Mitch Seavey and Aaron Burmeister departed the Iditarod checkpoint of Shaktoolik shortly after noon on March 16 into a raging ground blizzard. The made progress for about 12 miles until they came up to a shelter near a place called Island Point. This is the last place to shelter themselves before the 45-mile shot across the Norton Bay into Koyuk - a spot made famous when Libby Riddles overnighted here in the 1985 race under similar conditions by zippering herself up into her sled bag. According to the GPS units those teams are carrying, Mitch and Aaron have not moved from that lonely outpost for over 20 hours. Meanwhile, several teams that left Shaktoolik turned back. Many more teams soon joined them as they were making their way up the trail from parts further back. Included in that group of teams joining the Shaktoolik camp were those of Ramey Smyth and Mitch Seavey's son, Dallas.
No doubt, Dallas has heard about the situation his dad was in and became concerned. While the stranded teams might be sheltered from the wind, food and water for men and dogs will become an issue. Additionally, dog teams reluctant to venture forward can benefit from following another team that can as has been demonstrated by several instances of teams traveling together in this race since the weather turned. Ramey and Dallas decided to depart Shaktoolik together while the other dozen or so teams stayed back. Certainly, Ramey and Dallas will be traveling together, but the question remains regarding what special dog is leading that effort. Earlier we highlighted one special dog named Babe that started the race on Ramey's team. That 11 year old leader has seen it all in 10 previous runnings of this race, so if she is still on the team, this could be that special dog that showed the way out of Shaktoolik. We won't know for sure until later.
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