Just a little before suppertime, a two-legged trail user rolled into McGrath. While cycling is my thing, I have no urge or desire to follow in his tire tracks. This cyclist is riding the trail. He started in Willow and how far he goes depends on weather and conditions. He’s made his first goal of McGrath. He rolled into Skwentna about the time the race was getting under way in Willow. At that time he announced that he was riding to McGrath, a distance of roughly 300 miles. Yesterday in McGrath he had his sights set on Unalakleet and with a shrug he added, “Maybe Nome.” He said he faired much better on the survivor sections of the trail than the mushers did and his experience between Rohn and Nicolai wasn’t as bone jarring either. Take one look at his bike and it would be easy to understand why – wide studded tires and disc brakes. The cyclist, not connected with Iditarod Trail Ultra Sport event, is out on his own journey. I suspect that some of the mushers he passed on his way to McGrath were probably a little envious of the control he had over his bike and might have gladly traded for the trip down the gorge.
McGrath has a full-service airport and serves as a supply and transportation hub for the interior of Alaska. The village located at the confluence of the Kuskokwim and Takotna Rivers has a population of 423. There are a couple of stores and restaurants, a hotel, medical center and some hunting/fishing lodges. Iditarod School District administration offices are located in McGrath. The school serves approximately 50 students who are currently on break and many of the vacationing students are at the checkpoint seeking autographs from the mushers.
The pilots are preparing to fly today to deliver personnel to Ruby and collect personnel from Rohn and Nicolai. I asked Danny Davidson what his mission would be today. Danny has Jeff Duty meaning that he will be transporting Official Iditarod Photographer Jeff Schultz along, up and down and around the trail. Danny and Jeff have worked together for a long time. Earlier in the week they were doing so pretty tight maneuvering in the gorge while Jeff shot aerials. Schultz flips the door window up and shoots with a powerful telephoto to capture incredible action shots from the air. I’ve been the passenger in the jump seat behind Schultz and learned quickly to fly in Arctic gear or get real cold real fast.
The gentle giant, Mike Ellis was resting in McGrath yesterday and hit the river trail to Takotna during the supper hour a few minutes after Hugh Neff. It’s only an 18-mile run so both mushers will most likely go straight through to Ophir before resting again. Takotna is famous for their pie so after eating supper at McGrath, a short, very short stop for dessert might be on their agenda.
As Ellis booted his very handsome Siberians, I asked him how his good friend Brent Sass was doing after the Quest. Ellis said Sass was on vacation giving his head injury time to mend. It will take some time, but Sass is a very driven competitive individual who will do what it takes to mend and pursue his dream of being a Quest and Iditarod Champion. Good to hear Brent is taking care of himself.
Ellis, Sass and other musher friends set up a camp above the Arctic Circle for the month of April. They do training runs with their dogs, they hunt and they relax. Ellis credits that trip and training time with having some very talented two-year olds on his current team. Ellis considers Frankie to be the most beautiful animal on earth. During the Arctic training in April of 2013, Frankie matured into a very talented racing team member. As a youngster of two, is running in a team dog position on the Ellis Tsuga team.
Mike Ellis says he’s been mushing for 20 years and he learns something new every day. He became interested in Iditarod watching Rick Swenson and Susan Butcher on Wide World of Sports. He has a degree in geography. He says his hobby is filling his freezer. Ellis remarked they were all very fortunate to harvest their limit of caribou during their Arctic trip – his freezer was full. Ellis not only talks the talk but he walks the walk when he says, “Respect your dogs!”
