Teams came in a quick succession. I only caught Michelle on the way to the 24 hr layover parking spot. Joar is parking in short term. The Norwegians are having quite the fan club traveling along. Normally that fan club is waiting in Takotna, this year they are here in Galena.
Dropping dogs in a remote checkpoint is a logistical challenge. The drop chain is set up behind the building, usually a nice sunny spot, laid out with straw. The dropped dogs need to eat too. That food is taken out of the drop bags from scratched mushers, or after mushers leave, from their leftovers. From the checkpoint the dogs have to travel to the airport. Here that is done via special sled towed behind the snow machine. And then they go out by plane back to Anchorage, where they are picked up by Iditarod volunteers. Then the mushers handler is informed that they need to pick up a dog.
The local mileage to Huslia is 84 miles according to Jon Korta. There is a shelter cabin along the way, too. Thomas Waerner plans to stay for about 3 hrs here before heading out. I did not know that the name Huslia is Norwegian. It means “house on a hillside”. The engineer who was involved in moving the town had a Norwegian background. According to Thomas, Huslia is very common name in Norway.
Here some shots
