/ 2008 Archived Material / Crazy Fun in Skwentna

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Crazy Fun in Skwentna

by Jane Blaile

The checkpoint is on the river just below the home of Joe and Norma Delia, who have opened their place up as an Iditarod checkpoint. It has become legendary. The Skwentna Sweeties cook tirelessly for any hungry person here. The checkpoint is run by the Darlings. They are a family (with friends along) who have been coming to Skwentna since around 1994, and they have it down to an art.

After dinner, the River Crew assembled on the river for their position assignments. The first musher was expected between 8:30 - 9:00 pm, or 2030-2100 hours Iditarod style. The River Crew consisted of checkers, people who radioed up to the communications volunteers in the cabin about who was in, what time, how many dogs, etc. Then there were the runners who would lead teams from the gate to a designated spot or to the Food Drop line. There were race judges and veterinarians as well as water station attendants. I was assigned the Food Drop line. When a musher arrived, s/he said if s/he was staying or going. Staying mushers were parked, mushers going through were announced to me so I could find their bags, which were in alphabetical order, and stand near them waving a red flashlight. The mushers then would stop where I was, anchor their teams, and grab their bags. Some just took the entire bags; some opened the bags, rummaged around, and took out what they wanted. And when the musher left his/her sled, I would often stand on the snowhook or brake or both for them. Paul Gebhardt's team jolted me forward, but luckily I was able to depress the brake even more to stop it. That would have been a disaster, wouldn't it, for me to be taking off with Paul Gebhardt's team? I also acted as a runner for Joe Garnie to lead his team to his food bags in line.

There were times when we had a team on each side of the food bag line and other teams waiting to pull forward to it. Then there were down times when we talked and looked at the beautiful night sky. Many of the first 30 mushers parked. It was great fun to help them find their food bags, direct them to the HEET and straw, and explain to them about where they could put bags to be sent home again. Later, many of the mushers were going to go through, so they just needed to pull up and get their bags. Being an active part of the race is completely different than watching it or seeing pictures of it.

*For pictures from Skwentna, check out Jane's Lesson Plans and Articles for a PDF document of digital images from her journey.