/2007 Iditarod News and Articles / Tekla Monson Arrives in Nome

 

Tekla Monson Arrives in Nome

 

Update 23

by Joe Runyan

Sunday, March 18, 2007

 

Tekla Monson, age 11, the daughter of Dave Monson and the late Iditarod legend Susan Butcher, arrived unpresumptiously at 6PM under the burled arch finish in Nome with her eight dog team Saturday afternoon-after a 700 mile trip on the historical Serum Run Trail. Long sentence, but Tekla deserves it. Dave, Tekla and I had a great chat late last night as they settled into their hotel room just opposite the Iditarod finish in Nome. Beginning in Nenana, Alaska, which is, for history buffs, the rail head delivery point and beginning of the dog team relay of serum to Nome, Tekla, Dad, and entourage of dog teams and support snow machines followed the Tanana River to Dave and Susan’s old training grounds at Manley. Then, a quick traverse across a myriad of lakes, including a long crossing of Fish Lake, brought them to the Yukon River and the village of Tanana.  Camping along the way, with a tent night at 40 below, Tekla and Dave timed it to arrive in Iditarod checkpoint Kaltag, just hours after Iditarod race leader Jeff King arrived. The race leaders passed, then Tekla and team followed the Iditarod trail to Unalakleet, along the coast, across Norton Sound and finally to Nome. She had followed the path of her mother and for whatever interests lead her in life as an adult, this experience will enrich her memory  and love for her mother. Great trip, and of course a great accomplishment for a really enjoyable young girl and her father. Tekla is one of those unassuming, kind personalities, that laughs about her experiences,  talks about her dogs like comical friends, naming them and recalling their indiosyncracies and personality tics, and accepts all congratulations with a sincere “thank you.”  Dad made sure, of course, that she was well protected with wind protection, and unlike some Iditarod finishers who were hammered by constant winds and frost bit on hands and face, Tekla arrived with a patent smile and cheeks unblemished—a professional accomplishment.

 

Asked to name a highlight of the trip, Dave told me that they were exiting the village of Nulato, driving the dogs off a steep slip from the high bank of the village to the river bed below when the dogs diverted sharply and the slid skidded over glare ice. In an instant the team was loose and Tekla was just sliding to a stop. The dogs and sled in tow, Dave viewing the drama from above and realizing that it could be a separate adventure to retrieve a team now travelling down the Yukon, saw the dog team running and heard his daughter calling the team.  Then, in one of those once in a lifetime turn of events, the leaders lifted their heads, looked back, made a grand cinematic circle on the river, and returned to a kneeling Tekla-----a mushing classic for a father.