I had heard all kinds of hair-raising stories about running Iditarod. Everything from broken sleds, lost dog teams, falling through the ice at 40 below zero, ground blizzards, to being chased by moose & polar bears, and even having hallucinations. I was about to find out if any of those stories would come true for me.
Iditarod 2001 was about to start and I was just one of several rookies getting ready to take on the challenge. At the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage, the streets were lined with thousands of spectators and there were hundreds of dogs barking in excitement to go. When I first arrived with my truck and dogs, I unloaded everyone to feed them breakfast before our run. My two wheel dogs, Egan & Larry, were so greedy for more food that they got into a fight over a food dish between them. Egan hurt his back leg during the scuffle and started limping. I was pretty disheartened not knowing if he would be better in time for the real start. He has always been one of my main dogs. I loaded him back into the truck and picked out 10 dogs of my 20 to run for the ceremonial start. It was soon time for my team to be at the start line. Five, four, three, two, one, go! And we were off down the streets of Anchorage lined with cheering people. My ten dogs pulled me, my Iditarider, and my mom who drove the second sled down the trail on the first leg of our journey. The run went great. People handed out drinks, candy bars, & even muffins to us as we passed. It was really cool seeing all those people cheering us on. Now that the ceremonial start was over (it was only 12 miles), it was time to get last minute preparations finished and get one more good nights sleep for the real start the next day in Willow.
The next morning dawned and I dressed in my warm clothes, ate a good breakfast, and drove to the starting line. I had 20 dogs to pick my final 16 dog team from and I had it narrowed down to 17. Who would get the final cut, I couldn’t decide. It was between a small 3 yr old female named Volcano, and a 4 yr old male named Larry. I finally settled on Larry (later in the race I wished I had chosen Volcano). Egan’s leg was better (I had rubbed lots of muscle linament on it) so he looked good to go. My final 16 dogs would be: Asics, Reebok, Sawyer, Brave, Chase, Dottie, Judd, Liller, Kate, Leo, Reba, Nike, Dude, Dalek, Egan, and Larry.
I got my sled packed and being a rookie, that job wasn’t easy. Not knowing exactly what I needed I tried to take everything. Almost including the kitchen sink! “Everything” wasn’t fitting so I sorted some things out & stuffed & crammed the rest into my sled. I had all the mandatory gear such as an axe, snowshoes, sleeping bag, cooker & 3 gallon pot, booties for the dogs, & promotional material. I also had a kuspuk (parka), running shoes, walkman, sunglasses, headlamp, batteries,thermos, food for the dogs and myself, plus 2 buckets/coolers to mix the dogs’ food in.
The countdown was getting closer and almost our turn to leave for the starting line so the next thing was to get dogs bootied. With 64 feet to bootie I took advantage of my friends to help. Once out on the trail, there was only me to do it all.
It was now time to hook up and get to the starting line. It took 10 people to hold the team back from going too fast getting to the start. At the line, I heard the familiar countdown. “One minute to start” the announcer yells. I walk down the line patting each dog giving them words of encouragement. “30 seconds!” I reach my sled & stepped on the runners. 10-9-8-7, but as the countdown continued my team is so excited they start to take off before they are supposed to, I can’t hold them back!! 6-5-4-3-2-1 GO!! My dogs took matters into their own paws. We were on our way to NOME! All 16 strong, enthusiastic dogs pulling in stride. Just 10-12 days and 1140 miles and we would be there. We were charging down the trail ready to take on whatever came around the next corner or so we hoped.
All 68 teams left the starting line at 2 minute intervals. The first day was very exciting as I saw alot of teams out on the trail. The first 72 miles of the race was traveled on the Yentna & Susitna Rivers so there was very little shade on a very warm, sunny day. The dogs were getting hot by mid-afternoon so I found a good camping spot, gave the dogs some water I had carried in the sled, then I sat back on my sled & watched the other teams go by. After a 2.5 hr rest, the temperature had cooled enough that it was time to hit the trail again. I went right through the first two checkpoints of Yentna and Skwentna, stopping only a few minutes in Skwentna to resupply my dog food. I traveled a couple more hours and found a nice camping spot in the trees and out of the wind for our first long 6 hr break. The routine would be much the same for the next several days. Run 6 hrs, rest 6 hrs. On our stops, the first thing I would do is take all the booties off the dogs, get the cooker and start melting snow for water or in some cases when I was able to get water, I would just start heating it up. I would then cut my bale of straw open & shake it out for the dogs to make comfortable beds in. Once they were settled, I would make a good hot meal for them to eat. The meals would vary from stop to stop but their choices were Pro Plan Performance dry dog food, beef, lamb, poultry skins, tripe, beef fat, chicken, and fish. After the dogs had eaten, I would give them any medications, foot ointments, and massage muscles. All this usually took 1.5 to 2 hrs before I would eat myself and try to get an hour or so of sleep before preparing another meal for the dogs, feed them and resupply and pack my sled, bootie dogs, and head back onto the trail again.
After our first 6 hr break we were on our way to Finger Lake and I noticed Larry, my wheel dog, getting tired. He did not have as many prerace miles on him as the rest of the team and it was starting to show. By the time I reached Finger Lake, I had decided to drop Larry and continue on with the other l5. Larry didn’t like warm temps so it was a good decision to leave him with the vets and sent back home on a plane.
The next checkpoint was Rainy Pass but the section of trail getting there included the Happy River Steps. I had heard alot of stories about mushers rolling their sleds down steep hillsides breaking them on trees, and even losing their dog teams by falling off their sleds. I was a little anxious especially when I saw the signs “CAUTION Dangerous Trail Ahead”. I had 15 strong dogs still in harness & the steps were a series of very steep down hills on very narrow switch backs. It was a pretty exciting ride but once I was at the bottom, I thought that was too easy for it to match all the horror stories. I thought maybe I hadn’t even reached the real steps yet. I had caught up with fellow musher Hans Gatt and asked him if that was actually the steps. “Yep” he answered, “ But that is the best shape I have ever seen them in.” I had lucked out. There had been so much snow in that area that it made the “steps” fairly easy this year. On the way to Rainy Pass and beyond, we were traveling through the Alaska Range. What beautiful country! After a 6 hr rest at Rainy Pass, we headed for the next checkpoint of Rohn. This 35 mile run was one of my most favorite runs in the whole race. It also included the famed “Dazell Gorge”. I had heard alot of stories about this section of trail too. The gorge is a narrow rocky steep canyon that has a creek running down the middle and there usually is very little or no snow. The trail winds through the willows and trees, between the creek and steep hillside and crosses the creek numerous times on ice bridges. Several times I had to tip my sled on one runner to keep from falling into a hole in the ice. There were some very steep down hills also and on one of them my headlamp bulb decided to burn out. I went full tilt down this hill with no light! Once out of the canyon, the trail ran right down the middle of the Tatina River. The river ice was all glaciated over and was probably the slipperiest ice I have ever been on! My sled slid sideways and tipped over several times with me dragging behind it. My team just kept on running without a single care about all my troubles trying to hang on. The whole run was very exciting and certainly kept me on my toes. To top it off, there was even a full moon out that left me with a feeling of how totally rugged and awesome and overpowering the Alaska Range really was.
The checkpoint of Rohn was a really neat little cabin along the South Fork of the Kuskokwim River. I liked it so well I stayed 7 hrs before tackling the next stretch of trail.
Leaving the Rohn checkpoint was very exciting & a bit scary at times. I had a rested team and just out of the checkpoint, the trail runs down the Kuskokwim River for a couple of miles. One minute we would be gliding along on ice & the next minute we would be bouncing across a sand/gravel bar. The wind was really blowing so whenever we crossed a sand bar the dust would kick up & blow in my face. It was night time and with the dust & wind, it was impossible to see with my headlamp. I would be going along blind until we hit a stretch of ice again. So by the time I could see, my 15 dogs would be going full tilt and I would have no way to stop them if they were going the wrong direction on the ice. I thankfully had 2 very good leaders, Reba and Asics, who kept on the trail pretty good (or what there was of a trail). They are excellent gee (right) haw (left) leaders so I could turn them fast if I needed too. Remember my leaders are 70 ft out in front of me. In fact one time I was in the dust and couldn’t see when my front sections of gangline got caught on some driftwood and my whole team was in a big pile before I knew what was happening.
Once off the river things didn’t get any easier. The trail went into the Buffalo Hills where there was no snow for the next 40 miles. The hills were short but steep & windy. With 70 feet of dogs out in front, narrow and windy can be a problem. Several times I had to wrestle my loaded sled around trees, bounce & rattle over tree roots, slide sideways out of control on a patch of ice only to get stopped suddenly by a rock or a tree. We crossed really bad glare ice lakes where the dogs could hardly stand up and stretches with so many tussocks (compact clumps of grass the size of basketballs) that you could barely stay on the back of the sled; others weren’t so lucky. I heard stories of running into trees and broken runners or stantions on sleds. One lady got 2 black eyes from hitting a tree and another guy got knocked uncontious until another musher came along to help him.
After the Buffalo Hills came the Farewell Burn. A fire swept through this part of the country about 18 years ago so the new trees are still small. When the wind sweeps through, all the snow is blown away here too. At least no snow and no trees is better than no snow and big trees to hit! It was 90 miles from Rohn to Nikolai so I camped out in the Farewell Burn for a 6 hr rest. The rough trail was taking its toll on the dogs. Two sisters, Sawyer & Judd, were getting sore wrists. On our rest, I packed their wrists in ice, then rubbed on linament and wrapped them. Judd didn’t seem to mind her sore wrists too much but Sawyer was starting to limp so after our rest I loaded her into the sled and carried her the rest of the way to Nikolai--fortunately she only weighs 35 lbs.
I left Sawyer at Nikolai with the vets. I now had 14 dogs, but now had a new problem arising. Some of the dogs were becoming sick and didn’t want to eat their food. On the run to McGrath all the dogs ate their ice snacks. I had one of the fastest running times from Nikolai to McGrath even though a few more dogs were becoming ill as well. I decided to take my 24 hr layover at McGrath in hopes that a long extended rest would get them well again. During that 24 hrs, I fed the dogs every 6-8 hrs, gave any medications, did lots of massaging joints & muscles, and tried to get some extra sleep myself. Getting ready to leave McGrath all the dogs looked and felt pretty good exept Reebok and Dalek. Reebok had a really sore shoulder. Dalek was still sick to his stomach. Reebok is one of my better lead dogs so I was very sad to have to drop him at that checkpoint. I decided to keep Dalek in the team for a little longer and just watch him closely. The temperatures were rising when we left McGrath. Just 18 miles later when we arrived at Takotna, it was 40 degrees F. We ran through Takotna on our way to Ophir, and because it was so warm for the dogs, I stopped alot and fed them liver ice snacks which they gobbled right up. Once we reached Ophir, I decided to stop for a few hours and wait for the temperatures to cool off. Ophir was probably my 2nd favorite checkpoint. No one lives there except during Iditarod. It is just a really cute little cabin amid some very big beautiful country. While most of the team dozed off in the warm sunshine, the verterinarian at Ophir and I checked out Dalek. He had not gotten any better so we thought it best to leave him and catch a plane ride home. Dalek was the biggest dog on the team and certainly one of the strongest pullers. His presence would sure be missed.
The next stretch of trail from Ophir to Iditarod was 90 miles. About half of this section was reported to have no snow also. We had a beautiful night run with a full moon out. The team ran really well for 6 hrs through some absolutely gorgeous country. With the sled runners scraping along on frozen bare ground, the mountain peaks rose up on both sides of me illuminated by the full moon. The team ran by Don’s Cabin where several other mushers & their dogs were resting. We were going to go another hour and then take our 6 hr break. I still had a good team of 12 dogs. The surprise of the race was a young 2 yr old male named Leo. I had been depending on Asics and Brave for my leaders, but at times they needed a break. So I put Leo in the lead for the first time leaving McGrath. Leo has always been a team dog and I was amazed at how well he performed in lead and how much he seemed to really like it. In fact, he led from McGrath all the way to Anvik (approx 250 miles) before I took him out of lead.
When I stopped the team to rest I didn’t have any straw to bed them down with so I cut pine branches for the dogs to lay on. I then fed and cared for everyone. Judd still had sore wrists I was icing and then heat wrapping. She is a really tough dog and didn’t seem to mind her sore wrists. I layed down in my sled and shivered myself to sleep (my clothes were all wet) only to wake up an hour later to get ready to hit the trail again.
The last 5 hrs into Iditarod was really rough! There was little or no snow with the trail crossing alot of tussocks. On the down hills, I couldn’t slow the dogs down for fear of catching the break on a tussock and ripping it off. It was like running over a boulder patch for 30 miles. I felt like I was riding a vibrating machine with my feet getting knocked off the runners by passing tussocks. With all the holes and mounds of dirt and grass I was really surprised the dogs ran through there without getting a single injury. Boy, were we glad to reach the old ghost town of Iditarod.
After a 6 hr break, it was 65 miles to Shageluk. The trail was very hilly with new falling snow to slow our progress. It took 8 hr 40 min of running to reach this native village. I took my 8 hr mandatory rest there and somewhere in the process, I lost my knife. One of the natives was kind enough to loan me another for the rest of the race. Leaving Shageluk for Anvik, the first stop on the Yukon River, several dogs were becoming sick. Just when some of the dogs would start feeling better, a couple others would get worse. This seemed to be the pattern for the rest of the race.
From Anvik all the way to Kaltag, we traveled on the Yukon River--a distance of 140 miles. We were traveling up river into very strong headwinds. On the back of my sled I had a small bicycle type seat. I would flip it down and sit on it so there would be less wind resistance for the dogs. Then I used my 2 ski poles to push and help the dogs out. After Anvik was a small village called Grayling. We left Grayling in the middle of the night at the tail end of a storm. I didn’t have it as bad as some mushers but we still had severe head winds with falling snow. At times the blowing snow was so bad I couldn’t even see my wheel dogs 6 ft in front of me. Asics & Brave were in lead and did a gread job of staying on the trail. I trusted them so much I even fell asleep on the back of the sled for a few minutes at a time. The trail was blown over with drifting snow and some of the trail markers blown over as well. We did get off the trail a couple times, wandering around until we found it again.
Just before we reached the Eagle Island checkpoint, I caught up to a couple other mushers who had had even more trouble than I with the storm and staying on the trail. I passed them and they followed me into the checkpoint. The team was pretty tired from the soft trail so we rested 11 hrs before heading to Kaltag. Thank goodness the storm was over so traveling to Kaltag was alot better. We still had a soft trail and strong winds but nothing like before. The village of Kaltag was a welcome sight. It felt good to get off the Yukon River. The wind took alot out of the dogs and with some still sick, they didn’t eat well at Kaltag. I had dropped Dude back in Eagle Island and now Chase had a sore back leg. I dropped him at Kaltag. I left there with 10 dogs. We ran 6.5 hrs to a cabin about half way to Unalakleet called Old Woman’s Cabin. We rested there along with a few other mushers. On the final leg to Unalakleet, we saw a few caribou. That perked the dogs up. Unalakleet is the first village on the coast. The sun was out so it was very warm. The dogs enjoyed stretching out and soaking up the warm rays. I followed several other mushers out of the village after a good rest. The trail climbed up into the Blueberry Hills on the way to Skaktoolik. High up in the hills, the view was spectacular. The sun was setting & you could look out over the ocean in the distance. It was one of the most awesome sunsets I have ever seen.
Shaktoolik is a small village that sits on the ocean shore totally unprotected from the harsh winds that blow there on a regular basis. I was still traveling with a few other mushers (Tim Osmar, Jon Little, Ed Iten, & Ramey Smyth) and we had all planned on staying in Shaktoolik for 5.5 hrs, but the wind was so strong & wind chill way below zero, we all opted to wait for daylight and better weather to tackle Norton Sound with. At dawn, we struck out heading for Koyuk 60 miles away. Even with the daylight, we still met strong winds with low visability. Each team took its turn leading with the others following behind. By taking turns it takes some of the pressure off the lead dogs on each team from doing all the work of staying on the trail and bucking strong winds.
All the dogs on my team had not been feeling or eating well since Kaltag (back just off the Yukon), but coming into Koyuk, they all loped right into the checkpoint and ate like horses when I fed them. It was great to see the dogs looking and feeling better!! There was also alot of kids in Koyuk. They were all very happy, asking alot of questions. It was pretty neat to see them all. I made a mental note to bring more treats next time.
Koyuk to Elim and then on to White Mountain--the trail ran along the ocean shore. Parts of it had alot of new snow to slow our progress. I only rested the team about 3.5 hrs at Elim. Dottie was one of my young 2 yr olds and an extremely hard pulling dog. She worked so hard through the soft snow that her back leg was sore. I left her in Elim. She got a plane ride to Nome and beat me there.
Once in White Mountain, all the mushers are required to take an 8 hr layover. Liller was a small female on my team that had been in heat for the last several days. She was really distracting my 3 male leaders. I thought it best to leave her in White Mountain so my leaders would start listening again. White Mountain is only 77 miles from the finish line in Nome. We were on the home stretch! It was 55 miles to Safety, then a final 22 miles to Nome. Running to Safety, we crossed the Topkok Hills. They are a series of several hills in a row with some of them being very steep. I had my running shoes on but still couldn’t quite make it al the way up the hills before jumping on the runners again.
Leaving Safety, I could look back and see there was another team not too far behind me. I couldn’t tell at first who it was until we were about 15 miles from Nome. It was Jon Little--who had left White Mountain 33 minutes behind me. I figured he was only about 5 min behind me so that meant a gain of 28 minutes for him. That got my adrenaline going realizing he just might catch and pass me before the finish line. I turned to my 8 dogs and said “alright guys, we have to get moving, let’s kick it into high gear”. My two leaders, Brave and Leo, looked back at me and realizing I was serious, broke from a trot to a lope and charged all the rest of the way into the finish line. They started gaining speed and were really rolling along when we got to Front Street in Nome.
Jon never did catch us in fact we gained back all the time we had lost. I was really proud of my dogs coming into Nome. They looked so good!!! Every dog loped under the arch, tails wagging, and some barking to keep right on going. The first thing I did was pet and congratulate every one of my dogs: Brave & Leo in lead, Asics & Nike in swing, Kate & Judd in team, and Reba & Egan in wheel.
Every dog knew they had finished and they were quite proud of themselves. We even managed to tie Ramey Smyth for the fastest time from Safety to Nome award. It was great to see all the people there to cheer us in. I had family and friends there including my stepdad, Jim Sperry, and my boyfriend, Cim Smyth.
The one thing that meant more to me than getting 14th place and Rookie of the Year was when my fellow mushers Jeff King (3rd place), Paul Gebhardt (5th place), and Ramey Smyth (13th place) came to me at the finish and told me how great they thought my team looked coming into the finish. They said it was a very impressive sight. That was one of the highest complements I could have gotten.
1140 miles from Anchorage to Nome. Blizzards, head winds, no snow, glare ice, sick dogs, and very little sleep. We had finished the “Last Great Race. . . Iditarod”.