03/09/2024
All of our fasteners are tested thoroughly and there is no better place for that than in Alaska. Therefore, it is only natural for us to support the Iditarod Race and in this case Mille Porsild who is as tough as anybody comes, but at the same time has a huge heart and takes extreme good care of her dogs. Go Mille 😊
CP Ruby
⭐️Thank you Screw Products, Inc - Alaskas most tough fasteners - for generously sponsoring Ruby checkpoint ⭐️
(495 Miles from Anchorage, 480 Miles from Nome)
Ruby is the first checkpoint on the famous Yukon River, the longest river in Alaska, stretching 1,875 miles from its headwaters in the Yukon Territory of Canada to the Bering Sea.
Mille & Co stopped at race mile 480, 15 Miles outside Ruby and have been resting in the sun for almost 4 hrs. This could mean that Mille is breaking the run from Cripple to Galena in two (or three) sections, and that they are planning to go straight through Ruby – we do not know, but it is a fair guess. We have not heard from Mille (and that is a good sign), but of course hope to know more about how things are going as she gets to Ruby – that is, if she is stopping..
The next 50 Mile run from Ruby to Galena is on the Yukon river. Its flat, open, and forecast say temperatures should drop, and there might be some wind.
History:
Gold was discovered here in 1907, but no town was established until 1911 when additional gold deposits were discovered on Long Creek, causing a rush of prospectors to the area. Ruby was home for many of the mushers who carried mail for the Northern Commercial Company from Tanana to Ruby. The trip took four days and paid $5.00 a day. Dog team mail ended here in 1931. The checkpoint is in the community hall.
Ruby was the home of 1975 Iditarod Champion, Emmitt Peters (1940 – 2020). Nicknamed the "Yukon Fox", Peters was an Athabascan hunter, fisher, trapper, and dog musher. The last rookie to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (in 1975), he and his lead dogs Nugget and Digger shattered the previous speed record by almost six days.
📷: Mille & Co with Rocky and Fenix in lead arriving Nikolai (Casey Grove/Alaska Public Media)