The 2014 Iditarod season: pt. 4

Shaktoolik.

A little cessna took me from Unalakleet into Shaktoolik, a small one street village on a spit that juts out into the Bering Sea. This would be 'home' for the next week as we awaited mushers to pull in at all times of day and night. Some came in under clear sunny skies, pulling in for a quick feed of their dogs before riding out across the Bering Sea, while others would crawl in on hands a knees in front of their lead dogs as the storm raged on and their sleds careened across the glare-iced main street. These mushers would often stay at the checkpoint longer; restoring their spirits, their dog's energy and rustling up their desire to continue. It was an incredible week full of dogs, mushers and 24-hour work days as teams would pull in or out according to their own clock and pre-planned schedules. It was an epic year for the Iditarod race with crazy weather, dirt trails and an unexpected rush at the finish line. It was definitely a great year to experience from the trail!

(Click on the first image to enter slideshow mode)

Flying into Shaktoolik

Our home for the week

Task #1: organize and double check that all musher's dog food has arrived

Then the Iditasport bike riders started coming in...

Iditasport bikers heading off across the Bering Sea into the sunrise

The first mushers started pulling into the checkpoint

The dog lot for resting teams

The front runners were constantly hounded by media

And as mushers rolled in, sleeping space got tight. 

Volunteers and mushers alike grabbed space wherever available.

Here I am napping beside Hans Gatt, notice my boots and snow pants…

always ready to jump out to the dog lot.

Mushers leaving Shaktoolik and heading out onto the Bering Sea

Then the storm rolled in...

The morning after looked like this. Yes, there are dogs huddled down in there.

But the winds slowly died down and mushers were able to continue

And more mushers rolled in on main street.

We had a crew of three vets that looked over every team as they came in.

And occasionally a musher would drop a dog for various reasons.

Here are a batch of dogs loaded into a tiny cessna awaiting delivery 

back to Anchorage.

And after a week of 24-hour shifts, a continual stream of mushers, and more 

than a lifetime worth of dogs, we loaded ourselves onto the tiny cessna and

flew out of there…I'll leave the story of how the electric in the plane died 

and we found ourselves stuck in a storm halfway back to Anchorage, for 

another time.