SPK Dog Log

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. This is the second to last video in the series. We hope you have been enjoying them over the last few weeks.

In this video the team travels in the infamous “Blowhole” near Safety about 35 miles from the finish line. For Aliy, every year since 2001, she and her dog team have endured moderate wind to ridiculous hurricane force gusts while traveling this section of trail.

During this year (2018), there was no wind. Zero. This was an entirely new experience.

The “Blowhole” near Safety is created because there are uniquely shaped mountains just to the north of the trail.  When wind blows down through these mountains it is forced through natural wind tunnels. This tunneling increases the wind strength tremendously. When there is significant wind blowing south, the wind that channels out of the mountains and into the “Blowhole” can be Hurricane Force (over 72 mph). Even when there is only a little wind blowing from the north, the layout of the land usually keeps the “Blowhole” breezy.

The extreme wind danger in this area is almost unbelievable. Aliy experienced it firsthand in 2014 when she and her team endured the wind’s unyielding fury. And this year was no exception for two mushers: Jim Lanier and Scott Jansen were rescued by helicopter after they unsuccessfully struggled to guide their dog teams through the “Blowhole”.

In this video from 2011, the team travels the “Blowhole”. The wind gusts were over 40 mph.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. This is the third-to-last video in this year’s series. We hope you have been enjoying them over the last few weeks.

This video is the final climb up Topkok Mountain and the summit. The team in order is: Chipper & Dutch (lead), Five & Driver, Spark & Violet, Clyde & Rodney, Nomex (wheel) and Aliy.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short. We hope you have been enjoying them over the last few weeks.

Aliy chats to us at the top of Topkok Mountain. Dog mushing and the Iditarod is somewhat of a solitary event – excluding the constant canine companionship – and sharing the experience is a difficult task. Aliy has tried for years to share as much of the wondrous trail she could thru the “Aliy Cam” footage. Here is a special moment for her (and maybe for you too):

Topkok is a towering ridge climb on the route just before the Iditarod Trail travels down to sea level. Front the summit, the sight of the ocean and the frozen lands that lay out in front of the dog team are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This is one of the final spectacular spots since the finish line is now only 40 miles away.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short. We hope you have been enjoying them over the last few weeks.

In this video the team is climbing Topkok Mountain near the end of the race.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short but we thought you would enjoy them over the next few weeks.

In this video the team is at Moses point, around ten miles outside the checkpoint of Elim. Aliy visited Elim during the summer so she explains the difference in what you see in the video and what it is like in the summertime.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short but we thought you would enjoy them over the next few weeks.

Here is more video from the white out between Koyuk and Elim. The wind has died down a little in this clip but visibility is still very limited. In fact, the video camera actually picked up the horizon line better than Aliy’s naked eyes – she could not make out a distinction between the ground and the sky which is a very disconcerting feeling!

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short but we thought you would enjoy them over the next few weeks.

The Western Coast of Alaska can be a tricky spot. This video is on the trail between Koyuk and Elim. A ground blizzard created a bit of a white out and Aliy was able to capture it on video. The wind gusts were up to 35mph. You can see the dogs get blown sideways and their wind jackets, despite having a solid velcro belly band, try to blow off their backs. Dutch and Spark are in lead here and even though they can’t see the trail, they can smell it, and the AMAZINGLY stay on course.

Anyone who has heard Aliy try to describe the white out conditions near the Safety Checkpoint during the 2014 race will cringe while watching this current 2018 video. The wind gusts during the 2014 storm were twice the strength of the wind in this video. Aliy and her team endured that unpredicted storm in the middle of the night on terrain that was a complete ice. No matter how much Quito tried to stay on the route, she was often blown off to the south.

Aliy took several short videos during her nine days on the Iditarod trail. There are about 20 in the series, many are quite short but we thought you would enjoy them over the next few weeks.

The village of Shaktoolik lies on a thin spit of land that runs north and south, between the Bering Sea (to the west) and a lagoon (to the east). At some points, this strip of land is less than 100 feet wide. The wind is a constant companion along this section and blows east to west. In this video you can see the land – covered in willow bushes – on the left and the wind blown lagoon ice patches (also known as doggie skating rinks) on the right.

“Because you never know what kind of day you are going to have…” Thanks Aliy!