buser had a hell of a time on the yukon river breaking trail. wind, rain, snow. i saw his speeds had slowed to about 5-6 mph. they all have gps on their sleds. those behind were still clipping at more like 6-7 mph. of course, last i checked they had all slowed a bit as well. the yukon must be giving them all fits. the front runners are all off the river now and will be headed to the coast.
martins last run was 4.95mph. aliy caught up and passed him. if he can't pick up speed the rest of those top tenners will be passing him by as well. if things don't change it's not looking like he'll pick up that 5th iditarod win this year.
top ten at this time...aliy zirkle, martin buser, mitch seavey, burmeister, berkowitz, jessie royer (another girl in the top ten...yeah!!), ulsom ( the rookie from norway, he's the only rookie in the top 20 by the way), ray redington jr, petit, lance mackey, dallas seavey..then below that is deedee jonrowe and jeff king. lots of big names in alaska mushing up there at the top. they seem to be pretty close together at this time and running similar speeds. dallas likes to put in a final push in those last miles and changed sleds to a lighter one. they are allowed a second sled at some point.
lots of snowmachines out on long lake. liked this girl in a skirt and big snow boots. below is one of tiffany's friends. just liked the shot.
totally lazy day today. slept in til noon...well i woke up to feed the dogs and let them outside, but i crashed again.
ended up just at the dog park.
aaron brings an old dryer or washer tub to put the fire in. works great!! the heat comes out all over the sides. besides...it's recycling!!
another co-worker, carolyn.
a bunch of female mushers were all bunched up together at the start. above was henrickson and #30 is jessie royer, who is in the top ten.
nice pink muscle shirt.
anna berrington. she and her sister are pretty close together...i think they like to run their teams together actually...probably a twin thing. they are identical. they are currently in 44th and 45th place.
there was a cute doodle puppy at the dog park today...pictures after the race. made me almost want to get a puppy..almost. my dogs are at that great age and there is peace and harmony in the house. all the animals get along great.
#32 is ulsom, the musher from norway. he's apparently only 26 but has done some of the big races for mushing in europe and russia. the russian in the race is in the 63rd position and the pet shop owner from brasil is in the 54th spot. ulsom is making a name for himself here though.
i must say that young guy looks nice on the sled as well. haha
always love the dogs in black and white...
made a trek to rei so i guess i didn't totally waste the day away. cute scarf on sale, some glove liners and a thin fleece. i seem to keep wearing my hospital one out and about and i'd rather avoid that.
#33 below just scratched today, supernaut.
they still haven't caught mae, the dog that got loose. hopefully they will be able to. it does happen from time to time. mostly they seem to catch up with them. the dog was borrowed by marshall from another kennel, i believe the dog actually belongs to lindner. i would be freaking out, hell i panic if my dogs get just a few hundred feet away from me.
blossom had some leash time by the creek today. it's warm out there and the frozen lakes are going to start getting soft. don't want her going through the ice. besides that beaver has been chilling in the waters by the creek inlet and those beavers have a reputation for attacking the dogs at the dog park. ran into amy and elizabeth out there. amy is up to two laps and is pretty excited about that!! :-)
i only have one more week of orientation, all in the emergency room. then..i'm on my own out there. last week went much better than the first week. that peat week had me starting to wonder if i'd made a mistake changing jobs, but i think it will be a good move. my gut takes me where i'm supposed to go. it was time, for a variety of reasons. will be great to meet new people and make my brain click in different ways.
hell, if nothing else it's been a nice ego boost. great to have people sing your praises when you come to orient in a new unit. great to feel validated when you come through and are successful. the one nurse was dreading having an orientee and by the end of the night she was thanking me for all i did for her that made her night easier.
they haven't had as many video clips on the iditarod site as they have in the past. they did one little video where they asked about music. many mushers carry ipods, some have books on there that they listen too, many also just skip all that and just enjoy the beauty out there before them. the ones with music usually just put it in shuffle. one guy said he gives an ipod to friends to load for him and so he has no idea what music he'll get in his shuffle. he's come to really like sheryl crow. always a favorite of mine too.
just put her on the ipod now. bought this tiny portable speaker. will be great for camping this summer.
i think i would take along music, especially for the night runs.
loved these of mike williams, sr. this will be his 15th run of the iditarod. last time was back in 09. his son is running as well. the first time they've run the same race. his son is in 23rd position and he is currently in 37th. they are yupik eskimo. mike sr is running for a cause, as many mushers do. he's running to promote sobriety. a nobel cause. so many of my patients lives are hospitalized due to alcohol and alcohol related issues. it really is a huge issue in alaska.
always hard for me to argue against legalizing marijuana when i see the damage that is done by alcohol, which is legal. alcohol destroys people and families and is a huge drain to society. of course i say that as i sip away at my mikes winter black berry. all things in moderation..it is a lesson from my youth that i believe in. i'm sure i average less than one alcohol beverage a month. even then i rarely finish an entire drink.
loved the above picture as it looks like the guy is driving a truck rather than a team of dogs. he's just cruising to nome. for those up north, especially the older generation, dog teams were just a part of life, they probably were in a sled before they could walk...and on the runners as soon as they did walk.
i did see pictures of him further down the trail standing on those runners. when asked how things had changed he just said it's all much faster. wishing him a great trip north. he's in his 60's.
elizabeth out at the restart.
and kim's daughter raven.
liked this one of tiffany. she made it her profile picture on facebook so she must be liking it too.
these red bootied dogs belong to mitch seavey. he's in the 3 spot presently. wait make that fourth. burmeister has overtaken a few and is in the second spot behind aliy. the first 6 are out of kaltag and headed for unalakleet on the coast.
things will change in the standings pretty dramatically over the next few days. the final push towards nome.
this is a good team. the seaveys are a family of mushers. last year 3 generations competed and all got to nome, dallas the son of mitch won. i think another son won the jr iditarod last year.
just love to watch those dogs run.
lots of dogs out at the dog park today.
aaron gets a response after yet another smart alec comment. haha. works for me...i get another shot at a photo op.
this last picture of these kids being towed by a snowmachine is fun. seems almost like a shot from the 50's. great family event, the iditarod. everyone has a fun day out there.
guess i should get something accomplished today, even if it's just folding laundry. will be back for more tomorrow. it's getting more and more exciting.
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