I never know if, or when, I might hear from the twins during Iditarod in the years since they have allowed two-way communication during the race. I know reception, time, time differences, battery life, and most importantly dog care and their own need for rest - and probably a whole host of other things - play into it. Not to mention vying for their attention with mom, Aunt Judy & Rick, Kristy's husband Andy, and a whole host of friends and relations.
But for the first time, this Mad Blogger is hunkered down pandemic-styles with our mom on the old family farm in northern Wisconsin during the Iditarod. And I think I just got a taste of the benefits of BOGO that the twins often enjoy, as we got a phone call from them a little earlier from McGrath! It's tough to balance the intimate sisterly concern I feel for them with the amateur reporter's desire to get the scoop. But I did my best, and after frantic note taking, here's the skinny direct from the twins on the trail!
The twins are taking their 24, as I surmised. Musher accommodation in McGrath this year is in a small airplane hanger, with enough space for mushers to spread out safely and rest but offers no privacy. So our brief conversation was in the hushed tones warranted when you don't want to wake or otherwise annoy your fellow mushers. This was the first time the twins have been inside of a true building since leaving home before the race started.
Net net, they both sounded good! Kristy said she feels good overall and has had a bit of fun so far. Or, at least as much fun as one can have dealing with lots of overflow - knee deep in places. If you're unfamiliar, overflow is generally open standing water on or along rivers, creek crossings, or in warm temps when snow has melted but a lower ice layer or frozen ground doesn't leave it anywhere to go. They saw temps of 25 below zero Fahrenheit Tuesday night, so you can imagine getting wet any time before or after that is seriously unwanted. But both Kristy and Anna incorporated new boots to their racing gear this year, and that has made all the difference (more on that soon in a Cold Weather Gear feature!).
Every musher is getting a fresh Covid-19 test in McGrath, and both twins had gotten their negative result by the time we spoke.
As far as trail commentary goes, in addition to the overflow... Kristy's most recent memory was the most poignant. She didn't mention the early trail, or the Happy River Steps, or problems in the Farewell Burn. But the Gorge, and the trail into Rohn? Whoa boy. "Super super rough" go of it coming into Rohn. Like most mushers I've seen thoughts and commentary from, this section was a doozie the first time, and no one is looking forward to the return venture.
Both twins are pleased with their sit-down sled choice this year. Nothing broke over the treacherous trail down the Happy River Steps or the Gorge. The reserve sleds they shipped to McGrath are their standing-room-only former racing sleds. For now, they intend to stick with the sit-down sleds, but if anything happens or they want a sled with a little less caboose for the return trip, they are able to swap into their older model of sleds on their return trip through McGrath.
Even though we had limited time, they had plenty to say about the dogs. Everyone still on the team, 12 dogs each, are doing really good. They're managing well in the trail conditions and have not been adversely impacted by encounters with overflow. Overall, the dogs' appetite has been good, but perhaps just shy of the ideal voracity. Don't get me wrong - I was left with every impression the dogs are eating great. But great enough to shorten rests or pick up speed intentionally...? That sounded debatable.
On the two dogs each that the twins have returned home at this point ~ We already knew Kristy returned Rampage for a sore shoulder and he's rampaging about the kennel as I type. We didn't know that her second return was Amp, the 5 year old on loan from Travis Beals. Amp seemed like his normal self overall, but he didn't want to pull on the line consistently. As this can be indicative of another brewing problem, and isn't part of the ideal team effort, Kristy made the conservative decision to return him at Nikolai.
Previously, I didn't have any info at all on Anna's returned dogs. Now I know that she opted to return Dane, the 5 year old on loan from Ryan Redington, due to a slight but nagging cough. Again, an abundance of caution in the decision. The other dog she has returned so far is Randy, a 2 year old Seeing Double dog making his rookie Iditarod appearance. He had a bit of a sore wrist, and that isn't something Anna wanted to push an issue with.
Unless something changes during the remainder of their 24, I don't expect them to return any dogs from this checkpoint. I also know that Kristy is particularly happy that both Mayhem and Havoc are having a good race, as they've been doing a stellar job in lead a majority of the race thus far. They did a great job finding trail when it was unclear, and powering through overflow that was a little too in their faces!
A couple other tidbits...
Anna was traveling a bit behind Kristy on the stretch between Rainy Pass and Rohn, and she was mushing near Aliy. In fact, Aliy was actually behind Anna coming down the Gorge, but at the "bottom" they were able to exchange some comments. The sentiment was, "We did it! That was fun!" But my use of scare quotes calling the bottom of the Gorge was on purpose, because there's apparently an abundance of rough trail even when you think you're done with the drop, and a tricky glacial stretch to contend with. It wouldn't be right for me to impart too many 3rd hand details, but the gist of it seems Anna got hung up on some ice or drift wood, Aily made sure she was ok and passed. Then Aliy may have tipped her sled or caught on the same sort of drift, but righted it, waved, and mushed on. It's unclear if that tip or another later on was the ultimate impact that ended Aliy's race, and the 3 minutes that separated Aliy and Anna arriving in Rohn isn't talking. But both twins were thrilled to hear news reports that Aliy was out of hospital and heading home soon. I know they have always looked up to her and are amazed by her mushing prowess.
The other tidbit I will share before turning to work on a blog special feature on Cold Weather Gear... look for Kristy and Anna's GPS trackers to hit the trail again out of McGrath around 2:30am AK time Thursday morning. Their "24" checks will be marked and the team will be well rested to tackle the 41 miles to Ophir, where I expect to see them resupply briefly before covering another 20-ish miles past Ophir and hunkering down for a trailside campout of 4-5 hours.
Why are they resting any more than 24 hours to the minute? The 24 hour rest is also used by race officials to adjust each musher's time given the 2 minute interval start. Thus, the last musher to start the race (in this case, Bib 48, Victoria Hardwick) is the only one to take a true 24. Each other musher has to take 24 hours plus 2 minutes for each musher that started behind him or her. Life may not be fair, but race rules do their best to equalize the easy stuff.
But for the first time, this Mad Blogger is hunkered down pandemic-styles with our mom on the old family farm in northern Wisconsin during the Iditarod. And I think I just got a taste of the benefits of BOGO that the twins often enjoy, as we got a phone call from them a little earlier from McGrath! It's tough to balance the intimate sisterly concern I feel for them with the amateur reporter's desire to get the scoop. But I did my best, and after frantic note taking, here's the skinny direct from the twins on the trail!
The twins are taking their 24, as I surmised. Musher accommodation in McGrath this year is in a small airplane hanger, with enough space for mushers to spread out safely and rest but offers no privacy. So our brief conversation was in the hushed tones warranted when you don't want to wake or otherwise annoy your fellow mushers. This was the first time the twins have been inside of a true building since leaving home before the race started.
Net net, they both sounded good! Kristy said she feels good overall and has had a bit of fun so far. Or, at least as much fun as one can have dealing with lots of overflow - knee deep in places. If you're unfamiliar, overflow is generally open standing water on or along rivers, creek crossings, or in warm temps when snow has melted but a lower ice layer or frozen ground doesn't leave it anywhere to go. They saw temps of 25 below zero Fahrenheit Tuesday night, so you can imagine getting wet any time before or after that is seriously unwanted. But both Kristy and Anna incorporated new boots to their racing gear this year, and that has made all the difference (more on that soon in a Cold Weather Gear feature!).
Every musher is getting a fresh Covid-19 test in McGrath, and both twins had gotten their negative result by the time we spoke.
As far as trail commentary goes, in addition to the overflow... Kristy's most recent memory was the most poignant. She didn't mention the early trail, or the Happy River Steps, or problems in the Farewell Burn. But the Gorge, and the trail into Rohn? Whoa boy. "Super super rough" go of it coming into Rohn. Like most mushers I've seen thoughts and commentary from, this section was a doozie the first time, and no one is looking forward to the return venture.
Both twins are pleased with their sit-down sled choice this year. Nothing broke over the treacherous trail down the Happy River Steps or the Gorge. The reserve sleds they shipped to McGrath are their standing-room-only former racing sleds. For now, they intend to stick with the sit-down sleds, but if anything happens or they want a sled with a little less caboose for the return trip, they are able to swap into their older model of sleds on their return trip through McGrath.
Even though we had limited time, they had plenty to say about the dogs. Everyone still on the team, 12 dogs each, are doing really good. They're managing well in the trail conditions and have not been adversely impacted by encounters with overflow. Overall, the dogs' appetite has been good, but perhaps just shy of the ideal voracity. Don't get me wrong - I was left with every impression the dogs are eating great. But great enough to shorten rests or pick up speed intentionally...? That sounded debatable.
On the two dogs each that the twins have returned home at this point ~ We already knew Kristy returned Rampage for a sore shoulder and he's rampaging about the kennel as I type. We didn't know that her second return was Amp, the 5 year old on loan from Travis Beals. Amp seemed like his normal self overall, but he didn't want to pull on the line consistently. As this can be indicative of another brewing problem, and isn't part of the ideal team effort, Kristy made the conservative decision to return him at Nikolai.
Previously, I didn't have any info at all on Anna's returned dogs. Now I know that she opted to return Dane, the 5 year old on loan from Ryan Redington, due to a slight but nagging cough. Again, an abundance of caution in the decision. The other dog she has returned so far is Randy, a 2 year old Seeing Double dog making his rookie Iditarod appearance. He had a bit of a sore wrist, and that isn't something Anna wanted to push an issue with.
Unless something changes during the remainder of their 24, I don't expect them to return any dogs from this checkpoint. I also know that Kristy is particularly happy that both Mayhem and Havoc are having a good race, as they've been doing a stellar job in lead a majority of the race thus far. They did a great job finding trail when it was unclear, and powering through overflow that was a little too in their faces!
A couple other tidbits...
Anna was traveling a bit behind Kristy on the stretch between Rainy Pass and Rohn, and she was mushing near Aliy. In fact, Aliy was actually behind Anna coming down the Gorge, but at the "bottom" they were able to exchange some comments. The sentiment was, "We did it! That was fun!" But my use of scare quotes calling the bottom of the Gorge was on purpose, because there's apparently an abundance of rough trail even when you think you're done with the drop, and a tricky glacial stretch to contend with. It wouldn't be right for me to impart too many 3rd hand details, but the gist of it seems Anna got hung up on some ice or drift wood, Aily made sure she was ok and passed. Then Aliy may have tipped her sled or caught on the same sort of drift, but righted it, waved, and mushed on. It's unclear if that tip or another later on was the ultimate impact that ended Aliy's race, and the 3 minutes that separated Aliy and Anna arriving in Rohn isn't talking. But both twins were thrilled to hear news reports that Aliy was out of hospital and heading home soon. I know they have always looked up to her and are amazed by her mushing prowess.
The other tidbit I will share before turning to work on a blog special feature on Cold Weather Gear... look for Kristy and Anna's GPS trackers to hit the trail again out of McGrath around 2:30am AK time Thursday morning. Their "24" checks will be marked and the team will be well rested to tackle the 41 miles to Ophir, where I expect to see them resupply briefly before covering another 20-ish miles past Ophir and hunkering down for a trailside campout of 4-5 hours.
Why are they resting any more than 24 hours to the minute? The 24 hour rest is also used by race officials to adjust each musher's time given the 2 minute interval start. Thus, the last musher to start the race (in this case, Bib 48, Victoria Hardwick) is the only one to take a true 24. Each other musher has to take 24 hours plus 2 minutes for each musher that started behind him or her. Life may not be fair, but race rules do their best to equalize the easy stuff.