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The Tripod noses: a is 7, Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, PO Box 2323, Seward AK 99664 cS % http://www. |ditarod100.org IditarodHTA@gmail.com = & The Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance is an equal opportunity = = program provider and employer. t RAI * STORY © STEWaRnSHIF Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance promotes awareness of the Iditarod Trail and its gold rush and Alaska Native heritage by encouraging education programs and historical research, assisting in the protection, improvement, maintenance and marking of the Trail and developing partnerships that foster stewardship, commitments and support. — === Time to renew | Alliance membership dues for 2022 are due by the end of December. Renewal forms are being sent with the October newsletter. Feel free to duplicate the renewal forms to recruit new | members.
This is also a good time to upgrade your membership level. — Every member is an important part of our mission to preserve, protect and promote the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Annual meeting The annual meeting of the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance will be held December 14. Due to COVID it will be a virtual meeting using Zoom. To receive the Zoom link, please RSVP by email to: IditarodHTA@gmail.com. Ballots for election of board members and proxies will be sent to all members with the November newsletter. It is important to sign and send in your proxies, even though this is a virtual meeting a quorum is necessary for a legal meeting. From the past... “Iditarod Pioneer” October 16, 1915 THE FREEZE-UP The river in front of the city was frozen over on Friday morning and the flow of ice, which has been running heavily for several days past was stopped.
The freeze up come several days earlier this year than last, as the river was navigable in 1914 until October 22 between this city and Dikeman. The sudden change of weather at the beginning of the week found the river men well prepared. Although the river was exceptionally high for the time of year, the various craft had been placed in positions of safety, and everything along the riverfront is in good shape for winter. Last Saturday one of the heaviest downpours witnessed this season occurred, continuing for several hours. Later it turned to snow, with a drop in the temperature, and by Tuesday morning winter conditions prevailed. On Wednesday morning the mercury had dropped to 0, and on Friday morning 4 degrees below zero was reached. The cold weather has practically put a stop to open cut mining in the district.
Riley and Aitken cleaned up on the 8th, and Dave Strandberg made his final cleanup of the season yesterday. The latter will have a force of men in employment for some time yet, however in the construction of ditches for next season's operations. “Iditarod Pioneer” October 23, 1915 SKATING ENTHUSUASTS ENJOY SPORT ON LAKE Skating on the lake south of the city has been a popular pastime for the past week or more. The ice is in splendid condition, the weather has been mild, and the conditions generally have been ideal for indulging in this The Tripod November 2021 healthful and exhilarating sport. Every afternoon there has been a good-sized crowd of men, women and children on the ice, and the bright moonlight nights also have lured quite a number to engage in the sport. Iditarod has quite a number of expert skaters, and the interest is increasing.
Hike the Hill® 2022 (February 14-18) Hike the Hill® 2022 will be held February 14-18. Pre-Briefings will occur the week of January 24"", Registration and a tentative schedule will be available in early December. Celebrating its 25th year Hike the Hill® is a joint effort between American Hiking Society © and Partnership for the National Trails System to bring together trail organizations and partners to advance shared trail priorities with congressional and federal agency leaders including: trail Ww funding, public lands management and conservation, equitable access and other top priority HIKE =H | LL issues that sustain trails and improve access to public lands.
Permafrost monitoring on Trail The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Anchorage Field Office staff, assisted by Geo- watersheds Scientific, recently installed two new soil temperature monitoring stations along the Iditarod National Historic Trail. The stations are located in a part of the state that previously had poor coverage. Much of the Iditarod Trail travels through regions that are underlain by permafrost, often over wetlands impassable in summer conditions. Global warming has resulted in rising permafrost temperature and areas of thawing. Thawing of permafrost destabilizes the ground above it, causing soil slumping and mass wasting events. Each station measures soil temperature to approximately 3 meters below ground surface at 13 different depths. They take these 13 measurements in both the trail treadway and an adjacent undisturbed location.
BLM National Historic Trail Administrator, Kevin Keeler, has observed over the past decade that even though trail use is limited to wintertime travel, significant soil slumping and compaction is present, and vegetation is noticeably altered within the treadway. “These conditions may be due to permafrost degradation, loss of insulating vegetation, or other altered soil temperature regimes in the treadway of the trail,” said Keeler. Bear Lake Trailhead site development : On October 18th —* Seward Iditarod Trailblazer ~ members, local residents and other interested parties were briefed by Forest Service "representatives about the proposed . establishment of a parking lot for 11 vehicles at the Bear Lake Trailhead, while preserving as much as possible of existing vegetation.
The proposal is still in the planning stage and the Forest Service will keep all interested parties informed as the proposal is developed. Walking is the favorite sport of the good and wise. A. L. Rowse