Colleen Robertia is now a veteran of two Iditarod races. Colleen and husband, Joseph, don’t run a kennel that’s filled with designer huskies, they prefer to work with the three R’s – runts, rejects and rescues. Of note is the little lady running in single lead for the trip down Front Street. Her name is …
The father-son Buser teams were the first mushers to make Front Street on Thursday morning. We’d hiked several blocks down to the snow ramp behind the Subway and Gold Coast Cinema that brings the teams off the sea ice. We stood with Quest champion and Iditarod veteran, Vern Halter, and watched the Busers run in …
On the day Iditarod crowned its youngest champion ever, plenty of other things were going on three hundred miles away in the community of Unalakleet. There was a pie social at the Covenant Church. It was as much fun eating the pie as it was listening to people decide on what kind of pie to …
The checker’s list at Unalakleet this morning looked like Who’s Who in the long distance sled dog racing world – Lance Mackey, Martin Buser, Rick Swenson and Hugh Neff were amongst the teams resting on the coast. Consider the collection of Championship hardware between these men. Lance has four Iditarod and four Yukon Quest trophies. …
The population along the Kaltag to Unalakleet portage trail exploded over night. Looking at the Ionearth tracker, that area of the trail held the largest concentration of dog teams compared to anywhere else on the trail. As the mushers made the coast today, we heard one common comment – it was cold. Iditarod veteran, Ed …
In a race that’s this close, everyone is looking for some significant sign to predict who’ll be the 40th Iditarod champion. Past recipients of the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award are listed on the trophy. Consider this – in fifteen of the past 19 years, the first musher to make the Gold Coast has also …
With the Unalakleet checkpoint prepared, race volunteers and villagers have time for some speculation. Aliy Zirkle is in a good position up front. She reached Kaltag three hours ahead of second place defending champion John Baker. Zirkle rested six hours then began the 83-mile trek across the portage trail through the Nulato Hills to Unalakleet. …
In 1977 Bob Chlupach attempted and completed his rookie Iditarod. In total he’s completed ten Iditarods over four decades. The 2012 race makes for running an Iditarod in each of five decades. After graduating with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University, Chlupach took a fisheries job in Juneau. Once he …
During the supper hour on March 8th, there was a flurry of activity in teams leaving McGrath. Pat Moon, leaving with 10 of his 12 dogs from Middy Johnson’s Unalakleet team departed at 17:26 followed by Hank Debruin’s Siberians at 17:41 and Karen Ramstead’s Sibes at 17:48. There wasn’t a reluctant starter in the whole …
Moose are having a hard winter. The abundance of snow has made it very difficult for them to forage for food and it’s made it difficult for the large hoofed animals to move around. Moose are seen in places they normally wouldn’t be found, places were it’s easier to find food and places where it’s …
