Iditarod - The Last Great Race

This posting is not another one of my flying adventures with "Victor".  But it's a story I wanted to share.

I've been a fan of The Iditarod Dog Sled Race for a long time.  There is something about the cold weather competition for men and women, and their dogs, that appeals to me.  I had always thought that someday I would like to attend at least the start of the race.  My ideal would be to be at the start in Anchorage, Alaska, follow the race as it progressed westward through 1,000 miles of extreme weather conditions along the race route (as cold as -40F) and see the winner cross the finish line more than a week later in Nome on the Bering Sea. 

As an accountant, March is the busiest month of the year for me.  The Iditarod Dog Sled Race begins on the first weekend in March and the winner usually crosses the finish line in Nome about 9 days or so later.  Some of the mushers take up to two weeks to cross the finish line.  I thought I would never be able to get away in March to see the Iditarod up close and personal, at least until I retired. When grandson Scott was born on March 13, 1995, the day after my 50th birthday, I had said that I wanted to take him to see the Iditarod when he was old enough to enjoy it.  But then I kept working and retirement kept looking farther and farther into the future.

Then earlier this year, Leslie suggested to me that this would be a good time to finally take 15 year old grandson Scott to see the Iditarod. My automatic response was that I couldn't take that much time off in the middle of tax season.  When she asked me, "Why not?" I found I didn't have a good answer for her.  I wouldn't retire until I was no longer able to work, and then I probably wouldn't be physically able to enjoy and adventure of this sort.  At the same time, I was starting to think about how I wanted to spend whatever time I had left in this world.  Leslie was right:  This was the perfect opportunity for a grandfather to go on a trip like this with his grandson.  And if I was ever going to attend the Iditarod, I should do it sooner rather than later.

All I really had to do was to move a few appointments around, to clear off a few days from the office.  I could always make up for the lost time when we returned.  That's it!  We're going to the Iditarod!  I immediately went online to book our plane fare and order us both a good pair of winter gloves.  I already had boots and a good parka, so Leslie went online to order boots and a parka for Scott.

None of my clients seemed concerned when I rescheduled their appointment.  In fact, they were happy and excited for me, that I was not only able to go on such an adventure with my grandson, but that I was actually going to do it.  And Ellen didn't balk at taking Scott out of school for the trip.  She thought it would be great and contacted all of his teachers to arrange for getting his homework assignments early.  As it turned out, he could only get his assignments the day before we left, so he would have to do homework while on vacation.  Scott is well disciplined about doing his homework so he didn't mind spending a little time in the evening or during spare moments to take care of it.  I wish it had been that easy with my kids when they were that age!

The day before we left, Leslie picked up Scott on her way back from a visit with her friend Melissa.  We both got everything packed the night before, so we'd be ready early in the morning to catch our flight.  Fortunately for Scott, I don't like 6am flights.  They're just not worth it.  I booked a noon flight so we would have plenty of time to get there, miss all of the commuter traffic jams, and still arrive in Anchorage at a decent hour in the evening.

We made our flight in plenty of time, changed planes in Seattle, and arrived in Anchorage about dinner time.  There was snow on the sidewalks and piled up along the sides of the streets.  Brrrrr.  It was somewhere around 25F.  We got our rental car (4WD Ford Explorer) and took off for Girdwood, a little town in the mountains about an hour's drive to the East on the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm Inlet.

I had originally planned on getting a room for Scott and me in the Millenium Anchorage Hotel near the Anchorage airport.  The Millenium Hotel is the staging area for the Iditarod.  An Iditarod Help Desk is set up in the lobby.  Iditarod souvenirs are sold from another corner of the lobby.  Makeshift offices are setup in several ground level rooms, to handle the various Iditarod events, hand out event tickets, etc.  It would be shoulder-to-shoulder people the entire time, but it would be fun and definitely centrally located to all the events.

But friend, client and Rotary President Georgeann Cowles insisted that we use her cabin in Girdwood for our trip.  The offer of having our own cabin and saving whatever 5 days would cost at the Millenium Anchorage Hotel was an offer too hard to resist.  And it worked out very well indeed.  It was perfect for two guys on their own.  We had a full kitchen, full bath with shower, separate bedrooms and lots of movie videos to play on the TV.  The cabin was in an area with lots other cabins nearby, a few small stores and a restaurant not too far away.  A gas station and other small retail stores were about 5 miles away down at the Seward Highway.  There was a lot more snow in Girdwood compared to Anchorage, and only the main roads were clear of snow.  Snow was piled up high alongside all of the roads.

The next evening we attended the Mushers Number Drawing Banquet in downtown Anchorage.  This is where the mushers all draw their starting number for the race: and introductions are made of volunteers, special sponsors, politicians and other dignitaries.  They also held some open auctions of special fundraising gifts.  Georgeann and her friend Grant Wrathall were also in town for the Iditarod and they sat at the same table with us at the banquet.  Before dinner, she grabbed Scott and said, "Let's go find (4 time Iditarod Champion) Jeff King."  All of the mushers roamed the dining room, letting fans take their photos and autographing programs, etc.  Georgeann introduced Scott to Jeff King, took their photos together and brought Scott back to the table with a big smile.  She said, "I got a couple of good shots that I'll blow up for you and Scott."

We all had a great time at the banquet and left about 9pm.  It was 26F.  I went to bed about 10pm; but Scott made himself a snack and then watched videos until sometime after midnight.  I slept in until 7am on Friday, but I let Scott sleep in for a while longer.  This was our only unscheduled day, and I wanted to do some exploring and visit the Iditarod Museum in Wasilla, about an hour north of Anchorage.

It had been snowing during the night and it seemed to me that it was still steadily snowing at a pretty good rate, although I really wasn't sure.  We got in the car and tried to leave about 11:00, but couldn't budge the car out of the snow.  As I was rocking the car back and forth, trying to get out onto the road, the neighbor from across the street came over to me and said, "You don't want to go to town today.  There are white-out conditions on the Seward Highway with 80mph winds.  This is the worst storm I've seen in 20 years.  You might be able to leave tomorrow, but not today."  Thank God he bothered to come over and warn me.  If I had managed to get out, we would have surely been stranded somewhere, if not worse.

We went back into the cabin to wait out the storm and soon determined we had little real food, but lots of videos.  Georgeann was really upset with herself and felt guilty when she found out we were snowed in.  She was afraid we would miss the Iditarod Start the next morning.  Actually, Scott and I thought it was kinda fun, since neither one of us had ever been snowed in before.  Life is full of twists and turns or, said another way, life is what happens when you're making other plans.  We were having a great experience, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if we missed the event we came to see because of a snow storm.  It was all new to Scott and me.

Fortunately, the storm stopped by mid-afternoon, and within an hour there were several snow plows out on the roads; and the roads were clear within another hour.  So Scott and I were able to go out for a pizza for dinner.  I also decided to stock up on some prepared meals just in case we or anyone else were stranded here again.  Just after we walked in the door with our pizza, Scott informed me that he had lost one of his gloves.  We soon decided it must have fallen out of the car when we stopped at the pizza restaurant, down the hill about 5 miles.  I wanted to call first before driving all the way down the hill, but we couldn't find a phone book to get the phone number.  Then I realized I could Google for it on my iPhone.  Sure enough, I got the number and called the pizza place.  The lady found it in the parking lot right where I thought she would.  Whew!  So I drove down the hill and retrieved his glove.  My iPhone saved the day.

We rose early the next morning so we could get to 4th and D Streets in downtown Anchorage by 9am for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod.  We got to town in plenty of time and parked about 4 or 5 blocks away.  Again, the temperature was in the mid-20's.  The (ITC) Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc. is a non-profit entity that puts on the annual Iditarod Race.  They bring in snow for the ceremonial start each year, just to make sure there's enough (most years there isn't enough snow).  4th street is blocked off for several blocks both before and after D Street.  A couple of blocks leading up to the starting line at D Street is used at the staging area for all the mushers and their teams.  It is blocked off from foot traffic for several blocks after the starting line.  But Scott and I were allowed entrance to the staging area since Georgeann had purchased passes for us.  It was very thoughtful of her, and we really enjoyed it.  We could wander among the mushers and talk to them as they got set up.

At 9:00 they started off the mushers, beginning with #2 and then each musher in numerical order, two minutes apart.  #1 was an honorary musher, a long time race supporter elected each year by the ITC.  Like many civic events, The Iditarod Dog Sled Race is operated as a fundraiser with the net proceeds distributed to local  charities.  As part of the fundraising, the ITC auctions off rides in the sleds of the mushers.  People bid on particular mushers, and the winning bid rides in that mushers sled at the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage.  Our gracious host, Georgeann, submitted a winning bid with one of the mushers, and was able to ride in the sled for the first several miles of the start.  What a treat for her!

After a while, Scott and I decided to get a hot dog from one of the many street vendors.  Scott had a regular hot dog, but I had to try a reindeer dog, a local favorite.  I tasted very much like a "regular" hot dog, and it was actually pretty good.  Eating was difficult though, because you needed to take your gloves off to eat, but then our hands got too cold really quickly and we had to keep putting our gloves on to warm up.  After most of the mushers had started (it takes over two hours to start all 70), Scott and I were ready to leave so we walked back to the car.  It was still below 30 degrees then.

We went to dinner that night with Grant and Georgeann, and another couple they knew who lived in Anchorage.  We had a real nice dinner and enjoyed visiting with all of them.  Grant took an interest in Scott and the two of them talked for quite a bit.  I hope they get a chance to connect more on the future.

The next day (Sunday) was the official start of the Iditarod in Willow, Alaska.  We rode a school bus from the Millenium Hotel for about two hours to Willow.  The race was set up out in the middle of a big frozen lake, maybe two miles wide.  Temporary fencing was set up with a staging area for all the teams, funneling them through the starting gate, where they once again let a team off every two minutes.  The temperature was 16 degrees on the lake, and the ice covering on the lake was probably a couple of feet thick.  The cold quickly went through my L.L. Bean hunting boots and made my feet really, really cold.  Georgeann had done this before and knew to bring some very big throw pillows for us to stand on.  I felt silly standing on the pillows at first, but quickly got over it when my feet warmed up again.

The race started at 2pm, with #2 starting first, #3 starting two minutes later, and so on.  That allowed each musher to bring his team up to the starting line, make some last minute adjustments and hug each dog before they started.  Each and every one of these mushers is obviously a dog lover.  But these dogs are born to run!  While in the starting gate, there are at least six people along the dog line, holding the dogs back; and 6 men holding the sled back.  Otherwise, the dogs would take off without the musher.  The dogs are jumping up and down and trying to pull the sled, the whole time they're in the starting gates.  One look at these dogs and you know they are not running under protest.  They live to run!  They can hardly wait for their turn.  In fact, they can't wait.  They have to be held back until it's time to go.

Rules have been developed over the years for the benefit and protection of the dogs; but most of the mushers are way ahead of the rules.  Each dog wears protective booties to protect their feet from sharp ice, rocks, etc, with lots of spare booties carried in the sleds.  The dogs are fed and rested regularly.  Each dog is checked by a vet at every rest stop along the way, about every 50 miles on average.  Any dog showing any signs of illness or stress of any sort is immediately withdrawn from the race.  Each musher starts with up to 16-20 dogs, so that he can continue on even after having several dogs withdrawn.

When reaching a rest stop, the musher firsts checks in with a volunteer who logs in his number and time, then the musher checks each dog, lays out some straw for the dogs to rest on, feeds the dogs, takes care of any special needs of the dogs; and then and only then does he take care of his own needs for food or rest.

So just over two hours later, the last musher (#70) leaves and the festivities are over for that day.  So we got back on the bus for the two hour ride back to Anchorage.  Of course, the mushers have just started their trek and the leader will arrive in Nome roughly 9 days later.

It was an amazing time for Scott and me, to see one of the most famous races in the entire world.  We really enjoyed the fun and excitement of the festivities, not to mention the introduction into what cold weather is really like.  I guess the next time we go, we'll be veterans at this Iditarod thing.

Several times that week I had asked Scott if he was having a good time.  He always said yes, but I wasn't sure if he was just being nice (that's how he is) or he really was glad he came.  But the next morning as we were heading to the airport to leave, he said to me, "Bopa, the next time we come to the Iditarod..."  Yeah!  That's all I needed to hear.  He wants to do it again.  Of course, he finished his statement with, "..I'd like to arrive the day before the real start (in Willow) and then just hang out at Georgeann's cabin for a few days."  So what if he didn't care for the Musher's Banquet or the ceremonial start.  He liked the race and hanging out with his grandpa in a snowbound cabin.  I definitely enjoyed spending time with Scott.

After we got home I decided that next year we could go to Nome to see the winner cross the finish line.  But we couldn't make arrangements for a place to stay, so we'll have to skip it, at least for next year.  Maybe some other time.