March 15, 2021

Nincompoopery of the North

The last mushers have turned toward the finish in Deshka Landing, but there is still plenty going on in McGrath.

In spite of toe tingling temperatures, spring is bearing down. Ravens are pairing and gathering nesting material. They fly some crazy patterns and emit a wide range of sounds, around 280 different vocalizations ranging from a telephone ring to caw caw. There was a giant unkindness, term for a group of ravens, of them going crazy at the site of mushers’ straw. Discarded trail booties have become impossible to find, probably becoming part of raven’s nest also.

Poplars set buds last fall, those not munched by moose, are sneakily extending, hour by hour.

Earlier today, in the pre-dawn hours, Deb heard the haunting call of the northern hawk owl. It does not migrate, subsisting on squirrels and various rodents. Also we spotted an early bald eagle, motionless, saving energy, being swooped on by adventurous ravens.

All mushers and teams were out of McGrath by mid day. We were free to pick around on the other side of the Mushers, encampment. We followed the trail for a ways up the Kuskokwim to the Takotna River. This wends it’s way through narrow land bridges with winding trails through the trees. Perfect skiing. But my boots are unusable. We had wanted to ski to the village of Takotna 18 miles away. I could walk and watch Terry ski, but with Covid there’s no place to stay. I love the idea of snow camping, but not below zero. Maybe if we have time, we’ll go farther on this trail.

We’ve been glued to the Iditarod Leaderboard. It’s a tight race.