These two videos were taken just after our 24 hour rest at the Iditarod Checkpoint. Both the dogs and musher are well rested and perky. It’s funny to listen to my voice and hear how ‘upbeat’ I sound. Amazing what sleep will do for a person, eh?
In Episode 9, I have Spark and Dutch in lead. We are traveling on the trail just before the village of Shageluk. It isn’t exactly mountainous, but it is hilly. Our sled load is lighter since we just left the Iditarod Checkpoint and our destination is Shageluk, with no rest stop in between. Therefore we were not carrying extra food and camping supplies for a trail rest. We were keeping a good speed along this section, even though you will see us grinding uphill. Actually, we had the fastest run time from Iditarod to Shageluk of the top 10 mushers.
In Episode 10, the only rotation to the team line up was Mismo replaced Dutch in lead. I like to give my lead dogs a little down time by moving them back a position or two. I rotated Spark, Mismo and Dutch in lead position for the second half of the race.
My main concern was the afternoon’s warm temperatures. The sun was lower on the horizon, as you can tell by the long shadows of the dogs, but it was still warmer than I desired. This section of trail crosses wide open tundra and marsh fields with no shade so we could feel the sun overhead. In year’s past the wind has blown the trail away. We were fortunate that was not the case in 2019. It is really quite pretty.
WOOF WOOF WOOF
I loved that you went for it to the half-way point before your 24 hr rest.
That’s a great plan, and I was so glad you tried it – maybe this could be your best idea yet!!!
Anyway, I can’t say it enough, that this was such an exciting race!!!
Thank you for letting us all in on it, SP Kennel is the best.
I agree Margaret!
I think Aliy and her entire team had a great deal of energy and excitement for the 2nd half,
and SUPER exciting to watch.
Those dogs do look peppy in both videos.
🙂
Thanks for sharing your Iditarod! Truly a beautiful trip with
the best dogs!!
Hills, woody trails and flatlands all have their unique beauty. So very pretty! The dogs look awesome moving on down the trail. Good dogs!
Sitting at my desk at work, I am laughing out loud at the bootie spearing misses. My cube mates are sure to wonder! I tried to imagine this from looking at satellite images as you passed through it. The videos are really, really nice.