Bon appétit! Jessie Holmes reaches Yukon River, receives a gourmet meal

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Jessie Holmes of Brushkana had a big day Friday as he was the first musher to reach the Yukon River, only a day after making it to the halfway point first.

Once in Ruby, he was also presented with another unique award — a gourmet five-course meal cooked up by a pair of Alaska’s finest chefs.

Holmes reached the Ruby checkpoint at 4:55 a.m. Friday. By being the first musher on the Yukon River, he was granted the traditional gourmet meal prepared by Chef Rob Smith and Brandon Desebel.

The dinner consisted of smoked salmon crostini, white bean and bacon soup, watercress salad, beef bourguignon and a chocolate pot de créme dessert.

Iditarod officials said Holmes enjoyed the meal with longtime Iditarod volunteer Billy Honea, a resident of Ruby.

“I tried to not think about it because it wasn’t part of the strategy, and then if I did get here first, I was going to stick to my strategy and go on and give the meal to Billy, but I’ll tell you what - I wasn’t thinking right,” Holmes told the Iditarod team, laughing.

“This will become part of my strategy.”

Holmes was also the first musher to reach the Cripple checkpoint, which is the halfway point of the Iditarod race, pulling in at 1:56 p.m. Thursday with 16 dogs in harness.

By arriving first in Cripple, Holmes won the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award and had a choice of either $3,000 in gold nuggets or a smartphone of his choosing with a year of free GCI mobile service. Iditarod race officials reported that Holmes chose the gold.

The halfway award honors the late “Mother of the Iditarod,” Dorothy G. Page. The trophy, which is made of Alaska birch and marble, and features a photo of Page, remains year-round at Iditarod headquarters.

This award will be re-presented to Holmes at the finishers’ banquet in Nome on March 22.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com