Episode 21 finds the team 10 miles after leaving the White Mountain checkpoint in a blizzard. It is during the wee hours of the morning, so its still dark. I don’t often take videos in the dark, but I thought I might capture the variety of race conditions with this video.
This storm was somewhat unexpected and localized. The wind wasn’t too awful, but you’ll notice the snow is blowing sideways. That’s never appreciated. The gusts are strong enough to erase much of the trail that Pete, Joar and Jessie had traveled on before we got there. Matt Hall said that there was no evidence that I was ever in front of him and he was only a few hours behind me.
You’ll also see the benefit of having HeadLite dog collars. You are watching Bruno’s bright green collar bob up and down. He is in the middle of the team. Also the Howling Dog Distance Harnesses have reflectors sewn directly onto the webbing. You can see the “glow” of each dog in my headlight beam.
My headlight has three different levels. I often run on “low” in order to conserve the battery. In this video, I switch up to “high” and you can see the team much better. But, a big negative to using the high beam is that the glare from the oncoming snow blinds me. (Similar to running into a bright sky of astroids and comets. Yea, I’ve never done that… but if I did.) Allen uses a different brand of headlight because of this specific disadvantage. His headlight has an adjustable focus. He can reduce the beam size in a situation like this. (He said that he’s never tried it in an asteroid field.)
When my headlight shines in front of the team, you can see the reflectors on the top of the Iditarod trail markers. This shows you how important trail marking is to the race. These markers were placed fairly close together which was a blessing. Notice how my headlight beam picks up one reflector after another. Mismo and Dutch head directly from one to the next and the next. These boys are race savvy. I say on the video, “If you wonder how a dog finds a trail… ask Dutch and Mismo.” In the spots with no trail markers the dogs need to use their noses and smell the scent of the trail.
We did get lost about an hour after I took this video. We couldn’t find any reflectors and turned off to the North. I finally stopped the team and walked around the area looking for any sign of a trail. I finally found an old snow machine track and we followed it perpendicularly back to the Iditarod trail.
It’s pretty obvious how easily a dog team can get lost out there. And this is just one tiny segment of a 1,000 mile route. The trail breaking crew that goes out before the race start and lays down a safe trail is fundamental to the Iditarod Race. I sincerely thank them for their efforts.
Reminds me of driving in a snow squall…low beams are best, fog lights are better! Glad they have those trail markers with reflectors …what a difference. But still…difficult to acertain the trail none the less. Good dogs!
Wow–Love the video! Those dogs are amazing how they can work their magic! Good Dogs!
Thanks for sharing!