Aliy Cam Iditarod 2020: Episode 3 and 4

These Aliy Cams are a fun and interactive way I try to share my team’s experiences on the Iditarod Trail. In the 10 days, 7 hours, 28 minutes and 30 seconds that we traveled the trail I tried to capture the real images from the wilderness, the weather and the trail.

My dogs are the center of the videos. The race revolves around them. Their individual positioning in the team varies throughout the race. I moved them around depending upon their moods and energy. Their positioning also depended upon the trail and weather conditions or other random influences. The dogs on the team are: Amber, Bruno, Chevie, Cloud, Dutch, Decaf, Five, Jefe, Junior, Kodiak, QT, Rodney, Spark, and Violet. If you watch closely, you’ll get to know their gaits or their ear “bobs” or their little quirks.

2020 Aliy Cam Episode 3 – “The Flats before Nikolai”

It is about noon in this video on the third day of Iditarod 2020. The village of Nikolai is still a few hours away. Over the years, there are certain locations along the 1,000 mile trail where I am hit with an intense realization of my dog team’s power, determination and utter dedication to me. Looking back over my shoulder and seeing the Alaska Range Mountains along the horizon was one of these moments. It was like seeing a blue ribbon of triumph in my rear view mirror. 

We had spent the entire previous day in these mountains. We had started in the foothills and followed the terrain up and up and up. Near the tree line, we had been hit by sheer winds and a ground blizzard blowing directly towards us from the exact mountain pass we intended to summit. Regardless of the wind, we climbed that steep pass. Before summiting we found ourselves surrounded by gigantic overhanging snow cornices and avalanche sign in all directions. We arrived at the summit lake only to encounter even more intense wind coming from the pass ahead of us. We then descended the top and dropped down into the wind. We followed an extremely technical downhill route: zigzagging around cliff faces, over water holes and across ice ridges. As I gazed over my shoulder at the horizon, all of these memories now blossomed as a huge surge of pride in my chest. The Team: Chevie and QT in lead, Dutch and Cloud, Violet and Decaf, Rodney and Five, Jefe by him self, Junior and Kodiak, in the rear, Spark and Amber.

The night before this video was taken, we had camped off the side of the trail in a nice, densely forested spot. It had been -30ºF while we slept. The dogs and I snuggled into our beds while wearing warm puff jackets. We all got some much needed rest. The temperatures during the video, had not yet warmed up significantly, so the dogs are running in their puff jackets. As I mention, I had rotated dog’s positions in the team. This was in order to try and increase the team’s speed. I carry a GPS and had been monitoring their overall speeds from the start. Not only were we slower than I expected, but every other team on the race had passed us (while we were in motion) and simply left us behind. By this point, I knew that my team did not have the speed that was necessary to win Iditarod 2020.  

2020 Aliy Cam Episode 4 – “Sunset Near McGrath”

Pretty, eh? Obviously we are heading west. The Team: Dutch and QT in lead, Spark and Junior, Kodiak and Decaf, Rodney and Five, Jefe and Chevie, Cloud by her self, in the rear, Violet and Amber.

Please Note: when I turn on my video camera it’s like bringing another person onto the team. I often talk like there is someone else present and will explain where we are or what’s happening. From a dog’s perspective this doesn’t make sense. They hear me talking to “someone” and often look back to see who’s there. I sometimes had to use my ‘cheerleader voice’ to keep them focused ahead instead of wondering what the heck I was doing behind them.

The race took my dogs and I over 10 days to complete. In total, I recorded only one hour of video. So these Aliy Cams are only a tiny segment of that experience. I also did not video during the most challenging trail or the worst blizzard conditions. I was too busy clinging my handlebars or navigating hazards. I also never recorded a video when I felt like it would intrude in our personal space.

Here is a map so that you can follow along.