Our thoughts and prayers go out to Lou Packer and his family; thank God he's been retrieved and God bless the four leggeds who are no longer with him. And to Blake and Kim and your teams, job well done - we're glad you're safe.
Thank you, volunteers, for all you do to make the trail and teams safe at the behest of those in charge. It's long nights and little thanks for you guys, too.
A terrifying, tragic situation developed Monday on the barren trail between Iditarod and Shageluk, and this is what I know: the wind kicked up a "ground blizzard" and obliterated the trail. Lou, Blake Matray and Kim Darst were on the trail, trapped in the mire. Lou's GPS indicated nearly 24 hours of inactivity on the trail or activity so slight it indicated Lou was walking in front of the team; concerned, Lou's wife asked Iditarod officials to check on him. Only then did they send out rescue teams and discover the tragedy. Two of Lou's dogs died. He sent out his team with the first rescue plane sent, then chose to wait for the second plane to extract himself; Kim and Blake were escorted by snowmachines to safety.
Sigh. There were 67 teams signed up for this race; 58 remain. Everybody paid the same entry fee. Everybody has a GPS. Nobody's spouse should have to make a phone call from home to alert Iditarod officials to a possible tragedy like this. My knee-jerk reaction? The motive for the GPS was a warm, fuzzy publicity stunt and fund raiser. Iditarod Insider, anyone?
Mary, I'm sorry that the system failed Dr. Lou and the others out on the trail. It seems so wrong that animals and possibly even people should die because of someone else's neglect or disregard of a dangerous situation. It has been a very dangerous race this year, and I pray that good sense will prevail since there have already been many tragedies. Jeff King made a good decision up north today, deciding to go back to Shelter Cabin rather than plow thru the ground blizzard out on the Sound, all by himself. Let's hope that type of caution continues on down the line. We haven't seen Tim's departure listed from Grayling yet...is everything okay there? Keep posting; we need your perspective!
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What a tragedy. I had tears rolling down my face as I read about the dogs and it only got worse when I read that he sent the rest of his team ahead of him to safety. Just goes to show the relationship between man and his dog. What good are the GPS's if nobody is paying attention to them until it is too late or almost too late. Thank god his wife was paying attention. My heart goes out to him on his loss and I pray that he is recovering well.
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