In the first two parts of our “iditarod Checkpoint Drop Bags” series, we looked at the mountain of dog food — meat, fish, fat, kibble, etc. — that was converted into piles of dog food then packed into the Drop Bags. I mentioned at the time that in addition to the immense “dog food” aspect, there is another substantial side of Checkpoint Drop Bag “Logistics” involving the planning and packing of “gear.”
Well, after we all spent several days making little bags of parts and pieces, Aliy spent another entire day collating them into piles for each of her 20 checkpoints. Although she worked from a master checklist that has been developed over her years of experience, she still had to do a lot of adjusting in the process. Considering the broad range of conditions that can be encountered on the 1,000+ mile Iditarod, you can imagine the complexity of trying to anticipate what all you might need along the way.
Rather than try to show you what is in each of her 20 bags — or do a “fly-over” like I did of the dog food bags — Aliy has selected the bags for four critical checkpoints to show you in some detail. The first bag — for the Nikolai checkpoint at the 250 mile mark — is the topic of this video.
As Aliy displays and describes what’s in these few bags, keep in mind that she has assembled a total of 20 “similar but different” bags to cover all the checkpoints. If that isn’t enough to overwhelm you, consider the fact that Allen has put together yet another 20 bags of his own!
It’s really some job!