PenAir awards the Spirit of Alaska Award to the first musher to McGrath.  They’ve done that since 2001.  When the first musher approaches the checkpoint (folks will be watching the tracker), so will the village residents.  There will be a couple hundred spectators to witness the presentation by PenAir executive Danny Seybert.  That won’t happen for another three hours.  

Volunteers Arriving in McGrath via PenAir

Teams have gone through Nicolai and are camping on the way to McGrath.  The leaders into McGrath will probably stop long enough to check in then will drop back down onto the Kuskokwim River and move on to Takotna.  Will they stay in Takotna for their 24-hour rest or will they take a short rest then move on to Ophir or even Cripple for the long rest.

McGrath is a hub of Iditarod activity.  Volunteers have been arriving at the hub for distribution to other interior checkpoints.  Plenty of planes have been flying on this very perfect day taking vets, judges and comms out to checkpoints.  At the speed the race is moving, checkpoints need to be ready.

Villagers are excited and so are the volunteers as they await the arrival of the first musher to McGrath.  As we wait, I toured McGrath to give fans an idea of what the village looks like.  

McGrath was originally located on the other side of the river.  Flooding, roughly 80 years ago, caused residents to rethink the location and move to the south side of the river.  McGrath was a supply hub for the gold rush.  Steamships could navigate the Kusko to McGrath but no further.  The town was officially established in 1907.  Many towns in the area emptied out after the gold rush but McGrath remains 350 strong.  McGrath is a major aviation hub and fuel supply depot.

Speedier Sleds Shipped to McGrath