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. In this video we are getting closer to the finish line which is only about 225 miles away.
In Episode 15: Shaktoolik Fun My dog team enjoyed the happy atmosphere at the old village checkpoint. The kids petted the dogs both before and after their nap. Poor little Cloud looks a little disrupted in this video but that’s only because she thinks that she ought to start running as soon as I put her booties on her paws. So until we hit the trail running, she will circle and circle and circle. I usually put her boots on last. Silly girl!
The Iditarod Trail travels through many special places and the village of Shaktoolik is at the top of my list for great people. I had an amazing amount of fun with all the folks this year. None of us realized the seriousness of the Covid 19 pandemic yet. I remember talking to a girl who was a senior in high school and her basketball team had made the state tournament for the first time in her high school career. She was so excited to go and then so disappointed when it was canceled. I remember thinking how crazy it was that the school system had “just” canceled the tournament. Obviously I didn’t know what was to come.
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.
Shaktoolik!!! They did a fine job with making ya all welcomed! Thinking back at that moment of the pandemic is so surreal…we were all in a bit of shock….and right in the middle of our mushing Superbowl…it was odd times indeed!
I’ve said it before, but I love the fact that the dogs enjoy people and that people can pet them. And that is such a sweet picture of the little boy sitting next to Jefe….I think it’s Jefe???? I’m not the best at recognizing each individual dog. I can pick out Cloud 😂, and Iron and Driver 😂. Yes, this was a weird time in the race when we found out the village checkpoint was moved. Little did we know that almost six months later we would still be taking strict precautions with this virus.
And just to clarify, I do know that Iron and Driver were not in this race….they are just easy to spot in a line-up 😀. I also just saw the FB update on YQ 1000 not happening this year. It had not occurred to me about having issues with border closings. Crazy! It’s time for COVID 19 to go away.