This was a big weekend for Bethel....there was a concert, a fiddle dance, a hopping headquarters, a banquet(on monday), and then, of course, the races. The Kuskokwim 300, Bogus Creek 150, and Akiak Dash are all sled dog races that took place this weekend. The races all take place on the river. The starting line was a busy place and it was unreal to see so many cars and trucks all parked out on a sheet of ice. Here are the dogs getting ready to leave for the Bogus Creek 150. The BC150 was the first race to leave at 5:00pm Friday night. The racers came back most of the day on Saturday.
At the starting line, two runners at a time line up. Two runners left every two minutes until all the racers were out.
A of the lead dogs getting ready to leave the chute.
It was so amazing to me how many cars and trucks were out parked on the ice. There were hundreds. Someone was telling me that the ice on the river is 16 inches thick. I have heard that it can get as thick as 6 feet.
Cars and trucks get on and off the river by driving down/up the little beach. There was a bunch of overflow (water that flows over the ice) near the beach and many people were hesitant to drive through it. I still havent built up the courage to even think about driving out on the river.
These are the dogs of Jessica Klejka's team. She is a Senior who is running the K300 for the first time. She came in 3rd in the Junior Iditarod last year.
Here she is with her sled.
This is the sled of another racer. She has a handy dandy seat installed.
Bethel has a hovercraft company. I had never seen one until Friday night. So this is what a real life hovercraft looks like.
We saw these two little native kids totally decked out in furs. They were so cute.
Inside the hovercraft, they were serving free hotdogs! So we even got to go IN the hovercraft! I think maybe I'll try to take a ride this summer once it gets warm again.
Here I am with some of Jessica's dog team. Avery and I got to help them with the team. We got to be "handlers" for her team. We helped to hold on to the dogs so they dont go taking off too soon.
Here is the whole dog team getting hooked up.
Here's my friend Christy holding on to some of Jessica's dogs.
The preparations are almost done. Jessica (#10) getting some last minutes advice from her Dad.
Here she is giving her lead dogs some last minute love and encouragement.
I got a last minute pic with Jessica before she left. I was routing for her. She was so nervous. She's been training for awhile. She was doing really great about half way through the race, unfortunately she had to scratch.
Here is the view from the chute. They were just counting down to the start of Jessica's run. The race weekend looked like it was going to be so wonderful. There was nice powder, great warm temps, and an almost full moon. But then things changed...on Saturday morning, we woke up to record temps, 40 mile an hour wind, and rain, which melted the snow and turned it into slush.
This is a cool shot. All the dogs eyes are glowing, along with the reflective tape and headlamps. I felt so bad for the mushers running in those conditions.
Here we are standing on a frozen river, all bundled up.
The K300 racers got back tonight starting around 7pm. I was supposed to work the finish line from 12-4, but when we got there, they said that they didnt need anyone because none of the racers were due back yet. The race took longer than predicted because of the crappy weather conditions. You can check out all the race results at K300.org
At the starting line, two runners at a time line up. Two runners left every two minutes until all the racers were out.
A of the lead dogs getting ready to leave the chute.
It was so amazing to me how many cars and trucks were out parked on the ice. There were hundreds. Someone was telling me that the ice on the river is 16 inches thick. I have heard that it can get as thick as 6 feet.
Cars and trucks get on and off the river by driving down/up the little beach. There was a bunch of overflow (water that flows over the ice) near the beach and many people were hesitant to drive through it. I still havent built up the courage to even think about driving out on the river.
These are the dogs of Jessica Klejka's team. She is a Senior who is running the K300 for the first time. She came in 3rd in the Junior Iditarod last year.
Here she is with her sled.
This is the sled of another racer. She has a handy dandy seat installed.
Bethel has a hovercraft company. I had never seen one until Friday night. So this is what a real life hovercraft looks like.
We saw these two little native kids totally decked out in furs. They were so cute.
Inside the hovercraft, they were serving free hotdogs! So we even got to go IN the hovercraft! I think maybe I'll try to take a ride this summer once it gets warm again.
Here I am with some of Jessica's dog team. Avery and I got to help them with the team. We got to be "handlers" for her team. We helped to hold on to the dogs so they dont go taking off too soon.
Here is the whole dog team getting hooked up.
Here's my friend Christy holding on to some of Jessica's dogs.
The preparations are almost done. Jessica (#10) getting some last minutes advice from her Dad.
Here she is giving her lead dogs some last minute love and encouragement.
I got a last minute pic with Jessica before she left. I was routing for her. She was so nervous. She's been training for awhile. She was doing really great about half way through the race, unfortunately she had to scratch.
Here is the view from the chute. They were just counting down to the start of Jessica's run. The race weekend looked like it was going to be so wonderful. There was nice powder, great warm temps, and an almost full moon. But then things changed...on Saturday morning, we woke up to record temps, 40 mile an hour wind, and rain, which melted the snow and turned it into slush.
This is a cool shot. All the dogs eyes are glowing, along with the reflective tape and headlamps. I felt so bad for the mushers running in those conditions.
Here we are standing on a frozen river, all bundled up.
The K300 racers got back tonight starting around 7pm. I was supposed to work the finish line from 12-4, but when we got there, they said that they didnt need anyone because none of the racers were due back yet. The race took longer than predicted because of the crappy weather conditions. You can check out all the race results at K300.org
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1 comment:
So COOL!
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