Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Noatak 120

The first dog race of the season, the Noatak 120, started today at 10 am. It was -16F and calm winds so it was pretty nice out. There are 6 teams this year....Ed Iten, Quinn Iten, Robert Nelson, Darin Nelson, John Baker, and Baker's handler, Heath. The Noatak 120 is a mass start that runs from the ice in front of Kotzebue approximately 60 miles to the Village of Noatak along the Noatak River. After a mandatory four hour layover in Noatak they head back to Kotzebue. They should start coming in about the same time as our New Year's Eve fireworks. So here are some pics.....


Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket



Photobucket
These are Ed Iten's Dogs.



Photobucket
Ed's dogs waiting patiently for the racet o start.



Photobucket
Ed Iten and his son Quinn.


Photobucket
Ed again.



Photobucket



Photobucket
I think this is Darin Nelson.



Photobucket
John Baker.


Photobucket
John's dogs again.



Photobucket
John Baker's handler, Heath, who is running John's 2nd team.

.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, tis the season. At long last. Thanks for the audio, and now the visual to go with it! Thanks for braving the elements to bring us the pictures. They're great. Wish I was there, on the runners...
120 miles behind the dogs...ah, bliss. Cold, but blissful!

CD

Anonymous said...

WOW...Looks a little chilly!

MCorder
MJCorder.com

Anonymous said...

Wow - thanks for the cool pics - it's so interesting to see what life is like "up there"! I also can't get over the short periods of daylight you're getting - I never thought about what it was like to live it, and experience such chilly darkness during the day.

Super Smooth ANDY-G said...

Cathy,

Good visuals on the early morning start. Dog mushing. What a sport and a lifestyle for a lot of people. Makes me wonder how cold it is there at Kotz. Hey, its -17F in Fairbanks, without the windchill or the humid Chukchi Sea.

Anonymous said...

I got a surprise, seeing your weather. It is warmer there (-27) than it is here between Willow and Talkeetna right now (-31). We're both lucky not to be in the interior where it is really cold today.