"Going to Galena, Girl don't you wanna go?!" Absolutely.
I bet you know the song by Canned Heat Going up the Country, and now you can thank me for that ear worm, which will probably be rattling around your brain for the rest of the day. Well, you're welcome. At least you'll remember where Seeing Double was last reported on the Iditarod trail!
We left the twins Friday morning, closing in on Cripple (race mile 425). They arrived there just after 7:30am and stayed for less than 20 minutes. They kept moving down the trail for some time, stopped for a good trailside campout and rest during the peak of the daytime temps, and continued on the 70 or so miles separating Cripple and Ruby (race mile 495). They arrived in Ruby just past 10:30pm Friday night after 14 hours and 40 minutes out on the trail. They had planned on taking a 4-5 hour rest here, but ultimately declared and took the 8 hour rest required of mushers at one checkpoint along the Yukon River (Ruby, Galena, Nulato, or Kaltag). More on that in a sec.
After about 8 hours 30 minutes in Ruby, the twins hit the trail once again around 7am Saturday morning. Kristy was reported out in 23rd place with 10 dogs in front of her sled, Anna in 24th just minutes behind driving a 12-dog team. No further dogs have been returned since my last update there. I expect the twins to spend the rest of their Saturday mushing the 50 miles to Galena (race mile 545) and then resting in checkpoint for 4-5 hours.
Now that the twins are to and through Ruby, they've not only put the most challenging and technical portions of the trail behind them, they've also tackled three of the four longest sections of trail between checkpoints at 70 or more miles each. They, and all the mushers, face one more monstrous stretch of trail with the 85 mile run from Kaltag to Unalakleet, the longest stretch between checkpoints in the race.
Brent Sass, who was into Kaltag (race mile 629) around 2:30am in first place Saturday morning, will be heading out on that very stretch during the day Saturday after completing his required 8 hour rest on the Yukon. Dallas Seavey, last reported 2nd in the standings, is already done with his 8 hour and has pulled out of Nulato, and I know he's making a push to keep within racing distance of Brent. Jessie Holmes should be out of Nulato before long, and both Richie Diehl and Aaron Burmeister are out of Galena, rounding out our top 5. Despite being 5 days and 20 hours into this event, the teams in the lead don't seem to be slowing an impressive pace.
I do have two new scratches from the race to report. Rookie Julie Ahnen, of Cantwell, Alaska, withdrew herself from the race in McGrath, and veteran Hugh Neff, of Anchorage, called it quits in Ruby. I believe both mushers made the decision in the best interests of their dog teams. And while I'm sure both mushers are disappointed, neither will have any regrets knowing they did what they had to for the safety and well being of their dogs. Safe and swift travels home to them both and all their dogs.
And with that, we're watching 45 teams make their way to Nome.
As I was starting to jot down notes for this blog entry earlier, I got a couple texts from Anna while she was resting in Ruby! She opened by saying the weather was nice, not too cold at minus 10F (clearly their standards of "not too cold" differ wildly from many of us!). She confirmed they were taking their 8 hour rest, said the weather had generally been pretty nice so far, and if I had any questions. She's going to try and get me a picture of Barb, the one dog on her team I didn't have a glam shot of for her team bio. I asked if she and Kristy intended to keep traveling the trail together despite the 2-dog difference in their team sizes currently. She said yes. I asked why they adjusted their race plan and took their 8 hour in Ruby instead of Nulato. Apparently the 70 miles from Cripple to Ruby was long, slow, with a lot of trail breaking effort by the dogs through lots of bad snow drifts. The dogs earned and deserved a longer rest, so that is precisely what they got.
After those texts, which I was thrilled to get, I sent my love and wished them both well. And I kinda figured that would be it. I mean, the twins are 495 miles into a 975 mile event. If I was them, I highly doubt I would find the bandwidth for an ET-phone-home moment. But darn it if that isn't exactly what Anna did! After pulling her snowhook in Ruby, Anna still had reception, so she lobbed in a phone call. The following is a very random, stream-of-consciousness recap of what Anna had to share... although perhaps not exactly in the order in which she shared it. My frantic notes are scribbled haphazardly across several pages of my 2022 Iditarod notebook. But here goes...
The best and most enjoyable run so far was out of Ophir. Nice trail winding through the trees, temps zero to 10F above. That Thursday night offered stunning aurora and falling stars. Anna said the Gorge wasn't bad, but did have a pretty wicked trough through some of it. If you didn't navigate your sled right during this 200 foot plunge, you were in for a fall and a nasty ride. She had a couple close calls and couldn't help but think the spirit of our late father was out there to catch her a few times. She mentioned having thoughts of our late grandfather as well. He passed while they were out on the 2020 trail and always loved following their adventures, so I'm not surprised he came to mind. (Aunt Judy: stop smile-crying!)
Their stay in Ophir for their 24 had high points and not-so-high points. They actually got an amazing meal of prime rib and Brussels sprouts, a most welcome and unexpected treat. Unfortunately, their was also a shortage of bunks for mushers, so the twins spent part of their post-meal nap on bales of straw outside! Another kind musher woke them up when he was leaving, though, so at least they got inside for a while.
I asked who Anna has been running primarily in lead, and she immediately launched into praise for sweet little Rizo! She may be one of the smaller dogs on Anna's team, but she sure is tough and talented. ALL STAR as Anna put it. She was super responsive when they hit the trail out of Rohn and had to mush The Burn - a notoriously rough section of trail ravaged by a forest fire in 1977. Yondu typically runs in lead with Rizo, and the two of them are go-to leaders and can do anything together. When Anna wants to give them a break, she often turns to Drax. As an experienced leader, Drax is also a big dog and patient, so he's great to pair with a younger leader-in-training that needs a strong role model.
I asked how the rest of the trail has been, and overall she said pretty good. The coldest they've seen is "only" minus 15-20F, and the winds really only picked up through the Burn and out of Cripple. The Burn was bad with way too much dust and dirt, not nearly enough snow. Per the usual. They have encountered some overflow and open water out there. Gear choices have been a little trickier given that, and I got the impression they're still carrying a bit more gear in their sleds than normal so they're prepared for whatever they encounter.
Anna will be mushing an older stand-up style sled with no caboose the rest of the way to Nome, as it was her sit-down sled that busted earlier in the race. She talked a bit about the repairs she had to make simply to get to Rainy Pass, and then how thankful she was to get a sturdier repair there. Iditarod rules do have specific guidelines when it comes to mushers receiving outside assistance during the race. Anna checked with a race marshal before asking for any help on her sled, and got the green light to borrow a drill and make her repairs. I believe she said a fan was able to help find a couple perfect pieces of steel for the repair, too. Man was she grateful! This help was sanctioned, as that sort of assistance would be available to any and every other musher that asked for it, so no unfair advantage.
When I asked Anna what she was hearing about the conditions of the upcoming trail, she didn't have many insights for me. In fact, she lamented a bit that "it would be easier to get a pizza delivered out here" than get good forward trail reports. But she said it with a laugh and good humor in her voice, and I laughed along with her. If you don't know my sisters personally, let me tell ya - they can be quiet, but they can also be very funny. That was some patented Anna sarcasm right there.
As we wrapped up our call, I told Anna how proud I was of her and Kristy so far. If things continue to go well, it seems they've set themselves up for another run at a top 20 finish. As of this writing, three mushers ahead of them still needed to satisfy their 8 hour rest requirement and nearly everyone behind them still has to check this off. The twins are known for having very strong, steady dog teams and if they keep doing what they've been doing, this could be an exciting finish for Seeing Double.
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Brent Sass is in the lead at mile 635 per GPS, the twins are at mile 533, and the current Red Lantern (musher in last place) is at mile 390. That's a 245 mile lead/lag spread and hundreds of miles before this Mad Blogger calls it a wrap.
Don't go anywhere!!
I bet you know the song by Canned Heat Going up the Country, and now you can thank me for that ear worm, which will probably be rattling around your brain for the rest of the day. Well, you're welcome. At least you'll remember where Seeing Double was last reported on the Iditarod trail!
We left the twins Friday morning, closing in on Cripple (race mile 425). They arrived there just after 7:30am and stayed for less than 20 minutes. They kept moving down the trail for some time, stopped for a good trailside campout and rest during the peak of the daytime temps, and continued on the 70 or so miles separating Cripple and Ruby (race mile 495). They arrived in Ruby just past 10:30pm Friday night after 14 hours and 40 minutes out on the trail. They had planned on taking a 4-5 hour rest here, but ultimately declared and took the 8 hour rest required of mushers at one checkpoint along the Yukon River (Ruby, Galena, Nulato, or Kaltag). More on that in a sec.
After about 8 hours 30 minutes in Ruby, the twins hit the trail once again around 7am Saturday morning. Kristy was reported out in 23rd place with 10 dogs in front of her sled, Anna in 24th just minutes behind driving a 12-dog team. No further dogs have been returned since my last update there. I expect the twins to spend the rest of their Saturday mushing the 50 miles to Galena (race mile 545) and then resting in checkpoint for 4-5 hours.
Now that the twins are to and through Ruby, they've not only put the most challenging and technical portions of the trail behind them, they've also tackled three of the four longest sections of trail between checkpoints at 70 or more miles each. They, and all the mushers, face one more monstrous stretch of trail with the 85 mile run from Kaltag to Unalakleet, the longest stretch between checkpoints in the race.
Brent Sass, who was into Kaltag (race mile 629) around 2:30am in first place Saturday morning, will be heading out on that very stretch during the day Saturday after completing his required 8 hour rest on the Yukon. Dallas Seavey, last reported 2nd in the standings, is already done with his 8 hour and has pulled out of Nulato, and I know he's making a push to keep within racing distance of Brent. Jessie Holmes should be out of Nulato before long, and both Richie Diehl and Aaron Burmeister are out of Galena, rounding out our top 5. Despite being 5 days and 20 hours into this event, the teams in the lead don't seem to be slowing an impressive pace.
I do have two new scratches from the race to report. Rookie Julie Ahnen, of Cantwell, Alaska, withdrew herself from the race in McGrath, and veteran Hugh Neff, of Anchorage, called it quits in Ruby. I believe both mushers made the decision in the best interests of their dog teams. And while I'm sure both mushers are disappointed, neither will have any regrets knowing they did what they had to for the safety and well being of their dogs. Safe and swift travels home to them both and all their dogs.
And with that, we're watching 45 teams make their way to Nome.
As I was starting to jot down notes for this blog entry earlier, I got a couple texts from Anna while she was resting in Ruby! She opened by saying the weather was nice, not too cold at minus 10F (clearly their standards of "not too cold" differ wildly from many of us!). She confirmed they were taking their 8 hour rest, said the weather had generally been pretty nice so far, and if I had any questions. She's going to try and get me a picture of Barb, the one dog on her team I didn't have a glam shot of for her team bio. I asked if she and Kristy intended to keep traveling the trail together despite the 2-dog difference in their team sizes currently. She said yes. I asked why they adjusted their race plan and took their 8 hour in Ruby instead of Nulato. Apparently the 70 miles from Cripple to Ruby was long, slow, with a lot of trail breaking effort by the dogs through lots of bad snow drifts. The dogs earned and deserved a longer rest, so that is precisely what they got.
After those texts, which I was thrilled to get, I sent my love and wished them both well. And I kinda figured that would be it. I mean, the twins are 495 miles into a 975 mile event. If I was them, I highly doubt I would find the bandwidth for an ET-phone-home moment. But darn it if that isn't exactly what Anna did! After pulling her snowhook in Ruby, Anna still had reception, so she lobbed in a phone call. The following is a very random, stream-of-consciousness recap of what Anna had to share... although perhaps not exactly in the order in which she shared it. My frantic notes are scribbled haphazardly across several pages of my 2022 Iditarod notebook. But here goes...
The best and most enjoyable run so far was out of Ophir. Nice trail winding through the trees, temps zero to 10F above. That Thursday night offered stunning aurora and falling stars. Anna said the Gorge wasn't bad, but did have a pretty wicked trough through some of it. If you didn't navigate your sled right during this 200 foot plunge, you were in for a fall and a nasty ride. She had a couple close calls and couldn't help but think the spirit of our late father was out there to catch her a few times. She mentioned having thoughts of our late grandfather as well. He passed while they were out on the 2020 trail and always loved following their adventures, so I'm not surprised he came to mind. (Aunt Judy: stop smile-crying!)
Their stay in Ophir for their 24 had high points and not-so-high points. They actually got an amazing meal of prime rib and Brussels sprouts, a most welcome and unexpected treat. Unfortunately, their was also a shortage of bunks for mushers, so the twins spent part of their post-meal nap on bales of straw outside! Another kind musher woke them up when he was leaving, though, so at least they got inside for a while.
I asked who Anna has been running primarily in lead, and she immediately launched into praise for sweet little Rizo! She may be one of the smaller dogs on Anna's team, but she sure is tough and talented. ALL STAR as Anna put it. She was super responsive when they hit the trail out of Rohn and had to mush The Burn - a notoriously rough section of trail ravaged by a forest fire in 1977. Yondu typically runs in lead with Rizo, and the two of them are go-to leaders and can do anything together. When Anna wants to give them a break, she often turns to Drax. As an experienced leader, Drax is also a big dog and patient, so he's great to pair with a younger leader-in-training that needs a strong role model.
I asked how the rest of the trail has been, and overall she said pretty good. The coldest they've seen is "only" minus 15-20F, and the winds really only picked up through the Burn and out of Cripple. The Burn was bad with way too much dust and dirt, not nearly enough snow. Per the usual. They have encountered some overflow and open water out there. Gear choices have been a little trickier given that, and I got the impression they're still carrying a bit more gear in their sleds than normal so they're prepared for whatever they encounter.
Anna will be mushing an older stand-up style sled with no caboose the rest of the way to Nome, as it was her sit-down sled that busted earlier in the race. She talked a bit about the repairs she had to make simply to get to Rainy Pass, and then how thankful she was to get a sturdier repair there. Iditarod rules do have specific guidelines when it comes to mushers receiving outside assistance during the race. Anna checked with a race marshal before asking for any help on her sled, and got the green light to borrow a drill and make her repairs. I believe she said a fan was able to help find a couple perfect pieces of steel for the repair, too. Man was she grateful! This help was sanctioned, as that sort of assistance would be available to any and every other musher that asked for it, so no unfair advantage.
When I asked Anna what she was hearing about the conditions of the upcoming trail, she didn't have many insights for me. In fact, she lamented a bit that "it would be easier to get a pizza delivered out here" than get good forward trail reports. But she said it with a laugh and good humor in her voice, and I laughed along with her. If you don't know my sisters personally, let me tell ya - they can be quiet, but they can also be very funny. That was some patented Anna sarcasm right there.
As we wrapped up our call, I told Anna how proud I was of her and Kristy so far. If things continue to go well, it seems they've set themselves up for another run at a top 20 finish. As of this writing, three mushers ahead of them still needed to satisfy their 8 hour rest requirement and nearly everyone behind them still has to check this off. The twins are known for having very strong, steady dog teams and if they keep doing what they've been doing, this could be an exciting finish for Seeing Double.
But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Brent Sass is in the lead at mile 635 per GPS, the twins are at mile 533, and the current Red Lantern (musher in last place) is at mile 390. That's a 245 mile lead/lag spread and hundreds of miles before this Mad Blogger calls it a wrap.
Don't go anywhere!!
 Rizo, the ALL STAR |  Yondu, Rizo's partner in lead |  Drax, in his Christmas Best |
