/ 2007 Archived Material / Trail Tidbits 12

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Trail Tidbits 12

by Kim Slade

Takotna:

Thursday, March 8, 2007, Day 6 of the Iditarod – Snowing lightly and -10° F.  As I wondered around the village this morning, I was able to find a couple kids working to lend a hand with the race, because their school is not in session this week.  The students do many things to help out: work inside the checkpoint serving food, they help park teams, bring straw & food bags, haul water, and keep the fire going on the hot water barrel, which is provided as a courtesy for mushers.  The kids told me they love being out of school and find the Iditarod exciting.  Even their teacher was busy working to help out by maintaining the computers at the checkpoint.  There are 13 students that attend Takotna School ranging in ages from 8 to 18.

 Moving Along:

I had the opportunity to fly out on the trail with Jeff Schultz, Iditarod’s official photographer.  We backtracked to Nikolai to see some of the teams.  I was excited to see Matt Rossi there!  He told me he was glad to be there too, saying he never expected the trail to be so tough, so early in the game.   He went on to say it got down right scary out there on the trail with the winds howling through the mountains.  The team appeared good, as did Matt after a short rest.  Paula, if you are reading this - Matt looked great!

 After spending a short time in Nikolai, we flew over Ophir, then on to Iditarod – the halfway point on the southern route.  This ghost town turned checkpoint, has some amazing history.  I had the opportunity to talk with Tore, an 81-year-old head checker/historian who is considered by most to be the “Mayor” of the checkpoint.  He explained that in its heyday, in the early 1900’s, Iditarod was a booming town of about 10,000 people.  After a flood, and the river route changed in the 1940’s, the people of the town just up and left, taking only their money and a few personal items.  Remnants of the old town still remain.  In what appeared to be the blacksmith building, horseshoes lay scattered around.  In one building there was part of an old boot and in the bank vault many receipts still can be found. 

The checkpoint is an old trapper’s cabin and although it still contains an old wood-burning stove, the temperature inside was only 44° F.  Although the inside was cool, it offered a warm meal for the mushers who stopped.  It is here, at Iditarod, that the first musher to the halfway point receives the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award -$3,000 in gold nuggets.  I had the opportunity to hold these nuggets – boy it didn’t seem like those nuggets were worth that much money!

Probably the most exciting thing I did today was hike down the trail with Jeff Shultz to wait for some teams to pass.  We had our spotter Danny in the air and when he announced that not one, but two teams were heading our way, we got into position.  The first team to pass by was Martin Buser, with Jeff King following close behind!  WOW!!  What a treat!! 

We left a short time later heading back to Takotna and those legendary pies.  My favorite is the blueberry!  Thanks Jan and gang!

 Where is Jack?

Jack is enjoying his trip along the trail.  Guess where Jack is now?

 One Small Square:

Use alliteration to describe what is inside the frame.