WEBVTT - How The Iditarod Works 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.920 This episode is brought to you by square Space. Start 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.840 building your website today at square space dot com and 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.360 our offer code stuff at check out and get ten 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:14.000 percent off square Space. Build it beautiful. You smell that, Josh, 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.080 that's the smell of the Pacific Northwest. It's a smell 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:20.680 of spring. Oh yeah, that that's where I was headed. Okay, 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.480 So we are launching our Spring has Sprung tour and 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:26.840 uh other dates tb D. But we know we are 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.560 starting in the Pacific Northwest. Yeah, like I said, which 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:35.080 is what smells like pachuli and liberalism and uh pine 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.839 where we go in Seattle in Portland. Right on Friday, 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.680 April eight, We're gonna be in Seattle at the Neptune, 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:44.120 which we were at last time. It was a great venue, 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.720 of great venue. The next day we're going to be 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:50.320 in Portland at Revolution Hall, new venue for us, new 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.760 venue for us, and we are going back there because 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.160 two reasons you both treated us so well last time. 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.320 And we have a very special podcast Taylor made for 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.760 your necabou it. That's right, so come see us. You 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.880 can get tickets on s y s K live dot com, 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.000 our website powered by squarespace. That's right, and uh, we'll 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.680 see you guys April eighth and ninth. Come on out, 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:18.920 Pacific Northwest. Welcome to you Stuff you should know from 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:27.600 house stuff Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.840 I'm Josh Clark with Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.480 Jerry over there. And there's some delicious ritz crackers of 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.679 peanut butter dipped in white chocolate, which means this is 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:41.880 stuff you should know. Yummy cookies. Yes, but we're not 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.160 gonna say who sent them just yet because that will 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:48.400 fall under the administrative which, by the way, while we're 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.680 mentioning it, thanks again to Mark Henry. We're pretty sure 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.240 we thanked for the awesome steel work that we got 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:59.280 at the Pittsburgh showy steel and barnwork right exactly. I 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.080 thought we'd thanked him it. If we didn't, I want 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:02.720 to make sure we did for sure, because it hangs 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:07.240 right here above our heads proudly. It looms intimidating lee 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:11.040 over our heads. Are you intimidated by it? Now? I'm 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.359 a little under the weather, though, can you tell? I can? Yeah, 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.720 mostly because you said so. But now that now that 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:18.919 I'm listening for it, I can hear it sort of that. 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.200 It's like you gotta stick a butter and each Nazia. 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:23.920 Oh man, I wish do you you can do that? 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.959 How are you? I'm doing okay, I'm not under the weather. Um. 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.280 I am nice warm here in Atlanta. It's like seventy 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:40.200 degrees outside here and like March one. Um. Kind of well, 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:42.520 I want to say the opposite, but not necessarily these 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:49.360 days things to climate change. Um in Alaska, Leo DiCaprio, 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.680 where there, I thought that was a great speech, was fantastic, 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.800 nailed it. Thin guy should be an actor. Uh in 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.919 Alaska where they're about to do the Ida or they're 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:00.560 about to run it. As a matter back, when this 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.679 comes out, it will have started a couple of days before, right, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.400 so we'll be like right smack dab in the middle 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.600 of what's called the last great race on Earth, the 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:14.720 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, also known as just the 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:18.920 Iddarad or the Iddarade trail Sled dog Race. Did I 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.280 say dog sled? No, you said it, but you just 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.480 put the emphasist on the weird words or the I 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:28.680 did rode trail sled dog race exactly. We could do 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:33.799 this several more times we could. So let's get into this. 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:38.760 I'm gonna we're probably both gonna say poopy things about 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.800 dog racing, aren't we Probably. Yeah, I'm just waiting for 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.880 people in Alaska to be mad at me. It's gonna 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.680 be years before they get their hands on this episode. Yeah, 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:52.000 probably so, because you have to fly it out, you 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:56.120 drop it in from town to town, and everybody has 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:00.240 to get their turn listening to it. Yeah. Thing I 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.600 learned about people from Alaska is the reason they live 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.960 in Alaska is because they don't like being told what 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:07.560 to do by anybody. No, they don't. They like getting 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.880 pushed around. No, so they moved to Alaska, where you 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.520 can do as you please. So yeah, we'll see where 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.000 this one goes. So the idea Rode, for those of 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:21.360 you who don't know, is actually a a grueling endurance 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:30.320 race across some of the coldest parts of the planet miles. 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.960 That's a long way. And it's not like people are 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:37.479 running or snowshoeing or hang gliding. They are on a 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.200 little sled on skis. You could also call it a 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.640 mini sligh if you wanted to. And this these mini 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.719 slaves are pulled by teams of dogs. And that's the race. 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.880 It's a dog sled race, that's right. Dog sled race 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:57.120 held every year since nineteen seventy three. And uh, there's 0:04:57.200 --> 0:04:59.880 no like set a number of participants that kind of 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.360 areas from year to year, depending on how many people 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.680 want to take part. And uh, like you said, it's 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:09.520 rough terrain, it's cold, brutal conditions could be anywhere from 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.839 it could go down to fifty below zero. That's insane, 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:18.680 with harsh winds and blinding snow. Snowblinds. Is that what 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:23.000 it's called. That's what azz he called it. Yeah, do 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.640 you remember the song snowblind? Yeah? I think so great black. 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.080 I don't think he was talking about snow though, probably not, 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.760 you know what I mean? Oh, is he talking about cocaine? 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:37.400 I think he may have been. I never thought about that, so, uh, Chuck, 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.200 you said like up to fifty below I saw sixty 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:45.240 below fahrenheight. Sixty below zero fahret heeight, that's cold. But 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.080 I also kept running across people saying like negative forty 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:51.720 degrees fahrenheight. And I remember we said that once when 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:56.360 we were talking about seam o Hia, the Finnish sniper. 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.000 It was like the baddest dude ever, the White Ghosters 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.360 something something like that, the White Death, White Death. Yeah, 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.120 I think that was it. Man, that guy, it's crazy anyway. Um, 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:10.160 and we mentioned that he was out sniping people in 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.680 in temperatures as cold as negative forty degrees fahrenheight, And 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.920 ever since then people wrote in and said, dude, negative 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.680 forty degrees is the same, and Celsius and fahrenheight it's 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:23.240 where they converge. And ever since then, I've always noticed 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.520 there's very few people who realize that, Yeah, well I 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.240 forgot negative forty degrees. You don't have to say fahrenheher 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.080 or celsius is amazing. The magic temperatures are so cold, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.359 none gives a crap, right exactly. Uh So the route 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.680 for the iditarod Um, there are a couple of different 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:43.719 routes depending on what year it is. Uh, this would 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:48.040 be an even year, so that means they're going to 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.400 follow the northern route last year, and every odd year 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:56.200 they have a southern route. And uh they are basically 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.919 the same route except for three hundred miles in the 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:03.960 middle where it's different. Yeah, between a fear and Uncle elite, 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:08.760 I believe I think so, um, and it either shoots 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.080 up or dips down depending but other than that, it's 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.600 the same exact route. Yeah, there are twenty six checkpoints 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.600 along the way on the northern route and then twenty 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:19.240 seven on the southern route because you need just that 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.120 one extra by the southern route. I think, didn't it 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:26.480 say the southern rount is a little harder? Uh? Yeah, 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:29.440 I think the general thought is in northern trail is 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:32.040 a little easier, but like I think there's a difference 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.880 in terrain. Typically that makes sense, and you would think, Okay, 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:40.880 this is a thousand mile plus trek across snow in 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:47.360 negative fifties sixty degree fahrenheight weather. Um, it's gonna take forever, right, 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:49.680 And as a matter of fact, the first one in 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.440 nineteen seventy three did take I think the last place 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:56.040 finisher more than thirty days to complete the race. Nowadays 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.040 they're doing these things in like eight and change. Yeah, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.360 the record the first I did a ROD was like 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.840 twenty days and change for the winner for the winner, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.600 and now the record is a guy named John Baker 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:11.559 In finished it. So that would be a southern route 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:15.240 even even more difficult, uh, In eight days eighteen hours, 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:17.760 forty six minutes and thirty nine seconds. I saw more 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.400 recently a guy named Dallas Cev who's part of like 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.600 An I did a rod Family UM in two thousand 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:25.760 and fourteen. He broke that record, but a few hours, 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.480 eight days, thirteen hours, four minutes in nineteen seconds. I 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.880 thought the baker was a guy No and baker, I 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:35.319 guess top all another guy named Martin Bousser, who um 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.960 he uh, he had the record for a little while. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.040 But yeah, it went from like what did you say, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.000 twenty days for the winner in nineteen seventy three and 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.560 now it's like just over a week, and within that 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:51.840 week is a forced twenty four hour furlough, So technically 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:53.560 they might be able to do it in a week 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:56.560 if they really tried. Yeah, twenty four hours plus two 0:08:56.559 --> 0:09:01.000 eight hour breaks. So yeah, I bet if it was 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:05.080 up to the mushers, they would press on yes, because 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:09.400 aside from those enforced breaks, they do typically press on UM. 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:11.200 They'll stop every once in a while, like feed the 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:13.160 dogs or something like that, but for the most part 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.280 they're not sleeping. They're staying awake and they're just pushing forward, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:21.640 so they get sleep deprivation. They start to hallucinate. Um. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:23.920 I read this really great New Yorker article called the 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:27.360 White Wall, where, um, the light from your head lamp 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.760 because you're traveling at night. Sure most of the time, Um, 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:34.640 the light from your head lamp is reflecting off of 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.120 the fur around your parka, and it creates this kind 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.280 of white screen in your field of vision, and it's 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.319 like right for hallucinations. She just started to go a 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.280 little batty. Yeah, for sure, I saw where this one 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:50.319 lady who uh was a musher said that she slept 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:55.240 while she was Oh yeah, that's what she said. She 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.240 just taught herself to kind of hang on and off, 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:00.880 or maybe she just thought she was sleeping. Yeah, that's possible. 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:05.200 And you know, it's freaking out on the snowblind, so 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.800 we should mention mush. Apparently no one says mush anymore. 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:11.800 Oh as far as like the lingo. Yeah, now they 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.960 say like hiker, all right, or let's go, But mush 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.680 originally meant like start going. Yeah, it's a fridge from 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:23.640 Marcia or marsh, yes, marsh and uh yeah, they still 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.360 call them mushers. It's funny name. But apparently the mushers 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.600 don't use the word mush when they're as far as 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:33.640 like their command exactly. Yeah, that makes sense. So you 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.440 want to talk about the history of this sport, this 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:40.280 endurance sport, because the there's really no way around it. 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:45.000 The dogs are like peak before, they're like Lebron James, 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:50.440 of of of dogs, all of them. But let's talk 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:53.920 about the history of sled dogs, about the kind of 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:56.120 dogs that are used for sled dogs. Like most people, 0:10:56.160 --> 0:11:01.679 including me, assume that if you were um riding around 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.880 the snow on a sled being pulled by dogs, you're 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:08.720 probably being pulled by Siberian huskies or Alaska mala mutes 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:13.840 or maybe a samoyad. Yes, perhaps, Thank you for being 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.760 the one to say it out loud. It's not the 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:20.160 easiest one just looking at it to pronounce. Would you say? 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:23.800 Some woyd Samoyd. I watched the dog Show the other day. 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.440 That's why I love that they had who won? Uh 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:31.000 you know? I'd actually well, that's how old I am. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:36.199 I fell asleep before the best in show. Okay, that's 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.920 all right. Yeah, this very fun as long as you 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.240 enjoyed yourself watching it. I want to go one year. Yeah, 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.880 that'd be cool. All that it is crazy, crazy partying. 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:50.400 No I think it'd probably be a lot of fun 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.720 to go see and cheer for dogs, although I'm against 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.640 dog breeding in general, so I probably shouldn't even go. Um, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.319 but the the some what is you say, the samoiede 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.679 and the Alaskan malamute and the Siberian husky. They are 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.560 all a k C registered breeds. They're recognized by the 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:13.320 American Kennel Club, and they used to pull sleds, especially 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:19.480 Siberian Huskies. There's a guy named um Leonard uh oh man. 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.040 I can't remember his name, Cippola, I believe it's what 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.320 his name was, and he was the guy who first 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.679 started racing Siberian Huskies in Alaska on sleds. But if 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.480 you go to Alaska today, you're going to find something 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:33.280 called an Alaskan husky is typically the kind of dog 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.920 that you're gonna encounter as a sled dog. And this 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:39.480 is like a mixed breed. It's a mutt breed UM 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:43.720 and they have been bred to just basically be mentally tough, 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:48.200 physically sturdy, UM not too big but also not too small. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:55.400 The thick coat and um yes, and uh, not just quickness, 0:12:55.440 --> 0:13:01.280 but a strong inbred desire to run and pull stuff 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.080 while they're running. Yeah, I saw this. One guy called it. Uh, 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.560 it's like they have a wanderlust, like there there's always 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:10.840 some place else they'd rather be, Like they want to 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.559 go go go over there, which is why. Um, if 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.839 it's when you're taking a break or something with your 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.800 dogs on the iditar rod, you have to chain them 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.960 down whereas they're like see you. And they also microchip 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.640 them as well. I had a friend who had a 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.200 husky and um, they are not easy. And this husky 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.760 would get out and see you later. Yeah, for like 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:35.120 two days. Yeah, and he always came back, but he 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.559 came back wearing like a Hawaiian shure. Yeah. That would 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:40.640 freak if my dog got out, because my dogs are 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.040 big dummies. They wouldn't like that, wouldn't know how to 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.760 come back. Was this a pretty smart dog? Yeah? I 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.440 think that's the Alaska husky is pretty smart generally, So 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.240 it was an Alaska husky, I think so. Yeah. So 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:56.480 Alaska huskies are descended, um more from the dogs called 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:59.800 Inuit dogs and Eskimo dogs, and they are basically in 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.560 didigenous dogs to Alaska. They came over with the first 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.880 humans who crossed the Bearing Land bridge, right, the dogs 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:11.280 pulled them across that bridge, probably, oh they did. So. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.720 I saw that they didn't hook dogs up the sleds 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.880 until like the them this past millennia or the one 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:22.200 we're in now that was like a D eight hundred 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:26.200 or maybe twelve hundred when they were using sleds. That's 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.080 what I saw, um, but I also saw that it 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.560 goes back to time immemorial. Who knows. What I did 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.080 see though, is that these dogs, these Inuit dogs and 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:41.000 the Eskimo dogs were um definitely hauling stuff like whale 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:45.080 carcasses are huge parts of whale carcasses to be butchered 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.760 back in town. Um, they were hunting dogs, their companions, 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:53.080 they were protector dogs. They were just total um butt 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:59.240 kicking animals that could stand temperatures well into the negative 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.760 twenties or aties or forties degree parentheights. Because that double coat, yes, 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.600 so the outer coade I think deflects the snow and 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.680 then they have the inner coat that has waterproof and 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.520 insulates them. So when you see those dogs laying out 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.520 in the snow, uh, they're not cold, right, you know, 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.520 don't think, oh poor dog laying in the snow. I 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:21.320 mean there can be problems, as we talked about with 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.720 the Iddarod when that one dog was buried. Um, they 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.480 can also get frost bit. They can get frostbite though 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.880 depending But yeah, for the most part, which I don't understand. Man, 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.000 that's crazy. I was like, man, these checkpoints, they have 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.200 like tents at the checkpoints. How how big are the tents? 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:39.920 I mean, what if more than one team has to 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:41.560 put their dogs in the tents? And I was like, 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.880 they're not in the tent. No, they sleep, they put down, 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:47.040 they put down. Hey, they might have a bale of 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.400 hay that the musher has, um and the dogs sleep 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.040 on the hay in the snow and they cover their 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.720 nose with their tails they do, which is adorable. And 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.200 at kennels for these dogs, some of them they'll have 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:02.120 like plastic barrels cut in half with a little hole 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:03.560 for the dog to get in and out of when 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.600 weather is really bad. But for the most part, yeah, 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:11.000 especially if it's not snowing or windy. Uh, a Inuit 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.600 dog or Alaska husky can just sleep outside on the 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.840 snow exactly. They used to deliver the mail in Alaska 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.840 in the late eighteen hundreds to early nineteen hundreds. That 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.760 was exclusively how the mail was delivered until the airplane 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:28.760 became the primary mode of mail delivery. Uh. And the 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.600 last mail dog in Alaska retired in nineteen sixty three, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:40.560 so not too long ago. Pretty impressive, Yeah, right before hippies. Yeah, 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:45.120 the dog didn't didn't live to see hippies. The police 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.120 used them uh in the in the gold rush of 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:53.160 the late eighteen hundreds, and of course Alaska aside. They 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.320 have long been used in Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. Yeah. 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.400 There was actually a very famous antarctic expedition in Japan 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:06.400 where I think in the fifties. Yeah. Uh, an antarctic 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:11.120 expedition had to be abandoned and the Japanese researchers had 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:16.399 to be evact by helicopter and they were like sorry, dogs, 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.919 well somebody will be back in a few days. We're 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.560 gonna change you up here. Here's some food, good luck, 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.360 fight over it. A year later, a research team made 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.199 it back to that outpost and they found two of 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:35.280 the dogs were still alive, uh, Taro and Jero, and 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.199 they were brothers, which makes it even more awesome, and 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.719 they became national heroes back in Japan. Um, And I 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:44.879 was like, well, yeah, of course they ate the other dogs. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.280 I've read an article that said that there were no 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:51.800 signs of cannibalism, that they just like like hunted penguins 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.040 and seals and stuff like that and managed to survive. 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.720 Was it that the basis of the Paul Walker Walker 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:02.439 movie Paul Walker, The Fast and the Furious, same guy, Uh, no, 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:07.119 longer with us too? No? That car wreck? Yeah? Was 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.880 he a passenger? He was the passenger in that car wreck, 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:12.760 wasn't he? I think he drove. He did have a passenger. 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.199 What was it called eight below right? Yeah, which is 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:19.120 he's not Japanese. No, but he's he It was supposedly him. 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.880 I think it must have been based on that or something. 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:23.960 I haven't seen the movie. I think they thought an 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.360 updated version would fair better. They're like, who does everyone 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:32.080 like Paul Walker? Exactly? They were used as war dogs 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.760 in World War One and World War Two, hauling equipment, 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.080 search and rescue. Helps set up the Alaska telegraph line 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:42.760 around World War One. Um, and they also almost invaded 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:49.080 Norway from uh the eastern coast of Canada. Yeah. Yeah. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.439 They were attached to like the fifteenth Mountaineering regiment of 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.239 the United States Army. I think it would have been 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.760 army for sure. And um, we didn't invade Norway, but 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.280 have we These dogs would have been there with us yea. 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.360 And by us, I mean specifically you and me, Chuck, 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.439 because we were. Uh so you said that they are 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.639 bred for there not only endurance, but for their for 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:17.119 their speed. And they actually have their feet have adapted 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:20.720 to take on this train because a good sletter is 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:25.480 uh is that a sletter? Sure? Alright? Good letters has 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.880 wide flat feet. But they also have toes that are 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:33.760 dense and together. You don't alto explayed toes because stuff 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.280 can get in between them. So basically they have like 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.520 they they have feet like hammers. It sounds like hammer 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:44.520 toes basically, but hammer feet. Yeah. And the gender doesn't matter. 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:48.480 Uh Lady, little lady dogs and little boy dogs are 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:53.040 just as good. Uh So gender isn't a big deal. Um. 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:56.080 They're also big at trail breaking, right, So like, if 0:19:56.119 --> 0:19:58.119 you want to go out and see if the ice 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:02.879 is thicken up to cross, take a team of sled dogs. 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.240 And they actually do this in Denali National Park. Yeah, 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:09.240 and they do it ahead of the Iditarod. They send 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.760 out teams to break the trails and make sure it's 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.720 as safe as it can be. And those trails, chuck 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:18.120 were used for a very long time and still were, 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.120 but then they started in like the six sixties, say 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:25.320 maybe early seventies, to be blazed more by by snowmobiles. 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.000 And this guy named Joe Ruddington Sr. Was really sad 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:35.160 to see the dog sled, the traditional um sled, being 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:39.240 replaced by the snowmobile man made machines. And he said, 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:41.720 you know what, we need to preserve this heritage. I'm 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.840 going to start a race in the in the fashion 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.600 of some of these old ones. There was this all 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:49.600 Alaska Sweepsteaks that was much shorter. But like in the 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:53.280 ninet hundreds, people were using sled dogs a lot and 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:55.439 actually using them, but then they fell out of fashion. 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:58.480 So this guy, Joe Ruddington Sr. Tried to preserve it 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:02.320 by starting this race. Yeah the Dorothy Page or they 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:05.880 together or were they just uh they were they were 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:09.240 kindred spirits. Okay, gotcha. So the first one they organized 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:11.760 was a fifty mile race, right yeah, and like the 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.200 sixties and not like the mile journey that has grown 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:18.160 into today. They really stepped it up yeah, and the sprints, 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:20.600 they actually have sprint races. They have all different races. 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:24.439 A sprint is a thirty mile sprint, like just go 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:29.000 flat out for thirty miles. Thirty miles. That's insane, It 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:33.360 is so um there's this very there's this widely um 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:37.480 held misconception that I did a rod was created to 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:44.400 commemorate this, um this very famous run that happened in right, Yeah, 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:47.919 the dip theory outbreak. They ran out of well, they 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:51.320 needed to get medicine and they used dogs to get 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:54.600 medicine to the farthest reaches of Alaska. And like Gnome, 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:56.800 I think there's about to be a dip theory outbreak. 0:21:57.080 --> 0:21:58.919 So that has nothing to do with it, because that 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:01.920 is all over the internet, including on the IDDA out side. No, 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:04.000 if you look at the Idea out side, it says 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:08.480 specifically what Joe Reddington's aim was. Yeah, um no, I 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:10.639 know I saw that everywhere, including on our own How 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:14.199 Stuff Works articles that people believe that they meant to 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:18.520 con rememorate it. And yes, this this incredibly courageous emergency 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:24.000 rescue operation of bringing vaccine um well at least antiets, 0:22:24.040 --> 0:22:25.359 and I think it is what it was to the 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:29.359 children of Nome before this outbreak killed them all. Um, 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:34.440 it captured the world's imagination. UM, and it did follow 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.080 the same route half of it, but the first half 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:41.760 was delivered by train and UM, the Idda trail was 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:44.240 starting to fall out of use by the time Joe 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.760 Reddington and Dorothea Page came along and wanted to preserve it. 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.040 So it's more coincidence than anything that they didn't They 0:22:52.040 --> 0:22:54.760 didn't intentionally create the idea road to commemorate the dip 0:22:54.880 --> 0:22:58.000 theory run from Well, if you go to New York 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:01.919 Central Park around sixty s it um on the east side, 0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.920 you can see a statue of Balto, the dog who 0:23:06.040 --> 0:23:09.080 was the lead dog on that serum run. So they said, 0:23:09.080 --> 0:23:12.200 we're gonna commemorate this in New York, which I don't 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:14.640 get it londs like it would be in Alaska. Well, 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:17.960 the reason why they did it there was because, um, 0:23:18.800 --> 0:23:21.439 like the whole country was paying attention, much of the 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:25.000 world was paying attention to this this little tiny this 0:23:25.080 --> 0:23:27.920 little tiny town up in Alaska was in real trouble. 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.479 And this doctor put all these telegraphs out like asking 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:34.639 for somebody to bring them something. And the closest stuff 0:23:34.680 --> 0:23:39.439 was in Anchorage, and since this trek took like five days, 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:43.080