K-300 race trail
There are still two racers out - they waited in Tuluksak for river conditions to improve and were supposed to head out this morning.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Kuskokwim 300 Dog Sled Race 2008
The K-300 dog sled races started Friday, January 18th. The event consists of three races: Bogus Creek 150, Akiak Dash, and the K-300. As the name suggests, Bogus Creek 150 is 150 miles round trip and started at 5 pm on Friday, with the winner crossing the finish line at noon on Saturday.
Robert Tikiun, Jr. leaves the starting line in the Bogus Creek 150.
Unlike the Bogus Creek and K-300 which draw for starting position, the Akiak Dash uses a “mass” start. As the Dash was starting at 2 pm on Saturday, mushers from the Bogus Creek race were still finishing so teams were going both ways! I volunteered at the start/finish line and it was fun to be part of the excitement.
The last musher in the Bogus Creek had scratched so we were done. Temperatures warmed up over the weekend into the high 30’s creating a mushy mess on the river. While I was confident driving onto the river Friday night when it was still cold, driving onto it Saturday was literally hair raising. There is overflow along the shore, where the high tide pushes water over the ice, but it look like you are driving INTO the river, not ONTO it.
I chickened out and elected to follow the others to a different access spot - but obviously it would have been fine - in fact I used this access point later that evening and it was actually better than the one north of here.
Race and river travel excitement over, I headed home until my evening shift volunteering at race headquarters, but soon received a phone call asking me to go back to the start/finish line because the last musher in the Bogus Creek hadn’t scratched but was still on the trail. I picked up another volunteer, Kate, and we waited on the river from 5:15 until he crossed the finish line at 7:07 pm. Our wait was enhanced by a spectacular sundown.
Waiting for Robert Tikiun Jr., whose picture I had taken earlier!
Robert Tikiun, Jr. leaves the starting line in the Bogus Creek 150.
The K-300 race started at 6:30 pm on Friday. The teams started in pairs at the start/finish line. They will travel through the night, have a mandatory rest break, turn inland at Aniak, travel to Pike Lake and back and then head down river.
Can we go? Huh? Can we? The dogs are frantic to get on the trail.
The hovercraft - which hauls freight up and down the Kushkokwim River, supplied free hotdogs. Who could resist?
Unlike the Bogus Creek and K-300 which draw for starting position, the Akiak Dash uses a “mass” start. As the Dash was starting at 2 pm on Saturday, mushers from the Bogus Creek race were still finishing so teams were going both ways! I volunteered at the start/finish line and it was fun to be part of the excitement.
The last musher in the Bogus Creek had scratched so we were done. Temperatures warmed up over the weekend into the high 30’s creating a mushy mess on the river. While I was confident driving onto the river Friday night when it was still cold, driving onto it Saturday was literally hair raising. There is overflow along the shore, where the high tide pushes water over the ice, but it look like you are driving INTO the river, not ONTO it.
I chickened out and elected to follow the others to a different access spot - but obviously it would have been fine - in fact I used this access point later that evening and it was actually better than the one north of here.
Race and river travel excitement over, I headed home until my evening shift volunteering at race headquarters, but soon received a phone call asking me to go back to the start/finish line because the last musher in the Bogus Creek hadn’t scratched but was still on the trail. I picked up another volunteer, Kate, and we waited on the river from 5:15 until he crossed the finish line at 7:07 pm. Our wait was enhanced by a spectacular sundown.
Waiting for Robert Tikiun Jr., whose picture I had taken earlier!
Next it was back to race headquarters for an evening of answering phones, updating the computer with musher’s times at checkpoints, and updating the race board. I volunteered until midnight and people were still coming in to see how the races were going.
First place winner of the K-300 was Mitch Seavey, arriving at 8:09 pm Sunday night. 24 hours later, a father and son crossed the finish line, each with their own team. I know because I was there! They were short of volunteers Monday so I had been helping at race headquartes and was pressed into service again as a checker at the finish line. There was a foot of water in places on the river. Yes, I drove my car there but I followed a pickup truck and had no problems. It just looked really scary. The trail conditions were terrible. Warm temperatures continued to melt the snow on the river and mushers reported seeing trail markers floating by and that the dogs had to swim at times. At this time there are two mushers still in the race but yet to finish. Visit www.k300.org for more information and pictures.
Vikki
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A few more pretty pictures of Bethel in the winter…
The local cemetary - stunning on a sunny day!
Braving the elements…………………….traffic on the river
People travel on the river in various ways.
The local cemetary - stunning on a sunny day!
Braving the elements…………………….traffic on the river
People travel on the river in various ways.
Bethel grafitti!
Pictures from a trip on the river
The first picture shows the “road” and the tracks that are easy to follow on the river. The branches mark the road and have reflectors tied to them for night driving. In the second picture I’m pulled over onto the snow machine trail.
Kevin Smart escorted us by snow machine.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Yesterday I had a new experience. I drove my car on the river ice road. Not quite like those truckers on Discovery channel, but hairy scary enough for me! My heart was pounding!! I took the Smart family for a quick visit to their village which is about 10 miles south of Bethel on the Kuskokwim river. The trail is generally easy to follow due to the visible tire tracks and for night driving there are reflectors tied to large branches along the trail. However there are several spots where drifting snow make the trail less obvious and one must be alert to stay on the main road and not wind up following joyriding tracks that might lead to trouble. I had one such brief encounter when I realized I had strayed slightly off the main road (so much for my local guides - they weren’t paying attention) and jerked back to the correct direction which caused my car to fishtail and threw my passengers around roughly. Talk about getting my heart rate up!! Probably the worse that would have happened was for my car to get stuck, it wasn’t as if I could go through the ice, but stuck is bad enough. I had many questions - who moves off the trail into the powedered snow when there is an on-coming car? What’s the protocol if I’m driving slower than others, do I pull off to let them go around me? Whats the speed limit? All my questions ellicted chuckles and the reply to “just drive”. (there is a snow machine trail along side the road which has flattened the snow and the car traveling on that side of the road drives on the snow when there is an on coming car) When it was time to exit the river and drive up onto the bank and into the village, even the locals had a hard time discerning the correct trail as there were so many snow machine tracks. We made it safely and the drive home just before sunset was beautifully golden. I look forward to driving on the river again but taking more pictures next time.
Hugs
Vikki
Bethel when it’s really cold:
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Happy 2008!
I returned to Bethel Monday, January 7th. The weather has been below zero and everything is frozen solid. Brrrrr! I had a great time in Washington, visiting friends and family. I took my sister Robbin to Ocean Shores for her first trip to the coast and had a unforgettable fondue extravaganza on New Year’s Eve. I enjoyed good food, good company and good shopping. Too soon it was time to return. Smores is becoming quite the seasoned traveller. She didn’t make a peep the whole trip. Anchorage airport has “rest” rooms for rent by the hour so I took an hour of my layover to stretch out and let Smores out of her carrier. What a great concept!! Why don’t more airports have something like that? The room had a tv, love seat with reclining seats and a computer and printer.
I returned to Bethel Monday, January 7th. The weather has been below zero and everything is frozen solid. Brrrrr! I had a great time in Washington, visiting friends and family. I took my sister Robbin to Ocean Shores for her first trip to the coast and had a unforgettable fondue extravaganza on New Year’s Eve. I enjoyed good food, good company and good shopping. Too soon it was time to return. Smores is becoming quite the seasoned traveller. She didn’t make a peep the whole trip. Anchorage airport has “rest” rooms for rent by the hour so I took an hour of my layover to stretch out and let Smores out of her carrier. What a great concept!! Why don’t more airports have something like that? The room had a tv, love seat with reclining seats and a computer and printer.
Next on the agenda in Bethel is the Kuskokwim 300 dog sled race which starts on January 18th. The river “truck road” is offically open so cars and trucks can be seen coming and going from Bethel on the river. I’m not brave enough to try it just yet - I’ll wait for a few more weeks of below zero weather to add to the river ice thickness. After that - I’m game!! Enjoy these recent winter pictures.
River travel - not only for humans! Rush hour?
Hoar frost on my car antenna Raven snacking
This is the inside of my door! Brrrr My sister Robbin, at Ocean Shores
