers. The gold was depleted by 1906 and the miners moved on but the Athabascans and missionaries who called Nulato “home” stayed.

Target Teacher on the Trail at Nulato Checkpoint

Currently there are two Nulato town sites that nearly 300 residents call home. Those living at the old town site haul water from the village well or the church and use honey buckets and outhouses. Houses located in the new town site have piped water and sewer so the residents enjoy bathroom and kitchen plumbing. Nulato has a school, a store and a clinic. They have diesel-generated electricity and like most bush villages, they are connected to the outside world by telephone, television and Internet. Most people living in Nulato are of Athabascan descent and live a subsistence lifestyle. Food sources include salmon, moose, bear, small game and berries. Many families still travel to fish camps during the summer.   Trapping in the winter provides some extra income for some families. Some residents have year around jobs with the city, tribe, school, clinic and store. During the summer, some folks work at construction, fish processing and fire fighting. The village has a newly renovated airport otherwise the river is the number one mode of local travel.  Boats, skiffs and barges are common between May and October when it’s ice free then snowmachines, ATVs and other vehicles take over when it becomes an ice road.

The best way to describe the weather at Nulato is to copy and past from Ruby and Galena. Average highs in the summer are in the lower 70’s and average lows in the winter are below zero. Extreme cold often settles in the area for days on end. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Nulato is 90 and the lowest is a frigid 55 below and that doesn’t include wind chill. Average precipitation of nearly 16 inches includes over 6 feet of snow.

Icy Yukon Highway complete with wind, drifts, overflow, rough ice and open water

From Galena to Nulato and then to Kaltag, teams continue on down the icy Yukon. The run can be frigid and windy and will include the usual river hazards – overflow, rough ice, drifts and open water. It’s best not to venture off the trail. About halfway to Nulato, mushers and dogs welcome a change in scenery as the Nulato Hills, a mountain range to the west, rise to 1,000 feet in elevation on the right shore of the river.

Well there you have it, information about the village and people of Nulato and the trail between Galena and Kaltag. This completes the Virtual Trail Journey series that began last year. Now you can find detailed information about ALL the checkpoints from Anchorage to Nome – southern and northern routes. All of the Virtual Trail Journey stories are in Zuma’s blog under “Sanka’s Posts.” The villages and villagers along the trail are far more than just Iditarod checkpoints and fans. Folks living in the checkpoint villages are historically unique; their ancestors have survived famines, disease, violence and other hard times. Looking forward to the future, the villagers will adapt to an ever-changing lifestyle by combining wisdom and practical advice from their elders with the skills and knowledge obtained through education.

Stay tuned for my next story about Nome’s mushing phenom, Scotty Allen whose lead dog was Baldy of Nome.

Born to Run,
Sanka

Moose forage along the Yukon near Nulato

Resting teams and checkpoint from a Cessna 180

The first town site of Galena was established in 1918 near a native fish camp called Henry’s Point, one of many fish camps located on the Yukon River. Athabascans in the area were nomadic living in spring, winter, fall and summer camps dictated by where and how the wild game was migrating. The town became important as a supply and transportation hub for the lead ore mines. Athabascans living a few miles up river at Louden moved down to Galena to harvest and sell wood to the steamboats for fuel and also hauled freight for the mining companies. The first school opened in the mid 1920’s followed by a post office in 1932.

Military installments built during WWII and later sparked growth in the area. Devastating floods prompted the residents to move their town to a higher dryer location about a mile away from the first town site. Some houses in the new town have piped water and sewer, a few others use honey buckets but the majority use a flush/haul system. Water is supplied from wells. The village operates a landfill. Galena derived its named from the mineral found with lead and silver ore.

Currently, Galena is a town of over 700 people and serves as the transportation, government and commercial center for the western Interior. While some folks still rely on a subsistence lifestyle, most are employed in government, transportation, health care, education, retail, construction or fire fighting jobs. In 1993, one of the Air Force bases closed and shortly thereafter was reopened by the Galena School District as the Galena Interior Learning Academy, a secondary residential vocational school. This school is for students, grades 9 thru 12, who don’t have access to a high school where they live and who desire a topnotch educational experience. Students completing their education at GILA leave with a high school diploma and vocational certification in areas such as Culinary Arts, Cosmetology, Technology, Small Engines or Fire Fighting. The K-12 school in Galena is named after revered Athabascan Elder, Sydney Huntington. He has served on the local school board for many years and believes that education is extremely important for today’s youth. Without educating village youths, there will be no future for the villages of the people. He encourages people in the villages to become educated and move beyond subsistence living. Handler was fortunate to leave Galena with an autographed copy of Shadows on the Koyukuk by Huntington. In the book, Sydney shares stories of his childhood – a simpler but very difficult life.

Dogs with window seats for the trip home form Galena

The climate in Galena isn’t much different than Ruby including the extreme temperature differences. Average July high temperatures are in the low 70’s while average lows in January range for 10 to well below zero. During the winter and often during Iditarod, the area experiences long stretches of bitter cold. Temperature extremes recorded in Galena are 64 below and 92 above. Annual precipitation is close to 13 inches including about 5 feet of snow.

Galena is a regional transportation hub for the surrounding villages. The airport accommodates planes with landing wheels and skies. Barges navigate the river from mid-may through mid-October. Autos, trucks, snowmachines, skiffs and ATVs are used for local travel. During the winter, frozen rivers are used as highways to neighboring villages. Speaking of transportation, Edgar Nollner of Galena was the serum runner who received the medicine from Billy McCarty, Sr. at Whiskey Creek and carried it 24 miles to Galena.

From Ruby, teams run down the Yukon all the way to Galena. Some leaders are spooked by the wind swept wide-open space on the mile to two-mile wide river. It’s important to stay on the well-marked trail to avoid thin ice, overflow and open stretches of water.

Well there you have it – some information about the Alaskan town of Galena.  Thanks to my friend, Target Teacher on the Trail, Jane Blaile for sharing her pictures.  Stay tuned for my next story about Nulato.  Remember, in everything, do you best every day.

Born to Run,
Sanka

Galena Checkpoint in the old Community Hall downtown

Changing sled runners for the run down river

Pat McCarty, serum runner's son

The village of Ruby is the first checkpoint of the northern route that’s situated on the mighty Yukon River. The Millennium Hotel, race headquarters in Anchorage, honors the first musher arriving with a delicious seven-course meal prepared by the Millennium’s Executive Chef. In the corner of the rustic checkpoint upon a little stage, the musher and a quest are seated at a table adorned with fresh flowers, crystal glasses, fine china and silver candlesticks. The menu is far from ordinary musher cuisine. In 2008, Lance Mackey was the first to arrive in Ruby. For appetizers, he enjoyed chicken and mushroom terrine then potato bisque with shrimp ravioli. For the main course Lance devoured halibut and a beef filet stuffed with king crab, asparagus and blue cheese. For desert, Lance enjoyed raspberry crepes. Dessert was followed by an after dinner mint of 5,000 freshly minted one dollar bills presented in a gold pan. Being an athlete, I’m not a table food kind of dog but that halibut and beef filet sounds delicious. Perhaps you’d like to know what was served in Anvik last year or what’s on the menu in Ruby for this year. You can read more about the First to the Yukon Award at the Iditarod website under the sponsor section.

Snowshoes by Native Alaskan George Alberts

Ruby is a village with a population of about 200. Gold was first discovered in the nearby creeks in 1907. Ruby was established as a supply hub for the prospectors. Steamers had easy access to the area via the Yukon River that runs 1,875 miles from its headwaters in the Yukon Territory all the way to the Bering Sea. During the peak of the gold rush, the village grew to 2,000 residents. The town was named after the red stones found along the riverbanks that the prospectors thought were rubies.

Most residents are descendants of Koyukon Athabascans. The Athabascans were nomadic and followed wild game with the changing seasons to hunt and put food on the table. Still today, the people of Ruby depend upon wild Salmon, whitefish, moose, bear, ptarmigan, waterfowl and berries as food sources in their subsistence lifestyle.

"Up on the house top..."

This area of Alaska is known for its extreme temperatures. Average July temperatures are in the 70’s. January Temperatures average from 10 above to well below zero. It’s not uncommon for the thermometer to drop to forty below zero and stay there for many days in a row during the long winter. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Ruby is minus 53 and the hottest is 98 above. On average, 17 inches of precipitation fall in Ruby including over 5 feet of snow. The Yukon River is open for navigation and fishing from the middle of May to the middle of October.

If you lived in Ruby, you’d have the convenience of two stores. One is a general store, selling mostly food, other household essentials and some

The Ruby Mall

hardware. The second store is an evening only store that sells snacks, candy, chips, ice cream goodies, pop, juice and milk and rents movies. You might own a pair of Athabascan snow shoes made by Native Alaskan George Alberts. Only a few houses have wells and septic systems. Most families carry water to their houses from the washeteria and most houses are without septic system and use an outhouse. The village has electricity and connects to the outside world via dish and satellite. There is one school that has 35 students K thru 12. People and supplies arrive in or leave Ruby by airplane or barge. To get around the village or down the only maintained outlying road to Long Creek Mine, a person would use a truck, snowmachine, ATV or riverboat.

Emmitt Peters - 1975 Rookie of the Year - 1975 Iditarod Champion

Handler said being in Ruby is like a living history lesson. She met Emmitt Peters also known as the Yukon Fox. Emmitt won Iditarod in 1975, the same year he won rookie of the year honors. Of the 14 races he’s run, he finished in the top five in each of his first five races and in the top 10 a total of seven times. No wonder he is referred to as the Yukon Fox. When handler visited the evening/movie store and met the owner, Pat McCarty, she learned that back in 1925, his father, Billy McCarty, Sr., was the Serum Runner who transported the precious medicine from Ruby to Whiskey Creek a distance of 28 miles. When Susan Butcher flew into the checkpoint, another page of mushing history came to life. She was receiving treatment for leukemia but was strong enough to visit a few checkpoints. Her friends were thrilled to see her, especially DeeDee Jonrowe who shared a special bond with Susan through Iditarod and in their common fight against cancer.

DeeDee & Susan visit in Ruby

The checkpoint in Ruby is located in the community center that sits high on a hill over looking the mighty Yukon River – actually the whole village is situated on a hill sloping down toward the river with most homes having a breathtaking view of the river. You can see some great pictures of Ruby through an image search of Google. Mushers are very happy to see Ruby as it marks the end of the longest distance, 112 miles, between checkpoints. Most of the trial from Cripple follows a very dilapidated supply route that connected the mining districts to the steamboat landing in Ruby during the gold rush. When approaching Ruby, mushers will no doubt see signs of welcome created and posted by the school kids. Once in the checkpoint, the mushers will be greeted by children seeking autographs. Teams are required to take an eight-hour rest somewhere on the Yukon. Dogs will get better rest on the river than out on the coast so it’s best to rest while there is peace, quiet and great hospitality.

Well, there you have it, lots of information about the village of Ruby and the people who call the river town home. Stay tuned for my next report on Galena. Remember – in everything, do your best everyday.

Born to Run,
Sanka

Northern route - Cripple - a maze of tents

With the year being 2010, the race will take the even year northern route. When the drivers and teams reach Ophir, they’ll take a right and head north to Cripple. The distance from Ophir to Cripple is 59 miles. The total distance from Ophir to Kaltag, where the two trails rejoin on the northern route is 317 miles. The distance from Ophir to Kaltag using the southern route is 328 miles. As handler was explaining this to us, I asked why they didn’t run the trail from Ophir straight to Kaltag. This is what I learned.

Having Iditarod come through your village requires an enormous amount of work but on the other hand, it provides a lot of excitement. So to ease the burden on the villagers and spread the thrill around, two routes were created. That’s a lesson in sharing on a very large scale! Another reason is that it provides variety for the mushers as they plan their strategies, buck the winds, endure the elements and absorb the scenery. Finally, the race has to be at least 1000 miles long. Going straight from Ophir to Kaltag would shorten the route by 150 miles and have you looked at the map? There is nothing, absolutely nothing, between Ophir and Kaltag. By using the northern and southern routes, the trail goes through established villages.

Tropical Paradise of Cripple

The trail from Ophir to Cripple runs along the Innoko River. It’s mostly woods with a few open areas but best of all, it’s pretty flat without any tricky sections but it’s possible for even experienced trail veterans to take a wrong turn. Handler told us this story about DeeDee Jonrowe and Paul Gebhardt from 2008, the last time the race went north. Gebhardt and five other mushers left Ophir before DeeDee. She passed a few teams resting along the trail but did not pass Paul. At one point she noticed there were no tracks in front of her on the trail and she wondered where he was or how long ago he had gone through so that his tracks had dissapeared.  When she arrived in Cripple, DeeDee received an enthusiastic greeting and congratulations.  As the first musher to reach the half-way point, she was presented with the GCI Dorothy Page Halfway Award of $3,000 in gold nuggets.  Jonrowe was dumbfounded! How could I be first, come on, where’s Paul Gebhardt? A short time later, Paul arrived in Cripple, very glad to be there. This run from Ophir had been the worst run of his life and might have taken him out of the winner’s circle – he’d carried a dog in the sled, got soaked in the wet snow, ran into overflow and had gotten lost!

Martin Buser wears Hawaiian attire and enjoys the paradise of Cripple

Today, Cripple, population zero, isn’t a village; it’s only a place on the Innoko River in the former Iditarod Mining District. The checkpoint takes its name from an old steamboat landing located nearby on the river. During the Gold Rush between 1908 and 1925, $35 million in gold, including some of the largest nuggets ever mined were taken from the area. It’s always a guess as to exactly where the checkpoint will be located. It’s dependent upon overflow and other surface conditions. Generally, it’ll be somewhere near the Poorman airstrip. Don Bowers in Trail Notes mentions that abandoned buildings, trucks and bulldozers still sit near the airstrip. The Cripple checkpoint is a maze of tents amongst inflatable palm trees where mushers either experience frigid cold in extreme winter gear or enjoy sunny warmth while wearing Hawaiian attire.

Well, there you have it – some information about the trail running north out of Ophir and the Cripple checkpoint. You can read about all of the checkpoints in my earlier Virtual Trail Journey series. Stay tuned for my story about Ruby. Remember, in everything to your best every day.

Born to Run,
Sanka

Hi Boys and Girls,

Well the final preparations are being made for the Last Great Race.  Have you ever wondered how mushers carry enough supplies to last them over a thousand miles?

The simple answer is they can’t.  So what can they do to make sure that there is enough food and supplies for both the dogs and the musher to reach Nome?  They prepare drop bags to be flown to the checkpoints.

The ITC supplies mushers with drop bags to pack up and take to the Airland Transport in Anchorage to be weighed, sorted by checkpoint and then flown to the checkpoint.  Each drop bag must have the mushers name and destination clearly written on it.  Food and supplies are sent to all checkpoints except Yetna and Finger Lake.  Sending food or gear to Safety is optional.  The food drop takes place about 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the race.

So…. What’s in the drop bags?  Dog food, human food, dog supplies such as extra booties are packed in the bags.  All mandatory food must be shipped through the drop bags.  All perishable food (food that could rot or go bad) must be prefrozen. The bags cannot weigh more than 60 pounds each.  Mushers can also send extra sleds and equipment to checkpoints of their choosing.  This extra equipment may include extra dog dishes, buckets, runners for the sled, etc. This extra equipment must go with the sled and not with the food drops.

Now you may be asking how a musher knows what, how much, and where to send various supplies.  All mushers make a race plan.  Before they start the race, they know where they want to take breaks, do their 24 hour rest, and about when they will get to those places. A Musher will look at the plan and decide where would be good places for extra food, a sled, supplies etc.  Once the race starts, the mushers may have to change their plan for various reasons.  When they do that, they may also have to rethink where to pick up their supplies and may have to carry those supplies with them.

Not all supplies are used.  There is always extra. Extra dog food that is left behind may be used at the discretion of the officials.  No food, dog or human, is shipped back in the return bags.  Sleds, return bags, gear etc. may be picked up at ITC headquarters after the race has finished.

Remember a race plan is part of achieving a goal that the mushers have set for themselves.  This is one part of the plan to achieve that goal.

Only a week left before race time.  Hope you’ve picked your musher and are ready to set out on a great adventure.

Happy trails,

Gypsy

When the lead dog’s nose crosses under the burled arch, the team has finished Iditarod.  A Checker steps forward to make sure the musher has all the mandatory equipment in the sled bag.  If so, the musher signs in and the race is history.  Next, the dogs go down to the dog lot for a meal, a massage and relaxation.  The dogs don’t stay long in Nome, they are soon booked on a flight to home in rows 1-10 on Alaska Airlines.  Even though the dogs head home, the mushers stay for the Finisher’s Banquet which is 14 days after the start of the race.  This banquet is different than the one before the race.  Mushers are very focused and careful not to reveal anything about their race strategy at the Anchorage banquet.  The Nome banquet is very cheerful and friendly – the champion as well as every finisher is honored and numerous awards are announced.  The food is great – shrimp, prime rib, halibut and a whole sled full of fresh fruit.

Nome is a very active place in March.  The largest basketball tournament in the world (Lonnie O’Connor Iditarod Basketball Classic) is played in Nome at the same time Iditarod is finishing.  A golf tournament, The Bering Sea Ice Golf Classic, is played out on the frozen Bering Sea.  The 3 Dog – 3 Mile Sled Dog race is a citizen’s race sponsored by the Nome Kennel Club.  There is a reindeer potluck and a pancake breakfast put on by the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.  At the Bureau of Land Management, there are movies playing about the history and geography of Alaska.  There is also an art fair where many Inupiaq Eskimos display and sell their carvings, painting, sewing and other hand crafted pieces of art.  So much to do and so little time.

Although Inupiaq Eskimos hunted in the area, there wasn’t an Eskimo settlement at Nome before the gold rush of the early 1900’s.  Three lucky Swedes discovered gold at Anvil Creek.  Word spread and soon Nome had a population of 10,000 with thousands more arriving by steamship from Seattle and San Francisco.  Some estimate that during the gold rush 20,000 people lived in Nome where a tent city spread for 30 miles along the coast.  Today Nome has a population of 3,500 with little more than half being of Inupiaq Eskimo heritage.  Nome and Iditarod, bring to memory the 1925 Serum Run or “Great Race of Mercy” where the lifesaving serum was delivered to Nome.

Many cities in Alaska were named after explorers, politicians or heros.  This wasn’t the case for Nome – Nome got its name by MISTAKE.  There was an unnamed cape on the map a British Naval officer was using for a voyage up the Bering Strait.  The officer wrote “? Name” on the map next to the point of land in question.  Later a map maker or cartographer was looking at the notes made by the navigational officer and misread the officer’s note as C. Nome and wrote Cape Nome on his map.  Nome was most likely named for that mistakenly named nearby cape.  Another theory is that the name came from Nome, Norway by means of the “Three Lucky Swedes” who were first to discover gold in the area.  Check this out at www.wikipedia.org or at www.nomealaska.org.

The Eskimos that live on the Bering Coast are of two language groups – the Yupik live to the south of Unalakleet and the Inupiaq life to the north of Unalakleet.  Their way of life is ruled by available resources.  For example, Yupik and Inupiaq Eskimos living by the sea hunt seals and will wear seal skin hats, boots and mittens but Athabascan Indians living in the interior wouldn’t have items made from seal skin because they have no access to seals.  The Yupik and Inupiaq made weapons of bone, ivory and driftwood that were handsomely decorated.  They believed that animals would only want to be killed if the weapon was beautiful.  Whale hunting was and still is an Inupiaq Eskimo specialty.

In case you’re wondering about daylight and darkness in Nome, here are a few facts I found at www.nomealaska.org.  The longest day of the year is June 21st with 21 hours and 39 minutes of sunlight.  The sun rises at 3:19 am and sets at 12:48 am.  Technically, the sun DOES set but because it’s so close to the horizon, it’s daylight for 24 hours a day from mid-April to mid-August. The shortest day of the year is December 21st with 3 hours and 54 minutes of sunlight.  The sun rises at 12:03 pm and sets at 3:57 pm.  From this time, daylight increases 6 minutes a day until the summer solstice.  On March 15th as the mushers come into Nome, the average temperature is 11 degrees and there’ll be 11 hours and 41 minutes of sunlight.

Well, there you have it – some information about the Eskimo culture, history, climate and Iditarod events in Nome.  This wraps up the Virtual Trail Journey with Handler riding her bike 1061 miles on the rural roads of Wisconsin.  We loved to hear her stories about the checkpoints and see the pictures.  It made us feel like we’d been on the trail.  I hope you’ve learned things about the villages and the people living along the Iditarod Trail.  I’ll have more stories to share during the race so stay tuned and remember – in everything do your best everyday and always have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

John Norris, Chief Iditarod pilot had to fly from Nome out to Safety to deliver some drop dog papers.  There was room in the Cessna 180 for Handler to go along.   While they were at the checkpoint, Ramey Smith came through and dropped a dog by the name of Happy.  That left Ramey with 5 dogs, the minimum necessary to finish the race.  We loaded Happy into the Cessna where he immediately curled up on the engine cover and went to sleep.  From Safety, John and Handler headed back toward White Mountain looking for a herd of Musk Ox.  They saw the herd as well as several red fox running along the trail.  After sighting the Musk Ox, they circled out over the Bering Sea looking for seals.  They saw several soaking up sun on the sea ice.  As soon as the Cessna flew low for a better look, the seals dove through their holes back into the sea.  Those seals are slippery critters!  Flying back to Nome, they saw a large herd of Reindeer.  They also flew over some abandoned locomotives and a gold dredge which remain from the 1898 gold strike.  What a great day around Safety!

From White Mountain, it’s only 77 miles to Nome BUT if the wind blows or a storm hits, the 77 miles can be the most dangerous of the whole Iditarod Trail.  The highest ridge between White Mountain and Safety is Topkok at 500 feet above sea-level.  The trip to the summit is wide open to the wind and look out for ground blizzards.  I had to ask what a ground blizzard was and this is what I learned.  In a regular blizzard, there is precipitation that is being blown about.  In a ground blizzard, there isn’t any precipitation falling instead, the wind is blowing snow and ice crystals that are already on the ground.  This area is also known for its wind tunnels called “blow holes.”  In Trail Notes, Don Bowers warns that mushers and dogs can be in the midst of hurricane force winds with blowing snow and suddenly enter into a calm area.  Winds can go from calm to hurricane force within an hour or quit just as quickly.  Don’s best advice is to follow the markers if the visibility is bad.  Dogs will tend to turn away from the wind which means they’ll be running out over the beach onto the sea ice.  DON”T cross the driftwood line on the beach as open water lies not far off shore.  BE CAREFUL when visibility is bad.  It’s not a bad idea to make the run in daylight or hole up in either the Nome Kennel Club’s cabin or Tommy Johnson’s cabin.

With the burled arch in Nome only 22 miles away, most mushers don’t stop long in Safety.  But if they go inside for a bowl of soup, a cup of coffee, to wait out a storm or to use the facilities, they’ll find the walls covered with dollar bills – there must be a thousand of them.  It seems that long ago a tradition was established.  When visiting the Safety Roadhouse at any time of the year, sign a dollar bill then staple or tape it to the wall.  Before leaving Safety, the checker hands the musher his or her bib to wear when crossing the finish line.

There you have it – some good advice from trail expert Don Bowers for the trail between White Mountain and Safety along with stories about Handler’s experiences at Safety.  A couple of hours after leaving Safety, mushers will be running down Front Street in Nome to cross under the burled arch.  Stay tuned as Handler tells us about Nome.  Remember, in everything do you best every day and have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

Looking at the map we have in the kennel, I expected that handler would be telling us about what goes on in the checkpoint of Golovin – but Golovin isn’t a checkpoint!  Golovin (GULL-uh-vin) was a checkpoint at one time but because the distance between Elim and White Mountain is only 46 miles, the trail committee decided it wasn’t necessary to have a three checkpoints such a short distance apart.  I was curious about the village along the trail that isn’t a checkpoint so I asked Handler a few question.  She said that Inupiaq Eskimos live in the village.  In the early 1800’s Russian Navy Vice-Admiral Vasily Golovnin explored the bay and lagoon that now hold his name.  Did you notice the difference in spelling?  The bay and lagoon are spelled exactly like the explorer’s name but the village uses the spelling “Golovin”.  If you’re interested, you can learn more about Golovin in Wikipedia.  Today there are 140 people who live there. Forty-nine are students who attend Martin L. Olson School for grades K-12.

When Jeff and the little dog left Elim, they headed along the shore to a spot called Walla Walla.  Here the trail crosses a peninsula and climbs over the Kwiktalik Mountains.  The highest point that the mushers reach as 1,000 feet above sea level at LIttle McKinley  Trail expert, Don Bowers, says this is the toughest climb on the last half of the trail.  With Elim in the sled, Jeff ran up one side and down the other side of the mountains to Golovnin Bay.  Today, as Golovin is no longer a race checkpoint, the trail runs by the village then follows the snowmachine route across Golovnin Lagoon and up the Fish river to White Mountain.  More than likely, it was at Golovin that Jeff tried to contact the pup’s family to ask about adoption.

White Mountain is the only village on the Seward Peninsula that is located inland from the Bering Sea.  Two Hundred and three people live in the Inupiag Eskimo village.  The culture has been influenced by neighboring Yupik Eskimos as well as the Klondike Gold Rush.  Present day White Mountain began as a fish camp named Nutchirviq which means “mountain look-up point.”  During the gold rush of 1900, a warehouse for mining supplies was the first non-Native built structure.  After that an orphanage that later became a school was built followed by the Covenant Church.  The post office opened in 1932.  The current grade school meets in the oldest operating school building in Alaska.  Fire destroyed the high school building in early 2006.  A new school was built on the southern edge of town for the White Mountain Wolves.  Forty-nine students go to school in White Mountain.

Some folks in White Mountain hold jobs with the school, native store, post office, city and airlines.  Some folks work seasonally in construction and firefighting.  There is one reindeer farm and some residents hold commercial fishing permits.  Ivory and bone carvings; knitting, crocheting and skin sewing also bring income to a few homes.  Depending on subsistence hunting and fishing, many people spend their whole summer at fish camp to harvest salmon and other fish.  Beluga whale, seal, moose, reindeer, caribou and brown bear are commonly eaten along with berries, greens and home grown vegetables.  About half of the homes in White Mountain are on water and sewer.  The other half have water but use honey buckets and outdoor toilets.

There are no roads to White Mountain so travel and deliveries are by boat and plane.  Locals travel by snowmachine or ATV depending on the season.  Average summer temperatures fall between 43 and 80 degrees.  Winter temperatures range from 7 below to 15 above. White Mountain receives about 15 inches of precipitation with about 5 feet of snow.  If you lived at White Mountain you could expect rain or snow 120 days of the year and sun on 150 days.

When mushers reach White Mountain, they are required to take an 8 hour rest before they make the final push to Nome, 77 miles away.  The checkpoint building is up the hill beyond the Native Store.  Teams park on the shore of the river.  School kids come down to collect autographs and talk to the mushers.  Villagers come down to the river to talk with their friends and enjoy what’s going on.  Everyone enjoys the view of nearby mountain for which the village is named.

Well there you have it – a summary of Don Bower’s trail description and compiled information about Golovin and White Mountain from Wikipedia, each village’s home page and Alaska’s Online Community Data Base.  About now the mushers are both excited to be so close to Nome and yet sad that their personal Iditarod Journey is nearly finished.  Stay tuned as Handler tells us about Topkok and Safety.  Remember, in everything do your best every day and alway have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

There is a community water and sewer system in Elim.  Most homes have indoor plumbing and the convenience of washers, dryers and hot water heaters.  The Eskimo people of Elim live off the land.  They depend on fishing, crabbing, whaling and hunting seals, caribou, moose, reindeer and small game.  They also plant gardens and harvest wild greens, salmon berries, blueberries, blackberries and cranberries.  The folks who have cash jobs work at the school, the store, local offices or with the airlines.

Before taking the name of Elim, the Eskimo village was called Nuviakchak (Nu-ve-AK-chak).  These folks had a very well developed culture and were well adapted to the cool/cold climate and otherwise harsh environment.  Around 1900,  herders from Norway were brought to western Alaska to show the natives how to raise reindeer to create an additional source of food and materials for clothing.  Because of this project a very large population of reindeer existed in the area.  In 1911, the area became a federal reindeer reserve of 298,000 acres.  The first school to exist in Elim was built in 1914 by Rev. L.E. Ost.  He founded a Covenant mission and school that became know as the Elim Mission Roadhouse.  Today there are about 90 students who attend Elim’s Aniguiin K-12 school  where 10 teachers are employed.

If you lived in Elim you’d enjoy about 150 days of sunshine each year along with 120 days of precipitation.  Annual precipitation is around 19 inches which includes 80 inches of snow.    The average July high is 61 degrees and the average January low is minus 5 degrees.  Summers are cool and moist while the winters are cold and dry.

The trail from Koyuk to Elim follows the main snowmachine trail.  The trail switches between the ice of Norton Bay and Seward Penninsula land for the 48 mile run.  a few miles short of Elim, mushers will pass by a settlement of old cabins.  This is old Elim and now serves as a fishing camp.  Some thirty years ago, Elim was rebuilt on higher ground.  Mushers will also pass an abandoned airport.  Between 1940 and 1970, this was a refueling stop for Nome plane traffic.  Upon reaching the checkpoint located in the Elim fire station, mushers will see a familiar face.  Jasper Bond has moved from Rohn checkpoint to Elim.

Well there you have it – a summary of Don Bower’s Trail Notes for the run between Koyuk and Elim along with some information from Wikipedia and Sperlings Best Places about the village of Elim.  Thanks to my friend Robert Bundtzen for sharing some of his pictures from Iditarod 2007.  Next Handler is going to tell us about White Mountain and a fun story about something that happened to Jeff King a few years back as he left Elim.  Stay tuned and remember in everything do your best every day and always have a plan.

Born to Run,
Sanka

 

Koyuk a village of 310 is located at the mouth of the Koyuk River on Norton Bay.  Most of the people living in the village are Inupiaq Eskimos.  They depend on fish, reindeer, seal, beluga whale and moose for meat.  Some people have part-time jobs to supplement their subsistance lifestyle.  Some hold commercial fishing licenses and fish herring.  Some folks work at reindeer herding.  A new water and sewer system has been completed for the west half of Koyuk but the east side piping is still under construction. People and supplies travel to and from Koyuk by air or sea.  LIke most other bush villages, local transportation is by snowmachine and 4-wheeler.  The average summer temperature falls between 46 and 62 degrees.  In winter the average temperature falls between eight below and eight above.  The lowest temperature every recorded in Koyuk was 49 degrees below zero.  The highest recorded temperature was 87.  Nineteen inches of annual precipitation includes forty inches of snow.

Early residents in the area were nomadic and moved about to gather and harvest food.  Around 1900, the actual village of Koyuk began to take shape.  Dime Landing, Haycock and Norton Bay Station were nearby boom towns that supplied area miners.  Both gold and coal were mined up river from Koyuk.  The first school was established in 1915 by a church mission .  In 1928 the government built a new school.  Today the K-12 Koyuk-Malemute School has 124 students.  When asked what they like to do, most students will tell you they like to hunt, fish and play basketball.  Volleyball, skiing and Native Youth Olympics also rank among the top favorite activities for high school kids.

The Iditarod checkpoint is in the community center.  School lets out for a few days while the race is passing through.  Many of the children work at the checkpoint and are very proud of the Koyuk Iditarod Volunteer buttons they earn.

Well, there you have it – a little trail description and some basics about the village of Koyuk and the folks who live there.  Thanks to Sonny Chambers, a long time volunteer at Koyuk for sharing his pictures.  There was so much to share about Koyuk, I decided to divide this story into two parts.  I hope you take time to read about the great mushing history that has taken place on the Norton Bay section of the Iditarod Trail.  Next Handler is going to tell us about Elim.  Stay tuned for that story and remember, in everything do your best every day and always have a plan.  If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

Born to Run,
Sanka W. Dog