MARCH 8th IDITAROD

MARCH 8, 2018

A new day, new adventures.
As of noon EST here are some standings:

l. JOAR ULSOM into IDITAROD
2. LARS DAUGHERTY into IDITAROD

3. JEFF KING out of OPHIR
5. MITCH SEAVEY out of OPHIR
10. ALIY ZIRKLE    "        "
20. MARTIN BUSER"       "
rest in OPHIR:
31. MATT HALL (r)
39. JIM LANIER
45. SHAYNEE TRASKA (r)

JIM LANIER , a Dentist and 5 time Iditarod musher, in TAKOTNA, had a message for his wife.
He said after eating about 5 delicious meals in TAKOTNA ( I told you, Misty is doing her job!!), he received a mush-a-gram (love it!) from his wife saying he was doing well and she would see him in NOME. He said its the best mush-a-gram he ever received (probably the first as well). He is a great guy and older than the rest but keeps plugging along. Lets watch him.

In TAKOTNA ,I told you previously, that many take one of  their 24 hour mandatory rests here because of the great food. I was there and can attest to that. ALSO if any of you watch
The Last Frontier on TV you may have seen Doc Sayer. He has a cabin here and also gold mines in the area besides his practice. Hank and I flew with Misty's husband from MCGRATH to TAKOTNA with Doc Sayer. We had such fun and heard some great stories. He comes each year for the IDITAROD watching and to see his good friends, one of which is DICK NEWTON who is "The Mayor" of TAKOTNA!! His wife, now deceased made this checkpoint famous with her pies. Misty has tried to keep up the tradition and seems to be doing a great job. Doc Sayer, Dick and a few others
go from here to Nome on snowmobiles after the mushers have passed thru and meet them in NOME. Just to remind you they are MUCH older men but hearty as can be. They are such fun.

JOAR ULSOM was first into IDITAROD and received the DOROTHY PAGE award.  This is the half way point of the race.

Little history of some villages the mushers are passing through.
NIKOLAI: pop. 91 is an Athabascan Village where residents are active in subsistence food -gathering. ALCOHOL is prohibited in the village (probably why they only have 91 pop!!)

MARTIN BUSER named one of his boys NIKOLAI after the checkpoint and another boy ROHN-same reason.

ROHN: pop. 0
It is an area tied with RAINY PASS and considered one of the most spectacular scenic area around.
From here you go into the flatlands of the interior. ROHN is a cabin checkpoint. The cabin built in 1930's.
Some mushers take their 24 hour layover here to rest up before heading across the bleak and treacherous FAREWELL BURN area.

IDITAROD: Is an abandoned town, named after the Iditarod River. Iditarod comes from the Athabascan word "Haidilathna" (say that 5 times). In 1908 gold was found in a tributary to the Iditarod River. Miners flocked here and built camps known as FLAT. It was a bustling town in 1910. There were hotels, cafes, brothels, 3 newspapers, bank etc. by 1930 the gold source  "dried up".
Now its a ghost town.