Iditarod musher Peter Kaiser, from Bethel, Alaska, leaves the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday afternoon,...
French musher Claire Phillip repairs her sled while resting her dogs 09 March 1993 during the fourth day of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Nikolai is...
Musher drives his team through the spruce forest between the McGrath and Takotna checkpoints during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Alex Buetow drives his dog team into the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Monica Zappa at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Christian Turner snacks his dogs at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Christian Turner snacks his dogs at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Marianne Mallory chops firewood at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Nikolai residents Philip Esei and his wife, Doris Esei, talk to visitors at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Alex Buetow is all smiles as he arrives at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Nikolai checker Marty Runkle points out the lay of the land to musher Alex Buetow as he arrives at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod...
Christian Turner snacks his dogs at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
One of John Dixon's team dogs looks back at the musher after they arrived at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Flash, a team dog for musher Mike Williams Jr., rests on his bed of straw at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at...
Phil Runkle brings an armful of wood to the water heater at the Nikolai checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at sunrise on Wednesday,...
Iditarod musher Newton Marshall gets hot water from the wood fired heater at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at...
Musher Mike Williams Jr. Sits on his dog sled as he changes batteries in his headlamp at the Nikolai checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog...
Iditarod musher Newton Marshall talks about helping out a musher on the Farewell Burn with a broken ankle at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014...
Nikolai residents Oline Petruska, Tyler Alexia and Stephanie Petruska wait by the wood fired hot water for mushers to come in at the Nikolai...
Musher walks at the Nikolai checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at sunrise on Wednesday, March 5 in Alaska.
Nikolai resident Oline Petruska talks with visitors at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at sunrise on Wednesday,...
Aliy Zirkle fills her cooler with hot water to mix dog food at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March...
Musher Hans Gatt has dried blood around his eyes after coming off the Farewell Burn and into the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail...
Musher Mike Williams Jr., left, hands his vet book to veterinarian Bruce Nwadike at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog...
Martin Buser has breakfast and checks the race standings in the school cafeteria at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog...
Aaron Burmeister's sled dogs rest at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4 in Alaska.
Musher Mike Williams Jr. Has breakfast in the company of two-year-old Karson Alexie in the school cafeteria at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014...
Marin Buser shows his swollen ankle to Aaron Burmeister in the school cafeteria during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4 in...
Veterinarian Bruce Nwadike checks the dogs of musher Mike Williams Jr. At the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Jeff King carries coolers of hot water back to his team at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4 in...
Aaron Burmeister winces with pain as he takes off his bibs at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4...
Aliy Zirkle shows one of her dog booties that is completely worn through after 25 miles on the Farewell Burn at the Nikolai checkpoint during the...
Aaron Burmeister puts straw down for his dogs at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4, 2014....
Aaron Burmeister comes into the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Burmeister injured his...
Jeff King talks about the trail from Rainy Pass to Nikolai at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March...
Stuffed toy husky wearing a helmet sits on the front of the sled of Nicolas Petit at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog...
Aliy Zirkle talks about the snowless trail across the Farewell Burn at the Nikolai checkpoint during the 2014 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Aaron Burmeister can still smile, at the Nikolai checkpoint, after having his knee pop out and having to tape it up so it would stay in place during...
Jeff King lays down straw to make bedding for his team of dogs during the Iditarod Trail Race in Nikolai/Rohn, Alaska. Mandatory Credit: Ezra O. Shaw...
Georgii Orlov, Bishop of Trans-Baikal and Nerchinsk, 1900. This collection consists of sixty-six photographs and documents that depict the history...
Church of the Resurrection, 1900. This collection consists of sixty-six photographs and documents that depict the history and activities of the...
Greek Bishop of Alaska, 1894. Showing Nikolai, Archbishop of Warsaw, Bishop of Aleutian Islands and Alaska, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing...
Iditarod musher Newton Marshall, from St. Anne, Jamaica, and his sled dog team leave the start line of the 2013 Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Willow,...
Dropped dogs are loaded in an Iditarod Air Force plane at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
Dropped dog looks out from an Iditarod Air Force plane at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
Iditarod Air Force pilot Scott Ivany prepares to leave the Nikolai, Alaska, airport with a load of dropped dogs on Wednesday, March 6 during the...
The Nikolai, Alaska, airport served as a lifeline for dropped dogs on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
Iditarod volunteers bring dropped dogs to the Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
Iditarod Air Force pilot Danny Davidson, left, prepares to leave Nikolai airport with a load of dropped dogs on Wednesday, March 6 during the...
Iditarod volunteers load dropped dogs into the plane of Iditarod Air Force pilot Danny Davidson at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6...
Kidron Flynn of Minnesota sits with dropped dogs getting ready to be loaded in an Iditarod Air Force plane at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday,...
Kidron Flynn of Minnesota carries a dropped dog to an Iditarod Air Force plane at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod...
Dropped dog looks out from an Iditarod Air Force plane at Nikolai, Alaska, airport on Wednesday, March 6 during the Iditarod Dog Sled Race.
Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser prepares his team to leave the checkpoint in Nikolai, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on...
Sammy John, Sr., watches the activity at the checkpoint in Nikolai, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
DeeDee Jonrowe leaves the checkpoint in Nikolai, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
Iditarod communications volunteers Angie Taggart, standing, and Keri Koger update the race standings in Nikolai, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail...
Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser eats at the checkpoint in Nikolai, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.