ICE, ROCK AND WIND – My recount of the 2014 Iditarod… by Christian Turner
As I loaded my sled onto the truck the morning of the 2nd march 2014…I thought to myself “this is it” 4 years of work all compounded into this day. It was up to me to take the reigns now, Dallas Seavey had helped me through 2 years of training and I had helped him with the same. We both had goals to accomplish starting on the 2nd, mine a little different… I wanted to finish as a rookie and truly test the amazing 2 year old Alaskan huskies I was given to run and train. Dallas was out to win again just like he did in 2012.
Willow Lake
The day went so quick… we parked our truck full of 16 yelping huskies, out on the ice of Willow Lake. Once everything was ready (sled packed, lines checked and dogs bootied) I had time to walk around and see my competition and also have some last words with my friend and mentor Dallas Seavey.
I wished Dallas luck and thanked him once again for letting me run his dogs in the Last Great Race. He told me he had no worries about my abilities and to run the dogs like he knows I can…
Dallas left the shoot in 14th position and I was shortly after him in 21st.
The run to Yentna is a 42 mile run down the willow swamp and onto the river. The best part is everyone camped out along the trail. Thousands of fans lining the trail cheering and BBQing there way through the Sunday afternoon. This really makes the first run special. A massive celebration of the sport. The only issue I had along the river was a pass I had with low and behold Dallas, he had stopped to change some booties and some dogs over and I went head down straight into his team, “haha!” my dogs wanted to say hello to their friends .
Once into Yentna I grabbed some straw and Heet (Burning alcohol for my cooker) and continued on down the trail. I camped shortly after.. bedded my dogs with the straw and cooked a hot meal.
The next run to Skwentna was short and easy. Nothing but my headlamp bouncing off the dogs shadows down the frozen Yentna River.
I stopped in Skwentna, had a sleep and then continued on the trail towards Finger Lake. This run was the first I got to see of the “ICE” patchy parts of trail with no snow and large areas of frozen ground and ice. Once I got close to Finger the snow got even more sparse. Once onto Finger Lake we circled the frozen ice and came around into the checkpoint from the opposite side. The Race volunteers had cut small grooves into the ice for our snow hooks to grab as there was no other way to stop the eager dogs.
Leaving Finger was the first unknown. I had never gone further into the Alaska range with a dog team than I was about to then.
My position had slipped considerably as I was resting longer than other teams and trying not overwork my dogs. Now I faced The notorious Happy river steps!!!
My first time attempting them and once I was through the swooping tunnels that point vertically down and turn so quickly you can’t see your team dogs let alone leaders, I thought to myself “well that was easy enough” . So much worry and stress from all the Mushers regarding this section had my anxiety through the roof, I was unsure what to expect. I smashed through them without any issue and kept charging down the trail.
Some of the next miles consisted of sideways overflow and treacherous down hill gully sections as I guided my team into Rainy Pass.
Once into Rainy Pass, I spoke to some other mushers whom 50% were in agreeance with me the steps were cake and some of the overflow was a little technical. But we made it ….
Later at Rainy Pass as I was getting ready to leave and head towards the summit, I received some nerve racking information…
As I left the musher’s cabin around 10 pm I was in a great position for my puppy team and had blown over most of the Alaska range with no incident. The dogs were bedded down on some strange hay instead of the usual straw. I asked about this to the checkers and they explained that it was a way of supporting the checkpoint as there were horses and they could re use the feed.
The mushers cabin was cold and full of snoring mushers..(no sleep for me) .. I walked out and was confronted by the checkers and a race judge.. ” are you planning on leaving” ? I looked at them and said “yeah”…wondering why they looked so worried.
The judges pulled me into their tent and looked me up and down. Firstly I was thinking what the heck is going on, these guys are going to make me late. They soon started rambling about the trail being “Technical” I looked at them and asked “any certain part that is “technical”or has any one not made it?” ” You should wait until tomorrow during the day and go with everyone else” they said… this was not really answering any of my question and I was not about to hold up my race when everyone else had made it down. They also couldn’t give me a clear story of what the trail actually was like.
So I bootied my team and headed off up the Alaskan range towards Rainy Pass.. During my team prep Mike Santos and Mike Ellis had seen me getting ready and decided they would follow and let me blaze the trail ahead.
The way up to the pass was very pleasant …beautiful trail and wide open clear skies. I even had time to bring out my camera and take some footage of reaching the summit and sign post “Rainy Pass”.
Once past the sign straight away it was clear to me, the snow had fallen on the southern side of the mountain and not the northern heading down the Gorge … Rocks were sticking out and the brake was losing effectiveness as we gained speed down the chute.
The markers were visible as it was a clear night and my speed increased dramatically down the almost avalanche like chute.
At the bottom of the wider area the trail suddenly and unnaturally turned right …my team blew straight past the turn and down into the Dalzell creek ….I tried to stop but to no avail and finally tipped my sled over into the creek. “WHHOOOOOAAAAAA easy boys easy easy easy” (I’m pretty sure I said this enough to make it totally lose its meaning)..I set my hook and walked casually to the leaders…”good boys , easy now easy now” I grabbed the lead line and 180’d them around and back to the right hand turn. During this process, one of my wheel dogs Danner was snagged on a rock , the team lurched forward as I reached my sled and Danner’s harness that was snagged ripped in two. Once everyone was straightened out I checked Danner over and changed his mangled harness.
Then we hit the rock ice and dirt chutes..(you can see for yourself on Jeff King’s go pro footage what it was like … he did it 12 hours before me and during the day light with some snow cover, when I came through ..pitch black with no snow cover at all.)
The chutes were vertical drops that I bashed and bounced my way down ..smashing into trees and rocks as i terrifyingly tried to stay upright and in control. I can remember Dallas’s words clearly before the race ” once you pass it you do not have to do it again” …crash bounce slide crunch …. I thought to myself.. I don’t think I will be able to do it again. hahaha!
The 3 words that come to mind and I heard from more than a few mushers describing the gorge were…terrifying .. dangerous and “technical”.
Now that I have finished I look back and think it was sort of “exhilarating and almost fun” …
I came out of the chutes and into the gorge at a blistering pace, the brake and drag were useless …I hit the ice and just kept going faster and faster..the ice bridges were non existent and the open rivers caused my young team some grief but we kept an ungodly pace as we charged down the gorge…
Soon I burst out onto a runway with not a slither of snow to be seen my runners were ripped to pieces and my brake was almost comical… then I saw a head lamp..bobbing towards me down the end of the runway!!!!
The dogs of course also saw the headlamp and pulled with even more gusto towards this little shining light. I got a quick glance to my right and …yep there is the trail into Rohn..and I was heading not that direction but straight towards the little headlamp…”easy boys EASY BOYS” NOPE…..!!!! sled on its side and scratchhhhhh crunch (hook was useless with the frozen ground)… the headlamp stopped bobbing and dived to the side …. the dogs followed and …stopped right on top of one of the poor volunteers getting water from the river….. ” this Rohn?” I asked ….”sure is , well up there” he points towards the trail I missed. We turned the team around and I set off towards the little trail… I made it into Rohn!!! This run should take 5ish hours it had taken me 7.
Rohn…
After feeding and bedding my team I slowly went over each and every dog checking wrists arms and shoulders… I was very surprised to find a very healthy and happy team considering the tough run we had just done..
I went into the cabin to talk and eat.. what I saw was a war zone of scratched, bruised, and bashed mushers. The gorge it seems had been tough on a lot of people not just me. (I think 7 or more mushers scratched in this section alone..including DeeDee and Linwood (two top 10 mushers) I rested for 5 hours and set off towards Nickolai …
The next run was almost 80 miles so I planned to break it into 2 runs with a camp in the middle, I loaded my sled with straw and food (tied the straw on top and packed my sled full with dog food and heet.)
THE BURN!!!!!!!!!
This section of trail is notorious for low snow and a rough ride … in a low snow year like this one ….. lets just say it was a rough ride…..
I started my run down onto the ice of the river ..I started heading off the glare ice and back towards the trees on the opposite side … … the trail was rough and before id made it 5 miles i had lost my bale of straw and realized this was going to be an intense run. I crashed my way down the trail, my sled copping the worst of the bumps and lumps.
Words cant properly describe this section of burned out Armageddon.. but it was the toughest and most miserable I have ever encountered.
About 10 miles in I was confronted with another 16 dog team coming towards me.. I painstakingly moved my sled and team off the trail and out of the way as much as I could. The team was being driven backwards towards Rohn by a snow machine!! This was not a good sign… I asked the machine driver if “everything was ok”? he replied ” Gus gunther is just up the trail with a snapped leg and can not continue”..
I kept going up the trail and came across Gus and some volunteers tending to him.. “sorry mate”!! he told me to give it my all and be safe…
This run was eventful and as i navigated the famous glacier, I had a feeling it wasn’t over. I came across another musher, Scott Jansenn he was not in a good way … clearly having team troubles and troubles of his own. A small blood trickle down his check and a dazed look on his face told me enough.
I stopped and asked if he was ok? he replied ” I have been knocked out for the last few hours … I woke up and found my team a little down the trail.” His team looked fine although a little shell shocked. He asked if he could follow me.. I said yes but was not able to wait as my brake was ineffective. He agreed he would stay back but insight and hopefully we could navigate together.
This was a good idea in theory , but shortly after seeing Scott I encountered a STUMP!!! not my first stump – but the worst by far… I was moving fast down a rolling hill and was trying my best to slow the team when we crashed over a large stump that split the middle stantions and broke both my brake and drag in one big crunch…… The Dogs looked back and could feel no resistance!!! time to fly they think… I hung on for dear life with no ability to slow.. I tried to use my hooks but was in a dangerous area and had nothing to hook, let alone if they grabbed i would be flung past my 16 dog team….This was the worst moment of the race so far …
And then BAM, I hit a tree head on …the front of my sled crumpled and the line stretched until.. POP!! it broke and I watched 14 of my 16 dogs continue down the trail at a break neck speed. I was propelled into my handle bars and over my sled.
As soon as I hit the ground I was up and moving ( looking back I am very happy that during my school years I was a competitive sprinter and able to move …fast!)
I think the 14 dogs were moving at about 18 mph and i was not far behind them …I forgot my self and gave way to any possibility of self injury…my team was loose! If any one of those dogs were hurt or killed it would be entirely my fault.. don’t get me wrong these dogs love their job …like love it! but I’m the employer! It’s my job to keep them safe ….
As I skidded my way down the trail I could hear the dogs in front but they were getting farther and farther away. The trail was ice covered and slippery and I was wearing some pretty heavy winter gear.. I knew I was moving at a fast pace as sweat went pouring down my face and back. My feet were beginning to way me down.. the hill I started climbing was even more slippery than the trail past… I slipped and fell … this was not going well, and the feeling of encroaching doom was growing. I picked my self up and started shambling myself up the ice covered hill. As I crested the peak I could see my team!!!!! Probably the first time in 2 miles. The team was tangled at the base of the next hill snagged on a tree stump and looking around with confusion . (Why did we go from 10 miles an hour to 18 and then to a sudden stop ?? and why isn’t MR food and his crazy sled behind us anymore??) this is what I pictured they would of been thinking.
I reached the tangled mess of dogs and started working my magic… four females to the right of the trail necklines double looped around trees… 10 males to the right the same way.. then I carefully went over each dog. NOT ONE INJURY!!!! I felt like some higher power was playing a funny joke on me then felt bad and let me be.
I stretched out my line in the middle of the trail, it seemed ok other than the obvious break point in front of the wheel dogs…….oh crud the wheel dogs.. one more look at the team they were all secure and happy and I set of at a brisk jog back down the trail..
I reached my sled and surveyed the damage.
No brake or drag pad…no bottom brace stanchions …right hand side brackets split and bent..
Wheel dogs- Asleep and very happy…
sled bent and broken…
I tried to get my two wheel dogs to pull the sled towards the rest of the team, they would have no part of it…way better to curl up and sleep or try and visit with me (these dogs were not in any way leaders.) so I detached the single piece of line and walked them in front of me like normal pets and pulled the sled behind me with as much force as I could muster.
This process of dragging the sled was partially working, but I’m no 16 dog team and the sled was packed full (cooker/cooler/bowls/winter gear/ dog jackets/sleeping bag/vet bag and enough food to feed an army, plus all my personal stuff) I heaved and pushed as much as I could but as soon as I hit the first icy uphill I was stopped.
I decided to reunite the wheel dogs with the rest of the team, once I reached the other dogs I tied my wheel dogs to the same trees and started the 2 mile walk back to the sled. The sled was still the same weight…so i unloaded everything and pushed it empty down the trail to the dogs…by this stage my legs were starting to get a little tired. 3 more trips for the gear and I had everything together..now my legs were really tired.
I fed the dogs where they were …and as they ate I went over the sled inch by inch and confirmed my first check…it was buggered.
Then was the point I really considered scratching ..I was not in a good frame of mind…mentally and physically tired, compound this with the stress of a loose team and broken sled … I sat on the ground and thought about a lot of things…..this journey had taken almost 4 years to reach this point…and I was about to throw it away.
H*** no! Get back on your bike (sled in this case) and sort your s*** out.!!!
So I pulled out my repair kit and went to work…if I was able to get the brake working I would be confident I could progress down the trail in a safe manner for the dogs. I have never put myself above them and i was not going to start there. I used a new brake bar that was stashed under my cooker and replaced all the bolts that were snapped.. I used a coil of thin rope to tie the bed plastic and frame back together and used some blunt force to straighten some stantions (my foot and axe). Then I went to work repairing the broken line…some more rope and a few new necklines and i had a working line..
As I finished this Newton Marshall (the Jamaican musher came cruising past) “You alright mon” he asked… I had to laugh this guy always makes people laugh.. “I’m alright Newton…. it’s the Iditarod”..he laughed and that was it ….
By the time I got the dogs back on the line – re packed my sled and got under way i had been stopped for 9.5 hours…..probably 7 of those hours walking back and forth…but I was moving again….perseverance.
I had 2 dogs actually hooked onto my make shift line, the other 14 were what’s called necklining…less power and speed..we navigated the trail at a slower speed but still way to fast for my liking.
About 10 miles later I found Newton and Scott Jansen again. Scott had fallen and broken his leg and Newton was tending to him as they waited for a medical evac. (The National Guard ended up pulling him out) I asked if I was needed and was told to keep going. I stopped just near them just in case and fed the dogs and filled my water bottles in a little overflow section. ( one of the worst rookie mistakes ever!!! talk about instant toilet issues) The water is not clean and clear…let’s leave it at that.
About 15 miles and 3 hours later I came across 2 more teams camped at the “buffalo camp”. Alex Buetow and Lisbit Norris…. this gave me a great indication of how far behind the pace I had actually fallen..No offense to either of these guys I’m friends with both and really like hanging out, but they had a much slower race schedule than I originally had planned and trained for. Alex was feeding his young puppy team and I couldn’t help but stop and chat/talk trail. He informed me they had a fire going in and old cabin just up from where the dogs were camped…well what the heck I was already this far behind I may as well be dry and warm (dogs fed and rested).
I left after a short break and warm up..about 2 or 3 hours the others were resting for 7 ….counting my 9.5 earlier I was already resting the dogs way more than they needed.
One of the best feelings I had during this race was when I came into the Checkpoint of Nikolai ( I am very sure you could ask most mushers on the 2014 race and they would say the same) A sense of relief and elation …people!!! and snow!!! no more rocks and trees…and ice.
We stopped at Nikolai for a short time, during this stop I did an interview with Casey Grove …he informed me the little red heli that I thought was there to help when my line broke was just taking fun photos for the paper…haha well at least my story would be seen and heard…I think they titled the story “Aussie musher runs on grit” … I feel more like aussie musher runs on stupidity…also at Nikolai I was handed a napkin with a brief message from Dallas Seavey …. ” there is a sled for you at McGrath..make it there”.
So I guess everyone knows I had issues I thought to myself…
My run to McGrath was the 2nd fastest posted by any team in the race, broken sled and all…these dogs wanted to go!
I made it into McGrath just before dark and declared my 24 hour break…
During this stop I went over every dog pretty much with a magnifying glass…feet, muscles, stool and hydration …attitude, appetite… nothing…my team was beautiful.. I swapped sleds, slept and ate a bunch then 24 hours later headed towards Takotna..
Once again I posted one of the fastest times to Takotna, this checkpoint I went straight through but about 5 miles out I turned onto the wrong trail. I lost about 30 minutes here but kept moving smoothly and made it to Ophir with no incident…
Ophir-
It got to minus 35 Celsius while i was in Ophir…….I was only there for 5 hours, how can it get to minus 35 in 5 hours….this Aussie will never understand…. I dropped two dogs here also..
Little RIATA – she was one of my best female leaders during the whole training season, but on the race I felt she left something behind.. I dropped her because she was on heat and concentrating more on the boys than being a sled dog.
Big Lobben – This boy was and is probably the best male in the team.. I dropped him in Ophir after he had some disagreements with another male in the team over RIATA…Females on heat can change anyone’s plans!!!
Leaving Ophir with 14 and moving like I had 20…The run to cripple was beautiful 80ish miles of sunshine and amazing rolling hills….Its not all bad i thought to myself, as one of the best puppy teams in the world charged down the sunny trail in front of me…on my new sled that wasn’t broken…on a snow covered trail…I live for this I thought.
Coming into Cripple I was greeted by a stunning sunset…and a completely empty checkpoint..Tyrell Seavey was the checker here and he gave me all the info on the back country checkpoint. (This was my vote for best checkpoint …by far) I had a short break here and restocked for my push to the Yukon River and the Checkpoint of Ruby…
The trail to Ruby (the first checkpoint on the mighty Yukon river) was very pleasant… I didn’t see another dog team or another person for nearly 85 miles.. I traveled at a fast pace along the hilly trail and camped on the longest hill so far… not sure of the name but it felt like the 10 mile hill, it just kept going up and up and up…and up! My team would occasionally look back and inquire “are you freaking serious “? .. I could see other teams had stopped and fed along the climb, also I could see where people were running or just plane crashing and camping…no such problems for my strong 14 dogs we cruised up until we encountered our first wind experiences.
At the peak of this monstrous climb the wind assailed us from all directions …down in Willow where my pups trained all season, we never got even a whisper of wind ..and I love it. But I was aware the river and coast could be windy.
I quickly changed into some warmer wind proof cloths and put little jackets on my team, gave them a snack and looked for a nice place to camp. I would break up the long run to ruby with a 4 hour break, some hot food and a sleep. We hunkered down a short while later on the decent..’twas windy but not as bad. The dogs have this procedure down pat and will sleep as soon as I lay straw down. So I stopped the team..ran to the leaders and tied them off .. I worked my way back undoing tug lines and giving each dog a quick pet. Once back to the wheel dogs I lay straw for each dog (insulating them from the frozen ground and wind) I left the jackets on for added wind protection. Then I prepared the hot meal and defrosted some of my own food.
While the snow or ice is melting in my cooker i go through my team and take the booties off and check for injuries or muscle strains.
Once I have fed, I get into my sleeping bag and nap for an hour or so…
After the 4 hour break we rocketed into Ruby and I got my first glimpses of the Yukon river. With my fast run times I had managed to catch Danny Seavey …the first team i had come across in more than 150 miles. He was taking his 8 hour mandatory river rest. I planned on taking this rest at the next checkpoint 50 miles down the river.
The Yukon River..
I was very agitated at Ruby… I could see Danny getting his team ready and had also looked at the times of the teams in front down the river….. My team can catch these teams ……arrhhhhh …. if only I cut this amount of rest I thought to myself I would be right behind them…. but if you know anything about dogs that is the opposite of what happens. So with a grimace on my face I watched Danny leave Ruby and rested my dogs the amount they needed …
My time to Galena proved I had made the best decision possible for my team. I posted almost the fastest time in the race for this portion of river. When I arrived into Galena I declared my 8 Hour mandatory and went over my dogs with a little more precision.
VILLAIN – After feeding and checking all my team I noticed Villain was showing signs of fatigue…Looking back I think I could of managed him better, but by leaving him in the team for that fast run from ruby he went past that level of tiredness and even the 8 hour mandatory would not bring him back to a safe healthy level.. so I fed him and gave him a massage and a big pat…then handed him over to the happy vet staff.
The next 100 miles were very boring…beautiful , but boring .
The river was like a long snake that i rode for 2 days … I was in a sleepy trance and would look up and see the sun rising or setting over this extraordinary expanse of ice. And when i noticed the sun I would look at my watch and wonder ….where did the last 10 hours go. We trudged on almost like a military unit practicing a marching drill.
When I pulled into Kaltag … I had caught 5 different teams!!!
I bedded my team and ran to the communication office to check my river times and compare… So I had more dogs than most of these teams I had caught.. I was going a mile an hour faster and honestly they looked wrecked ….Huh I guess my military unit wasn’t doing so bad after all.
Kaltag is the last Checkpoint on the river and we were given the local village hall as a “mushers cabin”. This hall was worth mentioning because it was a massive pentagonal hut heated by only one fire stove!!! and don’t get me wrong this thing was roasting….. I slept for about 3 hours and dried my gear by the fire, had a nice hot meal and left in the wee hours of the morning.
The trail over the portage to Unalakleet was reasonable until about half way, this run is about 88 miles so again I planned on breaking it up.
I left Kaltag with a team of 12 as I dropped one of my older guys Tater..
TATER- this dog was supposed to be my rock, the solid reliable/experienced leader….nope.. I don’t think it was that he was under performing but rather the puppies were over performing and he couldn’t keep up. The speeds on the river had taken their toll on old Tater much like Villen. I left him with the vets in Kaltag and continued on.
About 3 miles out of the checkpoint I came around a bend and straight into a stopped team, Robert Buntzen was having some issues with his leaders, My bullet proof leader Lava didn’t even hesitate she ran up into the snow bank and pulled the rest of the team straight past the cluster of dogs that was Roberts team.
During this pass somehow I dropped one of my Beaver fur mittens… I’m not sure how it happened but there goes 300 dollars worth of gloves. Luckily I packed a back up pair of water proof synthetic mittens.
The next 41 or so miles were simple. Small hills and little streams but nothing “technical”. My plan had been to stop at Old Woman cabin half way to Unalakleet. When I came upon Old Woman cabin I realized Dallas had played a funny joke on me.. I drove the dogs up alongside this dilapidated old shack, “Old Woman Cabin” read the sign above the missing door. I stopped the dogs and looked through the missing window…hmm a fire place with no chimney and 3 out of 3 windows missing and no door.. I may as well sleep in the snow.
“Well guys what do you think I asked my 12 huskies”? , no response, yep I’m getting a little weird I thought …maybe I should stay in the creepy cabin (get a rocking chair and hang out).
Oh well I pulled my hook and kept going, less than a mile down the trail I see a freshly painted sign saying “OLD WOMAN CABIN NEXT RIGHT” …. ah I see …
I went down the right hand trail and found myself in a nicely cleared area with 5 teams camped and a beautifully maintained Cabin in the centre. So I guess this is the “New woman Cabin”…
I camped and fed and warmed myself in the cabin along with the other mushers.
We talked about what we should expect coming down out of the portage and onto the coast, ice!!!!!
The next 40ish miles down into Unalakleet were just that ice. Frozen ground and a slither of ice that made up the trail, we moved at an extreme pace down out of the hills. I was just happy that the trail was flat and devoid of STUMPS. I decided to take off my front four dogs booties so they would have some traction on the frozen glare ice..great move. (I will post this section of the story along with a photo of the trail coming into Unalakleet).
We followed a frozen river down towards the sea ice and the town of Unalakleet, as I came into the checkpoint I could see the locals had plowed what snow they could find into small wind breaks for the dogs to camp.
I stopped my team behind a small snow bank/wind break and signed my named on the checkers clipboard.
I had planned on staying in Unalakleet for 4 or 5 hours depending on the team.
THE COASTAL STORMS…
So I have covered ROCK …the gorge and burn, I have covered ICE…everywhere, but I feel like I have not even brushed the surface of WIND. These next checkpoints are all about wind. Don’t get me wrong we had ice and rock here as well but unless I get some mind numbing disease in my future I will never forget the wind between Unalakleet and Safety …300 or so miles of it..
After four hours rest and a brief discussion, me and Danny Seavey decided to head to Shaktoolik together.
There was a severe storm warning for the coast and we were hearing reports of high wind towards Shaktoolik.
As we were getting our teams ready hidden behind the snow walls, the race judges were conferring.
I had bootied my team and was waiting for Danny to finish, my plan was to follow him through the storm.
The race judges at Unalakleet came down to Danny and I with a strong request to stay at the checkpoint and wait until morning or at least until the storm had past..( sound familiar?)… Danny being a strong headed Seavey was not about to listen to a race judge, but I was in no hurry and remembered all to clearly what I experienced in the burn and gorge. So we went back inside to check the weather forecast and see how the other mushers out on the trail were faring. “They are moving “ Danny said to me referring to the other mushers between Unalakleet and Shaktoolik.. that was all he needed to take off.
I had a closer look and saw that in fact they were BARELY moving… and the storm was stopping teams in their tracks further north..
This time I listened to the race judges and settled my team again for a longer rest and another hot meal, they (the dogs) seemed to think it was a fairly awesome idea.
So here in Unalakleet I was able to watch the GPS tracker and watch the finish of the race. It was an exciting 13 hours (yeah that’s right I was stuck there for 13 hours until the storm past) the volunteers provided pizza and soft drinks and I got cozy on the couch and watched as most of the field struggled against the immense power of mother nature.
Four time winner Jeff King had this race in the bag and I was more interested in what was happening with Danny and the rest of the guys trying to make it to Shak, The run to Shak should take about 6 hours some of the teams were crawling along and it was looking like the run would take them closer to 10.
I napped for most of the night waking up every 2 or 3 hours and checking the GPS (see who was winning and check on Danny to make sure he was still moving) .
At about 2am things started heating up, Jeff King had been stopped for 2 hours and Aliy Zirkle was in first place..her moving speed indicated a lot of trouble with wind or snow or both. I assumed Jeff’s GPS had been dropped or was playing up. Dallas’s GPS seemed fine he was eating up the miles and moving nicely. Aliy made it to Safety 20 miles from the finish in first place and stopped. Now we knew something was going wrong with the GPS or weather. She was camped at Safety, Dallas was still moving along..and Jeff was gone!! ….his GPS was turned off, what seemed like a sure thing 8 hours ago was now out in the weather.
Shortly after Aily arriving in Safety we got word Jeff had scratched and was trying to rescue his dogs from a horrible situation.
Aily was still stationary at safety …Dallas just went straight through safety and was now winning the 2014 Iditarod!! This was outstanding news for me as I am great friends with Dallas and he was running two of the dogs I spent all season training..Our kennel was about to win its second Iditarod in 3 years…
The rest is history..Dallas won and Aliy came 2nd..the only thing worth mentioning is that Dallas was the last person in the mushing world to find out he had won. The whole time from White mountain 70 miles back from Nome he assumed he was racing his dad for 3rd position.
Now while I was watching the GPS the storm had hit and hit hard. My dogs were under half a foot of snow and the teams out on the trail had made it to Shak, most of them with a 10 hour run time, Danny being the fastest with a 7.
The team was amped as I left Unalakleet the next morning, and so was I. We needed to make it to Nome and party with Dallas. The weather was beautiful coming into Shaktoolik and I did this run in a blistering time of 5.5 hours, I think waiting the storm out was by far the better move.
I came into Shaktoolik with wind pounding me from the sides and my team knuckled down and charged straight ahead. When I arrived at Shak it felt like I had entered a war zone. Teams parked on top of others, snow drifts covering all the straw and drop bags and teams that looked defeated. Out of the 6 or so mushers that had attempted the trail the night before 5 were still here recuperating. Mike Ellis had bandages covering his eye where he had gotten serious frost bite during the storm. Anna Berrington and Charly Benja look well and truly shell shocked.
I arrived with a smile and a cheerful mood which was commented on by all the checkers and volunteers. I thought about my run times and the massive amount of rest the dogs had just gotten and of course my mood which was almost euphoric…i decided to rest for a brief 2 hours (this is unheard of with puppies) feed my dogs and keep going while it was light and the weather was sound.
The next run out of Shaktoolik is 50 miles across the Norton Sound…THE FROZEN OCEAN and into Koyuk.
I now know I was in the middle of the storm and the coastal storm was lulling me into a false sense of security.. but I didnt know that then so I got my amazing team of Alaskan huskies up off the straw and marched down towards the frozen ocean..
ICE, ROCK AND WIND cont..
I am currently sitting in LAX Airport, typing away and trying to find the correct words to finish off the story, the coast was by far the most frightening stretch of the trail for me. The rougher parts further back were challenging and had some intense terrain, but the coast was next level.
I have had countless people from around the world commenting on and hanging onto every update I post. This story started as a way to remember the trail and show some friends what it is I do and did during the race, some of my closer friends have said I don’t give the race or myself enough credit. I can’t comment on that but I have also had some disturbing questions regarding the race and my involvement. Let’s just get this done and dusted before I finish off the story. The Iditarod is tough, its survival and its a race. What I encountered could be totally different from the lead pack and even more different from the guy directly in front or behind me.
I have tried to paint clear images of the terrain and trail.. and just so we are clear this race is ….the coolest thing I have ever done…its extreme ..its camping …its spending time with amazing people and even more amazing animals…. …so yeah don’t get me wrong by telling people what it is actually like..the hardships and weather bla bla, that is just how it was for me this year… and I loved every minute of it.
My little leaders name is LAVA.. I started with 14 puppies and 11 of those could lead, but just after Nickolai all four of the females fell into their heat cycle ..this causes most males to go a little crazy. My adult leaders and male puppy leaders began to be more interested in the girls than leading.
So a lot of the leading responsibility fell to the 3 girls that could lead..remember I dropped RIATA in Ophir, so there goes one of my female leaders.. So now down to 2 and WHISPER who was performing superb in swing (just behind lead) but isn’t confident enough for lead. The 2 remaining females LAVA and SORREL led from Nickolai to Nome..more than 700 miles.. Lava doing about 675 miles of this single leading and having Three 25 mile breaks riding in the sled.
LAVA stood up straight and drove with purpose into the wind. We traveled out of Shaktoolik in a northerly direction towards the Norten Sound and Koyuk. It was still blowing hard and getting dark quickly. As we approached the frozen ice I could tell what little snow cover we should have had had blown off into the ocean. (When leaving shak you travel about 5 miles along the coastline then onto the frozen ocean). We slowly headed towards what I call Katherine Keith cabin ( a small shelter cabin a third of the way to koyuk on the land spit just before you cross the larger expanse of ocean.) Katherine was stuck in the cabin during the storm by herself for 18 hours without any wood to burn, this got her my vote for most inspirational musher.
We past by the cabin as the light faded out of view, along with the dark came the snow and wind. We traveled from marker to marker using my headlamp to catch the reflective tapes distinctive glimmer. This works most of the time unless the markers are missing or the snow and wind is so intense you cant make out the next marker.
Once out on the glare ocean ice you start to get that lonely feeling you can only have when you actually are totally alone.
We were making fair ground until the wind really picked up and the snow started blowing sideways. They call the coastal storms “ground storms”..blizzard like snow with sideways howling wind. The worst part about the wind was it was blowing us straight out to sea..with no snow for the dogs to grip and nothing for my brake to grab we drifted further and further to the left of the markers. ..TOWARDS THE OPEN OCEAN.
At this stage Little Lavas steering capabilities were being pushed to the limit, she was up there in single lead struggling to see the next marker with wind in her face and me yelling almost franticaly “GEE ..GEE …GET OVER THERE, GEE LAVA …GEE!!!” along with my annoying voice the whole team was having a lot of trouble getting traction and we were slipping and sliding our way out to the ocean.
I planted my hook as best as I could flipped my sled and walked up to LAVA, she was as happy as ever but I could see some mental strain in her eyes. I gave her a massive pat and cuddle then moved her straight into the wind so we could come head long into it and back to the trail.
We pushed our way back to the trail and I called “Haw” which was the command to go left and follow the trail again. LAVA without hesitation obliged and pulled the team back on course. I could just make out the next marker and we made our way towards it. The next few miles consisted of me walking to the front of the team time and time again looking for another marker. We had slowed to a crawl and the constant wind and snow berating the team was taking a toll. Then nothing.. I couldn’t see the next marker..i kept going hoping one would appear or maybe it was just lying prone and I would be able to see it the closer I got. With the snow stinging my eyes I couldn’t really tell if I was still on the trail..LAVA was weaving from left to right as if she was looking for something.. we were off trail! Out on the Glare ice .. I looked back over my shoulder and could not see the marker behind.
This was a situation getting worse and worse by the minute. The storm was building, the trail was lost and the musher was losing his control of the environment. Again I looked in a full circle trying to catch that glimmer of the marker.. nothing.. I pulled lava around until her head was back in the wind and we tried that same trick . Still no marker and the team was starting to understand our predicament.
This year a lot of teams quit in the storms along the coast, and as Dallas says once you let a team quit they are more and more likely to quit again. You as a musher should be able to tell the limits of your dogs and never push them past them, sure sometimes you run the wire but a great musher never steps over. I could tell my young team was getting fatigued and mentally strained. No trail to follow, wind blowing them sideways and snow coming down into there eyes. I was not about to take Dallas’s dogs past that stress line and I was getting just as fatigued and stressed out. I was unsure if I was still heading towards the trail or if I was going straight out to sea. Along with all this the temperature started dropping..
I went into survival mode, at this point the race was third. My dogs first and my well being second.
I planted my hook as deep into the ice as I could, flipped my sled facing away from the driving wind. Once this was done I used my spare hook to secure my line out tight. I quickly snacked the dogs, giving them some much needed calories.
I then emptied the sled of all gear and loaded my 3 females into the sled bag and zipped it closed. My sleeping bag was the next best wind break so I pushed 4 males into the enclosed bag and placed the remaining gear over the entry hole. (so the wind wouldn’t open it up and flap around.) This left 5 males to get out of the wind. I grabbed all my spare necklines and attached them close together on the line behind the sleeping bag full of dogs. They all had insulated jackets on and they huddled/curled together like penguins. So once this was accomplished I made sure I was wearing every piece of gear available and curled up in a protective barrier around the little penguin huddle.
I waited and tried to get some rest as the storm surged around me, my body temp was getting very low, I’m not going to lie it was a pretty worrying situation. As I lay there with my face pushed into one of my dogs I tried to think of the best way out. I could give up and push my distress beacon. This would guarantee mine and the dogs safe evacuation. But I just didn’t think it was that bad… it probably was but I’m stubborn and my dogs were even more so. So I waited and waited until my shivering stopped and I fell asleep. At this stage of the race you are so fatigued I guess you can sleep out on the glare ice with hurricane winds. When I woke up and lifted my head the snow had stopped and the wind was dropping. This was great news and me waking up was pretty awesome as well. I stood and shook the snow that built up over me. It was still dark and I put my headlamp on full beam, 350 lumens burst out across the ice .. I walked around my little camp with the light piercing the darkness and searched for that missing marker. About 5 minutes of walking back and forth and as far away from the team as I dared proved fruitful; as I spotted a marker off in the distance..at least if I get the team up and going again we can make it to the marker and pick a direction to head in. I either go back to Shak checkpoint or I pick correctly and head onto Koyuk. This raised my spirits considerably and the weather seemed to be raising with them. Still the wind howled but the ferocity of a few hours past had dissipated.
I lined the team out and gave little Lava the commands she was waiting for “alright Lava lets go” once on the marker I chose to go left “haw” and we did the same process as the night before- marker to marker using my headlamp. A little down the trail I started to see more than one marker and we picked up our pace. Looking back its crazy how quickly that situation changed for the worse and then the better, I’m just glad we made it out of there and kept going. I did choose the correct direction and we cruised into Koyuk and were greeted be a very worried group of mushers and volunteers …they all were watching my progress on the gps and were nearly at the point of sending a rescue party looking. But the dogs and I were fine and actually considerably rested after our mid ice sleep. After a debrief with the checkers and race judges I decided to rest for awhile and drop one of my more tired males.
MAUI- Brother to LAVA and Reef (reef was a super leader in Dallas’s team this year) Maui was doing great up until we got stuck in the storm I think it just wore him down. So I decided to leave him behind at Koyuk so I would not harm his attitude to dog mushing.
After saying goodbye and thanks to MAUI; me and the rest of the team lumbered on again towards ELIM . This run was pretty uneventful for me and the team. A few hills to climb and some very nice views but all in all nothing stressful. We arrived in Elim to a crowd of village kids “Gday mate” “oi” “oi”….hmm so I guess they knew I was Australian. We camped in the checkpoint and tried to efficiently bed and feed; which isn’t an easy task when 20 kids are trying to pet the dogs and ask you thousands of questions. The kids treat you like a super star, “ can you sign my jumper and what’s it like to live in Australia?” ..
I fended the kids away after signing each an everyone’s top and went inside for a hot meal.
I watched another team try to leave Elim in front of me, these dogs looked very tired and needed to be led out of the checkpoint. This is a fair indication of an over worked or under trained team. Watching them got me worried about my team leaving. Once again Lava stood straight up and the boys behind her leaned into their harnesses, I pulled my hook and we rocketed off down the street towards the ocean ice again.
Just out of Elim village a snow machine came up behind me and started taking pictures. I am so glad he was there because as we rounded a bend on the coast…the trail disappeared. The stretch of beach that we should have been heading towards was blocked by flowing ocean water. Well no way through except straight … I called Lava up and we charged into the what I thought was knee deep water. She started off walking then started paddling, the depth was about belly button deep and getting deeper. Lava decided she didn’t like swimming any more and turned the team around and headed back the way we had come.
Once back on the ice again I lined the team out and got ready to give it another try, Lava wasn’t really into it.
The camera man thought this was a great photo opportunity so he blasted across in front of me into the water to get on the other side for the picture. Perfect I thought and As soon as Lava saw this she pounced after the snow machine and we followed him into the water and onto the beach before he could get his camera ready.
The next 35 miles were tough as I was very wet and my cloths were starting to freeze (very stiff and hard to move). The temperature was fine about -15 Celsius. The best part about this section was the hills or mountains I was able to run alongside the sled for most of this run and keep my body and feet warm. It also gave the dogs some rest not having to pull my heavy water logged body up the steep mountains.
Once through the mountain ranges we came down onto Golovin Bay.
Golovin bay is another long section of glare ice separating you from the mountains and the village of Golovin.
We rounded the lower headland and headed out onto the ice again, marker to marker …. a little ways onto the ice my team caught site of the village lights. The ice was slippery but we managed a good pace across and into the town. The team wanted to rest in the village as that’s what we had been doing at every other village, but not this time. We drove on and came into the checkpoint of White Mountain. The last checkpoint that I would be camping at before Nome and also a mandatory 8 hour rest.
White Mountain, we bedded down and I massaged every dog before going up for a rest myself. During an 8 hour break you can get at least 2 full meals into your team which is priceless when it comes to the long run to Nome. The White Mountain checkpoint is also the stop when all Mushers get drug tested. The dogs are tested prior to the race and often in the middle around Mcgrath or Takotna.
So I fell asleep in the mushers resting area and woke up to my alarm beeping in my ear; what felt like 5 minutes was actually the longest sleep since Unalakleet when I was stuck in the storm. But I jumped up and quickly packed my gear away. I was one long run away from finishing the IDITAROD!!!. So the first thing I do after being asleep is use the bathroom, which I did and as I walked out – there was the drug test lady with my cup to fill……………………..
Straight away I realized something was up with LINGO, he was favoring his back left and trying to compensate on his back right. 70 miles till the finish with a team of 11 and I’d already overstayed one hour and fifteen minutes what would another 10 minutes leaving LINGO behind do to my winning pace haha. So I dropped the hook and called a vet over to take care of LINGO.
The run out of White Mountain was pleasant, still blowing wind and snowing but I think nothing could dampen my spirits. Lava was up there by herself again and the other 9 were doing a fine job of propelling the sled down the ice covered trail. The thing I remember most about this section of race was not the trail itself but the emotions I experienced while travelling it. I was so happy to have made it this far and I knew I was going to finish. It was a roller coaster of emotions. Remembering the hardships brought tears to my eyes one minute and then the next I was laughing at something Newton had said or something I had done like forgetting my drug test. Also my sense of pride for the dogs was bursting at the seems, these little 2 year olds that I had trained were about to finish the toughest Iditarod in recent memory. And Reef my favorite leader I trained all season just won this amazing race. I just wanted to arrive in Nome and party with my friends and family.
Once down out of the mountains and heading to safety the last official checkpoint of the race ( 22 miles from Nome; most teams go straight through unless some issue has occurred). We got slowed down by the coastal snow. The snow was fresh from the storm and felt like sand paper on my plastic runners. I believe its the salt content which makes it so sticky and abrasive. Anyhow this gave me a great excuse to run and rest the dogs. We blew through safety and headed towards cape Nome. The sun was out and the snow was sticky… I changed my runners for the last time just out of safety and we continued on.
Cape Nome is this large “hill” that you can see for miles. As we approached I de-clothed down to just fleece pants and a light jacket. I ran that whole mountain/hill giving my team the rest they deserved, we made it to the top and past over some smaller rolling hills then down towards the coast again and Nome!!
Coming down the other side of Cape Nome was a feeling I will never forget ..elation and accomplishment piled into a fatigued emotional wreck hahaha.. but pretty much. The team and I picked up some pace coming into Nome. Along the trail into town I was greeted by my brother who filmed some of the decent down cape Nome and then also Dallas and Jen Seavey had driven out to see me. They cheered me on as I passed towards the burled arch and the finish line.
The team came up off the ice onto the main street of Nome. Usually when a team comes onto the street they sound a large siren which alerts everyone to come cheer or to stop driving on the street. They forgot to sound this alarm for my exuberant young team and when I crested the small hill and onto the street; I was greeted by a large truck coming straight at me down the road. LAVA shot to the left and we almost entered a Bar as a young guy came out the door. I slammed my foot onto the brake which did very little on the pavement and we kept going down the footpath past all the bars. We weaved between light poles and parked cars until the traffic past and then I called “gee” and LAVA burst to the right and back onto the street. I could see the BURLED ARCH and the finish line of the 2014 Iditarod. The team and I cruised into the finish line to an emotional welcome from friends and family. I had done it and so had my awesome team. Some TV station was trying to interview me but I coudn’t talk properly I was choking up and all I wanted to do was congratulate my team especially Little LAVA. I patted each and every dog and gave LAVA a massive hug then went back to the sled. I went through the mandatory gear with the race judges. Handed over the mail packet I had carried from the start and that was it. We parked the team in the Nome dog lot, fed them and bed them down. After that Dallas and Jen sort of took over. I was in a daze and soon ended up with a beer in my hand and a bowl of moose and caribou soup.
I would like to say a massive thank you to my friend and mentor Dallas Seavey, without his training tips – his dogs and his drive (which I tried to emulate) I would not have finished this year. Also would like to thank Jen Seavey, she taught me a lot this season and last about dog care and ways in which to treat or recognize injury/fatigue. The race volunteers and coordinators who ever you are thanks so much. And friends and family that supported me throughout the long journey. It was pretty epic and not really what I expected but will definitely stick with me for the rest of my life..
Thanks for reading my recount , I hope you enjoyed a look into my 2014 rookie Iditarod .
PS- THANK YOU- LAVA , SORREL , WHISPER , RIATA , DANNER, LOBBEN , STEIGER, LINGO, LEGEND, RUMOUR, TATER, CARTER, DALLEY, VILLAIN, TIDE AND MAUI…..
Editor’s Note:
*Christian granted us permission to repost his story of the 2014 Iditarod, Ice, Rock and Wind. You can visit Christian’s Facebook page at this link. Thanks, Christian!
Images have been added to this article to help share Christian’s story.
Christian in McGrath on his 24 hour Rest
Image by Terrie Hanke
