DeeDee Jonrowe’s team rests in the sun in Takotna

This afternoon I got the phone call that the Iditarod Air Force was flying in to pick me up and take me to a new checkpoint.  I wasn’t sure where I was headed, so I quickly packed up my sleeping bag and grabbed my camera for a few more photos of the town of Takotna before leaving.  I noticed that veteran musher DeeDee Jonrowe was preparing to leave for Ophir after taking her 24 hour rest, so I asked her a few questions about her sled and gear. 

Her dogs were snoozing away in the warm sun, and looked perfectly content as we talked.  I asked her about her extra sled in Takotna, and why mushers use them.  We talked about organization on the trail, and how every single item in a sled should serve a purpose, or it is just taking up space. 

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DeeDee took her time and methodically worked through her sled bag.  She neatly packed up all the items she did not really need to use in this final stretch and put them in a drop bag to be returned home.  It made me really think about efficiency in the sport, and how organization can make a difference for a musher and a team…even the little things matter in the Last Great Race on Earth®.