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Day 9
March 10, 2002
The wind was unbelievable today!
Hello Everyone!
We stayed in Unalakleet again today due to high winds. They were gusting at speeds of 35 to 55 m.p.h. It was challenging to walk against the wind, and painful when the wind swept snow stung your eyes.
Jerry Riley arrives in Unalakleet in the driving wind. There were gusts up to 60 mph.
Jeff King surrounds his dog with hay but the hay blows away. Here you can see the hay as the wind blows it against the dogs.
The wind chill made it so cold that I wore my dad's wolf hat. Boy was it warm!
I had breakfast at the lodge and by the time I went down to the checkpoint Martin Buser and Ramy Brooks had already left. DeeDee was still feeding her dogs.
DeeDee walks through to take one last look at her dogs before heading out.
DeeDee smiles at a friend
I was impressed that even though her team disliked the high winds, they were still willing to head for Nome. She walked ahead of them at first for encouragement, but once they started running, they continued on their own. DeeDee looked good, and as always, was moving quickly in order to be able to depart as soon as she was allowed.
John Lilttle's team looked awesome. They were as perky and alert as he.
John Little gets the team ready to go
Here is John Little's dog waiting for more food. John told me that the dog will eat anything. Last year the vet found six booties in it's stomach after the race!
Ramey Smyth was planning to drop a couple of dogs.
Ramey Smyth just arrived
Jerry Riley was not thrilled that he only had six dogs remaining, and was wishing he had not dropped two earlier who were only tired. He said he would take it easy to ensure that he would actually get to Nome.
Many of the checkpoints have volunteers who make big meals for the mushers for free. The village residents use their own money to cook the food and serve the mushers. Some of the checkpoints, like here in Unalakleet have a cake, coffee, and Tang for the mushers, but many mushers were eager to have something warm. Jeff King was going to eat his frozen lasagna from a ziplock bag for the sixth time since he hit the trail, while Jerry Riley, John Baker, and Charlie Boulding walked down to the lodge to find a much deserved hot meal. Ray Redington Jr. was greeted by his family with plate of moose steak (that his brother had hunted) and baked potatoes.
A resting team battles the wind
Have you been following the progress of Lynda Plettner and Al Hardman? They have been dong incredibly well! Lynda will no doubt have her best finish ever and stay in the top twenty, while Al may be in the top fifteen! Go Al! I hope Nikki and all of you are still on that sled when he reaches Nome. I'm so proud of him and his dogs for doing so very well. Remember that his other two races ended in 33rd and maybe 35th place. He is really on a roll. One of his handlers is staying at my hotel and said that he is keeping a very steady pace, and a fast one at that. I said goodbye to him as he left and he said he was tired. He left with fourteen dogs who appeared to be running strong.
Al's dog sits waiting for it's booties
Al hits the trail and heads toward Shaktoolik
That's all of the news for today. Tomorrow we fly to Nome and I visit Mrs. Ried's fifth grade.
Mrs. Holmes
Sunset in Unalakleet
Unalakleet, - Tuesday, March 12, 2002 at 17:04:16 (EST)
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Mrs. Holmes
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Webspace for Mrs. Holmes Iditarod 2002 project was provided courtesy of
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