Leaving Kaltag the portage trail has plenty of snow. Its bumpy going, pretty much every year. The first team  I came upon was Dallas Seavey. He had camped about 20 miles out. When meeting a musher camped out, I always stay in a bit of a distance to see if they are up and about and if they want to talk. Dalles and me chatted for about 20 miniutes, talking strategy. He had planned to stay for 4 hrs. From what he told me there, he plans to stop in Unalakleet. In his opinion its his dad’s Mitch Seaveys race to loose. ” I did not have the dog power I was hoping for on the Yukon River “. Dallas plans on to compete as hard as he can. 

When I came to Aliy Zirkle’s campspot about 3 miles later, there were quite a few snow machines parked near her. She was curled up in her sleeping bag, so I just snapped a few photos and went on my way. She did not pick the best spot quite breezy and I was very surprised to not see her dogs on straw.

Brent Sass stayed at Tripod cabin. He had by far the best camp spot of all 3. His dogs were completely out of the wind and he could sleep in the cabin all by himself. I just peeked in the window. Knowing how grumpy I used to get, when I camped out and had hoped for a quiet sleep, to be interrupted by media… I kept going too, just taking a few more pictures. The creek at Tripod Flats cabin was wide open, so easy dog water for Brent to get.

Below some trail pictures. From Old Woman Cabin on, which is 40 miles from Kaltag and about 36 miles to Unalakleet, the snow gets less and less. The Unalakleet River has lots of glare ice. As long as the winds stay as calm as they currently are, that should pose no problem.