Final Aliy Cam of 2020

It is time to wrap up the 2020 season and move on to the future. This is the final Aliy Cam of the 2020 Iditarod.

The finish line in Nome was glorious. There was no awards ceremony or celebration but I was honored to receive my Finish Packet from an incredibly dedicated group of Iditarod folks in Nome.

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.

This video is a few short clips from the final three miles of the 2020 Iditarod. At the beginning, we are still on the sea ice which parallels Front Street. I pan the camera to my right and you can see spectators following us in their vehicles. When I pan quickly to the left onto the sea ice, you can make out piles of ice chunks that heave up and down when the sea moves during the season. It is easy to forget that we are traveling on ice and that it is constantly shifting and moving under us. 

The second part of the video has us climbing the rock seawall to Front Street and onto the finish. I joke that the seawall is: “The last big hill” on the race. I guess it is! It’s great fun to have spectators standing on top of the wall cheering us into Nome. Then we had to zigzag between a few cars before we finally got onto Front Street.

The Front Street police car escort on the final mile is truly special. I cannot describe the sinking sensation in my belly as we make our way to the finish line after 1,000 mile together. (It’s a double feeling: Yay we’re done = Oh no we’re done.) Dutch and Spark helped me to focus when they decided to skip the finish line ceremonies and go to the left. They knew exactly where their next bed, massage and meal were located. So they decided to skip the arch ceremony and stay left where they knew their next beds and meal were located. Come on guys… please! Then in all the excitement Jefe got tangled with a very nice woman who tried to help the team navigate the finish line chute. Shocking, eh? Jefe tangled after 1,000 miles. (By the way, that’s him with the bright green collar rubber necking this way and that during these final miles.) The team composition was: Spark and Dutch in lead, then Jefe by himself, followed by QT and Decaf, then Five and Rodney, then Junior and Cloud, with Violet and Amber in the rear.

There is a significant storm bearing down on us at this point. You can see the beginnings of its effects on the trail (or lack of trail). Increased snowfall and wind always make finding the trail challenging. You might hear my command “Look for it.” I started using this command with my retrievers when neither the dog or myself know where their toy or bone was located. This command gives a dog the idea that there is actually “something” to find (a toy or duck or the Iditarod Trail) in the area and that they need to use their senses to find it. They might look back at me (both retrievers and huskies) but if I don’t give them a direct command (hand signals or “gee/haw”) then they know that they will need to meander around a little and find it. You will see both retrievers and huskies put their noses down to the ground and search for it. More often than not, they find it. Of course, a musher has to have confidence, patience and realize that sometimes their dogs have greater skills then they do in certain situations.  

I know that you can hear me talking in this video – I hear it too – but… yea… I don’t really know what I’m saying either. I do know that I am darn excited to be just outside of Nome and about to finish the race, again. I’m probably thinking out loud about the 1,000 miles behind us and reflecting. I’m not quite crying but, I am rather emotional. No matter how many times I finish the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the utter dedication and team work between myself and my dogs is what fuels our race. It’s not fame, glory, race placement, money… all that nonsense will come and go on a whim. But the dedication and bond that exists between me and my dogs. That is a treasure. And the confidence that my dogs have in me has made me the person that I am today.

So… that’s it. That was the season 2019-2020. Onto the future!

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.