This will be my last Iditarod retrospective post, for a while at least. I realized if I don't write a long-winded race report for my blog, I may not have a chance to share photos. (I will not join Instagram. I will not.) Although I'd like to make a post with a hundred photos (I love them all!), I decided to stick to one favorite for each day of my race, with a short description, approximate mileage, and time stamp. (I used my own GPS data to come up with the mileage. Most agree this is an under-estimate of actual mileage.)
Day one: Squall over Flathorn Lake, mile 29. 5:05 p.m. February 28.
Day two: Morning fog on the trail to Finger Lake, mile 110. 9:11 a.m. February 29
Day three: Rainy Pass, mile 171. 2:36 p.m. March 1
Day four: The Farewell Swamps, mile 209. 9:07 a.m. March 2
Day five: Only five miles to McGrath!, mile 301. 9:13 a.m. March 3
Day six: Leaving Takotna, mile 329. 2:49 p.m. March 4
Day seven: The long and bumpy Iron Dog trail, mile 401. 5:14 p.m. March 5
Day eight: Mike, me, Sam and Katie at Innoko shelter cabin, mile 416, (Sam and Katie were not part of the ITI but rode the entire Iditarod Trail independently. The couple from Durango, Colorado, finished the Tour Divide on a tandem in 2014. 9:47 a.m. March 6.
Day nine: Miner's shack with a view on Poorman Road, mile 481. 11:45 a.m. March 7
Day ten: "I hope this Yukon River ice holds," mile 496. 8:45 a.m. March 8
Day eleven: Golden willows near Kaltag, mile 628. 6:36 p.m. March 9
Day twelve: Chasing Mike to Unalakleet, mile 690. 6:36 p.m. March 10
Day thirteen: Facing the wind tunnel from the crest of the Blueberry Hills, mile 734. 4:26 p.m. March 11.
Day fourteen: Mike at Reindeer Cove, mile 755. 1:19 p.m. March 12
Day fifteen: Passed by Brent Sass on the sea ice, mile 780. (Sass was leading the Iditarod Sled Dog Race at the time.) 3:24 p.m. March 13.
Day sixteen: Greeting my superiors on the flats west of Koyuk, mile 801. (I have high respect for sled dogs ... and I'm not even a dog person.) 10:09 a.m. March 14.
Day seventeen: Little McKinley, mile 852. 8:59 a.m. March 15.
Day eighteen: The coldest morning, mile 898. 8:44 a.m. March 16.
Absolutely stunning. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAmazing, beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure. Superb photos.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and serene and yet so daunting and harsh... What an amazing adventure!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, Jill!
ReplyDeleteWow wow wow
ReplyDeleteSome words that come to mind looking at these photos. Beauty, isolation, barren, cold, ,loneliness.....too many to list. So fortunate for those like yourself that have the fortitude to immerse yourselves in this landscape.
ReplyDeleteSeeing these pictures gives me goose bumps. (And not because the scenery looks so frigid.) I am yet again so impressed with your tenacity, dedication, and grit. Huge congrats my friend.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for a post, Jill. It's fun to buzz through your trip in images. My favorite is Day 14. The dark part of Mike's ruff looks like a huge mustache. That combined with his glasses makes it look like you are traveling with a cartoon character. Maybe an Alaskan version of Yosemite Sam!
ReplyDeleteRainy Pass is always stunning (as I know it from your photos). Golden Willows is also an evocative photograph.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these stunning photos! The first squall photo looks unreal and magical, like something out of a fairy tale. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThese are incredible. So beautiful. I loved following your progress this year as it became clearer and clearer that the breathing problems didn't cause any big issues and you were going to make it to Nome.
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