WHAT IS THE WATER SITUATION IN THE PLACES YOU COULD NOT REACH??? I need to know this asap so I am sure I have enough HEET. I am hauling a FOUR person tent so space is difficult.

Can we get a list of the water situation on the Nome side for Heet planning purposes? Also, let us know tomorrow the final situation in the places you were not able to reach.

Here is the status of the drop bags:

Tanana: All poly bags and straw have been delivered BUT I was unable to confirm with Stan (did not pick up his phone; so I sent him an e-mail) that Marla’s bag has arrived today.

Ruby: Except for Marla, all bags and bales have been delivered.

Kaltag: All poly bags and straw have been delivered BUT I…[Read more]

Here is the drop bag status:

Tanana: all bags and straw is in

Ruby: Except for Marla’s stuff, all bags and straw are in

Kaltag: All straw and poly bags are in BUT I have not been able to confirm with Charles Burns that he picked up today’s deliveries (Marla’s stuff — 2 bales and 3 poly bags)

One participant had a good suggestion concerning a release, similar to what Iditarod and other races do. I drafted something and am circulating it for review among the other attorneys in the group. I hope to post it on the portal before Sunday’s meeting.

We discussed this at the last meeting. Wrights has been given the number of each person who submitted drop ba along with the number of bags they had for each location. They will be removing the bags from the pallets so you won’t be paying for the pallet. Wright’s is supposed to call each person once they’ve weighed their stuff. I’m…[Read more]

The “scoop” on the trail from Manley to Tanana is that there recently has been a lot of snow and lots of drifting. This is not good news. They said that the Iron Dog trail will go in around the 16th. We should hope the snow holds off along with the drifting until we get through the river. It is fairly critical in deep snow for the…[Read more]

For those of mushers who don’t already do this, minute rice adds iron to the diet and also is an anti-diarrehea medicine. I use about a half cup or so in each meal.

Be aware that we could be in a “stay put” mode for up to two or three days due to weather. If you look at Ruby through Kaltag on http://www.weather.com, they have had a two-day blizzard — 25 mph winds, 11 inches of snow and “no travel” warning. That means that each of us must have enough extra food for ourselves and our dogs to “stay put” for at…[Read more]

A key issue we need to deal with is dropped dogs. In prior Serum Run expeditions, the rule of thumb was that a dog who rides in the Siglin sled for three days gets shipped home. What we need, given that we have mushers from three locations, is a list of the airlines that will fly a dog back from the location it is dropped. If a dog needs to…[Read more]

Be sure you buy ONE action packer for the Siglund sled. That’s what your clothing goes into and all of your personal effects. It will stand up to the abuse of 800 miles. Other things will fall apart on the trip.

Bill and I will contribute something to the media cause. Not sure what yet, but we’ll each do something.

For the mushers. Best price on HEET is the case of 12 at Three Bears for $17.99. For trash compactor bags for your cooler, Three Bears is the only one with the unscented bags. The dogs won’t eat food steeped in scented bags. Costco is out of handwarmers and toe warmers. I got some at Sportsmen’s warehouse (they are going fast) and at Walmart.…[Read more]

Frank, I do like the “donation” can idea. I doubt it will generate much but, at the very worst, we can treat ourselves to pizza in Unalakleet and a meal in Nome! I think the problem is the fiscal situation in the state; the schools were hit very, very hard with budget cuts and they are struggling so charging a uniform rate to visitors is…[Read more]

I think the problem here, as Stephanie has said, is that the schools are now charging a fixed rate for lodging. Their budgets have been cut and they are doing a uniform rate. From the standpoint of being a musher, I need access to a warm place to thaw out my dog meat AND hot water and the schools provide this. I’m not thrilled at the price,…[Read more]

As for socks, here is my two cents. I’ve tried Wool, buffalo, and alpaca. 100% alpaca is the warmest if they are medium thickness and they don’t hold odors like other socks. I talked to several distance mushers at the Copper and they also like alpaca the best.

Here’s a Heet question. With regard to shipping to Nome, am I correct in thinking we will have access to water in Unalakleet (school), and Shaktoolik (school)? What about Koyuk (city blg), Elim, White Mt. and Safety. This influences how much heet I’ll need.

Second question is whether we can ship out heet since it is flammable or whether…[Read more]

The Manley lodging is $125 per room. So, if two people share a room, it is only $67.50 a night and we would have access to dog water. It’s worth it to me to have water for the dogs (12 bottles of heet would cost at least $24).

I read Marla’s e-mail and am in favor of a Facebook page where we all can post called “Serum Run Expedition 2020.” As Robert has pointed out before, this is a trip among friends rather than something like the Norman Vaughn Serum Run where there was a pre-existing organization. So, it only makes sense to have a Facebook page that we can all post…[Read more]

There was quite a bit of discussion about Manley and Beaver Pointe Lodge. I stayed at Beaver Pointe Lodge in 2009; it was your typical Alaskan bush lodge — along the lines of Skwetna Lodge or Talvista. Having just spent two days at the Copper in subzero temperatures, I can tell you that lodging in Alaska this time of year IS expensive…[Read more]