/ 2008 Archived Material / Kaltag at Sunrise

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Kaltag at Sunrise

by Jane Blaile

Kaltag is really a wonderful place to be. The village is on a flat on the banks of the Yukon River. The people here are very warm, welcoming, and friendly. Mushers are starting to come in regularly now. Most are staying for a short rest; a few mushers are going through. One of the best parts about being here is you can stand right at the point where the mushers rise up off the river into the town and see about 2 ½ miles down the trail. So, a speck appears and moves every so slowly, almost as if it's not moving at all. At first you are sure you see a person, but the dogs don't become clear until the team comes much closer to the bank.

 

Martin Buser asked me how I was enjoying my trip and Cim Smyth commented that I look tired. I said I wasn't near as tired as he is. He said he had a bad start to his run; he had the flu and thought he was going "to croak" (his words)

 

Mitch Seavey is here with a small team of dogs, only 9, and wondering how the rest of the race is going to pan out for him. Jessie Royer and Martin Buser just left and Rick Swenson is getting ready to go.

 

Oh, speaking about Rick Swenson, he was getting repacked and asked Danny Davidson and me if we wanted some food he was going to leave behind. Boy, did we jump on that. We had shrimp in butter with lemon and garlic and it was outstanding! These mushers send out good stuff to eat.

 

As Cim Smyth was being led to is parking spot, I noticed a big bunch of booties his dogs had taken off. Yes, his dogs took them off; I saw them pulling the Velcro tabs to release the booties. So, I picked them up, carried them back to the school and washed all the booties I've collected so far. I have enough for every student in my class, my daughters, and a few extras as well.