It’s 4am Wednesday
Aliy and her 10 team mates have arrived into White Mountain! Just one more run before we get to kiss those sweet doggie faces and hug Aliy.
They made great time over from Elim on a trail that did not follow the regular shore-line route. They had to climb some extra hills and run overland due to insufficient ice on the sea. She travelled much of night with a bunch of friends: Jessie Royer, Matt Failor, Ketil Reitan and Kelly Maxiner.
The village of Golovin can be a stumbling block for tired teams but they went right on through and continued onto the lagoon, then crossing the delta of the Fish River into White Mountain.
Here’s what Aliy said about Golovin when she visited in August:
From several miles out on the sea ice, during the day, the colorful village houses stand as contrast to the white winter landscape. During the night, the welcoming glow of “city” lights spreads across the horizon. A dog team gets excited day or night.
Upon reaching Golovin, the race route climbs up off the bay and enters the center of the small town. More often than not, children stand at the spot that Mushers come of the sea ice and greet them. Some Mushers stop, some Mushers don’t. Aliy and Allen always stop. They enjoy the welcome and sign posters, jackets, give hugs and say “Howdy!”
Usually, only minutes later, the teams are ready to go. The route follows the main street through the middle of town. Often there are people, dogs, travellers or perhaps… no one. A few hundred yards later the route turns sharply left, off the street and zigs across a clearing then drops back down onto the sea ice. Golovin is now behind.
Iditarod Mushers do not generally spend any more than the few minutes it takes to travel down Main Street.
You can read more in this post “Golovin is a Special Place”
Aliy also visited White Mountain on her tour in August. This is what she said:
From a Musher’s perspective:
It is a long, challenging run across Golovin Bay no matter what. The flat terrain (because it is the frozen ocean) has very few reference points to judge distance or depth. There are often no distractions for the dogs or Mushers. At this point in the race, distractions are nice.
Finally, the route comes off the ocean, overland and onto the Fish River. The teams generally gain enthusiasm from the terrain change, the windy river and veteran dogs know that just around the next corner… is White Mountain!
The final 1/4 mile into the Checkpoint, both dogs and Mushers can see dozens of village houses along the bluff above the river. Day or night, this is an exciting moment. Village dogs bark and spectators will yell and whistle.
Read more in the post “White Mountain is a Cheerful Spot”
At White Mountain all teams have a mandatory eight hour rest. Aliy will feed her team a couple of times, walk them around a little and let them get a good rest for the 77 miles to the finish line. She will also get an opportunity to sleep, something I suspect she hasn’t done for a few days.
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CONGRATULATIONS to Joar Leifseth Ulsom on his commanding win! We are very excited for him, Mille and their whole kennel.
Glad to see Aliy into White Mountain….the end of the race is in sight!
Its been quite the challenging trail, and at this point I bet its a little bitter sweet for the Teams approaching Nome….happy to get some well deserved rest but at the same time sad to know the major race season is over. I bet Aliy reflected on her time this summer in these coastal towns as she and her Team mushed on past the houses along the way to White Mountain.
We got up to watch the live stream of the finish….it was nice to see DeeDee so happy with her new role as commentator….and Joar looked SO happy with that big smile of his! Well done and congrats to Joar and his Team! Way to go Norway!
Happy to hear that Aliy at the team are “that much” closer to Nome. Thank you Moira! You and the crew must be tired yourselves!
Glad to hear Aliy is 77 miles from the finish. Great job Aliy and dogs!! I sure hope Allen is
there to greet her but never know with weather and airplanes.
Congrats to Joar on a fantastic race! Could not be happier for him and maybe Quito’s
offspring will run on his team next year.
Yes, this reprise of last summer’s trip must have been truly awesome for all the kids she saw then and now in winter!!!
Aliy is a winner.
Thanks so much for these reminders/links!!!
So excited Aliy is in White Mountain. Great job racing Red Team. Rest up for the final leg. Go SPK Red Team and Aliy.
WhooWhee!! Way to go!! Aliy, the dogs, and SPKennel is all about Community! Rest up for the last miles to Nome!
Love the reports and love Red Team, all 17 of them and ‘specially the 11 now heading to Nome even more. Fast and safe, all! Virtual hugs and pats coming with my good wishes.
Thank you for the behind the scenes insights.
Yes, it is great to know Aliy and her team are so close to Nome.
I agree Kathy. Hopefully the weather didn’t keep Allen grounded.
Yes Nessmuk it’s nice to see Dee Dee as commentator. It seems that overall II became just a bit more dog centered this year. I appreciate that. It may be because of who was in front, Nic and Joar, who tend to talk about their dogs, rather than the mechanics of building a team. Or maybe a response to outside pressure. It’s good, because by far the majority of us Iditarod fans are all about the DOGS. SPK’s coverage is always about the dogs, and it’s amazing!
I’m always rooting for Aliy to win the Iditarod. I admit, from the start of this race if Aliy didn’t win, I wanted Joar to win. But it was fun listening to Nic in the II videos. At one point I thought, if Nic wins, a few “mushers” will win with him, including Libby and Aliy. It was funny to hear him say he laid down with Kristy on top of himself, camping on the way to Kaltag, and carrying Kristy in the sled on the way to Unalakleet.
His mistake might have been leaving Aliy in Unalakleet, even if she was in the bag for a ride, if she’s anything like her namesake, Aliy might have noticed when they got off trail.
Safe travels to all the Black team members, Red team members, and kennel family. I should have gotten a swap for work tonight. Aliy will likely arrive in Nome while I’m on duty. I will be looking forward to SPK coverage. 🙂