GALENA — Iditarod Sled Dog Race teams at the head of the pack were wrapping up their mandatory 24-hour breaks at checkpoints along the trail Friday, including the one in this Interior community.
Mushers at the Galena checkpoint, almost 400 miles into the trail, were visibly weary, with dark circles under their eyes and a shuffling gait. In the early hours of the morning, they listlessly filed through the checkpoint’s coffee station before heading out into the cold to begin their dog chores.
But Iditarod competitor Lauro Eklund of Two Rivers said, at some point, caffeine just ceases to work.
“There's moments when you're kind of getting a little loopy and whatnot, and it's just one of those deals where you will yourself to stay awake,” he said. “Eating something, brushing your teeth — it all helps kick your body into being awake.”
But 2023 Iditarod champion Ryan Redington of Knik said he’ll just give into the fatigue every so often. He’ll zonk out on the back of his sled for short spells, trusting his dogs to take him where they need to go.
“I take little naps here and there, and just let a bump wake me up,” Redington said. “Most of the time, it works out really well. Last year, I paid the price — I fell off my sled. So, this year, I tied myself down.”
Redington said when he took that big spill last year, his dogs decided to leave him in the dust.
“I asked them to stop, and they all looked back at me, and then they just picked up the pace,” he said, laughing.
He had to hitch a ride with another musher to catch up with them — and only managed to do so after his empty sled overturned.
Gabe Dunham said she trains hard in the off-season for the long, sleepless race nights. She’s well-equipped to fight off the exhaustion, having packed out heaps of Safeway buffet food to keep herself comfortable and energized.
But this week, a sandstorm on an earlier section of trail was no comfort to her tired eyes. A strong wind kicked up the silt on the surface of melting Tanana riverbeds, blowing it straight into her and her dogs’ faces.
“You could see this wall of wind and sand — it just looked like a dark cloud, really,” she said. “So, we stopped outside of it, and I pulled my parka out, even though it was like 35 above, and I put that on just for wind protection. The dogs handled it remarkably well.”
The mushers are looking forward to firmer snow and colder temperatures on the next leg of the trail. From Galena, they head to Nulato, then Kaltag and loop down to Anvik and back before racing to the Bering Sea coast.