Iditarod Race - Checkpoint at Kaltag

Read by Rachal

The mushers come from all over the world.&#160;They have to compete in other qualifying races and ensure they can provide for the care the dogs need and be able to handle the rough terrain for this 1,000 mile race. Each musher must carry an axe, snowshoes, booties for their dogs, dog food, and their own food. Mushers must plan for the trip and ship out the right amount of food and booties ahead to each checkpoint. Each musher cares for their own dogs.

Read by Trinidy

He said &#8220;Fat Bike Riders&#8221; come to Kaltag from Eagle River. They pack their own drinking water. It takes a lot of training to pull their sled with their items and walk the snow covered trail.&#8221;&#160;A biker finished the trip to Nome and raised over $14,000 for charity.

Read by Calvin

Delivering supplies is big task to make sure they get to the right checkpoints. IAF, the Iditarod Air Force, supports the Iditarod Race by delivering supplies and transporting people to and from the checkpoints. They also pick up and transfer dogs back to Anchorage that will not continue on with their teams.

Kaltag, Alaska is a village located on the Yukon River where hunting, trapping, and fishing continue to be valued and practiced in the village.&#160;Kaltag is also the home of the late Virginia Kalland, widow of Edgar Kalland who was one of the original mushers who helped carry life saving diphtheria serum along this trail in 1925.&#160;Today, Kaltag continues to support the spirit of the original serum run with their participation as a checkpoint on the Iditarod Race Trail.

Media people arrive to share the news of what is happening on the trail. They also provide interesting stories about adventures on the Iditarod Trail that are shared with the world.

Special thanks goes to late Austin Esmailka Sr. for his dedication to making Kaltag a great checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail. He would say, &#8221;Richard, are we going to go down to Eagle Island? We need to break trail; the race is coming,&#8217;&#8221; Burnham said. &#8220;He would go down without question. He was involved with it a lot of ways where he was in the background. You didn&#8217;t always see him out in the front, but he was always there as the one to make sure the race happened.&#8221; The late Austin Esmailka Sr. was honored with the Herbie Nayokpuk Spirit of the Iditarod Award by&#160;the Iditarod Race Committee in 2017. The award was named for the late Shishmaref musher Herbie Nayokpuk and is given to people who have made a major impact on the race.&#160;Austin was very deserving. Austin Esmailka Sr.&#8217;s son-in-law Richard Burnham, raced in 1975,1976,1977, and 1978. In 1979 the Iditarod committee asked Richard to manage the checkpoint, and 40 years later at 70 years old, he is still going strong.&#160;During those years, he has volunteered his time at the checkpoint working behind the scenes, making sure the dog food and grass is stored safely in the old well house and that the snow is packed where the dogs will be along with many other tasks to make the Kaltag checkpoint a welcoming place for mushers.&#160;

Veterinary services are provided at each checkpoint. Dr. Seth and one other veterinarian were at Kaltag. The vets wear an armband to be easily identified. They check the dogs&#8217; heart, feet, gums, and lungs; are they active or tired out from the trail?&#160;Dog Team Diaries are mandatory equipment.

Greetings from Kaltag School in Kaltag, Alaska!

We hope you enjoyed reading our book as much as we enjoyed making it!

Read by Kenneth

The community of Kaltag supports the Iditarod mushers by making food for them, helping set up the hall, and making sure they have a place to stay.&#160;Many community members make signs to support their favorite mushers. Violet&#8217;s house used to be the checkpoint until their kids said, &#8220;We&#8217;re not moving out anymore each year!&#8221; The school opens up to house the supporters, the fat bike riders and the walkers.

Community Elders Interviewed Richard&#160;and Violet Burnham Fred and Sophie Alexie Bobby Nicholas Dora and Al Nickoli Teachers Nancy Mason 4-5, 10-12 Dave Filby&#160;6-7 Art Quinn A Grade 4 Jude S Grade 4 Peyton M Grade 5 Cadence M Grade 6 Keirsten M Grade 6 Calvin M Grade 6 Trinidy M Grade 7 Bethany M Grade 7

Kenneth E Grade 7 Rachal Y&#160;Grade 12 Narration Rachal Y Grade 12 Kenneth N Grade 7 Calvin M Grade 6 Trinidy M Grade 7 Thanks To Principal Charles Burns and Superintendent Kerry Boyd for their leadership in making the Kaltag Book Slam possible. Book Slam Project Management Steve Nelson, Project Coordinator, Consortium for Digital Learning, Association of Alaska School Boards Cheryl Bobo, Site Facilitator &#169; 2019 Yukon-Koyukuk School District

Kaltag also supports the ITI 1000, Iditarod Trail Invitational, that follows the mushers to the end of Iditarod Race to Nome.&#160;Bobby Nicholas shared that&#160;&#8220;walkers&#8221; come to Kaltag from Grayling.&#160;They drag a sled and have Little Bear Paw snowshoes.&#160;

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