Right now the temperature and the number of mushers in Unalakleet are both sitting at zero. Before morning, the temperature will drop while the number of mushers will rise.

A whole crew of checkpoint volunteers came together this afternoon to organize musher needs at the checkpoint. Pallets of straw, sleds, drop bags and heet had been delivered to the village airport a week or so ago. Today “the goods” were loaded onto a large transport wagon and towed to the checkpoint by an end loader set up as a forklift. As soon as the pallets hit the ground the volunteers began sorting, alphabetizing and accounting for the musher drop bags. Bales of straw were taken down to the slough were the mushers will feed and bed their teams down. The pallet of heet remains intact at the end of the drop bag line – right next to Aliy Zirkle’s bags.

Whenever the lead musher arrives to claim the Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award, there will be villagers and volunteers standing on the slough to extend a hearty welcome. The winner will receive a gold cup and $2,500 in gold nuggets. The musher won’t have to carry the gold to Nome; the Wells Fargo presenter will re-present the cup and gold at the finisher’s banquet.

Born to Run,
Sanka