There’s still plenty happening in McGrath but the intensity has decreased.  Mushers coming in from Nikolai will probably choose to take their long layover here.  It’s a popular spot with good food, good parking, good places to sleep and excellent hospitality.

Of note right now is Matt Failor.  He’s departed McGrath for Takotna as of a little after 1000.  After 14 hours of rest or relative rest, folks inside say he was moving much better this morning and he was in very good spirits.  As he recounted the story of getting injured while changing his sled bag over to a new sled, he had everyone laughing.  Failor is on to something here with laughter being the best medicine but it’s nothing new for him, Matt wears a perpetual smile.

Also, great to have our two wayward guys making progress toward Nome.  Patrick Beall and Larry Daugherty took a scenic tour out of Skwentna that caused fans some amazement while watching the GPS Tracker.  Larry was laughing about the scenic route as he took booties and harnesses off his team.  He said the detour turned out to be good in that it put him in a place to help Mary Helwig recover a loose dog.  Larry is another guy who always seems to be smiling and able to find the silver lining in any cloud.

Kristin Bacon was sitting with Rob Cooke and Sarah Stokey while enjoying a couple of made to order fried eggs and a piece of berry pie.  They were sharing stories of their experiences in the Farewell Burn.  They found the snowless burn to be rough and rugged.  They both un-hooked tug lines to reduce dog power then hooked them back up to climb the rolling hills.  It was a long run which the dogs seemed to enjoy while the mushers where less enthusiastic.  Al Eischens joined the conversation and vowed for the burn being tough for rookies and veterans alike.

When Sarah Stokey was released from her 24-hour, her dogs were ready to go.  They were up, leaping, jumping and lunging with as much enthusiasm, power and excitement as they had at the restart in Willow.  She’s going to have an awesome run to Takotna and beyond.

Miriam Osredkar’s team is lounging out in front of the checkpoint.  They’ve been here since 2130 last evening.  They’ve got a very secluded spot to rest that puts them in a position for some nice afternoon sun time.  Miriam is running young dogs from Joar Leifseth Ulsom’s kennel.  These are large leggy strong dogs.  For his puppies, Joar has given Miriam a schedule with a variety of run/rest ratios.  The dogs are eating well and resting well.  Miriam says she really likes the opportunity to run these young dogs for Joar.  The goal is to take them down the trail and let them experience the ins and outs of the trail without being competitive.  Miriam says that fits her preference for teaching young dogs new tricks over racing.

Miriam said she really enjoyed the technical mushing required on the Happy River Steps and the Dalzell Gorge.  She called it thrilling and exciting.  She like others was glad to say goodbye to the snowless bumpy Farewell Burn.  It might have been Miriam who said, “I was glad to say fare well to the Burn.”  Miriam came to mushing after she earned a degree in Biology from Oberlin College.  She worked for Iditarod Veteran Frank Teasley in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  She’s worked as a backpacking guide and a tour guide before moving to Alaska to make her way into mushing.  Getting the run a puppy team is living her dream.