On Saturday, Jan. 17, after a day and a half of being on weather standby, Jon and Erin and I hopped on a plane to Upper Kalskag, Alaska, a small village about 100 miles upriver from Bethel. Kalskag is a main checkpoint on the Kuskokwim 300 dog race trail. Each year, the JVs are race checkers for the "K300," as it is so affectionately called. It's a win-win deal: the K300 gets free labor out of us, and we get free trips to villages, adventure, and funtimes with dog mushers and the people of the delta. And, the race didn't start until noon on Sunday, which meant that mushers weren't into Kalskag until after 9pm, so we had a lot of time to explore.
Working the K300 was one of (if not the) most fun and exciting things I have done all year. As race checkers, we were responsible for noting what time each musher came into the checkpoint, counting their dogs, taking care of any dogs they decided to drop (you don't need to finish the race with as many dogs as you started with), and making sure they stayed the amount of time required by race rules. Because Kalskag is a main layover checkpoint on the race trail, we got a lot of face time with the mushers and got to be right in the craziness that is completing a 300 mile dogsled race. And, because the K300 trail goes from Bethel to Aniak and BACK AGAIN we got to see everyone twice in a 24-36 hour period. Lucky us!
The atmosphere at the checkpoint was a ton of fun. Mushers coming in at all hours of the night, one after another, very hectic. Families, dogs, race officials all hanging out - K300 is like a holiday weekend in the Delta. We met lots of Kalskag-ians, including many, many a cute little kid. I played some rousing games of Go Fish while waiting for the mushers. We had a lovely woman named Loreen cooking looots of native food for us all weekend - I ate toons of frybread, agutaq (Eskimo ice cream), moose stew, etc. I even tried moose intestine! (Not bad.) It was awesome.
However, the most fun thing about it was my actual responsibilty as a race checker. Despite getting almost no sleep for the weekend, lots of confusion, and having mooost of my clothes smell like dog, it was incredibly fun and invigorating to be a race checker. We felt like we were right in the thick of it, seeing the mushers in, adrenaline pumping, calling times into headquarters, etc. And, we got to see how not only the community of Kalskag, but the whole YK Delta came together for this race. It really is something huge out here, and a real source of pride. People from all over the Delta were in Bethel for the race start, and everyone in every village along the race trail was excited about the race, keeping close tabs on who was in the lead, etc. And, we're proud to report that local mushers did incredibly well this year, with three of the top ten finishers being from the YK Delta. Because the Delta is not known for mushing in the way that other parts of Alaska are, this is a huge achievement.
Flying back to Bethel and going to the closing banquet on Tuesday evening made me realize just how much this event meant to the people of the Delta, that it was much more than just a dogsled race. The K300 is something that brings attention to Bethel, and puts it on the radar of the rest of the world, in some small way. This is huge for the people of the Delta, and it felt great to be a part of it. I realized that I was just as excited as everyone else there because I was proud, too. Bethel has become a home for me this year, and I was proud to share in the excitement with everyone. For one of the first times this year, I felt like I was part of something "big." So, I understand why the K300 is the deal it is. It's pride.
Lastly, I have a story from Kalskag that is probably one of the oddest/funniest things that has ever happened to me. I can't do it justice without telling it in person, but if you remember, next time you see me, ask me about my experience walking 33 dropped sled dogs a mile and a half.
And of course, some pictures. (Of course, I don't have any of the dog teams. Sorry. I was actually doing stuff when they were around.)
View of Bethel from the plane. Pretty legit, huh?
View of the Kuskokwim at sunrise (circa de 10:30a) from the top of the mountain we hiked up in Kalskag.
Playing Go Fish with the ladies of the Kalskag. Stephanie, the girl on my left, followed me into the bathroom later in the weekend to ask me if I had a boyfriend. Pamela, the girl on my right, drew me a lovely picture of a sunset that is now on my bedroom wall.
And, most exciting news of the weekend: Erin, our resident vegetarian, tried moose stew! Granted, this bite was about as far as she got, but it was a big deal for Jon and me.
I'll continue to travel back in time for my next few blog posts until we're caught up. Next: our winter retreat in Juneau...
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