In 2025, I volunteered for the Iditarod Trail Invitational (ITI as everyone calls it), and I had a lot of FOMO watching the Nome-bound folks progress on the trail. April came, and I decided to sign up. Then, in February, I found myself watching the Iron Dog coverage as the teams got stuck in snowstorm after snowstorm, as I shoveled and shoveled… and the snow kept coming. When the ITI finally arrived, I thought there was a 50/50 chance of there being a trail between McGrath and Ruby. McGrath to Ruby doesn’t see much traffic outside the Iron Dog and the Iditarod, and since the Iditarod was two weeks after ITI instead of the normal week, things looked a bit dire.
Nome was a long way off, though…
I figured that even if I had to bail in McGrath, I would still have fun, so on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I was off to McGrath and possibly Nome.
The ride to McGrath was fun. I got to ride with a few new people..
I got to see Tony and Josh, yay! I volunteered in Rohn with Tony in 2024; it was great to see him!
The ride and push over Rainy Pass was fun and beautiful…
I got lots of sleep in Rohn..
And I got to see Jonathan and Stephanie P in Nikolai P, hurrah! I even got the timing down, so I got mostly good trail from Rohn to Mcgrath.
It was cold, though, the coldest I have seen between Knik and McGrath.
McGrath was less chaotic than normal…
But the trail past Takotna was not in, and waiting 10 days for the dog race wasn’t something I was up for, so I bailed and flew back home to Fairbanks.
Nancy, Eddy the dog, and Sinbad the cat not pictured, but I was glad to see them.
Thanks to everyone who makes the ITI happen. I had fun, just slightly shorter than planned fun. Happy trails, and congratulations to everyone who waited it out in McGrath and made it to Nome.