IT'S MARCH...MARK THE DATE,IDITAROD

The top 10 are all on their way to Cripple in the following order

1 Jessie Holmes MILE 387
2 Paige Drobny MILE 381
3 Mille Porsild MILE 379
4 Ryan Redington MILE 379
5 Travis Beals MILE 379
6 Michelle Phillips MILE 379
7 Peter Kaiser MILE 378
8 Jessie Royer MILE 374
9 Riley Dyche MILE 369
10 Wade Marrs MILE 367

THINK TEMP IS NEG. 60...I'VE DONE NEG 55....NO WIND THO.

FredHayek wrote: I believed the modeled the town in Northern Exposure on Tatonka.

it was always hilarious when they talked about CANTWELL(like it was a little berg),,as of a couple of years ago, CANTWELL had may be three buildings, no gas,no groceries, just I think ,storage and junk
(it's been awhile,so maybe that has changed thru the years, but back then, it was a drive-thru, no services area.

I think, they actually shot the scenes here

Filming Location of Northern Exposure
Main Filming Site

Roslyn, Washington: The entire series was filmed in Roslyn, which served as the stand-in for the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska. The town's rustic look and historical architecture made it an ideal location for the show.

Notable Filming Locations in Roslyn
Location Description
ngton, it was a popular setting in the series.Roslyn Café Featured prominently in the opening sequence.
The Brick Tavern Considered one of the oldest bars in Washi
Cicely's Gift Shop The shop sells souvenirs and was used as Dr. Joel Fleischman's office in the show.
KBHR Studio The radio station set, located near the original site in Roslyn.
Additional Information

Interior Scenes: Some interior scenes were filmed in studios located in Redmond, Washington.

Here's our top 10 as of 9:58 am AKDT
Elapsed race time: 4d 19h 58m

1 Jessie Holmes MILE 495 just outside of Ruby heading towards Galena (Mile 545)

In Ruby (Mile 495)
2 Paige Drobny MILE 495

Heading towards Ruby
3 Mille Porsild MILE 489
4 Riley Dyche MILE 473
5 Ryan Redington MILE 466
6 Travis Beals MILE 465
7 Jessie Royer MILE 463
8 Michelle Phillips MILE 463
9 Matt Hall MILE 462
10 Peter Kaiser MILE 461

Looks like everyone has completed their 24!!!

titarod.com wrote:
Jessie Holmes in bib 7 was the first musher to reach the Cripple checkpoint. At mile 425, Cripple is considered to be the halfway checkpoint on the northern route. Jessie arrived just before 14:00 with 16 dogs in harness.

The first musher into Cripple wins the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award. Holmes was given the choice of either $3,000 in gold nuggets which represents the area’s mining history or a smartphone of his choosing with a year of free GCI mobile service. Jessie said, “The cell phone would be really great but I’d probably lose it like my other phones so I’ll take the gold and put it toward what I need for the dogs.”

The halfway award honors the late “Mother of the Iditarod,” Dorothy G. Page. While Page wasn’t on the front lines organizing the first Iditarod, she is given credit for the idea of having a race over part of the Iditarod Trail. In helping to organize the Iditarod Trail Centennial Race held in 1967, Page planted the seed for a much grander longer race across Alaska utilizing the Iditarod Trail. By selling this idea to the Centennial Committee, Page played a significant role in mothering the Iditarod we know today.

Jody Potts-Joseph had an intense experience when she faced a bison on the trail a few miles out of Rohn.

Image

Quote:
Insider.com wrote:
While in McGrath, Jody shared her story with Insider. Her team rounded a corner and a bison was coming toward them on the trail. Bison have shorter legs than moose so when there’s a great deal of snow, it’s hard for them to get through the snow. They choose to travel on the hardpacked trails the teams are using. This grumpy bison had no intention of giving the trail to the dog team so it lowered its head and began pawing at the ground and then it charged toward the dog team but stopped short. Not once but several times.

Jody had a pistol and decided to fire warning shots. All she got was a “click.” So reloaded but still just “Click, Click.” Then she tried a different tactic. She moved up to her leaders and took cover behind the trunk of a spruce tree then began hitting the bison with sticks and branches. Still the bison held the trail.

Jody then recalled what her Grandmother had done when an aggressive grizzly bear came near to their cabin when her five little children were playing outside. Grandmother told the children to go inside then she walked with “courage and boldness” up to the bear and began speaking in her native language of Han Gwich”in. Translated she said, “Go away! Have mercy on us. Leave us alone.” The bear calmed, turned and walked away from the cabin. Speaking in Han Gwich”in Jody said the same thing to the bison. Unbelievably, the bison turned and trotted back down the trail. Han Gwich”in elders believe that animals understand their native language. From Jody’s story, it seems they do.

While this was all taking place, Jody was thinking of the unfortunate moose incident Susan Butcher experienced in 1985. An aggressive moose stomped into Susan’s team and critically injured some of her dogs. At least for the time being, none of the dogs or Jody had been harmed.

But it’s not the end of the story. It took Jody quite some time and some help from mushers who caught up with her to untangle her dog team. They took their time to let the bison cool down and hopefully leave the trail. Unfortunately, in less than a mile, they came upon the bison. Before getting too close, she fired several warning shots into the air with a pistol she had borrowed from one of the other mushers and eventually the bison went off into the woods allowing the teams to pass safely on by.

It’s quite thrilling to see eight of those imposing creatures from a distance of 200 yards as Jason did. It’s a bit daunting to see a pair of bison standing next to the trail as Gabe did. Given these creatures stand up to 6 feet tall and can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, having one on the trail charging your dog team would fill anyone with fear. Jody says she can hardly believe that talking to the bison in her native tongue saved them from tragedy. Perhaps her Grandmother’s spirit helped too.

Top 11 mushers as of 3:49 am AKDT
Elapsed race time: 5d 13h 49m

Heading towards Nulato (Mile 582)
1 Jessie Holmes MILE 564
2 Paige Drobny MILE 551
3 Riley Dyche MILE 546

In Galena (Mile 545)
4 Travis Beals
5 Mille Porsild
6 Michelle Phillips
7 Wade Marrs
8 Peter Kaiser
9 Jeff Deeter
10 Matt Hall
11 Jessie Royer

Paige Drobny checked out of Galena about 2 hrs after Jessie Holmes. It is going to be tough for her to catch him. But there's a lot of race still to go.

What about the Expedition mushers?
Kjell Rokke & Thomas Waerner are at Kaltag (Mile 629) which is ~65 miles ahead of Jessie Holmes.
Steve Curtis (w/Jeff King) are in McGrath which is 114 miles behind the slowest race musher Jodi Potts-Joseph in Cripple. I'm sure Steve is not happy about that. I wonder why Jeff is setting such a slow pace? Does he think the dog team isn't capable of more???
ABOUT HALF WAY THRU THE RACE.....hope the rest of the race is smooth and not "freaky"

Earlier in the race (~2 days ago), Jessie Holmes told the Insider that he was on pace to complete the race in 8 days. Well, 8 days exactly would put him in Nome at 2:10 pm Monday.

The record is 7 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes, and 57 seconds set by Dallas Seavey in 2021. But that "post" pandemic modified course was a bit shorter than the traditional routes.

Otherwise, the fastest Iditarod finish was 8 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes, 13 seconds set by Mitch Seavey in 2017.

Here's our top 10as of 4:29 pm AKDT
Elapsed Race Time: 6d 2h 29m


In Kaltag (Mile 629)
1 Jessie Holmes

Mushing towards Kaltag
2 Paige Drobny MILE 596

In Nulato (Mile 582)
3 Travis Beals
4 Riley Dyche
5 Wade Marrs
6 Mille Porsild
7 Michelle Phillips
8 Matt Hall
9 Ryan Redington

Mushing towards Nulato
10 Jeff Deeter MILE 577

LESS THAN 400 MILES TO GO


Good morning!

Here's our top 10 as of 4:37 am AKDT

Heading towards Unalakleet (Mile 714)
1 Jessie Holmes MILE 675
2 Paige Drobny MILE 658
3 Mille Porsild MILE 658
4 Travis Beals MILE 653
5 Wade Marrs MILE 650
6 Riley Dyche MILE 650
7 Jeff Deeter MILE 645

In Kaltag (Mile 629)
8 Ryan Redington
9 Michelle Phillips
10 Matt Hall



Not surprising, Jessie Holmes was the first to Kaltag and thus won the Fish First Award.

Quote:
Iditarod.com wrote:

Veteran musher Jessie Holmes (bib # 7), of Brushkana, Alaska, is the first musher to arrive at the Kaltag checkpoint at 4:23 p.m. with 13 dogs in harness. In doing so, Holmes claims the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award, which has been presented since 2014. BBNC’s Board Chairman, Russell Nelson, traveled to Kaltag to present the award, which consists of 25 pounds of fresh Bristol Bay salmon filets, $2,000 and a wood burned art piece by BBNC shareholder artist Apay’uq Moore.

Bristol Bay is home to the world’s largest wild sockeye salmon fishery. BBNC has endorsed a Fish First value for land and resource management in Bristol Bay. In all land management and resource development decisions, adequate protections for fish and fish habitat will always be a priority. The Fish First Award will be re-presented to Holmes at the finishers banquet in Nome.

The first check point on the Bering Sea is Unalakleet Checkpoint (Mile 714):

Quote:
Iditarod.com wrote
Population 882 -- Situated on the coast of Norton Sound, just north of the Unalakleet River, this village is the largest community on the Iditarod Trail between Wasilla and Nome. Two well stocked stores, as well as two restaurants can be found here along with limited lodging by advance booking. The trail is now entering the gateway to the Bering Sea and from here on the mushers can expect sudden storms and an ample supply of wind.

essie Holmes wins the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award

Quote:
Iditarod Staff wrote:

Veteran musher Jessie Holmes (bib # 7), of Brushkana, Alaska, is the first musher to reach the Unalakleet checkpoint at 9:27 a.m. with 13 dogs in harness, making him the recipient of the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award.

This award was first presented in 1987 and will be presented this year in Unalakleet by Ryan Air’s Marketing Director Stefanie Miller. Sponsored by Ryan Air since 2019, the award consists of $2,500 worth of gold nuggets from the Bering Straits region as well as a beautiful carved loon by artist Mark Tetpon, and a gold pan plaque commemorating this feat.

Ryan Air was founded in Unalakleet and its core business is serving the people who live along the Bering Sea coast and throughout western Alaska. Mushing has long been a way of life for the Ryan family. The company’s founder drove mail by dog team between Unalakleet and Kaltag in the early 1900s and other Ryan family members also mushed dogs in the territorial guard with Muktuk Marston.