Bill Estelle’s emergency contacts are: Dorothy Leonard (746-4298 for home; 355-7788 for cell; 745-4357 for work) and Richard Estelle (71 5-9333 cell; 357-1242 home).

Address for Bill is: William L. Estelle, P. O. Box 2553, Palmer, AK 99645

Address for Kathy is: Kathleen A. Frederick, P.O. Box 2553, Palmer, AK 99645

Kathy Frederick’s emergency contact is Chris Frederick (610 389-3165) or Laura Larrimore (610 389-3166). Bill is still working on identifying an emergency contact.

I recently learned that Middy Johnson passed away. Wasn’t he our contact in Unalakleet?

As for emergency contact information, am I correct in assuming that you do not want my husband’s contact information (we are both on the trip).

This will hopefully answer Kirsten’s questions. The cost of the straw DOES NOT include the cost of shipping the straw to Tanana, Ruby, or Kaltag by AIR OR the cost of getting the straw by motor vehicle to Nenana or Manley.

The breakdown of straw is as follows:

Nenana = 2 bales per musher (12 bales total), no burlap bag needed [Old Minto,…[Read more]

MUSHERS’ DEADLINE FOR STRAW PAYMENT is January 2, 2019. Juliah, Kathy, Robert, and Marla will need TWELVE bales of straw for the trip. The straw price varies, depending on whether it needs to be in a sown burlap bag or flown to Nome, from $15.00 a bale to $41.00 a bale. Kirsten and Stephanie only need ELEVEN bales of straw for the trip (they…[Read more]

On a slightly different note, the dogs and I did the ACE race this weekend. It’s a 65 mile trip into Alpine Creek Lodge (the race part is that first half), an overnight at the Lodge, and then the return trip. The temperatures ranged from 10 degrees to 30 degrees; the snow was deep if you got off the trail. Bill went by snowmachine and hauled…[Read more]

Michele,
The contact Billy Honea gave me for Nulato was Larry Esmailka at 898-2204. So, try him.

I see I misspoke above; it is the road to Manley that is generally open year round, but might close occasionally if the weather is bad. So, if we time this correctly, we could get straw in and store it at the tribal hall if they will lock it…[Read more]

Michele, if you have had no response from Senator Coghill, I can call him (I have his personal cell number, but am not at liberty to share it). However, a friend who spends a lot of time in Nenana thought that the lot next to the Inn, which is owned by Josh Verhagen (son of Inn’s owners) might be a good dog lot option. Josh’s contact…[Read more]

I’ve got Pam Redington’s phone number (672-3412) and spoke at length with her today. I’m neighbors with her nephew and her brother-in-law and I breed dogs together. She had TONS of worthwhile information. So, here goes:

(1). The school is closed in Manley so it is not an option.
(2) Lisa at the Roadhouse (672-3222) might possibly open just…[Read more]

I am the first to admit that I have difficulty finding things on the portal. So, please tell me where I can find a schedule which links DATES to the day we are travelling on this portal. I see the day list of travelling but nothing linked to dates. Perhaps it is there but I did not see it among the documents. In talking to Billy and others,…[Read more]

Here are the contacts I have gathered. I will indicate the ones that I have spoken to preliminarily. My main contact is Billy Honea in Ruby; he pretty much knows what is what up and down the river. Billy is the Ruby Iditarod coordinator and also helped with SR 2009 and 2011. Based on conversations with him, our best bet are the schools in…[Read more]

STRAW: It is impossible to give a precise shipping cost as it is by the pound. The bales range from 40 to 60 pounds. To be safe, I’ll probably estimate 55 pounds.

SCHOOLS: Any luck with nailing down some of the schools (Manley, Kaltag, and Nulato)? Galena requires a set of two arrangements: one for lodging and one for the movie…[Read more]

I agree with Kirsten that we should pay the air drop locations $250 to $300. Since everybody will be shipping out food/personal items, I’m thinking mushers and machiners could split the per checkpoint cost.

Straw price: I’m just waiting to hear what the cost will be for the bales at the Nome end and whether we will be shipping out from there to the coast. Stephanie is waiting to hear back from Bering Air on the cost of flying the straw out to the villages and that will determine if we ship from that end. As soon as that piece is nailed down,…[Read more]

Carla has mentioned, when I called her to get her mechanic’s phone number, that she thinks the three cabins are “first come, first served.” If that’s the case, one less logistically piece to put into place.

One more thing. I thought we were staying at schools and community centers other than at Beaver Point Lodge. Is that accurate? I know when we did the Serum Run before, they stayed at the rehab center in Old Minto, at Beaver Point Lodge, at the school in Manley, at the school in Tanana, in the community center in Ruby, and at the Galena…[Read more]

STRAW PROJECT:
I wanted to address a suggestion that Kirsten made regarding sending the straw out by U.S. Mail to the locations that I was covering (Old Minto through Old Woman cabin) which involves three straw drops (one of which is potentially by motor vehicle). Working with the USPS is more or less a nightmare because nobody answers the…[Read more]

I wasn’t planning to contact anybody, but we do need to know exactly who the contact is in each village as to where the straw is going and the drop bags. Since the list is five years old, I’m wondering if you have been able to reach out to those contacts. It seems to me one way of doing this (since there are 16 or so locations) and to lessen…[Read more]

What would be help for me is to have somebody report where we stand with regard to lodging at each stop on the trail:
Old Minto
Beaver POint
Manley
Tanana
Boneyard Cabin (I’m assuming we need a forest service cabin reservation)
Trapper Cabin (ditto)
Galena
Ruby **
Galena
Nulato
Kaltag**
Old Woman…[Read more]