This race is always full of unexpected events. Due to heavy snow, storms, and high winds, one of the checkpoints has closed before it opened, since the planes have not been able to fly in the checkpoint supplies and mushers' drop bags. As you can see on the map, the trail goes mostly west until it gets to Grayling on the Yukon River, where it heads up the frozen river to Kaltag before heading west again. That stretch is about 125 miles long, with the Eagle Island checkpoint about in the middle. Eagle Island is the checkpoint that closed, meaning that all mushers had to pick up all their supplies for a leg that will be twice as long as they planned. The change was announced late enough that some of the teams in the lead ... read more

After "work" today, it was off to the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. I took my new friend Amy with me...it was HER idea, and I had the transportation! We had a nice time together, wandering around and seeing the animals. I was on the same flight out here with her - She lives in Lakewood and we were on the same work assignment here. The zoo is small, by Cleveland MetroParks standards, but they seem to be working to provide natural environments for the animals, with the limitations of their space. The path wanders around in what seems like a somewhat random manner, so it's hard to be sure you see it all, even with the map they provide at the entrance. Since it is winter, some of the animals are "off exhibit," so there will ... read more

After my shift, I decided to try to go to Eagle River Nature Center, north of Anchorage. It looks like a great place for out door activities, and I've wanted to go there. My main hesitation was that the rental car I had was a Chevy Malibu; I didn't think about the roads when I rented the car. Major mistake! I am only one person, I just need an economy car to get around...NOPE! Now may be the time to share some things I've observed about driving in Anchorage in the winter..... They really don't seem to plow much...the snow gets packed down and people drive on it. As it warms up, parts of the road clear, and parts don't. Though they don't use salt or chemical de-icer on the roads, driving (and sun) tends to ... read more

Today I started my Comms job at the Anchorage Network Center. I am doing 6 hours of data entry functions, helping to track the racers along the 1,000 mile distance. The checkpoints record teams arriving and leaving, funnel the data to us, and we send it back out; we are the point where information comes in and goes back out. After "work," I drove down Turnagain Arm, a long narrow finger of Cook Inlet, which has the second largest Bore Tide in North America (the largest is in the Bay of Fundy). Bore tides occur in narrow inlets where the incoming tide pushes a large volume of water against water flowing against it, causing a rather large wave pushing inland. This week in the Anchorage area, the average difference between high and low tides is about ... read more

Iditarod officially starts Sunday, but today was the Ceremonial Start, traditionally held the Saturday before the start. In common parlance, they refer to the two events as the Ceremonial Start and the Restart. Today's event started at one end of town and the Iditarod mushers each take one lucky passenger on an 11-mile ride down the center of town, then out of town and through the woods, finishing at a somewhat remote location. The selection process for "IditaRiders" starts in December the prior year, when people are invited to submit bids to ride in a particular musher's sled. The more well-known and popular the musher is, the higher the bidding price goes, maxing out at $7500! Anyone can watch the bidding to see who wins in January, and see how much each musher earns to support ... read more