Brent Sass Follows Orange Tipped Blue Flagged Lath into Nikolai

How do the mushers know where the trail is and how do we know where the mushers are?  The answer to part 1 of this question is lath stakes.  The answer to part 2 is Tracker.  Lath trail markers have been used for a very long time.  The tracker is really new to the race and has revolutionized the experience of following the race.

When the race runs to Nome, trail crews place 12,000 orange tipped and blue flagged lath along the trail.  This year with the out bound and in bound trail following the same route and the route being 415 miles each way the number is down to 7,500.

GPS tracker is much newer than lath.  Old school mushers felt electronics and the information they might provide wasn’t in the true wilderness spirit of the race.  But one year Iditarod asked a few mushers to test a tracker.  That was the year Martin Buser gave his to an IAF pilot and pretty soon it looked like Martin was going 110 mph back toward the start.  The next year, Iditarod decided all mushers would carry a tracking device.  The device was a clunky 5-pound brick until the SPOT became available.  The SPOT fits into a dog bootie and is pinned to the sled bag.

Brick Sized Ion Earth Tracker

Now for the news of the day, starting with the back of the pack.  Hal Hanson is preparing to leave McGrath, as are three other mushers.  Hanson praised his young dogs and described an emotional experience at the top of Rainy Pass.  They summited Rainy Pass at sunrise.  Hal stopped with his team to praise them, soak up the beauty and cherish the moment of bringing dogs he had trained from the time they were just a handful to this incredible summit.  Even as he described the experience to Insider, the emotion Hal felt was evident.  Here’s a line for you, Hal said his dogs were like crocodiles, eating everything he put in front of them.

Hal Hanson’s Dogs Rest in McGrath (Insider Video)

Susannah Tuminelli didn’t hit the trail at the exact moment her 24-hour layer expired.  She was more concerned about being fully prepared before taking the trail to Ophir.  Tuminelli talked with Insider about the importance of maintaining a positive attitude.  Dogs are very intuitive and pick up on the attitude of the musher.

Victoria Hardwick’s Cobbled Together Sled (Insider Video)

Victoria Hardwick’s sled was damaged on the Happy River Steps when hitting a tree.  The extent of the damage didn’t become evident until Rohn.  She and checkpoint volunteers did a masterful job of cobbling the sled together to make the run through the burn to McGrath where she had a sled waiting.  They used lath, ski poles, snowshoes and duct tape.  Victoria was extremely happy to transfer her gear to the waiting sled and still needed to reclaim her ski poles and snow shoes off the repaired sled. 

Sean Underwood, who is a rookie but not a true rookie, is happy with the performance of his team.  He has walked his dogs during the 24-hour rest and knows they are ready for the 41 mile run to Ophir.  Replacing runner plastic didn’t go as well as it should have but the job is done.  Sean says every now and then when something like the runner plastic goes wrong, he reminds himself that he chose to do Iditarod.  Sean’s first rookie run ended just short of Nome when he and two other experienced mushers encountered overflow.

Larry Daugherty (Door-T) is running a team of 4 and 5 year old Seavey tour dogs.  In his 5th race, Daugherty says it’s been a technical run.  The glare ice coming into Rohn wasn’t as tricky as it has been in the past but he did crash and damage his sled and hurt his wrist.  He detailed the crash saying, “There were stumps sticking up through the ice right off the side of the trail.  My sled started to fish tail and I hit a stump then crashed and broke my sled and injured my wrist.”  Larry was also very glad that he had sent a sled out to McGrath.  Larry thought the Gorge was tough because he was at the back of the pack and it was pretty trenched out.  It was snowing when he went through the burn and a little snow goes a long way on that part of the trail.  During his rookie run, Larry said there wasn’t even a flake of snow in the Burn so this run was pretty nice.

Dakota Schlosser Talks About Snacking His Dogs

Dakota Schlosser was snacking his dogs with chicken skins this morning.  He said he also packs beaver, fish, salmon, bacon and beef.  He feels like his dogs are eating really well and he likes to change the snacks up to keep it interesting.  Dakota has departed McGrath and is closing in on Ophir.

Taking a quick peak at the front of the pack, Dallas Seavey has made the 180-degree turn at Iditarod and is running inbound toward Ophir.  Brent Sass, Aaron Peck and Mille Porsild will complete their 24-hour layover and begin the inbound run yet this evening.  Travis Beals and Wade Marrs have joined the teams at Iditarod but they have both completed their long rest.  Teams coming into Iditarod have taken a rest on the 80-mile run from Ophir.  Travis Beals showed great speed making the 80-mile run in 9 hours and 14 minutes averaging 8.66 mph.

Rookie Chris Parker Scratch in McGrath with 8 dogs in harness.  Parker’s decision to scratch was made in the best interest of his dog team.