Peter Kaiser was the first team to pull off the snowy Yukon River in Kaltag at 16.48 with 11 dogs. That effort award him the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award, which is a certificate for 25 pounds of fresh caught Bristol Bay Salmon and a cheque for $ 2000. He will also receive artwork by BBNC shareholder Apayo Moore at the finishers awards banquet.

Both mushers commented on the difficult trail conditions. Pete said the overflow was not deep, but that there were long stretches of it. Sometimes his team was able to stay on top, where other times it broke though. It took Pete 9 hrs from Eagle Island. In other years with faster trail conditions 7hrs are the norm.

Nicolas Petit was exited to see his smaller sled wait here:” It is time to switch out this tank “, he commented while pointing to his current ride. Both mushers arrived with 11 dogs, where Nicolas gave one dog a ride in the sled bag. Where Pete has to complete his mandatory 8 hour Yukon River Layover, Nicolas has already completed that rest in Grayling. Time will tell how much ahead he will take off. At this stage in the game teams often only rest 4 to 4.5 hours. I would not be surprised to see Nicolas rest closer to 6 hrs, as the run up from Eagle Island was pretty slow. 

Kaltag families coming out to greet the mushers

Nicolas Petit into Kaltag

Nicolas happy to be here

Pete Kaiser 1st team into Kaltag

Team dog from Pete Kaiser

Pete Kaiser team upon arrival in Kaltag

Vet check at Nicolas Petit team