Location: McGrath

Time: 10 PM

Hello to you all!

I hope that snowstorm you had is under control, and you’re back to school.  I hope you’re doing lots of fun things with Miss Nelson, and I hope you’re enjoying my reports. 

Last night I got up at 3AM and went outside to see if I could see the Northern Lights.  No, they weren’t visible.  I’m going to try again tonight.  Right now the sky is clear and it looks good.  A McGrath resident said that they would probably not be seen because it’s too hot.  Several people told me that at this time of year it should be below 0 degrees here, but instead it’s around 30 degrees - above.  I must say I’m dressed much too warm!  Much too hot for the dogs, and the mushers too. 

This afternoon I noticed that the checkpoint was empty, and I was told that the mushers were waiting for the night to run to the next checkpoint, because that’s when the dogs would be most comfortable.  Another indication of the respect for each other.

I’m including a picture of the McGrath checkpoint, and how it looked on the trail here at 8AM, at sunrise.  Did I remember to tell you that right now the day is from about 8 to 5?  Everyday it gets longer by about 5 minutes.

This morning as I walked around I saw the extra sleds lined up for the mushers, if they needed to exchange them.  What they do is send one up here before the race, in case the one they’ve been using gets too cracked up across what’s called the Farewell Burn.  That is a large area that had a forest fire.  You can see it on our class map.  This is one of the worst places for the mushers.  There is very little snow there this year.  Many places are down to gravel – bad for mushing.  The mushers are all saying the “Burn” was terrible this year, and slowed them up more than usual.  

The sleds have changed a lot over the past years.  They are no longer made of wood. Now they are made of aluminum.  Compare a piece of wood and something made of aluminum.  See if you can come up with reasons why the aluminum is better for the Iditarod.

There are many pictures of the dogs resting here in McGrath.  I know many of you want the names of them, but the problem is that there are 10 to 16 dogs with each team and there are over 60 teams so it is very hard to keep track of all of their names.  My suggestion is that after the race if you are interested in a particular team I can give you the musher’s  address and you can write a letter with specific questions.  I can’t bother them with lots of questions while they’re in the checkpoint.  What I do is just listen in while they are being interviewed by the media and/or the vets.

I was able to get a few photos of the mushers coming into McGrath.  It looks just beautiful as you see them coming up the frozen river.  As they get closer everyone gathers to greet them and take pictures.  I love the matching ice particles on the faces of the dogs and the mushers as they arrive!  The mushers let it just dry, but the dogs roll in the snow to get it off.  I have so many pictures of the dogs!  They are just so wonderful! 

You’ll notice a picture of a woman shoveling snow into a large container.  Her name is Robin Boulding, and she is Charlie’s wife.  She is a volunteer here in McGrath, because Charlie takes his 24 hour layover here.  What she is doing is keeping the hot water boiling.  This is what the mushers use for their dog’s food.  They mix the water in with the frozen meat and make a stew for the dogs.

When the musher takes his/her 24 hour layover, they sleep as much as they can, and eat a lot, too.  It’s so impressive to see how the villages along the trail all welcome the teams.  I am spending a fair amount of time in the checkpoint building here, and the kitchen is just full of good things for the mushers to eat.  There are volunteers to cook up a special order meal for them, and there are all kinds of prepared foods for them to choose from.  I was on duty in the kitchen for a couple of hours today, but all I did was serve coffee and pie.  The pies were all homemade and looked great!  I wish I could have had some, but they were for the mushers.  While I was on kitchen duty Charlie and Mike Williams were eating.  They were discussing the heat and the “Burn.”  I am continuously amazed at what strong friendships exist between the mushers.  They ask each other about the dogs by name, talk about each others families, and of course discuss how the race is going.  Yes, they are competing, but they admire and respect each other much more than I would have expected.  It’s almost as if they were a team rather than competitors.  With every day, as I observe the mushers,  I admire them even more.  They are a wonderful lesson in good sportsmanship.

This building is actually a house that is no longer used.  If the mushers want to sleep there are several bedrooms upstairs, and they just go up and sack out in their sleeping bag.  They tell someone what time to wake them.  I almost got to wake Charlie, but another volunteer said yes before I did.  I will try to work here tomorrow, but all the mushers may be through by then so there may be no jobs to do.

By the way, I haven’t told you about the other people along the trail.  There are about 50 media people that are moving along like us, from Anchorage to Nome.  They are mostly from Anchorage TV, radio and newspapers, but some are from CNN and USA Sports.  These are the people we are sharing our lodgings with.  At each roadhouse we are all there sharing stories at meals.

In the afternoon we flew up to Takotna.  What a pretty village.  I am sending you the view from the plane.  We saw the front runners here, like Gebhardt, Buser, King and Jonrowe.  This town has only 78 people, and 14 kids in the school.  I spoke  to twin third graders – Robert and Rosalie.  They were having fun watching all the activity in their village.  Most of the time it’s very quiet.  A group of older boys were playing football near the trail.  There is no school now because everyone wants to get in on the excitement.  I didn’t realize that the schools were closed!  I was hoping to visit them!  But, I will still go in and see the classrooms, even though there are no kids there. 

Well, this report is getting very long, and I need to get outside to see if there is any hope for Northern Lights tonight, so I’ll say Happy Trails To You!

Love from Mrs. McClintock