Tails from the Trail

After a beautiful flight over the Alaskan Range, getting spectacular views of Mount Denali, I have landed in Nikolai.  Nikolai is the first of many native villages along the Iditarod Trail. With a population of about 125 people and is located along the South Fork Kuskokwim River.  This is not the first home of Nikolai, in fact this village has been moved twice since the 1880’s.  It has been in its current location since 1913.  

The checkpoint is located along the river and is ready for the mushers arrival. Looking at the GPS tracker we are looking at early morning for the first musher to arrive.

A Tribute to Perseverance

Who are the first mother and daughter to complete the Iditarod?Barbara and Lisa Moore.  Barbara Moore was a rookie in 1980 and earned the Red Lantern with a time of 24 days 9 hours 25 minutes and 45 seconds.  Her daughter Lisa, who had competed in the Junior Iditarod completed her first Iditarod in in 1996 with a time of 15 days 14 hours 15 minutes and 0 seconds. The Iditarod is truly a family event.  How many other siblings, parent/child mushers can you name?

Teachers 

The race is well in its way, however before the mushers leave for Nome they create a dog team roster of the dogs they are taking out on the trail.  During the Winter Teacher’s Summit, Terrie Hanke presented about how to use that roster in your classroom. Here is a sample of what is on a dog team roster(there would be 14 dogs listed for this year):

What could we do with a dog roster? Alphabetizing, comparing male to female dogs, comparing ages, graphing…. So much you can add to your classroom!