Cindy Abbott booted her athletes chatting with every dog, offering praise and a little preview of the next part of the trail. Her reward was often a cool wet canine nose nudge and just as often, a big canine, too quick to dodge lick across the face. These dogs are affectionate and don’t mind showing …
It’s the harness that connects the dog power to the sled and there are a variety of harnesses out there. Mikhail Telpin uses a harness called the half harness. It’s really a musher, dog choice as to what harness is used. This style harness is good for preventing harness rub. It’s also sometimes used for …
Consider the dichotomy – following the mushers by Ion Earth GPS Tracker, assuming arrival is imminent then heading outside to greet a human traveling by dog team. On one hand it’s the newest and greatest technology on the other it’s a form of travel dating further back than the beginning of time in Alaska. Last …
James Volek had a speedy run from Nikolai to McGrath. His young dogs came in with smiles under their whiskers, curiosity in their eyes and tails held high. His puppies are happy. James will rest two hours longer than his run time and then go on to Takotna for his long rest. Volek told a …
A tall fellow was jogging with a handsome Siberian around the McGrath Checkpoint. It was Mike Ellis who was taking his 24-hour rest and having a little fun with his canine companions. Ellis looked good but his dog, Eliza looked great. Ellis has the fastest ever Siberian time for the Yukon Quest and hopes to …
Parked just around the corner from McGrath Checkpoint’s front door is Rudy Demoski. It’s been 28 years since Rudy last stood on the runners for an Iditarod. He’s experienced three very different eras of Iditarod. In the late 70’s Iditarod was a camping trip compared to the race we know today. He ran in 1985 …
There’s a saying out there, “You can learn a lot from a bunch of sled dogs.” Kids all over the world experience science, math and literacy through the Iditarod and its canine athletes. Perhaps you’d like to meet some of the marathoners heading to Nome who also happen to be some of the best teachers …
With this being the second full day of the race, dogs lined out behind the Millennium Hotel were dropped at Rainy Pass. The dogs had window seats with the Iditarod Air Force for the flight in. Sled dogs take to flying almost as naturally as pulling a sled. They relax, take a little nap and …
Sunday March 3rd and one might think all the action is taking place on Willow Lake in preparation for the restart at 14:00. True, there’s been plenty going on there since well before sunrise but there’s plenty of action in every checkpoint on this side of the Alaska Range. There are a lot of man/woman …
The evening before the ceremonial start, snow moved in. Not the kind that fell from the sky or the ground blizzard type. This snow was trucked in. While it was still warm and sunny at 15:00 in the afternoon on Friday, the streets were blocked off in preparation for creating the trail through the streets …
