Today was a tough day. We got lots of conflicting information from the trail. We had teams checking in at Galena (checkpoint 5) and there was no record of them checking out of Ruby (checkpoint 4). However, we found out that the volunteer at Ruby was working on his own for many hours and couldn't keep up with mushers arriving, mushers leaving, and the dog count. It's really important to keep track of the dog count. At each checkpoint the dogs are checked by a veterinarian. Dogs are dropped all the time so don't let this alarm you. It can be for simple or serious things. We had discrepancies with the number of dogs leaving one checkpoint and arriving at another. BUT it's our job to figure this all out. I was working with Rex, a ... read more

I had a day off from working with the Iditarod Race, so I rented a car. My goal today was to see Denali. 36 years ago I was here with Ed (my husband), and we never saw the peak. We had miserable weather while up here in June 1981, but we perservered through it and did as much sightseeing as we could. I remember reading the Alaska Milepost " and on your left you will see blah blah blah mountains . . ." We couldn't see crap - rain, clouds, wind. But now the weather is absolutely beautiful. My AirBnB host told me of a road I could take to see Denali. I rented a car with studded tires and drove up Arctic Valley Rd. I had to remember how to drive on black ice. I ... read more

Today was my first day volunteering at the Anchorage Network Center (ANC). This was what is called restart day for the race - the official beginning. The temperature in the morning in Fairbanks was minus 35! I don't know how these mushers do this. I checked the weather for the next 3 checkpoints and the low temperature was ranging from -35 to - 38. We watched the start on the website and logged in their start times. The first checkpoint was at Nenana, 60 miles from Fairbanks. All of the checkpoints are connect to ANC by computer and phone (although I heard that 2 checkpoints just have satellite phones because they are so remote). We get emails from the other checkpoints and respond to them. For example - the mushers sent their equipment bags forward (with ... read more

Today the ceremonial start of the Iditarod took place in downtown Anchorage. This is tradition and the teams start on 4th street and go 11 miles. The actual start of the race is in Willow - usually. This year parts of the trail doesn't have enough snow and they moved the start to Fairbanks (Monday, March 7th). The temperature in Fairbanks is minus 35, so I'll stay in balmy Anchorage where today's top temperature was 16! I caught the "volunteer's" shuttle to go downtown, arriving at about 7:30 a.m. I think it was minus 2 degrees. I walked around looking at the teams. I was surprised that the dogs are small. My impression, thanks to Hollywood, is that the dogs are bigger. These dogs were so excited and ready to go. There are lots of volunteer ... read more

Tomorrow I'm on my way to Anchorage, AK where I'll be volunteering for the Iditarod Race, the Last Great Race. 72 mushing teams from all over the US, Norway, Sweden, France, Hungary, Czech Republic, Canada, & England will start the race Saturday. The "ceremonial" start is in Anchorage (I'll be there !}, and the official start is on Monday from Fairbanks. The start was moved from Willow to Fairbanks due to lack of snow on parts of the trail. The route to Nome, AK is 987 miles. For more information go to: http://iditarod.com/... read more