/ 2008 Archived Material / I did the Iditarod Trail

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ I did the Iditarod Trail

by Jane Blaile

 

Well, at least 5 miles of it!  The folks here in Takotna think it's important for the Teacher on the Trail to actually get to experience the trail from ground's eye view, not just the air.  So Frankie, a volunteer here, took it up on herself to find me a ride down the actual trail. Terry has a 2-seater snow machine and he volunteered to take me along the trail.  I was thrilled, so I put on all my layers and jumped on!  As we passed trail markers in the twilight, I tried to put myself in the place of the mushers - relaxing, looking ahead for the next marker, enjoying the multiple shades of the blue twilight, listening to the quietness.  It was hypnotizing.  Experiencing Alaska's most remote wilderness not through a glass window, but by being in it.  The bond between the dogs and the musher must be astounding because they experience such a moving event together.  Each dog becomes a part of the musher's experience and the emotions of it.  Doing a monumental task together makes the team one.  Impressive.  On our return 5 miles, we pulled over to let musher pass.  In the darkness the musher's headlamp turned each dog into a silhouette...a running, breathing silhouette.  We sat in silence as team went by just as silently.  It was incredible to see.

 

Other lessons I learned:  your mind might easily wander as you stare into the night looking for the next marker, the Takotna River flows into the Kuskokwim, and snow on the side of the road can be as deep as your waist.  (Yup, I learned that one by experience!)