Nome , Part The Second - The Race Goes On

After our very late night for the exciting finish to the Iditarod, no-one was in any hurry to get started this morning. I heard the siren go off at about 7:30am and figured it would be for the approaching finish of Mitch Seavey (the father of the winner Dallas), who had been running third when we left the race control centre a few hours before. There was another siren shortly before 10:00am which turned out to be for Norwegian Joar Ulsom, who finished fourth.

After we ate some breakfast we set off on foot to walk into Nome - Sam and Keira having risen earlier and already done likewise. It was a pretty chilly walk so we were happy to stop for brunch at the Pingo Bakery, which we had heard so much about via Nome Announce. This is a local online community bulletin board which Laura had subscribed to a few weeks ago and which had offered an interesting, and sometimes entertaining, window into life in Nome. One example was a moderator's post reminding everyone that Nome Announce is a community forum and then adding "Tony, your remarks about the truck Bill advertised for sale were inappropriate and best said in private, if they needed to be said at all"!). Anyway, it was pleasant brunch at a nice little establishment that we felt we almost knew already, having seen its advertised specials in Nome Announce for so long.

Shortly afterwards we met up with Sam & Keira in the street and went to the race centre to check on the progress of incoming mushers. We noted that Martin Buser (a four time winner and holder of the record for 28 consecutive race finishes) had just left Safety and would be due in around 4:00pm. We checked out the art and craft show at a local church hall, where some of the work on display was similar to the native crafts we had seen back on our first day in Anchorage. After some afternoon tea at the race centre and checking out the local information bureau we took up position to cheer home Martin Buser.

Martin Buser leaves the frozen shore to enter Front Street

I  waited to get photos of Martin and his team as they came up off the frozen foreshore into Front Street. It was interesting to see the dogs rolling on the ground and rubbing their faces in the snow to cool down, even when they already had frost on their whiskers. Clearly they were not as troubled by the cold as we poor bystanders!

Dogs rolling in the snow to cool off!

After Martin's arrival we walked further up the street to the Auoroa Hotel to book ourselves on a snowcat tour to the Safety Roadhouse tomorrow. As we left the hotel we were in a good position to also cheer home the second woman to finish - Jessie Royer - closely followed by Ray Redington a few minutes later. Thereafter we adjourned to a local eatery for dinner. We finished in a bit of a rush when the siren arrounced the imminent arrival of Hans Gatt, leaving Laura to settle the bill as the rest of us rushed back out to see Hans and his team come in. Having watched these proceedings we felt we had had enough for one day (after such a late night last night) and set off to walk back to Brenda's house. Being after sunset by now it was getting quite chilly on the walk, but a nice lady stopped to give Laura and I a lift for the last half of the way (Sam and Keira were enjoying the stroll). There was no enthusiam for another late night so we were all tucked in relatively early.

I heard the siren sound a couple of times during the night and a few times in the morning as another nine mushers reached the finish line between 2:50am and 9:30am. Meanwhile, we all made a late start again and started to walk into town together. This time a cheery gentleman picked us all up - the people of Nome are very friendly. We settled on a late brunch at another eatery before buying some supplies at Pingo Bakery for this afternoon's excursion to Safety.

A herd of Musk Oxen

The snow cat tour started at 2:00pm. It took about and hour and a half to reach the Safety Roadhouse, which is the final race checkpoint 22 miles (35kms) from Nome. Along the way we saw a herd of musk oxen and managed to get reasonably close before they took flight. We were also keeping an eye out for mushers because we knew that there were some due to be in transit between Safety and Nome. Unfortunately we didn't really get to see the New Zealand musher Curt Perano other than as a speck receding in the distance.

Ralph Johannessen enroute to Nome

Not long after Keira spotted an approaching musher and we stopped and piled out for the photo opportunity as he went past. It turned out to be Norwegian rookie Ralph Johannessen, who we later learnt overtook Curt on this final leg to finish about 12 minutes ahead of him.

The Safety Roadhouse turned out to be a quirky little establishment, with most of the walls and ceiling lined with banknotes adorned with messages and autographs pinned up by patrons over a number of years. We subsequentely added an Aussie $5.00 note to this idiosyncratic collection.

Sam & Keira at the Safety Roadhouse

That was not the only interest in being there, however. Speaking to the race officials stationed at Safety we heard first hand accounts of how terrible the weather conditions had been when Aliy had stopped on Monday night. We also learnt how easy it was for Dallas, in the dark and during such apalling weather, to have missed seeing Aliy's dogs, who were tied up at the back of the road house.

During our two hours in Safety we saw two mushers come through on their way to Nome - Cim Smyth and Paige Drobny. It was interesting to watch the proceedings as the race marshal checked the mushers gear and the vet quickly checked the dogs to make sure they were all OK. We noticed that Cim actually led his team back on the trail for the first 50 meters or so past the check point before getting back on the sled, but when Paige tried to leave by just driving from the sled her team kept tying to turn left around the side of the roadhouse. We speculated that maybe they had the scent of the dog meat some teams had stored there (just in sacks on the snow). Our snow cat driver said we could be right as this is often the only checkpoint at which the dogs are not routinely given something to eat.

Some of Paige's team catch a breather at the checkpoint

We read in a newspaper article pinned up inside that Paige was dedicating her race this year to her dog Dorado, who had died in tragic circumstances during last year's race. The mushers all start with a team of 16 dogs but may drop as many as 10 dogs at checkpoints along the way if they feel that they are injured or not coping with the workload or conditions. Last year Paige had dropped Dorado at a checkpoint where he subsequently died of asphysiation after being buried under snow. (Anyone interested can read more about this sad story here).

Laura departing the Safety Roadhouse

One thing we hadn't expeceted to see in Safety was cyclists. However, the third party to come through the checkpoint - not as part of the race obviously - were a young couple from Italy who were cycling the Iditarod route. The bicycles had fat snow tyres rather than the more conventional road tyres I am used to seeing, but even so I couldn't imagine it to be easy riding conditions. And that's without factoring in the freezing temperatures!

Sam & Keira with the little sandcastle on the frozen beach

The trip back to Nome was via a more direct route and took only about an hour with a couple of stops for photo opportunities along the way. Sam took the chance to make a little sand castle on the (frozen) beach along the shoreline and complained that his hands became mighty cold in the process!

Once back in Nome we were in time to watch Paige cross the finish line before adjourning to dinner at one of the local eateries. Afterwards Sam & Keira were going on to see a comedy show ("The Bag Lady") at one of the clubs in Front Street, while Laura & I returned to the site of last night's dinner to have dessert before catching a taxi back Icy View - we were not keen on tackling the long walk in the cold at that time of the evening!

We had a quiet evening thereafter, chatting with Jake and the two Brendas (hostess and fellow guest). At 11:30pm Brenda gave me the use of her car again so I could drive in and collect Sam & Keira from the club after the show. They had enjoyed the show and also met the (Airport Security) guy who is going to be hosting the Aussie musher Christian Turner when he arrives in town. At one point the MC had asked for a show of hands for who thought they had travelled furthest to be there and Sam seemed the likely winner, being from Sydney Australia. However one other chap kept his hand up and when asked by the MC said he came from South Carolina - the MC agreed that was a long way away but was confident that Sydney Australia was further!

The next day was another slow start. No sirens during the night but there was a cluster of four finishers between about 8:00am and 9:30am. Checking the race progress online over breakfast we could see that the Aussie musher Christian Turner was approaching the White Mountain checkpoint - the one before Safety. We crossed our fingers that we would be able to see him finish before we had to catch our 9:10pm flight this evening. It was going to be touch and go.

The unfamiliar sight of Sam buying a book!

After another bracing walk into town we had lunch and watched a couple more mushers reach the finish line before heading to the Nome Museum. As well as being interesting in its own right, at 2:00pm there was a talk and book signing by Dan Seavey senior - one of the entrants in the original Iditarod race in 1973, grandfather of this year's winner Dallas and father of last year's winner Mitch. Dan had finally found the time to complete a book about that first race in 1973 and told some very interesting stories about that race, as well as talking about the way things had changed over the years. This included such things as race tactics and the improvements in dog breeding, training and nutrition, and developments in equipment such as sleds, harnesses and lights. In the early days all teams stopped for the night at dusk, now it a 24 hour a day event. Both Sam and I ended up buying a signed copy of the book.

The old gold dredging machine at Nome

I was keen to get out and have a closer look at the old gold dredger on the eastern end of town, but it was a fair walk, especially in the cold. However we were able to drop into Brenda's workplace and arrange to borrow her car which made it a much quicker and more comfortable excursion. It was also interesting to learn from the information boards more about the local geology and how the gold dredging operations worked.

Brenda gave us a lift back to base since it was now knock-off time for her. We were able to eat in for dinner tonight since Brenda (our hostess) had cooked up a moose stew and Brenda (our fellow guest) had made a couple of different soups that we were all able to share. We were all flying back to Anchorage tonight so there was no point in leaving a lot of left over food.

Of course we were also keeping an eye on the race progress given that Aussie musher Christian Turner had left Safety at 5:01pm and might just finish before we had to fly out. Our flight was due out at 9:10pm, which meant that boarding would be a little after 8:30pm. Three and a half hours should be more than enough time for Christian to reach Nome from Safety, but we had already seen that you can't count on anything in the Iditarod. The arrangement was for Brenda to take the four of  us to the airport so that we could check in while she returned to get other Brenda and Jake. When she returned to drop them at the airport Brenda gave us a lift back to Front Street to see if Christian was getting close.

Aussie musher Christian approaches the finish line

We went straight to the control centre where for a brief moment we thought the indication was that Christian had already finished. However Laura overheard someone else say that he would be in soon just as Sam came in to say that he was coming now. As we dashed up to the the finish line we heard the siren sound and sure enough less than a minute later was the familiar announcement "We have dogs on Front Street". By this stage of the race the crowd was smaller at the finish line and I was able to walk into the finishing area to watch as Christian came in and crossed the finish line at 7:52pm. It was magical timing! We were able to give Christian a big cheer and call out our well wishes. After Christian was all checked in and officially declared as finisher #38 it was time for us to pile back into Brenda's car and head back to the airport. What a perfect ending to our time in Nome! (If you'd like to know more about Christian's experience in the Iditarod, check out this interview from earlier in the race.)

Myself, Sam & Keira watch as Christian is checked-in.

After bidding Brenda thank you and farewell at the airport the transfer back to Anchorage was pretty routine. We bid a temporary farewell to Sam & Keira at Anchorage airport - they were staying on to catch a red-eye flight back to Vancouver via Seattle at about 1:50am - before we caught our shuttle back to the now familiar Clarion Suites for one last time.