Eye on the Trail: Hendrickson and Bailey in UNK

In case you’ve missed Sebastian’s statistics on the top three – Dallas, Brent & Mitch, this is the deal,  “There is a 3.5 mile difference and only 30 minutes between 1st and 3rd place after 845 miles of racing.”  Honestly, I think back to the stories I’ve heard about the one second race between Dick Mackey and Rick Swenson in 1978.  The lead changed between the two more than once on Front Street and Mackey came away with a one second victory.  Of course the Champion isn’t crowned until he or she makes the Burled Arch and we know anything can happen when Mother Nature plays her hand but at this point it’s safe to predict an exciting finish.

Meanwhile, back in Unalakleet, two mushers were in the checkpoint at sunrise this morning, Karen Hendrickson and Jodi Bailey.  Karen came into Unalakleet at 0225 and Jodi arrived of 0814.  It’s very quiet which means a good rest for the dogs as well as the mushers although it’ll be a short one for them.  Jodi just left a wake up call for a one hour nap.

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Karen Hendrickson Leaving Unalakleet

Karen is back down with her team.  It’s very good to see her out here and moving around.  She had to sit out Iditarod 2015 with a back injury sustained during a training run.  Bryan Bears ran her team in 2015.  Karen is strong and glad to be with her team on the trail.  She does admit to being a little stiff.  Karen has a true love affair with dogs.  She met her first sled dog volunteering for Iditarod in 2002.  Twelve months later she’d sold everything, quit her job and moved to Alaska to become a handler.  After two years she tried to “quit her dog habit.”  That didn’t last long.  Karen says she was miserable without dogs.  When she built her team, she never expected to do any racing.  She says she’s not sure how it happened but after two years of training and Qualifying, she found herself signed up for Iditarod.  The 2016 Iditarod will be her 5th time heading to Nome.  Working full time during the winter, Karen says her biggest challenge is to fit training and racing in with the demands of her job.  For the love of dogs, she makes it all happen.

As Karen was booting her dogs, I hiked up to the bridge for the perfect shot of a musher leaving Unalakleet.  Snow will be sparse for the first part of the run to Shaktoolik but once the mushers crest the Blueberry Hills, there’ll be more snow for the rest of the run into Shaktoolik.

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Sunrise framed with driving bow

Jodi Bailey was her usual animated efficient self this morning.  Within a half hour of setting her snow hook in Unalakleet her dogs were bedded down and fed.  Jodi had her return bag packed and when I walked down the hill, she seemed to be taking a minute so soak up the beauty and calmness a round her.  The sun was just breaking the horizon.  It was really a perfect morning.  Jodi says her dogs are doing well.  They are adjusting to the warmer than normal temperatures, they run slower during daylight hours and faster in the cool dark hours.  Bailey and her husband ,Dan Kaduce, operate Dew Claw Kennel near Fairbanks.  It’s colder up there so this weather is something the dogs are adjusting to.  Bailey said the run from Kaltag to Old Woman Cabin was just spectacular.  The beauty of the night was to energizing.  It was a run that make her happy to be on the runners behind her friends and canine athletes.  The dilemma Jodi was pondering was runner plastic.  There are different color plastics for different temperatures and snow.  Her question though was what color for dirt and ice?  A good portion of the trail to Shaktoolik would be exactly that.  Jodi finally decided on yellow runner plastic because it is the cheapest.  Bailey was also pleasantly surprised with the trail.  She of course hears stories about this section of that section and shat to expect.  “Thus far,” she said, “every section of the trail has been better than I’ve expected.”  In wheel Jodi is running a pair of litter mates, Pepsi and Topaz.  They are nearly identical except for the color of the inside of their ears.  A couple of years ago as yearlings, they were probably the photographed dogs on the trail.  Jodi said if she’d had a dollar for every photo taken of the twins, she’d have her next Iditarod financed.  I would have owed her a few hundred dollars then and I added to that amount this morning.