Hi Boys and Girls,

Have you picked your musher yet?  If you have, I bet your wondering what to do next.  If you’re doing this in your class, your teacher will be planning activities for you to do.  If you are doing this on your own, here are a few suggestions to help you.

Get map of trail (  http://www.iditarod.com/learn/iditarodtrail.html ),   and mark where your musher is.   Every day, or couple of times during the day go to:  www.Iditarod.com  and see where your musher is.  You will be able to find out if they are in a checkpoint or what was the last checkpoint they were in.  It will also give you the time your musher came and and then left.  The site will give you information as to the number of dogs still traveling with the musher, if they have taken their mandatory layoffs, and how fast they have been traveling.

While at the Iditarod site, you can download a map, information about the trail and checkpoints and mileage (see above website). This will help you to calculate how many miles your musher travels each day.  Look at what checkpoint they were at yesterday and where they are today.  Subtract the mileage of yesterdays checkpoint from todays.  That should give you the approximate mileage traveled.

Make predictions- when will they take their 24 hours, where will they be tomorrow, when will they get to Nome.  Can you think of anything else.  I like to predict how long it will take for them to get from checkpoint to checkpoint.  It’s fun to see how close I get.  When you do this, you need to be aware of any weather difficulties they may encounter enroute that will slow them down.  Also if it’s a long distance between checkpoints, you need to allow for a rest/snack/food break.

Can you think of anything else to track?  I’d love to hear of your ideas about keeping up with your musher.  Please let me know if you or your class do something else.

Happy trails to you,

Gypsy