"Last Great Race on Earth"

Hello everyone!

I just got back from a great week in the Many Glacier valley. I hiked in Tuesday afternoon. The sun was shining and it was in the upper 30's, but the wind was very strong. First, I stopped at the Post Office and picked up Jeff's mail. He had lots of stuff, so my pack was pretty heavy. The road is still completely clear except for about ten drift areas, so it is impossible to ski into the valley. It took me about two and a half hours to make the seven mile hike in the strong winds. I made it to the cabin, fixed some lunch, and relaxed for the evening. Eric and Leah, two volunteers with the wolverine project (I've told you about them before) had made it in late Monday evening. When I arrived at the cabin Tuesday afternoon, they were just heading out to Fishercap Lake to put a fresh deer leg on the research site and collect the hair samples.

Wednesday, Eric, Leah, and I skied out to the three sites at Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine. It was really windy and cloudy when we left. We set up the site at Swiftcurrent Lake then hopped on the trail to Lake Josephine. By the time we had finished the second site and started across the lake to the last site, the weather had gotten even worse. The sky was now spitting snow and ice, and the wind had grown stronger. We had to fight the wind the whole way across the lake, but eventually we all made it to the last site. We replaced the bait and collected the hair and then Eric set up a camera. The camera will take one picture every minute. Hopefully, we will get some great wolverine footage! After completing the last wolverine site, we headed back to the cabin to thaw out. This time the wind was at our backs and gave us a nice boost on the ski back.

Thursday, the three of us skied out to the wolverine site at Cracker Flats in the late morning. The weather had improved since Wednesday though it was still quite windy. After a bit of work we finished with the wolverine site and decided to take a ski further up the flats. We made a nice big loop back around to the trail to head back home. While we were skiing, the sky was spitting snow, but the sun was still shining! It was great. Later that night, once the moon had climbed high in the sky and the wind had died down, the four of us went for a night ski. We skied by moonlight up the trail to Iceberg Lake. It was so quiet and so beautiful out there. While resting before turning around, we saw a shooting star skid across the sky. It was one of the brightest shooting stars I've ever seen. We all yelled in unison as it streaked across the dark sky.

I woke early on Friday morning to beautiful blue skies. I rushed outside to get some photos. Finally, I was able to get a good view of all the mountains! I departed the cabin on foot around 10 am this time with the wind at my back. I made it back to my car just after noon and began the long drive back to the west side of the park. The drive winds through the mountains, and it was awesome to see the fresh coat of perfect white snow on them. Now, I am back on the west side of the park where the skies are gray most of the time and I'm anxiously awaiting one of my favorite events of the year.

March 6th is the official start of the Iditarod. When I was your age, I lived up in Anchorage, Alaska. Every year, my family and I would watch the start of the Iditarod. In case you don't know much about the Iditarod, I will tell you about it. The Iditarod is a dog-sled race of over 1100 miles across the baron Alaskan wilderness. It starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome. The trail crosses mountain ranges, frozen rivers, tundra, and dense forests. And, if that doesn't sound too tough, the temperatures are often far below zero with a fierce wind that cuts visability! Each musher has a team of 12 to 16 dogs and completes the race in 10 to 17 days (that is, if they are able to complete it).

The trail was originally used as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of eastern Alaska to the mining camps inland and then on to the coastal towns of western Alaska. All of this was done using dog sleds. In 1925, an epidemic broke out in Nome and people were very sick and were dying. Medicine was shipped in using the dog sleds and lives were saved. The Iditarod is a race that honors this important part of Alaskan history.

The first Iditarod started March 3, 1973. During the race, each team must stop at checkpoints. This year, there are 26 checkpoints. There are varying distances between the checkpoints. Each musher and his/her team of dogs is required to stay at the checkpoints for a certain amount of time so that the dogs and the musher get enough rest.

Here are some cool Iditarod facts:

• More people have climbed Mt. Everest (the tallest mountain in the world) than have completed the Iditarod
• So far, there have been 2,298 teams to start the Iditarod. This means approximately 36,768 dogs have started the race.
• In the history of the race, 21% of mushers have quit before they reached the finish line.
• Rick Swenson has won the most Iditarods. He has won five times and has competed in the race 33 times. This means that he has traveled about 82,500 miles on a dog sled!
• This year, there are 71 teams entered in the race. There are 1,136 dogs which will need 4,544 booties to protect their feet. The amount of food needed for all of these dogs is between 1,700 and 2,275 pounds per day before the start of the race and even more once they start racing.

You will be following the Iditarod. You will be split up into groups of two or three. Each group will be assigned a musher, and your job is to track your musher during the race. Your teacher will give you a map of the trail. I can't promise you that your musher will complete the race, but I hope most will. This week, I expect you to find out about your musher. You can do this by visiting the website below and clicking on your musher's name.
http://www.iditarod.com/race/musherlisting.html