Dear Friends,

Gypsy, canine reporter, here!  Right now, mushers are beginning fall training runs with me and my sled dog friends.  We need to keep in shape!  Another task to begin is planning dog food and musher food for the Iditarod.  Dog food is expensive, but easier to gather.  We dogs need high performance, dry dog kibble, as well as frozen hunks of salmon and various meats.  This good food can be stored in bins or in the freezer until it is time to send it out in drop bags.  Our mushers are permitted to send three 50 lb. bags to each checkpoint.  This keeps the sled lighter, and we have a stash of food to replenish the sled at each stop.

An interesting warm soup of kibble and meat for sled dogs [photo credit H. Sloan]

The human mushers have a more difficult time gathering their food.  “Running dogs has taught me to pack food and drinks that don’t freeze,” said Charlie Jordan, a Jr. Iditarod champion in Lessons My Sled Dog Taught Me [Brown, 1998].  Have you ever thought about what the mushers drink while on the Iditarod?  Some take Capri Sun™ juice packs.  Guess what happens?  Yes!  They freeze into solid ice if the musher doesn’t plan ahead.  Some mushers keep their juice pouches tucked into interior pockets of their parkas, near their bodies.  The juice packets are merely slushy when they go to drink, which is better than frozen solid!  Water bottles can also be carried near body heat to remain drinkable.

For people, musher Michael Baker says thin foods are best, like slices of pizza or thin burritos.  These meals can be shrink wrapped and then dropped into hot water to thaw a little so nobody breaks a tooth trying to eat.

Thin food for the musher [photo credit H. Sloan]

So, the next time you are having a warm after-school snack, think about mushers on the Iditarod Trail trying to keep their food and drinks thawed enough to eat!

Until next time,

Gypsy