Martin Buser led the 2015 Iditarod to Tanana, the first to the Yukon and the first of many to take a mandatory 8-hour rest along the river.
But Tanana was the end of a long day of mushing — and even though temperatures dipped to 30 below, many mushers spent the heat of the day — which reached a relatively mild 10 below by the afternoon — at Manley Hot Springs.
Manley Hot Springs wasn’t exactly hot during the second day of the Iditarod — but with dozens of dog teams basking in the bright afternoon sun, it looked more like a day at the beach than the Iditarod checkpoint. But pulling it all together wasn’t easy. Just ask Joe Redington, Jr., the son of Joe Redington, Sr. — known as “the father of the Iditarod.”
“Yep,” joked Redington, Jr. “I’m the son of the father.”
Redington, Jr. volunteered to organize the Manley checkpoint this year, clearing room for as many as 40 teams at a time; organizing check-ins; delivering drop bags and more. That’s on top of making sure there was enough soup, chili, rice, and cinnamon buns for the mushers — many of whom scarfed down lunch at the checkpoints cozy musher’s room.
Like any lead dog, Redington, Jr. said he had “a lot of help” organizing the checkpoint, which held particular significance for him.
“I’m excited about it because my dad started the race and…now I’m a checker and it’s coming through my hometown at Manley. That’s pretty exciting for me,” he said.
But “exciting” wasn’t the word most mushers used to describe Manley — more like “laid back.” Anna Berrington, running her 4th Iditarod, said it was warm welcome after camping in the cold along the first 150 miles of the trail.
“My dog team hasn’t been in cold like that since New Years’ Day. I think it zapped them a little bit. So they’re just happy to be laying in the sun right now,” said Berrington.
For Kotzebue’s Chuck Schaeffer, Manley Hot Springs was the place to reconnect with old friends during a leisurely 6-hour rest. By nightfall more than 20 teams had made it to Tanana.
Many mushers were in high spirits as they settled in to take their mandatory 8-hour layover on the Yukon — including Brent Sass, who despite mushing a team of dogs for more than 200 miles through temperatures down to 30 below — pulled out a wintry snack of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream from his sled.
“Ice cream is good,” said Sass. “It’s perfect for [the trail].”
Unfortunately, the Yukon Quest champ’s mood was dampened by a disqualification from the race on Tuesday evening. Iditarod officials disqualified Sass after learning that his music player, an iPod Touch that he had used on the Yukon Quest, was capable of accessing wireless internet.
Race marshal Mark Nordman disqualified the musher for using a “two-way communication device,” which is forbidden by the Iditarod’s rules.
A teary-eyed Sass didn’t contest the decision, telling reporters it was a simple oversight and explaining that he only used the player as an alarm clock and music player. Choking back tears, the Eureka musher, who was in fifth into Tanana by the time he was removed from the race, apologized to his fans — and to his dogs.
After a leisurely run through new checkpoints in fresh country, Buser’s pace to Tanana and Sass’ sudden disqualification came as a stark reminder to mushers enjoying the sunshine in Tanana that there is still a race on.
And with top teams now headed to Ruby, that race is only just getting started.
