With temperatures plunging deep into the negatives on Tuesday, mushers and dogs sported a coating of frost when they pulled into Nikolai, a small village about a quarter of the way into the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Here are some of our favorite photos from the cold day in Nikolai.
Jessie Royer’s 14-dog team in Nikolai on Tuesday. Royer, who spilts her time between Fairbanks and Montana, was the second musher into the checkpoint. She arrived just before 11 a.m. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Josie Owen, center, of Alaska Air Transit and local children practice presenting a blanket and handmade beaver mitts to the first musher to reach Nikolai on Tuesday. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Richie Diehl mushing into Nikolai along the upper section of the Kuskokwim River on Tuesday. Diehl was the first musher into Nikolai, arriving at 10:33 a.m. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Richie Diehl, of Aniak, arrives in Nikolai on Tuesday with plenty of frost from cold night on his run from Rohn. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Frosty dogs on Richie Diehl’s team in Nikolai on Tuesday, waiting for a snack and a nap. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Richie Diehl puts straw down for his dogs to sleep on in in Nikolai on Tuesday. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
The beaver mitts made by Oline Petruska of Nikolai and presented to Richie Diehl for his first place arrival to the community on Tuesday. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Mushers get their hot water from modified oil drums in Nikolai. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Jessie Royer, who splits her time between Montana and Alaska, pulls into Nikolai with 14 dogs at 10:56 a.m. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Travis Beals, of Seward, and his 14 dogs race into Nikolai at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, about 10 minutes after Jessie Royer’s team. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Then comes Wade Marrs, of Willow, around 11:15 a.m. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Wade Marrs and his frosty, frozen mustache. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Joar Leifseth Ulsom and his sled dogs wear matching neon orange jackets as they glide into Nikolai around 11:30 a.m. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
One of Joar Leifseth Ulsom’s frosty dogs in Nikolai on Tuesday. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Joar Leifseth Ulsom is also frosty. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Sixth into Nikolai on Tuesday is Aaron Burmeister. He, like many mushers, decided to park his team and take a break after a cold run from Rohn. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/Alaska Public Media)
Alaska Public Media is one of our partner stations in Anchorage. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.
Sign up for The Signal
Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week
Close
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications
Subscribe
Get notifications about news related to the topics you care about. You can unsubscribe anytime.
