Any Iditarod Watchers?

[4estTrekker]

Anyone geared up to follow this year's race? I had the time of my life volunteering at the 2020 Iditarod. The level of outdoor winter saavy required by the mushers is pretty inspiring, especially since they're generally sleep deprived whilst having to caring for their teams of elite canine athletes in all kinds of weather/conditions/terrain. Last year's race was especially challenging in a lot of respects, but especially given the lack of the typical on-trail accommodations, forcing the teams to camp in temps dipping below -50F. Anyway, Nebraska is a long ways from Alaska as the crow flies, but they're pretty darn close in my heart...and phonetically .

I got the privilege of shooting some footage and photos during the 2020 race, including this shot of that year's champion Thomas Wearner with his lead dogs K2 and Bark right under the burled arch.

[Midwest Firecraft]

Cool pic! I don't have subscription tv, do you watch it on Iditarod.com?

[4estTrekker]

I sure do. I buy the Insider subscription every year. There is a lot of free content, too.There’s an app, but it’s pretty basic and doesn’t interface with the Insider content.

[4estTrekker]

They post some interviews and daily updates on YouTube, and QrillPaws posts some coverage as well.

[4estTrekker]

They're off and running...or resting, as it were. Very warm temps at the (re)start today, around 35F. Saw some white coats on dogs to try and keep them cool, but lots of teams resting not far into the race waiting for cooler evening temps. Hopefully it'll be -40F before they know it.

[Minnesotian]

Yep, I have been following. I don't know about the cooler temps though. Looking at some forecasts this might be a pretty warm week for Alaska. Warm temps makes it hard on the dogs. If the temps stay warm, should be a challenging, chess-like race on trying to decide when to rest.

[4estTrekker]

Yeah, I saw that. The vets all packed their "holy-crap-it's-cold" kit though, so there's at least a hope. Ha! Looks like moose could be a problem again this year, too. Haven't heard of any encounter yet...

[Minnesotian]

Could you explain a bit further about your volunteer part? Where were you stationed? Were you there the whole week? Did you know anyone going in? How what the process for volunteering? I ask because I am thinking about volunteering for the John Beargrease in Minnesota next January.

[4estTrekker]

Yeah, sure! I actually went with a friend of mine who had a contact with an organization that does year-round volunteer work in several villages, but is based out of Kenai (where it does summer camps for kids and offers retreat space for adults/organizations). They've become integral in outfitting the bulk of the finish line duties for the race. There's a volunteer link/tab on Iditarod.com. We flew from Omaha > Seattle > Anchorage > Kotzebue > Nome to serve on week one (of two) with a team that helped set up the finish line and dog lot, ran security in the chute and dog lot, ran spotters back and forth between Nome and Safety on snow machines. We arrived in Nome a few days after the restart out of Willow and saw the first half of the field cross the finish line before our week was up. Because I went when Covid first landed, we didn't get to participate in the other activities this group usually helps with, like the 200 mile snow machine loop race out of Nome (can't remember the name), mushers banquet, a large basketball tournament that benefits the local women's shelter in Nome, etc. We did, however, get to use some of our down time to help some elderly and/or widowed people in and around Nome with some home repairs, snow removal, etc. I spent almost all of my time shooting footage/interviews/photos, so I didn't have the usual volunteer experience, especially when combined with Covid restrictions in 2020.

[4estTrekker]

I’ve been thinking about doing a winter trip/Beargrease volunteer combo trip some year, since it’s a nine hour drive from here. I follow the BG online and would love to at least see it in-person as a spectator.