Rachael Scratches
Rachael Scdoris (55), the legally blind musher from Bend, Oregon, has scratched in Koyuk while in 62nd place. No word yet as to why she decided to drop out.
Allen Moore (76), who scratched at Shaktoolik yesterday, is receiving medical attention for a high fever. His wife, Aliy Zirkle (17), finished in 21st place.
The warmer than normal temperatures have not been kind to dogs or mushers – both have to work a lot harder in soft snow, and sub-zero temperature tend to kill microorganisms.
4 comments
That’s really too bad about Rachael. I think everyone was really rooting for her to finish.
I did happen across some info about what happened on one of the Iditarod comments page.
“Rach called Jerry—-she’s fine, the dogs are fine, but she’d had to drop leaders and they were not able to move forward across the sea ice at anything more than a crawl, so she spun them and went back to Koyuk. The dogs are fine, the girl is fine—-”
So, it sounds as if she & the dogs are okay.
That makes sense, Juanita. The ice even in the rivers is OK if there is snow on top and cold temperatures. The drier snow has some abrasive quality and you can get a grip, whether man or dog, but if the wind blows it clean, it’s the “normal world’s” vision of ice. You can’t move because you can’t get any traction and if there is no leader to control the direction a lot of effort is expended with no purpose.
It was a heck of an attempt, and I have to think she’ll be make next year.
Maybe someone needs to market “ice booties” for the dogs.
Yeah, Rachael is still very young and such a good athlete. I’m sure she’ll be back next year.
Thanks for your info on the importance of the lead dogs. I don’t think I had fully understood how not having your regular leads could throw the whole team off.
“Ice booties” for the dogs – there’s an idea – I envision something with tiny little cleats on them… 🙂
The regular booties are to protect the dog’s feet, so on ice it would be like wool socks on a marble floor.
The lead dogs maintain discipline and determine the direction of the pack. Without a leader, the pack may decide to fight over dominance or just “do their own thing”, neither of which is productive in a race.