Unalakleet to Nome
Well this is the final episode of the 2010 Iditarod report, here it goes:A local Unalakleet family, the Eriksons, with an autistic child have been doing a fund raiser called " 4 paws for Logan " to get their kid a service dog. I had donated one of my calendars to the cause and it was nice to meet Logan and his parents, Donna and Jeff, in person. It was even nicer of them to bring me a huge piece of blueberry pie, food always works for me.
Gerry Willomitzer took over my sleeping quarters and going outside Ken, John and Mitch had long left the checkpoint. God it was miserably windy out. I tried putting booties on the team, but in no time my fingers were frozen. Considering that most of the trail leaving Unk is usually glace ice, I decided to postpone bootying till I find a sheltered spot somewhere in the trees, which are pretty spares in this part of the country. But sure enough about an 1.5hrs out I came to a nice and sunny hillside with no wind. By the time I had all dogs bootied, Maggot had dug cave into the dirt ( there was only a scant snowcover ) which resembled a mining shaft. Needless to say his booties were shredded and a new set later we were on our way. I usually dread the run over the Blueberry Hills, as it means a lot of running behind the sled. This time though, right at dusk, there were countless rabbits scurrying all over the bushes, which kept the dogs very motivated. Landscape wise this is easy one of the most beautiful runs during the whole Iditarod. Condition wise, it can easily be one of the most miserable runs of the whole race. Down on the flats, I was relieved to find next to no wind and the team was cruising right along, the lights of Shaktoolik visible in the distance. Last year I made a major strategic move here, with not stopping and continuing to Koyuk in one shot Once again, I was dreading the night shift, plus the cold, so I decided to stay for a few hours. The few hours ended up being 5 hrs. That rest sure was good for the dogs and myself, but not very good for out placing, as Ken Anderson, John Baker, Ramey Smith all did not stop, or only stopped very short. For some reason I did not have the same determination as last year. I am still trying to find the answer to the question of why that happened. Right wan I was getting ready to leave, Gerry Willomitzer came in, looking for a snowmachine, stating he had lost his team. I first thought he was joking, but sure enough, his team was not outside. Ray Redington had given him a ride into the Checkpoint, for which later received the Sportsmanship award. Ray is always a truly genuine nice guy out on the trail. With the help of a snowmachine and GPS coordinates Gerry was able to find his team. Leaving Shak the checker informed me that the trail over to Koyuk was not a straight shot and about 10 miles longer than normal. That was good to know in advance. The trail went much further to the left, due to some pressure ridges. Going across the ice, at times it looked like we would bypass Koyuk and head directly for the outbound trail to Elim. The run was rather quite, no wind , no other teams and once again next to no Airplane traffic. With 7hrs 11 minutes the runtime was average. Getting into Koyuk at near noon, I was for sure going to rest for a few hours.
Sissy and Anita were both in Koyuk , which made the stop very pleasant. I also got a glimpse of some other teams, John, Mitch, Hugh, Ramey were all this there. Ken Anderson had left short before I got into the checkpoint. He sure ran a strong race up the coast this year. The dogs and I were in a bit better of a rhythm during the last days, resting through the heat of the day. Although heat was a very relative thing this year. While teams like Ken`s and Ramey´s got stronger during the end of the race, Hugh Neff´s team faded.
At 4.30 p.m. it was time to hit the trail again. Gear dried out, wetsnack stowed in the cooler we were hitting the trail. To not conflict with the unusual inbound trail, the outgoing trail was going more or less overland this time. And the land part was very visible, not much snow on this windblown landscape for the first 2 hrs. Due to our frequent rest stops in the last checkpoints, the team was gathering a bit more speed and we made it into Elim in 6hrs 25 minutes. 2 hrs before Elim I had dished out the wetsnack to the dogs, this time a mixture of Lamb meat and dryfood. They inhaled everly last bit of it, even the gourmet dog Grisman,who often rather looks at his food than eating it. In Elim we just stopped long enough, to grab more water to make another snack and to reboot some of the dogs. While I was busy doing that, the vets checked over the team and gave them a clean bill of health.
As usual in life, what you sometimes loose, you gain back in other spots, the trail to White Mountain went over the sea-ice and was shorter than in the past, and also faster. I had rarely seen it this nice and flat. After leaving the ice it is a steady climb up towards Little McKinely. Luckily in the dark I did not see any of the climbs. The team was very motivated and before I knew if we were on top of the mountain, without me ever setting a foot on the ground. Nice. As a reward the gang devoured the next big snack, before beginning the fun descent to Golovin Bay. It was getting “ this “ time of the day again, somewhere between 3 and 4 p.m. and staying awake was not easy. Before getting into Golovin I put Finn back in lead, to make sure we have a clean pass through town. Much to my liking the place was deserted at night and no distractions for the dogs. It seemed eerie with just an occasional house dog barking in the distance.
Finn had been my main man for most of this race. Scruggs really stepped up to the challenge this year and had a lot of fun in lead. With both dogs being a bit on the shy side, the nice thing is that they do not get distracted or enticed to visit with people. Inuk on the other hand, same as Skunk, I seemed to have spoiled a bit too much. Both of them were rather sluggish in lead, and Inuk was visiting anybody who anything food looking nearby.
I was glad to make it to White Mountain at 6 a.m. It had taken me 13.5 hrs over from Koyuk, during which the team had eaten 2 full coolers plus a bag of fat. Still they did not hesitate to eat in the checkpoint as soon as I put the food down. Horsemeat with Dryfood was on the menue. As long as I keep on changing the meat every once in a while, the dogs always seem interested in eating. The outside temperature was climbing a bit, for he first time in many days, but once again I threw my assortment of fleece blanket over the dogs before heading inside. Usually during a long 8 hr rest, the dogs will eventually get up to pee and shake of the blankets. Sure enough when I got outside at 1 p.m. the team was basking in sunshine, now sleeping on the fleece. I opted to not give the team a second meal, and instead taking that food with me for a trail feeding. The team had been maintenance free during the whole run up the coast with no sorenesses. It was so nice and warm out that I could take all dog coats of the dogs. Learning never to trust anything on Iditarod I threw them all in the sled, together with all the fleece. They sure will come in handy in Nome.
With 13 dogs I was not too worried about shedding weight. The teams ahead of me were mostly out of reach, except Hugh Neff who I passed 2 hrs after leaving. I am for sure not going to outrun Ramey Smyth, I think Ramey was born with running shoes. During this run the Iditarod showed itself form its nicest side. Spectacular scenery to all sides, sunshine, bluebird skies, while sill not being too warm for the dogs. There seemed to be a lot less snow in the hills this year, which made for a lot less side hill running.
For the first time this race, the team had to run through a small stretch of overflow. Inuk came to a complete stop, turned around with that look of: “ now what “ in his face. You gotta be kidding I thought to myself. Inuuuuuukkkkkkkk, let´s goooooo you ( I better do not repeat what I called him ) …….. O.k. fine than boss, fine……he slowly started to move ……..
2 years ago, Zack Steer and me were racing neck on neck into Safety, although that being a lot of fun, I enjoyed the fact that I could just sit down and reflect on this years training and racing season. Matt had proven to be great help during training, which had gone near perfect until late December. After that I had to be much more involved into the tour business than I had hoped for and that took very valuable time away from training. The team was for sure missing a couple of tough training races as warm- ups. All this considered, I was happy with our 7th place finish. In early winter I had high hopes to do better in Iditarod and possibly win, but the closer race day came, the more reality set in, that in all likelyhood, this was not going to happen. Maybe I “ gave up “ too early, hard to tell. Even now in hindsight, looking at runtimes I can clearly see that Lance, Hans, Jeff and John had consistently better and faster runtimes than us. Oh well, there is always next year. But wait….. did I not say this was my last year of running?
In Safety I took the time to snack all dogs again, might as well give it to them, instead of carrying it to Nome. They loved the Arctic Char, which I get here from Icy Waters in Whitehorse. Some of the greatest dogfood ( and human food ) around. Some crazy visitors were insisting to take photos with the dogs, They must have had a beer or two I had to be careful that they would not fall all over the team. I love this time of the year up north. 9 p.m. and still sunshine. With Scruggsy having done so well in lead all race, I took Inuk out and put him back in, as he really deserved the honor to be in lead at the finishing line. The trail went different than in the past and headed straight for the hill, instead of staying on the road. I almost missed that, but the frantic screaming and hollering of the visitor crew finally got me clued in that I was going the wrong way. It was getting dark right when we crested Cape Nome. Damn I am going to miss running this race. It had become part of my life over the last years. But damn, I am not going to miss the financial stress, and the big time commitment of training year round. I got caught in a mix of emotions during those last miles, and even now, weeks later I still am.
13 really nice looking dogs pulled me under the burled arch in Nome at 11.39 p.m.. Despite the late hour, or maybe because of the late hour and the bars being so close, there was a much bigger crowd to cheer us on than I had expected. Scruggs and Finn were in lead, Followed by: Inuk, Austin, Diesel, Grisman, Solo, Solomon, Coyote, Skunk, Saffron, Cougar and Maggot John Little had allowed me to run 4 really great dogs. I miss them daily. Cougar was also a pleasure to run and I thank Dean Osmar for leasing him to me. Good old Austin once again made it to Nome. The old geezer has now finished all 11 Thousand Milers with me. I guess we are going to retire together. For Maggot this was his first Iditarod. There is a lot I can say about the dogs. They never seize to amaze me. Their loyalty, their desire to go. They are the most cuddly dogs on the couch, and than they get all business on the trail.
My heartfelt thanks go out to the countless helping hands and minds. In particular to Matt, without your motivation I would have withdrawn from the race. Bonnie and Jim for always giving me a home away from home. Chris and Jim, likewise, for my Nome home. Libby for having the patience to never seeing me all winter. To my family back in Germany for believing in me. My thanks to all of the other helping hands throught the winter.
During the awards Banquet I received the honor of the Alaska Airlines ( thanks for the 2 tickets ) Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian award. That means a lot to me and is a very nice ending to my racing career. My first 1000 Miler the Yukon Quest back in 1999 was a big screw up. I should have never been in that race. I knew so little, that I did not even know how little I knew. I am still thankful that then race marshal Joe May ( 1990 Iditarod Winner ) took me aside and suggested that I go home from Circle City. It was the right decision and ensured that nothing bad would happened to my then 13 dogteam. It took me 5 years to regroup from that scratch all I wanted to do in my 2004 Yukon Quest was to finish unfinished business. Shortly after finishing that race in 10th place, I was certain that it would change my life for the coming years. It saw me returning to the Yukon Quest 4 more times, eventually winning in 2009 and than also running the Iditarod 6 times. This have by far been the most adventurous and fun filled years of my life. But financially they have been some of the most difficult ones. I am still struggling with the decision of where to go from here. I feel like an addict, not wanting to let go.Sab
