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Iditarod 2012: “Aliy Cam” The Yukon Part Two

April 16, 2012 by

Sunrise on the Yukon River is a pretty special sight. This video shows how crisp the morning was as the sled bag is frosty white and so is Biscuit’s back (in wheel on the right.)

Aliy hadn’t been taking videos, so as she begins to talk to the camera many of the dogs look back and wonder, “Who the heck is she talking to now?” She notices this immediately and that’s the reason for the many “Come on dogs!” that you hear. She needs to reassure the dogs that she is still focused and part of the team even though she “talking to someone else”.

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Iditarod 2012: “Aliy Cam” The Yukon Part One

April 15, 2012 by

The race strategy for the Red Team was to travel the Iditarod trail in equal runs after leaving the Takotna Checkpoint. That way the dogs and Aliy could settle into a comfortable and consistent run/rest schedule.

This however, required the team to camp along the trail instead of using the checkpoints. Aliy has always been comfortable camping with her team whether it is 30 degrees above zero or 30 below. So, the team passed through Ophir Checkpoint, camped, then passed through Cripple Checkpoint, camped, then passed through Ruby Checkpoint on route to Galena Checkpoint.
This video finds the team traveling down the mighty Yukon River after leaving Ruby.
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Iditarod 2012: “Aliy Cam” Ramblings of a Musher

April 13, 2012 by

From the start in Willow, there was always a lot of fresh snow on the 2012 Iditarod trail. The gamble that a team in first place makes, is that it must break trail through all of this fresh snow and use a lot of “dog energy” doing so. Then, the rest of the teams have somewhat of a “beaten path” to follow and perhaps use less “dog energy”. But, if you are not in the lead…. well, quite simply…. you are not in the lead. So, when Aliy left Nikolai following her race schedule, it also happened to be in lead.

In this video, the dogs in lead (Quito and Beemer) are often stepping into snow drifts that were 6 inches deep. The wheel dogs (Viper and Bonita) had 14 dogs in front of them packing down a trail and you can still see how deep their paws sink in the snow.
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Iditarod 2012: “Aliy Cam” Rainy Pass

April 11, 2012 by

The second day of Iditarod is always breath taking as dog teams mush through the Alaska Range Mountains. Aliy and the Red Team left the Rainy Pass Checkpoint on Puntilla Lake at 3:28 PM on a snowy afternoon. This video shows the climb up through the mountains to the Rainy Pass summit.

The video does not do justice to the steep angle which the the team is actually climbing. It is also deceiving because the dogs keep up an amazingly fast pace as they climb towards the summit. You can see how they finally slow down to a slow “trudge” as they are only feet from the actual summit.
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Iditarod 2012: “Aliy Cam” Iditarod Enthusiasm

April 10, 2012 by

This video is the first of the 2012 “Aliy Cam” series. She was able to record several sections of the Iditarod that she hadn’t recorded before. This first video is just the start (so to speak).

If anyone can tell what the sign says “Aliy Zirkle ???????????” in the video, we would love to know. These folks were nearly 50 miles from the start, so they probably set up this “Aliy Fan Bonfire” pretty early in the day.
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Great Fans!

April 9, 2012 by
We have some of the best dog sponsors and fans in the world.
Thank you to everyone for the cards, gifts, smiley faces and general greetings to the SP Kennel mushers and dogs. It is only now, after a long racing season, that we have begun to see how much support and DOG LOVE was out there rooting for us during the race.
The SP Kennel Iditarod Wrap up is this week. Look out for several “Aliy Cam” Iditarod videos and a seasonal summary. (2012 Iditarod Trail Notes will still take some time however.)
Once again ….. THANKS for being there for us!!
One of many Congrats Cards for the SP Kennel Dogs.
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