Aliy Cam Iditarod 2020: Episodes 18 and 19

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.

These are the last two videos before the Finish video. Here we are traveling on the trail that connect villages on the Western Coast of Alaska. We spent time Shaltoolik, Koyuk, Elim and White Mountain before finally reaching Nome. People in these villages are supportive and enthusiastic. They truly understand the perils of traveling through this amazing land. The kids literally fuel me with their energy and attitudes. Thank goodness, because I certainly need to refuel at this point in the race. Thanks kids!

In Episode 18: Climb for a View we are obviously in the thick of climbing. The team composition is is QT and Dutch in lead, followed by Junior by herself, followed by Decaf and Cloud, followed by Rodney and Five, followed by Spark and Jefe and Violet and Amber are together in the rear.

There are quite a few mountains in the final miles of the race. As I reread that sentence, perhaps I could add the phrase “seem to be”. Because, let’s face it, the final 200 miles of the Iditarod are both mentally and physically difficult simply because they are the final 200 miles! If the trail was pancake flat, it might seem like we are climbing Everest. So… let’s just say…there seem to be quite a few climbs toward the end of the race. Many are difficult. In this episode we are climbing Little McKinley which is just past the village of Elim. 

In Episode 19: Blizzard in the End is just that. I talked to Allen on the phone while I was in the White Mountain Checkpoint and he told me that we needed to hurry up because a big storm was coming. Well… it arrived when we weren’t quite to Nome. We were able to navigate pretty well despite the wind and snow.

Four teams came across the finish line in Nome after me and within 20 hours of my team’s finish. The blizzard kept all remaining race teams from finishing for the next 2 and 1/2 days. The race basically came to a stand still. I even heard people say: “these were the toughest blizzard conditions” the race has experienced in years. Now… while I agree that quite a few mushers were caught in horrendous weather conditions, even bad enough to get excavated by helicopter, for me, personally, I doubt that I will ever experience the blizzard conditions that I did during the end of the 2014 race. At least… I sure hope not!

Here is a extra special video. I really enjoyed seeing it. It is obviously not an Aliy Cam video. Some amazing folks, who live in Nome, took this video of my team mushing across the final 10 miles to Nome and captured our finish. Pretty neat, huh? Needless to say, I was excited to see people out in the storm! Did you catch the moving “High 5”? Seeing these snowmachiners out in the storm was very uplifting for the dogs and myself.

The team composition in this video is Spark and Dutch in lead, followed by Jefe by himself, followed by Decaf and QT, followed by Rodney and Five, followed by Cloud and Junior and Violet and Amber are together in the rear. I love seeing them as they wags their tails and greet people in Nome! I think my tail was wagging too.

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.