It’s race day and Iditarod action moves north to Willow. Volunteers are hard at work making ready for the mushers as well as the throng of spectators who’ll cheer as teams take to the trail this afternoon.
Starting Line for Iditarod XLIV at Willow
The early checkpoints on the trail, Yentna Skwentna, Finger Lake, Rainey Pass and even Rohn, have been populated with volunteers who are ready to support the mushers and dogs. Those volunteers are also hard at work making the checkpoint ready. Having spent eights years as a communications volunteer at Skwentna, I can vouch for that.
The first teams to depart the Willow start will cover the miles to Yentna quickly. As the sun drops toward the western horizon late this afternoon, the trail will glaze over and will be fast and hard. The dogs will be excited and even though mushers will be riding the brake or drag pad to pace them, they’ll cover the forty-miles to Yentna in four to five hours. Some will take their first rest at Yentna, others will check in and go down the trail to rest and others will run straight to Skwentna at mile 72 for a six hour rest. That works out well for those who stick to a six hour run rest schedule.
I’m saying the first teams will round the big bend in the Yentna River and make the checkpoint between 5:30 and 6 pm. Oops, I should be using 24-hour time so that’s 1730 and 1800. Add another three hours to cover the 30 miles to Skwentna. The river crew there will be expecting the first team between 2030 and 2100 with intense traffic to follow.
The Delia Outback Cabin at Skwentna
Now for your behind the scenes look at the Skwentna Checkpoint. Volunteers have arrived at Skwentna Checkpoint over the past several days. Basically they belong to one of three crews. The Skwentna Sweeties are a group of hardworking hosts and hostesses who make the checkpoint home for all the volunteers over the weekend and the mushers for their rest time. The River Crew runs the physical checkpoint down on the river. The Iditarod volunteers include the comms people, the race vets, the race judge, sometimes the Insider Crew and maybe even the armchair musher. When they’ve all signed in, the list will be about 45 long.
Skwentna Sweeties who make the checkpoint feel like home
Primarily the Sweeties cook, shuttle with snowmachines between the checkpoint and the airstrip and in general support the volunteers. They serve up scrumptious meals while the checkpoint is being readied. When the mushers arrive and after they’ve finished their dogs chores they climb the steep river bank to the old Delia Outback Cabin. When the mushers walk in the door they receive a warm face clothe to freshen up with and then they receive a plate loaded with either breakfast or supper according to their preference. Many mushers choose to sleep a a couple of short hours and leave their wake up time with the Sweeties. A few of the Sweeties also work down on the river as the dropped dog team.
Now here’s a great story. Kristin Bacon is running her first Iditarod and will be parked on the river at Skwentna within the next twenty-four hours. Kristin got into mushing when she was introduced to Ryan Redington while working as a Skwentna Sweetie. She mentioned tot he race judge her thoughts about getting into dogs. The race judge introduced her to Ryan and the rest is history. Ryan provided her with Libby and Libby provided Kristin with a litter of puppies that are the nucleus of her Iditarod team.
The River Crew is largely from Washington State. This group of very dedicated men and women get on snowmachines at Deshka Landing after the Ceremonial Start and make their way out to Skwentna on a well traveled snowmachine trail. They’ll arrive at the checkpoint for a late supper on Saturday evening. One might think the trip is enough for the day but before they retire, they run their machines over an area approximately the size of a football to pack the snow. Once that set’s over night it becomes a firm surface.
Sunday is race day and the clock for the River Crew starts ticking early in the morning. They’ve done this so many years, they have a plan. That plan was created back in the days when Skwentna Postmaster Joe Delia was the checker and the River Crew first volunteered. Over time, the plan has been fined tuned and it’s pretty much an exact science these days.
The river is ready to receive teams – drop bags, bales of straw and the banner
Getting the river ready to receive mushers is a big job. The first order of business is to account for all the musher drop bags. If one is missing, there would be time to locate it and advise the musher. Bales of straw are set out on both sides of the river to define team parking spaces. All the drop bags are sorted and placed in a alphabetical line down the middle of the river. Heet and extra bales of straw are placed at the end of the drop bags. Poles are cut and the “WELCOME to SKWENTNA” banner is erected. Markers and guide flags are set up to lead teams into the checkpoint. Then the monster BTU two-burner gas stove comes out of storage along with two gigantic kettles for heating water. Hot water at the checkpoints is a much appreciated amenity that aids in quickly feeding the dogs. The stove is set up near a hole that’s cut into the ice for water. The propane tanks are hooked up and water will be ready when the mushers arrive. It takes a lot of human power to get this done before lunch is served in the early afternoon.
In 2014, the whole Skwentna crew enjoyed lunch down on the river at exactly the same time the musher’s were starting in Willow. It was a bright sunny day with temperatures in the upper 30’s to low 40’s. While we enjoyed ourselves, in the back of our minds we wondered what effect that pleasant weather would have on the Happy River Steps and the Dalzell Gorge ahead. In order to be at our best for the night’s work ahead, everyone honors siesta time on Sunday afternoon.
Lunch on the river in 2014
As soon as the Communications people arrive on Saturday afternoon, communication is established with Anchorage Race Stats. Musher arrival times and dogs traffic are reported to Race Stats using email that’s sent via data satellite phones. It’s not a fool proof or guaranteed process so there’s always a back up plan. For Skwentna it’s a sort of “land line” that talks to a tower some miles away in the Shell Hills. Skwentna is sort of a black hole when it comes to cell service. One has to stand in exactly the right place, have a precise type of phone, a certain date plan and hope the cell angels are agreeable.
Communicating race stats
As mushers come into the checkpoint, the checkers gather the bib number, time in and number of dogs in. That information is relayed from the river to the cabin where it’s entered into an email and sent to Race Stats in Anchorage – IF everything is working with the computer, satellite phone and antenna. When the musher leaves, that same information is sent with dogs out and time out. There’s a lot that goes into getting race stats to your computer screens at home.
Inbound dog team with magical eyes
A large team of Veterinarians is at work sorting through their supplies and equipment and creating the most efficient plan for assessing each team as it arrives in the checkpoint.
The vets prepare supplies
Most of the musher activity in Skwentna takes place in roughly fifteen hours. The speedy teams will begin arriving around 2030 (8:30 pm) and teams that rest before Skwentna will usually arrive between 0300 and 0600. Most of those teams will continue on through. Even puppy teams that are resting 1.5 times their run time, will be heading to Finger Lake before 1200 or Monday noon.
There you have a behind the scenes look at Skwentna minus the “closing routine.” Each checkpoint is different yet each checkpoint is similar. The volume of traffic early in the race requires large numbers of personnel and the ultimate in efficiency to support the mushers and dogs. Further down the trail when the field has spread out, checkpoints are much less hectic. For this evening, Yentna will have five lanes receiving mushers and there will be two to three teams stacked in each lane. Tonight, Skwentna will have two lanes and at times the lanes will be two to three deep. It’ll be crazy busy out there.
