Aliy Cam Iditarod 2020: Episodes 13 and 14

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.

Where are we now?

We are traveling along the far Western Coast of Alaska on and off the Bering Sea. The Bering Sea does freeze, but some spots are “iffy” and not safe to travel. Therefore, some sections of trail still stay off the ocean. In Episode 13: Trail to Shaktoolik the trail is in the hills just to the east of the ocean.

Below is a bit more of a close up view. In Episode 13 we are still south of Shaktoolik. In the video, you will see the island shown on this map. My video looks quite different from this map because it’s winter and the ocean is frozen and white and the island is brown.

The team composition is Spark and Q.T. in lead, then Junior and Dutch, then Cloud and Decaf, then Rodney and Five, then Jefe and Chevie and in the rear are Amber and Violet. Once again you will see a dog team just ahead of us. That is Mille Porslid’s dog team.

This section of trail in the ‘Blueberry Hills’ is my favorite on the entire Iditarod. It amazes me (every year) that we can make it from the skyscrapers in downtown Anchorage, all the way to the Western Coast and out to the ocean. As we climb up and down in these hills, I can’t help but feel empowered  – regardless of my actual race standings or what’s going on in the world. I still remember the powerful emotions and inner strength that I had at this point on my very first Iditarod 20 years ago. Believe or not, I have built on that strength, year after year. Not to say I am the cockiest person that you will ever meet… but I certainly believe that I can hold my own.

In Episode 14: Shaktoolik Lagoon we have descended the hills and are now making our way along a frozen slough. This map shows the layout of the thin spit of land with the sea to the left and the slough (I call it a lagoon) to the right. The trail – marked in yellow – skirts the eastern edge of this small strip of land. Eventually the trail jumps up onto the land and travels on land all the way into the village.

The team composition is the same as it was in Episode 13. I stop on the ice – because I think it’s amazing – and the dogs take advantage of a potty break.

Chevie is not 100%. You can see that she does not keep up with her brother, Jefe. Her shoulder muscle began to bother her again when we descended the steep hills onto the lagoon. As we neared the Checkpoint the team got excited and sped up when they saw the commotion so I carried her those final 5 miles.

The Shaktoolik Checkpoint was understandably not as organized as in years past. Before we arrived, we were told not to expect much support from Officials or Veterinarians. That was fine and so I expected to carry Chevie in my sled to the next Checkpoint to leave her with Veterinarians. This wasn’t an issue because she was comfortable in my sled. However when my team arrived in Shaktoolik there was an airplane landing. It was quite the commotion actually. As it turned out, Aaron Peck was scratching from the race ASAP and his dogs were being loaded on the airplane within 15 minutes of my arrival. I asked about Chevie hitching a ride and both Aaron and the Veterinarian said “OK“. So before I knew it… I was down another team mate.

Chevie flew into Anchorage and was picked up by our good friends, Linda and Midnight. She was greeted by Kodiak (who left the iditarod team in Ruby), Chica (Chevie’s aunt who lives in Anchorage) and Don.

This is the first point in the race when I began to realize that the world had become a different place from Covid 19. Up until then, I was blissfully ignorant of all that was going on. Gez… those were the days, huh?

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.