Been around the checkpoint for a few hours. It’s still pretty windy although the temperatures seem to be rising a little. Curious about how the run was on the Kaltag portage last night, I asked Michelle Phillips and Nicholas Petit. Both said that it wasn’t so much the wind as it was the result of the wind. The early part of the trail was badly drifted and difficult because of that.
As Nicholas Petit prepared to leave for Shaktoolik, he spoke about his run from Kaltag. Clearly he was proud of the performance of his dogs. He left Kaltag and ran straight to Unalakleet with a time of 10 hours and 43 minutes. Aaron Burmeister made the same run without stopping in 11 hours flat. Martin Buser and dogs covered the that trail in 10 hours 58 minutes.
Michelle is very happy with her run and how her dogs are doing on the 2015 re-route of Iditarod. Michelle has run to Nome every year since 2010. She is well respected by her peers. Michelle is willing to share her knowledge of the sport with new mushers aspiring to do long distance. Phillips has finished from 27th place in her rookie year to 16th place two years later. Currently she’s right on the cusp of the top twenty. While tending to her dogs, Michelle was seeking a free pocket to carry something that needed to stay warm. To that she said, “You never have enough pockets.” When the chores were done, Michelle made her way up to the checkpoint and even though it was near noon, she devoured a plate of fried eggs with all the other breakfast trimmings. Her eggs were served up by the former Mayor of Unalakleet, Middy Johnson.
Nathan Schroeder was sitting with a plate balanced on his knees enjoying a similar menu served up by Middy. Nathan said one could feel the temperature begin to rise last night on the run in from Kaltag. That was really appreciated as the mushers have experienced frigid temperatures for days on end since the start in Fairbanks. Schroeder said while the rise in Temp was pleasant, the wind also picked up and then the trail began to drift. Schroeder says things are going okay for his team but they’re just not quite at the top of their game. Nathan mentioned that the snowmachine he won in the Donlin Gold drawing is on its way back home to Chisholm, Minnesota. Schroeder is currently running in 14th place.
Travis Beals was on the slough changing out sleds. He’s got a very compact light weight sled for the coast that weighs just 22 pounds. Beals said the bag was plenty big for mandatory gear but admitted he’d have to pare down on personal luxury items. Later, up in the checkpoint Beals was the happiest guy holding a plate of breakfast. He told everyone that breakfast was his favorite meal and that there was breakfast anytime of the day at Unalakleet. I bet Travis will have breakfast again before he leaves for Shaktoolik.
Just before leaving Unalakleet, Hugh Neff changed out his runner plastic from black to green. Green was for warmer temperatures and according to all the forecasts, the temperature is on the rise.
