8th day Alaska trip - MCGRATH

Nice they have a shuttle to and from the airport. Lots of snow here in Anchorage and in McGrath last nite but looking better today. FINALLY got on the 8:15am flight. Went with all the vets for the Iditarod. I had met some last year so we all had a fun flight.
Hank met me at the airport which is right at the B&B we will stay in--that's a better distance than Pok to NYC!! Busy here as the first mushers will be in within a few hours. We are staying in a house with 6 other people. One guy couldn't stand all the snoring upstairs so he slept in the kitchen on the floor. These Alaskans don't mind improvising. We had met three of the people last year in Unalakleet during the Iditarod. Went to the Checkpoint which, believe me, was some distance in the cold and snow covered streets. There is so much snow here. Hope I can get those photos here soon so you can see some of the depths. Snowmobile is the only mode of transportation.

At the McGrath checkpoint

At the checkpoint the volunteers were getting ready for the mushers, making tons of food, decorating the hall with pictures the 3rd and 4th graders drew and keeping track of the progress of the mushers.
I helped in the kitchen. Went to a native dinner in the museum. Many of the natives said they had never been to the museum. There is NOTHING else in town????
Variety of local dishes, moose and salmon jerky, platters of smoked salmon, cowboy beans??? nice pies--rhubarb, apple and blueberry, cheese cake, pudding. All the berries and rhubarb from here.
It was $25--much too high but so is everything in McGrath, especially during the Iditarod.
Then back to the checkpoint to watch the first musher in--Ally Zirkle. Lots of shouts and cheers. We could see the headlite of the mushers come over the frozen river, maybe a mile and a half away then up the road(they had lighted candles on the path) to the checkpoint. She was first to McGrath so she won the spirit award, I will picture that at some point as well.

Spirit Award Aliy Zirkle won--first to McGrath

At the checkpoint in McGrath Hall--mushers stop here for food,rest etc. walls decorated with drawings from the school kids in McGrath

Teams into McGrath checkpoint.

Then we waited the rest of the evening for 15  more mushers to come by. They have a mandatory 24 hour stop usually here, Takotna or Orphir. These first ones just went on thru, back on the frozen river and out. Early in the evening I looked up and yes, NORTHERN LIGHTS. Beautiful. Waves of green dancing across the sky. Lasted quite some time. Then we walked back to the B&B to bed.