March 8, 2006

• soft trail, slow race

  

  Robert Buntdzen and his team on Puntilla Lake Monday (day 2)
  
   - photo credit Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News

  When I started writing this entry this morning, Iditarod leaders Doug Swingley, Jeff King, Aliy Zirkle and DeeDee
  Jonrowe were in Takotna, presumably taking their mandatory
  eight-hour layovers there where the food, especially the pie, is
  generally agreed to be the best on the trail.  Between midnight and 3 AM, they all blew
  through McGrath, which in early years of the race had been the usual
  resting place, taking only a couple of
  minutes for the exchange of signatures with trail workers at the
  checkpoint before heading out the extra 18 miles to Takotna.

  While I have been gathering data, uploading photos, drinking coffee,
  etc., Doug Swingley has left Takotna after slightly less than six
  hours, and John Baker, Ramey Smyth, Paul Gebhardt, Lance Mackey, Aaron
  Burmeister, Robert Bundtzen, Jessie Royer, Jim Lanier (who is
  scattering Col. Norman Vaughan’s ashes as he goes), Gerald Sousa and
  Matt Hayashida, have all gotten into Takotna.

  The
  food in Takotna is only one of the reasons for the shift from resting
  in McGrath.  In the past, dog teams have picked up some serious
  diseases from roving dogs in the village of McGrath.  Last night,
  Doug Swingley paused to check out a puddle of dog vomit in the McGrath
  checkpoint as he was checking in.  In response to a question from
  a bystander or reporter, he said with evident relief that it wasn’t his
  kibble.  A race veterinarian at McGrath, asked about the mushers’
  having begun taking their mandatory rests a bit further along, hinted
  that he wished he too were in Takotna where he’d have more time to
  check the dogs’ health.

  
  Sue Morgan’s dog Copper, napping on a snowy day at Rainy Pass
  
  Photo credit:  Marc Lester, Anchorage Daily News.

  The leaders’ time into McGrath is about six hours behind the pace that
  has been set in recent years.  The trail has been slow due to soft
  new snow.  Race volunteers driving snowmachines and dragging trail
  groomers are working hard to stay ahead of the first dog teams. 
  That handful of trailbreakers have stopped to sleep for only three
  hours out of twenty-four.  This year for the first time, trail
  conditions will require grooming all the way to Nome.  The usual
  routine has been to smooth the trail only as far as the coast. 
  Beyond that, the trail has usually consisted of ice and packed
  snow.  This year, there is fresh, soft snow all the way.

  Four mushers have scratched early in the race:  66-year-old
  Iditarod veteran and children’s book writer Gary Paulsen of New Mexico
  scratched at Skwentna on Day One — or actually shortly after midnight
  on Day Two — citing “personal reasons”; Lori Townsend of Willow
  scratched at Rainy Pass late that night after injuring her ribs in
  several falls; and Sandy McKee, 58, from Fairbanks made it as far as
  Rainy
  Pass before scratching on Tuesday due to frostbite on her hands. 
  Rookie Sue Morgan of Utah also scratched in Rainy Pass yesterday.

  There’s
  something different about Terrie Hanke, this year’s Teacher on the Trail.  This
  program sponsored by Wells Fargo is in its eighth year.  Until now
  it has been aimed at elementary school students with lessons that tie
  into sled dogs, Alaska, and the race.  Ms. Hanke is a high school
  physical education teacher from Wisconsin.  The lessons she
  transmits from the trail this year are pitched to older students and include
  footraces where a lap around the gym represents a mile on the trail.

  Oh, and kids — big or little — don’t forget one of my favorite iditarod.com features, the dog’s eye view of the race, Zuma’s Paw Prints, from the self-satisfied, pizza-loving blue-eyed husky who hangs around race headquarters.

  

  ---

  Well, that was fun. 
  Iditarod time always provides a welcome relief from cabin fever and I
  can do these reports in my sleep, digesting and relating info from all
  my various sources.

  “Sleep” is a reasonably accurate assessment of my current state. 
  After having KaiOaty’s site lie dormant for months with no one showing
  any interest in it, now that Mercury is retrograde I have a growing
  backlog of readings to do and can’t seem to see through the brain fog
  enough to get started on them.

  I told Doug this morning that it feels as if my head is stuffed with
  oatmeal.  That conversation rapidly degenerated into a giggling
  discussion of Avenomancy that would be funny only to other
  diviners.  It drew a chuckle out of Greyfox when he called.

  If you happen to be one of those waiting for a reading, remember that
  patience is a virtue and virtue is its own reward.  In the case of
  the virtue of patience, it is ever so much more rewarding than
  impatience.  That is the voice of experience speaking.

  Hurricane Greyfox blew through here yesterday, bringing groceries and a
  rented DVD for us to view while he went on up to Sunshine for his
  appointment with the dentist.  Snatch
  turned out to be an unexpected mixture of blood and laughter.  I
  can’t remember ever seeing such a funny movie with such a high body
  count.  The intricately choreographed stunt work involved in the
  series of auto accidents that tie the various plot threads together is
  a masterpiece slightly reminiscent of Repo Man.

  • 3:07 pm
  • 5 Comments