The First Racers Arrived.

The town I am in is towards the end of the Iditarod race which started earlier in the month.  The first few racers arrived in town today on their way from Kaltag to Shaktoolik on their way to the finish line in Nome.

The first person arrived around 10 this morning, well ahead of other racers.  Thomas Wasmer, from Norway, arrived at 10:08 this morning and spent 5 hours giving his dogs a break before taking off.

He took off just before the second person arrived.  It is kind of interesting that they use a drone to keep an eye out for arriving team.  The spotter yells that the next team is coming and everyone anxiously stares at the horizon looking for them.

As soon as a team arrives, they park where they are directed to by officials.  The musher pulls off the doggy booties and several vets swarm to the team checking them.  They look at the paws, listen to their hearts, to make sure they are healthy.

One the physical is completed, the dogs are then fed and watered.  The musher sometimes eats at this point before heading off.  Once the musher has completed everything, they head off to the next checkpoint.

I popped down around 2 or so this afternoon to take pictures and enjoy watching some of the leaders arrive and head out.  This is a huge event in town.  A bunch of us wandered down to check things out.  Yes we had fewer than 50 people gathering but honestly, we don't believe the virus has any chance of arriving until after everyone comes back from spring break because many went to other states with outbreaks.

This is one of the first mushers heading off to the next checkpoint.

He is off to Shaktoolik.

 He is heading down the slew, ready to go under the bridge and then out to the trail.

This team just came in and are being parked.

I thought I'd share a few pictures of the mushers on the Iditarod trail as they head towards Nome.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.