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Rookie’s Journey – Kaltag to Unalakleet
June 13, 2006
I’d worked the Kaltag checkpoint as a communications volunteer
and kind of knew my way around. The community center in Kaltag is
a large octagonal building with bench seats around the outer wall
and wood heat. It was warm inside and I thought I could save time
and not get my sleeping bag out – that I would just sleep
on the bench. That was a mistake. I couldn’t get comfortable
and never did get any sleep. That is becoming a continuing saga
down the trail and has to be contributing to the overall malaise
that is affecting me. There is something psychological about getting
into the sleeping bag that allows me to rest better. I am pretty
tired and my diarrhea is back, thank heavens for Imodium. The good
news is that my attitude has recovered and I’m feeling pretty
good about my ability to finish the race. The bad news is that Mocha,
Dash, Basil, and Platinum are not eating enough and are becoming
thin.
Every sled has a bridle that connects
the sled to the gangline, typically with a pair of carabineers. Most
sleds have a backup bridle in case the main bridle breaks on the trail
the dogs don’t run off without the sled and musher. Normally
the bridle is large loop of polyethylene line that wraps around each
stanchion on the sled and is tied to the back stanchion on each side
of the sled. The backup bridle is sometimes only tied to the front
of the sled, and sometimes to the front stanchion. I was getting ready
to leave Kaltag when I noticed that my backup bridle was badly frayed.
In Anchorage I have lots of spare line and this isn’t a problem,
but it’s not the type of repair I normally do in the field.
I took a spare tugline attached it to a spare neckline and found it
was slightly too long to match the bridle. Two knots in the neckline
solved the problem and we were ready to hookup the dogs and go. The
Iditarod is a lot like life that way. The ability to think on your
feet and make do with what you have is a real asset in both cases.
The Old Woman
Portage from Kaltag to
Old Woman cabin. Platinum and Dash are in lead. |
At 5:22 PM we left Kaltag on the Old
Woman Portage from the interior of Alaska to the Bering Sea coast.
This is a historic trading route that has been used by the natives
for thousands of years. It is a large glacial carved valley that climbs
to a broad pass to separate the waters flowing to the Yukon River
from those flowing towards the Bering Sea. From Ruby on we have been
traveling the same route that the serum run to Nome took in 1925.
It really hadn’t hit me before, but for some reason the history
of the Old Woman Portage is speaking to me. There is an old Chinese
saying that a man with a toothache cannot be in love. Now that I’ve
resolved my attitude problems maybe I can enjoy the trail more. I’ve
got Platinum and Dash in lead to give Bass a break. Sisco has been
looking better and the vet can find nothing wrong so I’m taking
him to Unalakleet.
Trail from Old
Woman cabin to Unalakleet.
Notice the complete lack of trees to
break the wind and how the wind has
blown the loose snow away.
Bass and Platinum are in lead. |
This is pretty country, sometimes in
the trees and sometimes in big open swamps. The trail is a little
soft and windblown. The dogs are working well. We are still traveling
slowly (about 5 miles an hour) but we are making steady progress and
I am becoming proud of my dog team. As I watch the sun set in the
west and the sky turn a deep azure blue. I am running some numbers
in my head and believe that with a little bit of luck I can still
get to Nome in time for the banquet. After 25 miles we pass the turn
to the Tripod Flats cabin. The fact that these shelter cabins even
exist speaks to how severe the weather can be in this area. Earlier
in the race Jeff King and Doug Swingley had to fight their way through
a tough storm as they crossed this portage. I can see the effects
of the storm in the windswept trail. When I was making plans in Anchorage
I considered running from Nulato to the Tripod Flats cabin and then
from there to Unalakleet which would be two runs instead of stopping
in Kaltag and again at Old Woman cabin halfway across the portage
to make it three runs to Unalakleet. This would cut some rest and
move us up in the standings, but the team isn’t up for that.
Slow and steady is the best strategy.
We arrived at Old Woman cabin at quarter to one in the morning after
a pretty, but uneventful run. The wind was picking up and I was disappointed
that any straw that had been left by previous teams had blown away.
There were three teams already at the cabin when I got there so it
was warm and inviting after I fed and bedded the dogs down for the
night. While we were camped at Old Woman Trent Herbst caught and passed
us. Trent was the gentleman whose team I caught on Happy River. Trent
was getting ready to follow me over Rainy Pass when the race officials
stopped him and made him wait until the next morning (along with everyone
else). Trent was almost 20 hours behind me at that point and the fact
that he caught and passed us is a solid indication of how much I’ve
taken out of this team and how slow we are running.
The trail on
the Unalakleet River. There are
some cabins along the river, a sure sign
that we are getting near Unalakleet. |
I’m not feeling particularly well
and have trouble getting moving in the morning so it is 10 AM by the
time I get the dogs fed, bootied and pull the hook. Dash is getting
pretty tired so I move Bass back into lead with Platinum.
Back on the trail the country is much more open than it was coming
in. The wind has picked up to 30 to 40 knots, but luckily it is a
tail wind. Even so the little bit of snow that isn’t packed
hard onto the trail is being blown around and sometimes I cannot see
the dogs feet as they run. On the run from Cripple to Ruby Bass was
stopping to sniff and all the pee spots because one of the teams in
front of us had a bitch in heat. On the Yukon he was stopping to stool
(small loose spots) every few hundred feet to every couple of miles.
That is a standard stress reaction for Bass and I wasn’t looking
forward to living with that for the rest of the race. But now Bass
is really settling in and doing the job for me. We aren’t going
very fast, but he is very steady and I’m proud of him and the
team and stop to tell them so.
After several miles the trail drops onto the Unalakleet River and
I know I’m getting close to the checkpoint. As we make our way
across a portage between loops on the river we come to a windswept
frozen lake with very little snow. The trail is defined by scratch
marks on the ice and the occasional patch of snow with sled tracks.
It clearly goes straight across the lake and I can see it leaving
on the far side. Some of the dogs are slipping and sliding here, particularly
those still wearing booties. Bass never hesitates and is doing a wonderful
job leading the team across the lake when I notice the staked Iditarod
trail making a left turn off the main trail onto some minor track
that I can hardly see. We haven’t had the opportunity to train
on ice like this and I am asking a lot when I ask the dogs to take
the turn. If they don’t take the turn I cannot stop the team
on this ice and will have to wait until they reach the other side
of the lake where I can stop them, go up front and lead the team around
the edge of the lake until we reach the appropriate outgoing trail.
I call haw (left) and Bass takes the turn, leaving the major trail
for the barely visible track. What a dog. He earned my gratitude and
as soon as we get off the ice I stop the team and tell him so.
Looking backwards
down the trail we had just come up.
You can barely see the snow marking the trail
from right to left across the middle of the lake.
Halfway across the Iditarod trail left the main trail.
Bass took the turn like a professional! |
Unalakleet sits on an island at the mouth
of the Unalakleet River. The island runs parallel to the coast with
the Bering Sea to the west and a slough to the east. The trail comes
in on the slough and runs behind the town. Every cross street in town
has a trail that runs down to the slough for the local snowmachines.
In every village we have come to so far the checkpoint is in the community
center and we have to drive through the village to get there. So the
dogs figure we must take one of these side trails into town to find
dinner and a place to sleep. I have an interesting time convincing
them to follow the markers down the slough instead. I take Platinum
out of lead and leave Bass in single lead. Finally we get to the checkpoint
on the slough. The area is very exposed and the wind is blowing hard.
The village has taken bulldozers and built 6 foot tall snow berms
perpendicular to the prevailing east wind to shelter the dogs. The
volunteers park us almost up the side of the berm trying to get the
dogs some shelter. Unalakleet is an Eskimo word meaning “where
the east wind blows” and it sure is today. Sisco continues to
slowly improve, but isn’t having any fun and after I feed everyone
I leave him with the vets.
Team resting
after crossing the glare ice on the lake.
Notice how the snow has been blown away. |
Unalakleet is also home to Peace on Earth
Pizza, one of the best pizza places in the state. And they deliver!
I mentioned to Marti before I left Anchorage how good this pizza was
supposed to be and two friends, Bob and Connie Hendershot called Peace
on Earth and ordered a pizza for me. To tell you what kind of place
this is, the pizza shop does not take credit cards. They told Bob
to mail them a check when they had the time and they would watch for
me. Can you imagine how good it felt when I finished taking care of
my dogs and a wonderful fresh hot pizza was waiting for me when I
walked into the checkpoint. Man that was a treat!
This time I brought my sleeping bag into the checkpoint and slept
on the floor. I got a good meal and a good rest. It did wonders for
my morale.
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
© 2006 All rights reserved
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