Of Dogs, Governors, Volcanoes and Moose

What do these all have in common? These things have been our experiences in the last 3 weeks.

First of all the Iditarod was one for the record books. This year had some of the worse storms in a number of years. The 3 mushers in the front managed to get past the worst of it, but the other 64 teams got clobbered. The teams that were running in places 4-15 got caught on the coast of the Bering Sea heading north. The temps were -30 F with a 30 mph wind in their face. Jeff King, a 4 time winner of this race turned around and headed back for shelter. After a musher turns a team around it is difficult for him or her to get the dogs to do that portion of trail again. The mushers on the Yukon river were also traveling north under the same conditions. The mushers further back in the pack had horrible experiences also. The blowing snow covered the trail markers making it impossible to find the trail. We had dinner with Kim Darst, a musher from New Jersey, after she had scratched. She said the snow was about waste deep when she could find the packed trail. When she stepped off the packed part it would go to armpit deep. She had to lead the dogs to an area of safety. While trying to sit out the storm one of her dogs kept getting worse, even sharing Kim's sleeping bag. She then sent an emergency signal ending her race but saving her dogs. She was with another musher and they got help from the previous checkpoint. A local doctor who was near them was not as lucky. He lost two dogs and was concerned for his own life. This link will give you an idea of what must have been going on out there. http://www.adn.com/iditarod/2009/story/726933.html

The story begins: UNALAKLEET -- With the temperature near 45 degrees below and two dogs already dead from the cold, 55-year-old Lou Packer huddled all alone beside a meager fire in one of the most remote areas left in North America and wondered if he would be next.

Last night was the Iditarod's volunteer pot luck dinner. It was fun to see everybody all together and one never goes hungry at a pot luck. Jude had to bring a bit of New Orleans with us to the dinner. Clams Etoufee. The clams from Alaska, the Etoufee from Grand Isle. There was a bit of surprise as Sarah Palin showed up. She was there to sign into law a bill that will allow any musher who has finished the Iditarod a special license plate for their vehicle. There will not be a lot of them produced. There have only been around 800 people to finish the Iditarod. More people have climbed Mt Everest than finished the Iditarod. The race is 1150 miles long. That is about the distance from Detroit to Tampa.

Which way to Nome?

Or is this a new breed, a two headed dog? This is the start line on Sunday. I did not get to work in the start chute this year but I was right there anyway.

Well there is always something new to experience here in The Last Frontier. Last week and again this morning Mt Redoubt decided to erupt. Last week the ash cloud went north of us. We were up to the new house and we could plainly see the cloud. It was dropping ash about 20 miles north of the house. Today the cloud is headed in the other direction. The bad hit areas have received about 1/8 inch of dust. We just stay inside and cover up electronics with plastic bags so that the ash does not get into the system. Alaska Airlines cancelled all flights this afternoon. The last time this happened a KLM 747 flew into the ash cloud and lost power. Fortunately the pilots were able to restart the engines just before a crash. The dust got into the engines and formed a glass like surface on the engine.

Lastly, one cannot live in Alaska without the ever present moose showing up. You just never know where! Jude and I were sitting a the table having breakfast when this guy walked through the parking lot in front of Amanda's. It is kind of like seeing deer in Michigan. You will see them all the time, your just never sure where. I still will never get over seeing them.

Here is a picture of Lance Mackey, three time champion, having a bit of a go round with one of the moose here in Anchorage. On Saturday of the race there is a fund raise where people bid on riding in a musher's sled. A champion like Lance will draw a maximum bid of $7500. Other mushers will not get as much. Eric Rogers, a friend of ours, had Dorothy Hamill , the gold medal figure skater, in his sled this year.

The best moose sighting I have seen was last year. While picking up our rental car, I was driving by the arrival area at the airport. Yes, just like most major airports, departures are on the second level and arrivals are down underneath on ground level. And like most airports there was a cop there directing traffic. But unlike most airports, this cop was not only directing cars, but a moose who was just wandering through. I never did see the conclusion.

Rob