Icewind's Ramblings

Why do musher’s seek the challenge of the Iditarod? If you listen to them, they'll tell stories of experiencing the serenity of a beautiful day on the trail, dog team and musher working as one.   They'll talk of the intensity of the experience.   They'll talk of the challenge of meeting the demands of the world's last great race. On the early morning flight from Anchorage to Kotzebue and then to Nome the other day the last person to board the plane was an old haggard looking man who sought out a space to put his items in the overhead space on the plane.   He looked the part of what I would call the Alaskan Old Timer who had on his flannel shirt, Seal skin hat and bushy beard with thick glasses.   He was not a big man but rugged in every sense of the word. He sat down in the seat directly behind me and started talking, and talking, and did not stop from push back, deicing, take off to Kotzebue, landing and the hour turn around time to head to Nome and only quit ...

Traveling around Alaska with my job I have the pleasure/pain of flying all over the state in various aircraft.   Most days I have an early morning departure from the main Anchorage airport, Ted Stevens International Airport flying Alaska Airlines from my base in Anchorage to one of several ‘hub’ airports.   It has been from the southern end of the Alaska in Ketchikan, Sitka, or Juneau to the “island”; Kodiak or out to the delta area of western Alaska to Bethel or Dillingham.   For my trips farther north it has been to Fairbanks, Barrow or Kotzebue in the arctic regions of the state. Once I arrive in a hub airport I go over to one of several smaller carriers which are the typical “bush” plane operations which may use both float planes and more conventional small aircraft.   Some carriers use turbine engine planes which carry more passengers or more cargo depending on the pilot’s mission for that particular flight.   Most days the pilot will make multiple flig...

The Race restarted Sunday afternoon at 2 PM Alaska Standard Time (AST) in Willow on the frozen lakebed with another throng of people waving, hollering, and wishing well their favorite musher on to Nome. They ran through the night and into the bright sun of an Alaskan spring morning as the leaders headed into the Alaska Range and climbed their way to Rainy Pass.   Several of the mushers are on a blistering pace to Rohn checkpoint an abandoned cabin which is about 200 miles into the 1,150 mile race to Nome.   Robert Bundtzen with his 16 dogs arrived in Rohn at 5:17 PM with defending champion Lance Mackey arriving just 18 minutes later but after his time check was off again and back on the trail headed to the Farewell Burn. Other events of the day . . . 5 time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson crashed on the Happy Valley River steps leading into Rainy Pass and is considering his options after it was confirmed he appears to have a broken collarbone.   He should decide sh...

Saturday evening Montana rookie musher, Celeste Davis (Bib #58), made her way under the Burled Arch of Front Street in Nome Alaska with 9 dogs on her team bringing a close to the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.   The 37 year old musher made the trek from Willow to Nome in 13 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds, landing her in the Iditarod record books with the fastest Red Lantern in race history! From the Iditarod web site . . . Iditarod Traditions The Story of the Widow’s Lamp During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in most all kinds of weather, for safety reasons they found the idea that pilots rely on, known today as the flight plan. Word was relayed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but...