On March 9th, we (Ross, Wendy, and Aubrey, (Mackenzie and Marina stayed with friends)) woke up to an overcast day, but it was fairly warm for Galena standards. We prepared ourselves for the adventure that lay ahead! This is the day we would be taking a sno-go trip from Galena to Unalakleet, a 160 mile trip (320 round trip) along the Yukon river, over a pass, and finally reaching the coast by Norton Sound. I was pretty nervous considering this was the furthest I had ever gone on a sno-go trip, plus I would be trying to keep up with my crazy husband and our crazy German friend, Martin! Ross was kind enough to let me use his fast machine and he rode the Superwide with Aubrey most of the time. Martin and Finn had left for Nulato the day before, so it was just the three of us that took off that morning. We would meet up with Martin and Finn in Nulato. I was really wondering how I was going to do and I think so was my husband on our trip to Nulato. I couldn't see anything and was pretty much following Ross and Aubrey blind. I was going much slower than Ross had hoped and he kept saying you have to drive faster! It was overcast, windy, snowing, and foggy. Even Ross said it was pretty hard to see and lost the trail a few times.
The Iditarod did not pass through Galena this year as it went on the Southern route. We did not go on the same trail as the Iditarod this year until we hit Kaltag. Here is a description of the trail from the Iditarod site on the years it does pass through Galena to Nulato...Leaving Galena the river runs generally west. Fifteen miles from Galena the trail passes the fishing camp at Bishop Rock, a prominent landmark on the north bank of the river. Ten miles later it passes the mouth of the Koyukuk River, a major tributary, flowing in from the north, with the village of Koyukuk on the northwest bank. Five miles past Koyukuk the river swings south and the right bank becomes a low range of mountains rising to a thousand feet above the river. Nulato is eleven miles past the big bend to the south, on the right (west) bank.
I wasn't able to take very many pictures on this trip as we didn't really stop long enough to dig out the camera. I was wanting to take pictures of the towns and landmarks we passed but I was concentrating on keeping up with Ross!
Aubrey and I sitting on the Superwide on the Yukon River outside of Koyukuk a ways.
The Superwide, our sled full of stuff, and the 800 that I rode most of the time. You can
kind of see how the weather was socked in on the river but here it wasn't snowing that much.
Fueling up in Nulato
Martin and Finn joined us once we hit Nulato. The weather cleared and it was amazing how much I could see now. I wasn't following Ross blind anymore and I felt more comfortable going faster. We were trying to make it to Kaltag before the first Iditarod musher came in so we wouldn't get stuck behind him. We beat Martin Buser, the first musher into Kaltag, by a couple of hours.
Here is an image of Kaltag that I got from this site It is the last town that we passed through before leaving the Yukon River.Here is a description of the Kaltag to Unalakleet trail from the Iditarod site
This leg follows the ancient Kaltag portage, a relatively straight valley angling southwest through the coastal mountains; the route has been used for millennia by Natives. It is normally a well-used snowmachine highway. It marks the major transition from the inland river environment to the Bering Sea coast. Conditions can be vastly different at opposite ends of the portage, and wind is a constant threat on the western half.
The distance to Unalakleet is actually about 82 miles. There are two excellent resting spots on the trail, fifteen miles apart: the Tripod Flats cabin is 35 miles from Kaltag, and the Old Woman cabin is 15 miles farther on, about 35 miles from Unalakleet. Both are snug log cabins maintained by BLM and the local villages and can provide welcome refuges in case you encounter a storm.
The trail climbs for 15 miles from Kaltag through mostly wooded country to the summit of the portage, about 800 feet above sea level. Then it descends slowly into the valley of the Unalakleet River, staying mostly in wooded or semi-wooded country with some excursions across taiga and open areas until Old Woman, then running across mostly open tundra on the south side of the river valley. The trail drops back down onto the Unalakleet River about 8 miles out of town, making a couple of short portages across river bends before crossing the frozen lagoon into Unalakleet.
Watch conditions closely as you work your way to the sea, and be prepared to hole up in one of the shelter cabins if conditions turn bad, which they can do out here with breathtaking swiftness. The exact hard-packed trail will usually be marked with standard Iditarod trail stakes. This can be a major factor on the western end of the trail where it runs for miles across open tundra and the wind can drift everything in within minutes. When the trail is drifted over, you’ll want to try to follow the trail stakes because that’s where the packed trail is.
This was true...if you stepped or rode off the hard packed trail, you sunk into the snow and it was hard to get out, unless of course you were going fast with your sno-go.
Martin and Finn on the trail shortly after Kaltag.
Finn and Aubrey
Wendy, Aubrey, and Ross. The sun glistening off the snow was beautiful and bright! Thank goodness for goggles! I even got hot on this stretch. Probably because we were going slower and riding over bumps, upon bumps, upon bumps. I quickly learned that if you don't want to get jostled to death, you have to stand up while riding over these bumps. By the time we got to Unalakleet my legs were killing me. I am out of shape and my legs were not use to the squats I basically was doing all day long!
I tried to take a picture of the bumps on the trail, but this picture doesn't give a very good perspective. People said the trail was pretty bad this year with the bumps because there has not been as much snow this year. Ross said it was much bumpier than last year.
Ross, Aubrey, and Martin getting ready to take off after a short break.
Shortly after this break, Ross lost his ratchet strap off the sled so he turned around to go find it. Martin didn't see us behind him so tried to turn around to find us. He quickly got very stuck in the deep snow and brush. I thought, "Oh boy, how are we ever going to get this machine unstuck?" Thank goodness for the winch on Ross' machine!
This is where we stopped for lunch. We were all hot after riding through all the bumps but when
we stopped for lunch the wind picked up and we quickly got chilled so we didn't sit around for long!
Ross and Aubrey on the tundra. There are not many trees and it is pretty open country.
The sun was just starting to go down as we arrived into Unalakleet. It took us about 10 hours to get there. I guess it took Ross about 8 hours last year, so you can tell I slowed them down some. We also stopped in Nulato for a while when we met up with Martin and Finn so that added some time. The throttle on Ross' 800 is pretty stiff so by the time we were heading down the river to Unalakleet, my thumb, arm, shoulder and neck were cramping up. I was so glad to be there and I didn't know how my body would make the trip back after only a days rest. I was sore in a lot of different places but at least my head didn't hurt! I could tell I was using muscles I hadn't used in a long time. One would think you would just sit on the snowmachine and that it would be easy, but let me tell you, you don't just sit! I have a whole new respect for the Irondog competitors and for my husband who has become quite the snomachiner. Aubrey and Finn did great and were quite the troopers! We made it without any major break downs or disasters so we were thankful for that.
A picture of Unalakleet taken from this site
We got to Unalakleet, unloaded, ate, visited with Unlce Reid and Aunt Angela and then Aubrey and I went to bed. I laid there forever with my arm and neck aching from squeezing the stiff throttle all day until I finally took some Tylenol PM and fell asleep. Amazingly, I woke the next morning and my arm felt way better, just in time to see the Iditarod!
Sunday morning, Mitch Seavey was the first musher into Unalakleet, followed closely by Aaron Burmeister. We went down to see them come in and then went to church afterwards.
Mitch Seavey leading the pack into Unalakleet.
People waiting for Seavey. Ready with all their cameras.
Seavey getting closer.
Seavey signing in.
Aubrey and Finn with Seavey's dogs and a camera man behind them.
Veterinarians checking each dog out to make sure they are in good health.
The dogs are thoroughly checked by veterinarians at each checkpoint.
The team bedding down on some straw to get some rest.
Aaron Burmeister pulling into the Unalakleet checkpoint.
Burmeister getting out his snow hook as his dogs pull into place.
Waiting for his owner to bed him down and feed him.
This picture shows how they are hooked up to the line.
"I'm not even going to wait for the straw. I'm tired"
Burmeister bedding down his dogs.
Aubrey and Uncle Cam looking on.
Unhooking his dogs from pulling position. Ross, Aubrey and Finn watching.
The dog's food (fish, caraboo, moose, etc.) is frozen into chunks. Water or snow is heated and
mixed with the meat in order to thaw it. It is scooped up with a laddle and put into their food dishes.
Some mushers combine this mixture with kibble.
Aubrey and Finn goofing off while the dogs were being fed.
Aliy Zirkle getting her dogs prepped to leave Unalakleet.
Aliy pulling out.
And away she goes to win 2nd place!
Martin Buser (4 time Iditarod Champ) being interviewed.
John Baker (2011 Winner and record holder for the fastest time)
Dallas Seavey (Mitch Seavey's son, last year's winner, and record holder for youngest competitor to win)
I went around and took some pictures of the different styles of sleds so you can see how different ones are built. Generally they have a spot for the musher to sit on but not all of them. Imagine for those that don't, standing up for the entire race. Actually even if they have a place to sit, most of them stand a lot of the time anyways.
DeeDee JonRowe's dogs. Aubrey got to pet some of them when I wasn't there with the camera. DeeDee dresses in pink and her dogs have pink booties and pink coats. She is a cancer survivor and Ross' Dad actually knows her a little. She has placed in the top 10 for a number of years now.
We let Aubrey stay up in order to see Lance Mackey arrive. He came in around 10 or 10:30. Aubrey was pretty excited to see him! Here is her version of our trip that she wrote in her journal...
My Trip to Unalakleetby: Aubrey
I woke up early in the morning. I dressed really warm. Then I went outside and a man came over and talked with my parents so it took them really long to come outside so we could go. The man that came over also helped us with putting stuff on the sled (this was a native man from the community that decided to just stop by and visit right as we were trying to leave. Oh well!- Mom's input). Then we got going. It was a long and bumpy ride to Unalakleet. I had a lot of fun there. We went to see the Iditarod come in. I also got to eat pizza with Lance Mackey and we also gave him some jerky and fish. I really like Lance Mackey! Finn came with his dad too. It was awesome in Unalakleet! Of course we had a bumpy ride back. Uncle Cam, Aunt Angela, and Uncle Reid came over with us to Galena also. It was fun on the way back. Whenever there was a problem they stopped and Finn and I walked up ahead on the trail and collected dog booties. Finn got more than I did and got two pink ones from DeeDee and I got to pet one of DeeDee's dogs in Unalakleet. Finally we got back home. I went inside, took off my stuff, and went to bed. It was awesome going to Unalakleet!
How many 8 year olds can claim they rode 320 miles round trip over the period of 3 days to see the Iditarod, and of course her Aunt, Uncles, and cousins! Pretty awesome that Aubrey and Finn, two 8 year olds, made this trip with us!
Aubrey and I watching Lance Mackey put snow in his fancy cook stove. He has a cook stove built into his sled that he said keeps his butt warm when he is sitting down on the sled. This was his first year using this newly designed sled. He got it because he has to constantly be drinking water on the trail and this allows him to heat water while he is still moving. The reason why he has to have constant water is because of damage from the throat cancer he had to his salivary glands. His glands do not produce saliva. Imagine dealing with these types of issues while on the trail and still winning 4 times. He has an amazing story!
This is what the snow was used for. Heating up the food for the dogs!
A man from Unalakleet brought a fresh baked pizza down to give to Lance. Apparently it is his tradition every year. Lance had a film crew following him. They are doing a documentary on him. Everywhere he went, there they were, filming him! I don't know if they got any footage of us or not but they were filming the entire time we were there!
After eating a few pieces, Lance invited Aubrey and a few others to come
up and get a piece. The couple in the orange coats were from Iceland.
Aubrey giving Lance the dried fish and jerky.
Aubrey posing with Lance before he took off to get his tooth looked at. He had an exposed tooth that was really bothering him when the cold air hit it. I almost think I saw a picture of him afterwards with a missing tooth so I wonder if he had to get it pulled. Ouch, not something one would want to deal with while racing.
These are the supportive parents (which we got to know a little) of some of the mushers.
The lady is the mom of Jessica Hendricks and the guy is the Dad of Brent Sass.
Brent Sass and his Dad, Mark.
As most of you know, Mitch Seavey won this year's Iditarod. If you would like to know how everyone placed you can click here. Also, you can click on the names of the people I took pictures of if you are interested in reading their profiles. This post is getting pretty long so I will continue writing about our trip back to Galena in the next post.