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Erin Montgomery 2015 Teacher on the Trail
The first musher is in White Mountain, Dallas Seavey. About 4 hours later, his dad, Mitch Seavey arrived with a 30-minute lead on Aaron Burmeister. In White Mountain mushers must take their last 8-hour mandatory stop. After that, it’s on to the finish. I am hearing people say we are looking at about a 4:00 …
Iditarod is an exciting time of year for the villages along the trail. These remote, normally quiet, and peaceful villages turn into the crowded, place to be during the Iditarod. Droves of children huddle around the mushers and their dogs to observe anything and everything they can. To see their role model. Iditarod mushers are …
There has been a lot of action in and out of Unalakleet the last couple of days. This morning I walked past Paul Gebhardt’s team that was resting, all except one little guy. One of Paul’s dogs was doing his best to stay awake. He kept nodding off while sitting up, but was bound and …
I have lost all concept of time since I have been out on the trail. As I was speaking with William, my snowmachine taxi to and from the airport, neither of us could remember what day I came in. William then made a comment that makes so much sense. He said, “we don’t really worry …
As I was watching Wade Marrs booty up his dogs while preparing to leave Kaltag, I swear one of his dogs smiled and winked at me. This dog sat just like a little person while Wade put a booty on each paw. It appears to me that he is thinking to himself, “yep, I’ll just …
What would you do for your sibling? Jason Mackey is willing to slow his Iditarod race down and help his brother, Lance. Lance Mackey, four time Iditarod champion, is one tough man. He hasn’t been dealt the best hand of cards, but he has fought through what he has been given. Lance is a survivor …
One of my favorite things to witness in the checkpoints is the relationships between the mushers and their best friends. When entering the checkpoint the first things most of the mushers do is pet their dogs and give them recognition for the run. The last thing they do upon leaving the checkpoint is pet their …
Proud. The word many of the villagers feel about having the Iditarod come through for the first time in history. Walking around the checkpoint you can see many children playing basketball, looking for mushers to sign their Huslia pennant, villagers volunteering, and snowmachines driving around. Inside there are tables overflowing with food for anyone to …
One thing I really admire about Aliy Zirkle is she appreciates her fans. Aliy is taking her 24-hour break here in Galena. She has been in and out all day feeding, stretching, and caring for her dogs. She has also found some time to sleep a little. Additionally, Aliy found time to pose for a …
I arrived in Galena this afternoon. There were already mushers that have checked in and some that have even checked out. A lot of teams have decided to take their mandatory 24-hour stop in Galena. Jeff King was the first musher into Galena winning the Millennium First to the Yukon Award. Jeff was awarded …