The Winner Is In - The Race Is Over --- NOT!

HAPPY

Yesterday on the news, I heard that the Iditarod race was over and that Lance Mackey had won it for the third time in a row.

Well, like most news reports, they got it half right – Mackey did get a Three-peat. The race is over? Not hardly. Yesterday saw the first three mushers in to Nome – but there were still 54 teams out there. This, to me is the magic of the sled dog races. The race goes on – with as much interest, discussion and angst by the fans until the last team crosses the finish line.

Races traditionally have burning an old red lantern at the finish line. Called the Widow’s Lantern, it remains lit from the start of the race until the last musher is off the trail. That last musher to cross the finish line blows out the flame for another year and is awarded a trophy – The Red Lantern.

If you look at the historical statistics for the race you will find listed together – the first in to Nome winner and the Red Lantern winner. Placement of all the others who ran the race can be found – but with a lot of research.

In many sports, coming in last is a placement to be ignored or quickly forgotten – especially by those who have been there – but NOT in mushing circles. . . I have several autographs of mushers both active and retired and under their names they sign Red Lantern and the year they won it.

Far from being a symbol of failure, it is a sign of personal success and character – that the Red Lantern Winner had it in themselves to continue on, often alone on the trail and to complete what they started even without the ‘Bright Lights of Broadway”, to show that the true grit of old is still alive, that just getting the job done IS a victory. Honor comes with finishing, not necessarily by just finishing first. Perhaps this is something we all should remember in life.

Character is something which is common in the mushing community. Are there jerks out there racing dogs? Sure there must be – they all are humans, but I think there are a lot less of them than in other sports or in life. Mushing is NOT about the musher – it IS about the dogs. The dogs make the decision to run or not run. As Jeff king said “you can’t push a rope”. The musher must establish a relationship where the dogs want to work for him/her. Then to be in any way successful – dog care must come before their own comfort. Most mushers get to Nome and state they have not slept for two or three days – he dogs have – not the humans. The ego of the superstar sportsman does not lead to this commitment. This goes back to the mantra of dog owners everywhere – ALWAYS TRUST THE DOGS – and when 16 dogs will run a thousand miles pulling a sled for a person – well – that person can’t be all bad.

Another story of character – Libby Riddles, first woman to win the Iditarod, is retired from racing – but still very involved in the sport. It seems like she heard about the back story of Wade Marrs, 18 year old rookie from Knik, AK. Raised by a single mom, mushing has been his passion since he was a little kid. He has run the Junior Iditarod twice and won the Humanitarian Award. Somehow he was able to assemble a team and the funds to run the race this year but, as Libby found out, the money for his Mom to fly to Nome and meet him at the finish line was not there.

Libby knew that Mom should be there and put the word out and started collecting money for Wade’s Mom’s plane ticket. Today, we all got the word – Mom is in Nome. Libby is as close to a super star as they come in this game – but her concerns were for a rookie and his mom. This is Character. Thanks to Libby and all those who donated to get Mom there on Front Street, Nome.

Another backstory is that of a dog – Happy – from the kennel of Aliy Zerkle and her husband Allen Moore. This is the link – http://spkenneldoglog.blogspot.com/2009/03/iditarod-2009-happy-story.html
-watch the videos. You will find out why Happy has become the fan’s choice for Superstar of the 2009 Iditarod.

Nope, the race is not over – there are too many winners still out on the trail.

And Happy needs her kiss.

TEN YEARS WITH PATSYCLINE

We all have hard about “Gateway Drugs” that drug which is seen as ‘harmless’ but leads to a life of addiction – well, I would like you to meet MY ‘gateway drug”



TEN YEARS WITH PATSYCLINE

We brought Patsy our first Alaskan Malamute home from her BYB as a 9 week old ball of fluff. That afternoon, we took her to our vet for a check up; he heard a heart murmur and she was anemic – and loaded with fleas. We decided that we would take her back to her breeder and look for another, healthier puppy. She slept in the bathroom that night. The next morning, she was in the living room when I heard her screaming like the world would end. It seems that she did something that Tess, our old Momma Sibe did not like, Patsy ignored Tess' suggestion to straighten up – so Tess bit her. Face bleeding we rushed her to the vet who had to shave her face to treat puncture wounds to her face and head.

Kind of hard to have a BYB take back a chewed up puppy, so we were stuck with a bald headed back yard bred dog, with a murmur.

The next year was the normal adventures of raising a puppy. Normal IF that puppy is a Malamute. I discovered a couple of Malamute internet lists and began my education of the breed in general and with Patsy's help, the MRM (Malamute Resistance Movement) in particular. We found we had a dog that would fight a gate post at the drop of a hairy eyeball and at the same was the most loving dog we have ever owned.

At seventeen months – Patsy's cute little puppy hop had developed into a full blown bilateral bad hip bunny hop at anything faster than a walk – she hopped when she trotted. So off to the orthopedic vet – the verdict? Severe bilateral hip dysplasia and moderate arthritic changes to the right hip. The solution –Total Hip Replacement to the left rear. Three months of rehab – and Patsy was doing quite well. Then about a year later she developed an abscess on her left leg just above the hock. The implant had gotten infected. For a year she was on antibiotics – the abscess would clear up then return as soon as she was off the meds. It was obvious she was in pain, the right leg had atrophied and she was not using it. We were getting conflicting opinions on what, if anything could be done.

That year, 2002, the National was in Sacramento and a friend there offered to drive us to UC Davis if I could get an appointment to evaluate her leg.

Tom and I had driven there in the RV, and had decided that if there was not a VERY positive potential outcome if we operated on Patsy to remove the implant, we would have her put out of her pain when we returned. We were not going to put Patsy through another major surgery if it would not cure her pain. We loved her too much to put her through that for OUR benefit – only if it would really help HER.

The report from the wonderful Vets at UC Davis was very hopeful – if we removed the hip implants and all the cement where the infection had settled, there was an almost 100% chance that she would recover to become pain free and have normal function.

We left the National with the real winner of the year at that National in our RV – Patsy would get the surgery, and would live.

Patsy had the surgery and it was a success- she continued to travel across the country with us in the RV and has brought many special moments such as this.

Going to the National in Utah, Tom and I took the RV and did the touristy route. We spent one night at a WalMart (the cheap RV park) in Gallop. In the morning when I was walking her, 3 middle aged men walked by. Stopped dead in their tracks, and began talking to each other in their language (most likely Navajo, but could have been Zuni or any of the local languages) the one who had spotted Patsy put his hand to his neck and pointed Patsy out to the others. A bit later a VERY old gentleman came over to me and asked about my dog. l told him we were on our way to Ogden to National, and that she was a Malamute, and that they were the valued companions of the Malamute Inuits. He then looked at me and said, "Around her neck?"

I thought I was in for a major chewing out about those 'yuppie Indian wanna-be's' abusing traditional beliefs. I told him it was sent to her when she was very ill by a friend in CA, who is a Native healer. He asked me what was in the bag and I told him, I had been told to add turquoise and silver, but there were other herbs and I don't know what all else--you see it is HER medicine bag that Lori made for her. He smiled, and then asked if he could talk to her--of course I said yes.

He got down on his knees, reached out and put his hands on her head and spoke to her in his native language. Patsy, who will bark and bitch at strangers, just stood there relaxed, looking him in the eyes, as an equal. He told me "she is a special spirit", I told him I knew and thank you for seeing that. He smiled and walked back into WalMart. For the next few minutes, while I finished walking her 15 to 20 people, all Native, came out of WalMart, walk over to where we were, looked at Patsy and me and then went back in the store. Very special.

During this time, Tom's health had deteriorated and he was having a lot of trouble with his diabetes – many instances of going into insulin shock – with Pasty alerting me when ever he was unconscious. We also figured out that Patsy would alert Tom when his blood sugar would start to get low. She and Tom were bonded at the hip and she became his self taught Medical Assistance Dog. When Tom was having a bad day – he would take Patsy to work. She would spend the day sleeping under his desk, telling him when his blood sugar would drop. There were 6 times that she saved his life by alerting me that Tom was unconscious – and untold times, she alerted Tom to eat when he was going hypoglycemic.

Today, Feb 17, 2009 is Patsy's 10th birthday and she has led me on quite an adventure – somewhere along the line I lost my shyness and learned to embrace life with the joy and curiosity of a Malamute. For those who have seen her – you know she is not a Best in Show example of her breed – but that is only the outside. In her head and heart Patsy is 100% Malamute – a Best of Breed Malamute where it counts. She has taught me to look into the heart of those I meet and not to judge by what I see on the outside.

She has lead me to being involved in Malamute rescue and from there to work with RPOA helping Pets and Owners of all species. She had been the 'gateway drug' to a whole new world of interests (some would say obsessions) having to do with the world of working dogs – and sled dogs. Because of Patsy's influence in my life I have met my dearest friends, made many internet friends across the world – have traveled the US, gone to Alaska to the Iditarod and most importantly have had the love and respect – hard earned – of a fantastic if quirky Alaskan Malamute named CW Singin' PatsyCline.

***********************************************************

Now I sit here caring for 9 dogs, most of them Malamutes, all of them but Patsy rescues. My life is centered on Dog issues - Rescue; a facination with Northern Breed dogs, especially Malamutes; promoting giving Working Dogs jobs; a fanatic about the Iditarod and all the other activities with dogs; and working for animal welfare issues (NOT animal rights).

Hello, my name is Dust Musher, and I am an addict - all because of a gateway drug named PatsyCline.

Ravens and Food Drops

To the Native Alaskans the Raven holds a special place in their traditions – many consider the Raven as the Creator of the world, the nurturer of the first man. To all he is a trickster, a shape changer.

To modern man the Raven is a P.I.T.A. – a big black bird who I has been described as a rat with feathers. To me the Raven is fascinating – when I was in Anchorage my hotel room overlooked the back of a restaurant where the ravens gathered each day to visit the dumpster and shop for dinner. I would sit and watch them interact with each other and once they discovered me in the window, interact with me. I saw a level of intelligence similar to that of the African Gray Parrots I have known. Ravens also have a sense of humor – actually, I tend to lean towards the belief that they are the creators of the Arctic and they made the Malamute in their own image.

There are many stories of Ravens interacting with the dog teams on the trail, Karen Ramstead tells in her Iditarod Journal of Ravens who traveled with her team for miles. I can see how these beautiful big black birds can be seen as special spirits. http://northwapiti.com/Iditarod2K8/033108spiritravens.html

(to really learn what it is to be an Iditarod Musher – I recommend you read Karen’s Diaries and blogs – from her rookie year in 2000 to this year’s Yukon Quest 300 to the training going on today- she is a wonderful writher who is able to make it seem you are there on the runners
http://northwapiti.com/ouriditarods.html )

However – remember they ARE tricksters – one year during the race there was a remote camera set up so a picture of the checkpoint could be broadcast to the outside. Wonderful idea and the cutting edge of technology at the time, but there was this Raven ----- the Raven pecked at the camera, sat on the camera with his tail over the lens and finally was able to move the camera enough that all we got was a nice picture of a snow bank. Maybe Ravens created the stars that elude and fight off the paparazzi.

This year the Ravens out did themselves at the Rainy Pass checkpoint. This is a snip from an article in the Anchorage Daily News 3-10-09:

“(Check point worker)A former Iditarod musher, Anderson hadn't been quite so jolly earlier in the day when he had to chase off a flock of ravens that tore into some drop bags. The all-volunteer Iditarod Air Force leaves the bags of food and extra gear at most of the 22 checkpoints along the 1,000-mile trail days before the race.

These were covered with blue tarps to keep wild animals out, but the ravens saw through the ploy.

"(The tarp) was like a bull's-eye for them," Anderson said. "Those ravens are pretty smart."

The big, black crows on steroids were gathered along the lakeshore singing and dancing in celebration of what they'd found Monday morning, Anderson said. Between them and the foxes, about a dozen bags had been scavenged.
http://www.adn.com/iditarod/2009/story/716916.html

About the Raven
http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/bird/raven.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Raven

On the subject of food drops – this is a technical aspect of the race that takes several Iditarods to refine. The musher must ship out everything he will need on the trail – dog food, people food, clothing, extra sleds. If they think they will need it, it must be shipped. The Drop bags are labeled with both the Musher’s name and the checkpoint it will go to. This is a good source of information on the food drops:
http://www.ultimateiditarod.com/fooddrops.html

But the mushers aren’t the only ones who prepare for the long haul of the Iditarod – many of the fans or should I say, FANATICS who will spend the next 2 weeks glued to their computers also prepare ‘food drops’. After all who has time to cook dinner and bake snacks when updates are coming every few minutes? One of the posters on the BSSD forum posted her recipe for 5 minute chocolate cake – which she had made several kits consisting of the dry ingredients in sandwich baggies and stored, ready to mix and bake during the race. She shared the recipe with me.

DILLI’S 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again..
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired

Dollop of husky hair with a cherry on top optional.

I have gotten some questions on choosing the trail for the race and thought this site might be interesting – the bush villages have done an excellent job of creating on line educational sites and the kids really are in to connecting with their Native roots through studying the race.

Web site for Shageluk School Iditarod Project – interviews and history of the Southern Route
http://shageluk.iasd.schoolaccess.net/2009iditarod.html

I did my food drops early – frozen dinners, snack mixes, a stock of sodas. Having to choose between eating and keeping up to the minute on what’s happening in the Race?

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

Black Ribbon: Mozilla's Moose on the Loose

Those of us active in Malamute Rescue are a close knit group across the country – we help each other out with dogs needing homes, and we laugh and cry together when it comes to our dogs, both rescues and personals.
Today I we got an email announcing that Mozilla’s Moose on the Loose (Moose) passed on to the Rainbow Bridge. Moose was a rescue who found his home with one of our rescuers – Vicky of Illinois Rescue. We all cried with her…

Mozilla's Moose on the Loose 10-31-2000 ~ 3-13-2009

One day, nine years ago or so, a pup was born into this world. Like every other pup that is born into this world, he had his whole life ahead of him, filled with thoughts of what would come - a home to love him, people to call his own, an anticipation of a good life to come. This pup was not so lucky - he was sold to someone who who should never have owned a dog at all. He was put out into a small pen, and left day after day to watch the world go by, and wish that he could be a part of it. The days turned into weeks, the weeks to months, the months to years. His neighbors would call animal control, so sad for the poor pup left alone, with nothing or no one to play with, no regular food or water, living in his own filth. His person would make small amends, for a week, maybe two. And then the calls would start again. The laws don't always favor our furry friends, and they certainly didn't favor this poor pup. Over the course of years, many calls were made, many trips were made by animal control. Finally, after four long years, conditions were bad enough to remove him from his sad environment.

And so he came to rescue. And what a sight he was. He was skinny, and dirty, and over the top excited about being free from the small pen that had been his prison for as long as he could remember. With no fosters available, he was placed at a rescue friendly boarding kennel, where he always had plenty of food, fresh water, shelter, and volunteers to offer up the walks and belly rubs he so craved. One after another, potential adoptors eyed our big wild boy, and all proclaimed him "too much dog" - he was after all, a great big boy with a heart full of puppy mischief, short on manners, but long on personality. He was - and I'm sure he enjoyed being - a real handful. He loved the kennel - it was sooo much better than anything he had ever known. He greeted everyday and everyone with a big smile - a smile that everyone knew just meant trouble. He was a favorite among the seasoned volunteers who liked a dog that gave them a "run for their money".

After many many months in the kennel, and many potential adoptors looking at this handsome fellow but deciding he was just too much, one warm August day, I decided that he had waited far, far too long for a real home of his own - and loaded him into the car. And Moose became mine. He was probably mine all along, it just took me awhile to realize it - after all, I'm just a slow human. And Moose was nothing if not trouble! He wanted to eat the cats, fight with the other dogs, escape at every opportunity, and cause as much general mayhem as possible - all with a great big silly "hey world, look at me!" grin on his face. We gave him Halloween as his birthday - it seemed so appropriate, as he was always playing tricks. We had FUN. Everything was fun to Moose - there is nothing that we did that he didn't meet with a "this is GRRREAT" attitude. He learned obedience (ok...mostly). He learned to pull a sled with his sister Miss, and went on many sled demos for the rescue. He went to some weight pulls - and always pulled his 1000 pounds as a novice. He learned to race like the wind in his big yard, chase and catch woodland critters, do the happy dance at dinnertime, go swimming, go on long walks in the twilight, chew a bone, sleep in a warm bed, and get belly rubs and cookies. He loved life - every part of it, large and small. And he loved his people, and we loved him back, fiercely. There was just so much love and joy inside his big heart, it seemed that sometimes it might just burst from all it held inside.

This morning, Mark went out to let everyone outside - and came running in to me and said that Moose didn't want to get up, maybe he was sick. I threw on a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes......and in those short moments, Moose was gone. It happened so quickly - it did not seem real. In shock, we brought our boy to the vet, for the last time, to find out what had happened, if we had somehow failed him. How could a boy that we loved so much - and that loved us that much in return - suddenly be gone from our lives without even a chance to say good-bye? The autopsy results confirmed....Moose had died of heart failure. It was sudden, and unpreventable...all the love, and all the joy he had inside - his big heart just couldn't hold it and gave out.

And so, our hearts are broken. I cannot imagine mornings without "good morning MooseMan!" and night times without "sweet dreams MooseGarou", and days without trying to keep up with my mile a minute boy full of joy. Our lives will never be the same. Not ever. And tonight, and until we meet again, the angels will be ducking for cover from my big boy in his silver harness, as he runs through the skies looking for mischief.

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
Turn around bright eyes............turn around......

I'll see you in the dark, in my dreams, MooseMan. You were so very easy to fall in love with. I'll love you for my whole life, and beyond. I promise.

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Dear Mom Vicky and Dad Mark;

Please don’t cry but remember the good times – and every minute I had with you was a GREAT time. I am writing this letter because I didn’t have time to say a long good-by and a “see ya later” but things were moving fast and Lover Boy came to me and told me he needed my help on a special project.

You see this year the entire ’94 Malamute Iditarod team is running the race watching over all the dogs there – the trail is deep and punchy and they are needed to keep the route open and safe for those little Alaskans and Siberians on the trail; and the rest of the Mals North of the Rainbow Bridge are running with them. Lover Boy looked back towards the start and saw a small white dog named Nigel lost on the trail – and in Anchorage, a musher crying because her dog had been alone and lost for 4 days. Lover Boy went to search for Nigel. This morning, Lover Boy found Nigel and started to guide him back to people who could get him to his Hu-mom, but it was taking too long and Nigel was cold and hungry and scared and all the Humes were looking in the wrong places. Lover Boy needed me to help get Nigel home safely and quickly. We did it! And tonight we are watching Nigel and his Hu-Mom, Nancy, happily together in Anchorage.

Well with the serious stuff done – and not having gotten the time to scope out the Bridge fully, I was off to see what all the hoop-la called the Iditarod was about. Guess what I found. A musher and his team way out in front of everyone else – so I paid them a visit. Larry, the lead dog told me that his Hu-dad, Lance, was getting a little intense and agreed it was time to have some fun, so Larry and I ran the team and musher around the bush for a couple of hours – Boy THAT was fun.

As I joined up with the Malamute Silver Harness Team, the lead dogs, Jacob and Joshua, informed me that playing with the teams was not nice – they were working, after all – and as I contritely listened, they all burst out in laughter – agreeing you had indeed named me correctly – Moose on the Loose.

Now that night is approaching, remember I love you and you made my life on earth whole. I will hear your nightly “Sweet dreams, MooseGarou” and I want you to know I am living those sweet dreams.

I love you and want you to know I am not gone, just gone ahead to other adventures.

Love,
Your Moose Man

INSOMNIA AND STATISTICS

We have gotten started on the third day of the Race and the first five checkpoints are closed. This is the time the Race Geeks start to come out from under cover. To those of us who start keeping statistics NOTHING is too geeky (is that a word?) to compile, to figure, to compare to prior years. This is what separates the Fans from the Fanatics – to be able to let all who ask that THIS year all the mushers are at least into Finger Lake Checkpoint and no one has dropped out of the race yet - I am sure that somewhere someone is checking to find out if this is the farthest checkpoint without a scratch.

I am tracking who has dropped dogs and at what checkpoint. Others are tracking the comparable run times between checkpoints – this year, so far, the runs are a tad slower.

Once again – the best coverage by fans seems to be the Forum sponsored by The Bering Sea School District. http://wiki.bssd.org/index.php/Mushing_forum

As Internet fora go, it is a small group, a little less than 400 members and some of those are out on the trail in the race, but it is a GIANT as far as enthusiasm goes. Membership is free – just sign up and you do not have to be a total Fanatic to be a member. The BSSD board is one of the friendliest Fora going and we welcome anyone who is interested in the race – long time geek or new fan. The Board is also open to anyone who is not registered to read… Serious discussions, Talk to the Musher threads, and pure fun threads.

One of the most fun is the Who Is Trailbreaker? thread. A poster asked this innocent question during the middle of the race last year because there was GPS tracking of some of the mushers and always in the lead was a GPS designated Trailbreaker – the crew who marks and grooms the trail just ahead of the lead mushers. Well this question came up about the time the members were starting to suffer from sleep deprivation and during the time most of the mushers were traveling down the Yukon River – not a hotly contested part of the race. Well a legend was born – and the entire history of the Breaker Family was published – including a Family Tree and their Family Crest. My favorite member is Heart Breaker, the femme fatale of the family though others favor Jail Breaker, the Black Sheep of the family and Wind Breaker the family’s gaseous pet Golden Retriever.

One of the back stories coming out is Lance’s confrontation with a Moose on Saturday during the Ceremonial Start. The story can be read at Lance’s website: http://www.mackeyscomebackkennel.com/ But the photo from the Anchorage Daily News should be enough to get anyone’s attention.


2009 © Photo courtesy of Rebecca Keating

Well, back to checking the leader board and tracking the Dropped Dogs – now the mushers are over the Alaskan Range they should start dropping more dogs-those which were needed for the power to climb the mountains but not needed for the speed of the Interior and the trip down the Yukon.

Mush on!

The Re-Start -- and so the game begins

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

The Cremation of Sam MacGee
by Robert Service


Tonight 67 mushers and 1071 dogs are spending their first of many nights in the Alaskan Wilderness. . .

For some fans, they can watch the progress of the mushers on the Trail on the via the Iditarod web site tracker for the Insiders who have paid the subscription, for the rest of us we have to follow the old fashioned way – by checking often the Current Standings page at:
http://iditarod.com/race/race/currentstandings.html

But all of us will continue to bounce between the web sites, the blogs, and the emails flying between friends following news, speculation and wild rumors. In other words – just another typical Iditarod race watched by the Idita-nuts in the Outside.

I have lit two candles, one for the Mushers and one for the Dogs which will burn until the last Musher and team arrive in Nome and the Widow’s Lantern is extinguished….thus ending the race.

The story of the FROG in a Sled: http://www.alaska.net/~freefrog/home.html

Photo by Donna Quante

And Photos of Lance’s tag sled on its side can be found on Backstage Iditarod Blog – link on the left side of my blog.

Pictures of Eric’s tag sled flipped is on the Anchorage Daily News Photo Essay of the Start.

Off to bed – to continue the internet quest in the morning – at least I have a nice warm and dry bed to curl up in – but then, catching a catnap surrounded by my team is not such a bad dream either.

Today was the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage. Today is for the fans - the mushers use any sled they wish and the dogs they run with often are not the dogs which will be on the team for the rest of the race. Today's theme was celebrating 50 Years of Alaska's Statehood and the Honorary Musher's Sled driven by Dan Seavey, was an antique Freighting sled borrowed from the Knik Museum.

Jeff King who is noted for being 'innovative' when it comes to sled designed went 'old school', VERY old school and ran the Start using an historical design of a Gee Stick Sled. This is a type of sled used by the freighters before the turn of the century like - in the 1800's. The musher/driver is on skis allowing the sled to be filled with freight. Remember that these sleds were designed to be pulled by freighting or sledging dogs, like our Malamutes, not the NASCAR Alaskan Huskies used today. Jeff has posted a You Tube video of a training session - notice the voice control he has of his team - amazing.

Jeff's You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYB5dRPkmDI&feature=channel_page

From the Anchorage Daily News: Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King waves to the crowd near Alaska Native Medical Center as he skis in front of a freighting dog sled during the Iditarod Ceremonial Start on Saturday, March 7, 2009. His freight sled was equipped with a "gee pole" that were used on most every freight sled at the turn of the twentieth century. According to a U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management web page the gee pole was a stout pole lashed to, and projecting from, the front of the sled, which the sled driver could use to leverage and steer the sled. Most dog drivers still did not ride the sled, instead running besides or riding skis or a sort of early snowboard between the dog team and sled. Riding the sled-runners was used only by drivers of light and fast mail and race teams. http://www.adn.com/iditarod/2009/v-gallery/story/714227.html?/1521/gallery/713606-a714407-t3.html

One of Jeff on the Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_0wcP1a0fw


June’s Blog with lots of pictures http://backstage-iditarod.blogspot.com/

Some Links to follow the inside view of the race:
http://gomush.com/2009IditarodStartpage2.html

I am sure there will be more later -- Tomorrow is the Re-start of the race - the 'real' start where the timer is ticking.

Meantime there are questions floating around about the Start ---- Like:
Alexie and the camo dogs
Lance’s tag sled rider got dumped?
Eric's did, too?
A frog in the sled

Iditarod from Texas - the insanity begins

You may be wondering why I began my blog with a Journal which is two years old. Well, this is the week the Iditarod starts – the Start is on Saturday March 7 in Anchorage and I am getting in to my 3 weeks of living in front of my computer screen, following every nuance of the race and taking part in at least 3 Yahoo groups and at least one Forum…all focused on 1149 miles across Alaska.

The immersion has already begun – the Idita-Support Group is beginning to arrive in Anchorage – friends are flying in from around the country while the members who live there are keeping all of us up to the minute of the happenings which fill each day this week. I am re-living vicariously each and every event. The Vet Checks, the Musher’s Banquet, the Musher’s meeting at the Millennium, the Open houses, the start and then the restart – and the Group’s Dinner at Gwinnies.

Trying to get all the stories – who is riding in the tag-sleds for the Start in Anchorage – what dogs do the mushers have hitched that day – and which dogs are going to be on the team for Sunday’s Re-start.

Chasing down more information from comments dropped such as “they pulled the plug on the Serum Run at Ruby because of trail conditions – too much snow”. How will that affect the trail out of Ruby for the rod? What ARE the trail conditions? The temps? How will that affect each team. Does the cold and snow conditions give an extra edge to the mushers from Kotzebue? How will the Rookies adjust – at least they have had a lot of cold and snow to race and train in this year.

One of things I love about Sled Dog Racing and this race in particular is that is it an equal opportunity event. Men and women race heads up – there are no ‘Lady’s Tees” in mushing – and the race is not always against the other mushers and their teams - but to continue on the trail because of a dream.

As of today, there are 67 Mushers ready to start – maybe 20 have a snowball’s chance of winning and of those the winner most likely will come out of a group of maybe a half dozen. The real Iditarod for me is with those 40 or so mushers who are there and know they have not a chance of winning – if reaching Nome first is winning – but for many of them just reaching Nome with a healthy team is a win, no matter where they place in the finish results.

The trip itself is the challenge. One person and 16 dogs facing the best and worst the Alaska bush and Mother Nature can throw at them – and overcoming…That is the Iditarod. As I have told friends who do not understand WHY someone would do this – “If you have to ask WHY, you will never get it.” It is the Dream – the same Dream our ancestors had when they left the country where they were born to start life on a new continent – the same Dream which lead the Pioneers to walk across the prairies to settle in a remote part of this country ... the same Dream which each of us has had, to face the unknown because, well because we had a Dream.

Basically all those technical things which glaze over the eyes of my friends and family but are totally understood by those of us who are died in the wool (or maybe I should say Fleece) Idita-Nuts.

Thank goodness for the Internet – not too long ago the only way to follow the race was to phone the Iditarod Trail Committee’s phone room to get up dates. Now, phone calls are usually made when I know someone who is working the Phone Room in the middle of the night. I am SO glad that my cell phone service has free nationwide long distance and AT&T knows that Alaska is part of the nation.

So basically the next couple of weeks will be focused on Alaska – but who knows what else will pop up that I will feel the need to share.

As one of my favorite mushers has as his signature line –

Keep ‘Em Northbound

Bi.

EPILOG

I have now been home a week. It has been a week of getting back in the routines of living with my seven couch potato Malamutes, going back to work and of course following the Iditarod on the Internet, and very occasionally on the TV. As for the race, it has been part nail biting drama, some incredible highs, and gut wrenching lows. A couple Mushers got on the wrong trail, were found and reached the checkpoint safely. A dog, Aafes, slipped her harness while in a blizzard and is still being searched for. One Musher is racing on with a possible fractured fibula. Eric was over thirty hours between checkpoints, found with his dogs, a broken sled, badly injured foot and leg and unable to continue; but alive and with his dogs all healthy. The Race leader was changing almost every time I checked.

I also was witness to one 11 year old girl, her father and a couple of friends, traveling the Iditarod Trail by dogsled to honor her mother and thank those residents of the remote villages who had befriended her – and to leave a piece of Susan on the trail to watch over all the dogs and Mushers yet to come.

Then disaster struck.

Snickers, one of Karen Ramstead’s main lead dogs, developed a bleeding ulcer and, after several hours of intensive vet care at the Grayling checkpoint, died. http://www.northwapiti.com/indexSnickers.html The loss of Snickers, to whom a week earlier I had been giving ear scratches, hit me as hard as the loss of one of my own dogs. The Iditarod/North Wapiti family, real and Internet, came together to share our grief, and give support to Karen and Mark. Godspeed, sweet little Snickers, may you wear your silver harness with pride as you run North of the Rainbow Bridge.

Then, at the other end of the trail, the leaders were starting to sort themselves out….. And Lance Mackey, who camped out in a parking lot to be able to wear bib 13; and after beating throat cancer, surgery, radiation treatments, and as he states, ‘a lot of wrong turns in my youth’; and having, the month before won the 1000 mile Yukon Quest, running with 13 of the same dogs, crossed under the Burled Arch in Nome to win the Iditarod. The first time anyone has won both endurance races in the same year. Winning in his sixth attempt, wearing bib 13, just as his father and bother had done before him.

That is the magic for the world to share, but I have lived my own magic.

I have seen 17 team members, of two species, achieve feats of which legends are told…

I have walked with heroes…

I have gotten to know some of the most ‘real’ humans on this earth…

I have learned what the term ‘an honest dog’ can really mean...

I have traveled roads blazed by true pioneers and founders of this country, and of this continent…

I have gazed on a land which exemplifies the majesty of God.

I shall never be quite the same…

I am humbled.

I have been blessed.

b

Eric’s Iditarod

The Anchorage Daily News carried the story of Eric's end of the race......

Sometimes, winning does not include getting to Nome, just getting the dogs home.

http://www.adn.com/iditarod/race_2007/features/story/8715349p-8617342c.html

Eric references a poem, The Cremation of Sam MacGee, in this article. It is THE mushing poem and many mushers have referenced it and claim to quote it while on the trail.

The Creamation of Sam MacGee
by Robert Service

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee,
Where the cotton blooms and blows.
Why he left his home in the South to roam
'Round the Pole, God only knows.
He was always cold, but the land of gold
Seemed to hold him like a spell;
Though he'd often say in his homely wayThat he'd "sooner live in hell".

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way
Over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold
It stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze
Till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one
To whimper was Sam McGee.

And that very night, as we lay packed tight
In our robes beneath the snow,
And the dogs were fed, and the stars o'erhead
Were dancing heel and toe,
He turned to me, and "Cap," says he,
"I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you
Won't refuse my last request."

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn't say no;
Then he says with a sort of moan:
"It's the cursed cold, and it's got right hold
Till I'm chilled clean through to the bone.
Yet 'tain't being dead -- it's my awful dread
Of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair,
You'll cremate my last remains."

A pal's last need is a thing to heed,
So I swore I would not fail;
And we started on at the streak of dawn;
But God! he looked ghastly pale.
He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day
Of his home in Tennessee;
And before nightfall a corpse was all
That was left of Sam McGee.

There wasn't a breath in that land of death,
And I hurried, horror-driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid,
Because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say:
"You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it's up to you
To cremate those last remains."

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid,
And the trail has its own stern code.
In the days to come, though my lips were dumb,
In my heart how I cursed that load.
In the long, long night, by the lone firelight,
While the huskies, round in a ring,
Howled out their woes to the homeless snows --
O God! how I loathed the thing.

And every day that quiet clay
Seemed to heavy and heavier grow;
And on I went, though the dogs were spent
And the grub was getting low;
The trail was bad, and I felt half mad,
But I swore I would not give in;
And I'd often sing to the hateful thing,
And it hearkened with a grin.

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge,
And a derelict there lay;
It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice
It was called the "Alice May".
And I looked at it, and I thought a bit,
And I looked at my frozen chum;
Then "Here," said I, with a sudden cry,
"Is my cre-ma-tor-eum."

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor,
And I lit the boiler fire;
Some coal I found that was lying around,
And I heaped the fuel higher;
The flames just soared, and the furnace roared --
Such a blaze you seldom see;
And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal,
And I stuffed in Sam McGee.

Then I made a hike, for I didn't like
To hear him sizzle so;
And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled,
And the wind began to blow.
It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled
Down my cheeks, and I don't know why;
And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak
Went streaking down the sky.

I do not know how long in the snow
I wrestled with grisly fear;
But the stars came out and they danced about
Ere again I ventured near;
I was sick with dread, but I bravely said:
"I'll just take a peep inside.
I guess he's cooked, and it's time I looked"; . . .
Then the door I opened wide.

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm,
In the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile,
And he said: "Please close that door.
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear
You'll let in the cold and storm --
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee,
It's the first time I've been warm."

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

Alaska Days 13–14, Wednesday and Thursday March 7-8, 2007

Day 13 : Wednesday, March 7
This was the last day to go souvenir and gift shopping. Found the best place to get reasonably priced Alaska goodies -- Wal-Mart. Now, anyone who knows me will understand I HAD to make a stop at my second favorite store. It seems as if my travel stories when in the RV consist of which Wal-Mart I stopped at today, so why would anyone be surprised that I had to make at least one stop at an Anchorage store?

Actually, there was a legitimate reason to go there – it seems that the collection of ‘’stuff” I have purchased far exceeds the volume of suitcases I bought with me. I either had to leave behind everything I brought up here OR buy shipping boxes and make a trip to the post office to mail home the goodies which won’t fit on the plane. Note to self – next time I make a trip like this, forget return tickets on an airline, just charter a Fed-Ex plane home.

I then went back to the hotel to start the packing process. I think someone could succeed very well with a cottage industry packing for visitors’ return trips home.

That night was dinner at the Mexican Restaurant which was just outside my window. Yup, two Texans, in Anchorage, eating Mexican food. However, La Cabana has some of the best Mexican food I have eaten anywhere. The only problem I found is that ‘HOT’ to the Alaskans comes out ‘very mild’ to Texans.

From what I have heard, Native Alaskan food is an acquired taste and Anchorage is primarily a city settled by flatlanders from all over the US and the world. Restaurants in Anchorage are a mix of any type cuisine you can imagine. Much to my surprise, Mexican, Chinese and Pizza seem to predominate. The one food I discovered and will be attempting to import to Texas is Reindeer Sausage. I have no idea if it is just sold to cheechacos (newcomers) or if is eaten by real sourdoughs (those who have seen the ice on the rivers freeze AND thaw) but it is delicious! Bambi and the Claus Team are in trouble!!!!!!

There is a nice video about the dropped dogs at the prison. Check it out. http://www.adn.com/photos/multimedia/iditarod/dogdrop/

Day 14 - Thursday
This was the last day of sight seeing. We went north up the other leg of the Mat-Su Valley towards Glenallen to see the Matanuska Glacier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanuska_Glacier This is a active valley glacier 27 miles long and four miles wide a the terminus It flows much as a river would at a speed of about a foot a day and it takes 250 years for an ice crystal to travel from the beginning to the terminus. This is the largest glacier accessible by car in Alaska. Unfortunately, the park was closed when we got there and we had to be content ‘just’ taking photos from the Glenn Highway.

To save time trying to describe the scenery, refer to Journal entry for Day 12 and just change the locations to Matanuska Glacier ;^) Yes, another OOOHHHH AHHHHH Day!

On the way back to Anchorage, I stopped at the Iditarod Trail Committee Headquarters in Willow. This was a pilgrimage for me. Having been an ITC member for years, I have seen pictures of the HQ, talked on the phone to people who work there, and consider this the home for the Keepers of the Dream. I did not genuflect at the entrance, but I was close!

I am not one who, takes lots of pictures to be labeled ‘me in front of the world’s largest XXXX’. But, in front of the HQ building is a bronze statue of Joe Redington, Sr., the Father of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. I now have a picture, “Me, next to the Redington Bronze.” THIS is the one photo which will be printed out, framed and hung on my wall.

Remember, “fan” is short for “Fanatic” and this Fan has lived a dream and had the trip of a life time. Tomorrow at 0600am, my plane leaves Anchorage and I return to life as a Texan….with a piece of my heart left in Alaska.

BFromTexas