Milke Williams and DeeDee enjoy
the Volunteer picnic and first day
to sign up for the 2009 Iditarod. Mike got lucky and
was one of 2 mushers that
received his entry fee back in a random drawing.
DEEDEE'S INTO NOME!!!
March 12, 2008
Arriving in 10 Days 1 Hour
7 Minutes 46 Seconds
Update
March 12th
Headed
for Nome. DeeDee left White Mountain early this morning
at 05:59:00. 77 miles to Go Go Go ....
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Update March 11th
2008 Into White Mountain at 21:51:00
DeeDee is in White Mountain tonight taking
her last madantory 8 hour rest before she pushes to
Nome 77 miles away.
House sized rock
out crops along the trail |
Update march 11th
Out of Elim
Holding
on to 14th place DeeDee punched out of Elim at 15:12:00
this afternoon with 12 dogs. Next checkpoint will be
Golovin.
Trail to Golovin...This is one of the
more interesting legs on the race, with quite a variety
of trail and terrain in a very short distance. Moreover,
there is always a possibility of two extremely different
routes for the first ten miles. Whichever route is taken,
the race follows the main snowmachine "highway"
from Elim to Golovin and it is usually well marked and
packed.
The trail usually heads back out onto
the sea ice from Elim and runs a mile or two offshore
to a cabin at Walla Walla, on the coast eight miles
south of Elim. In some years, when there is open water
just offshore, the trail may stay hard up against the
cliffbound shore on the fast ice (sea ice that is "fast"
to the shore) or may even go overland on the old Elim
Mail Trail.
At Walla Walla, the trail turns inland and climbs over
the Kwiktalik Mountains with a series of long, moderately
hard grades. The final summit is 1,000 feet at Little
McKinley, about eight miles past Walla Walla and ten
miles from Golovin. This is considered the hardest climb
on the last half of the race.
The trail then makes a fast descent
to Golovnin Bay, running northwest along the bay ice
for the last five miles to Golovin. (The bay was named
for Captain Golovnin of the Imperial Russian Navy in
the early 1800s. The bay and lagoon behind the town
retain the original spelling; the town's name has been
changed over the years.)
Plan on three to four hours for this
leg. If the weather is bad, the trip over the mountain
can be a long, hard one because it is almost all above
timberline and exposed to the wind. The trail over Little
McKinley can range from icy and windswept to soft and
punchy.
Update March 11th Into Elim
Moving up into 14th, DeeDee arrived in Elim
at 13:32:00 this afternoon.
Update March 10th
23:30
In 15th place in the 2008 Iditarod, DeeDee
arrived in Shaktoolik at 14:12 today and bloted put
at 17:48:00 shes' on her way to Koyuk. A mini race between
her, Ed Iten & Jessie Royer could be developing
as they hit the coast and final stretch in the race.
With 941 miles behind her and 171 more to go DeeDee's
team is looking good for holding 15th or better.
Update March 10th:
DeeDee has arrived into Unalakleet at the wee
hour of 00:45:00 with 12 dogs in 11th place.
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Next stop...Shaktoolik
The actual distance on this leg is usually
about 37 or 38 miles. (As with some other legs, the
official distance sometimes reflects the longest possible
routing, or old routings.) The race follows the main
snowmachine trail to Shaktoolik; it is normally well
traveled and well marked. The first 25 miles cross a
mix of woods, taiga, open areas, and exposed ridge tops;
the last 12 miles are completely in the open on the
barren coastline. This leg usually takes four to six
hours, but can be much longer if the weather is bad.
The trail leaves Unalakleet northbound and runs just
in from the beach, turning inland after five miles to
pass behind rocky 850-foot-high Blueberry Point. It
comes almost back to the shore at the fishing camp of
Egavik before climbing up the Blueberry Hills, reaching
the thousand-foot summit at the 18-mile point. At the
top the trail turns west and makes a three-mile drop
back to the beach, then follows a slough and the dune
line northwestward for the last 12 miles out to Shaktoolik.
The primary concern on this leg is the weather. Shaktoolik
is windy even in good weather, but under some conditions
the winds can blow from the north at more than hurricane
force, with temperatures well below zero and chill factors
worse than minus one hundred. If the winds are howling,
the trail from Unalakleet to the top of the Blueberry
Hills will be relatively sheltered (except on the ridge
tops), but the last 12 miles out to Shaktoolik can be
extremely difficult with drifts and ground blizzards.
Team leaving Nulato
|
Update March 8th:
DeeDee arrived in Nulato this evening at 20:23:00
with 13 dogs. The trail between Nulato &
Kaltag is 42 miles, DeeDee has travelled 761 miles and
is 351miles from Nome.
Next stop Kaltag...
This is another run on the Yukon on a well-traveled
snowmachine highway. Plan on three to five hours. The
trail passes several well-defined islands and crosses
the river a couple of times before finally reaching Kaltag.
The Yukon runs south-southwest all the way to Kaltag with
no major bends. The right bank of the river will be a
series of thousand-foot ridges and hills, with a few gaps
for streams to flow into the Yukon. The east bank will
generally be low and wooded, opening onto a vast area
of swamps to the east.
Map courtesty of ITC
DeeDee
first to arrive in Cripple
DeeDee surprised herself
when she rolled into Cripple and was told she was the
first to arrive at the checkpoint. Cripple was part
of the famous Iditarod Mining District which saw $35
million in gold taken out of the area between 1908 and
1925. It is the “Official halfway point”
on the Northern Trail. For her efforts she receives
the Dorthy Page “Mother of the Iditarod”
Halfway GCI award, a trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets.
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DeeDee stops to talk to her leader before heading out
of Willow
