Tuesday Morning 7am—Dan Seavey leaves Finger—-Zirkle and Baker lead pack to Salmon River
Race Roundup
Outside our tent of sleeping, snoring, rolling, tossing volunteers packaged in neat rows on the floor, Dan Seavey unhooks his team at first light in direction Rainy Pass, the last in a train of mushers marching up and over the Alaska Range. He completed the first Iditarod in 1973 and now attempts to complete his resume, at age 74, by completing the 40thIditarod.
dan seavey into Finger Lake after a frustrating 16 mile detaour
To the front, the dynamic of the race shifts as Aliy Zirkle leads the front pack across the eponymous “Nikolai Burn”, a flat expanse of stunted black spruce, low brush, and the ubiquitous tundra heads—a mound of moss and low brush the shape of a fire hydrant—which punctuate the tundra and confound mushers who careen and richochet from one to the other. Unobstructed wind in the wind builds snow drifts, or if it feels like it, lays bare miles of frozen dirt trail. Sleds bouncing on the frozen ground sound like base drums in the arctic silence.
John Baker, the 2011 champ, shadows Zirkle in 2nd place, in an uncharacteristic push to the front. Last year, pundits recall, Baker was patiently travelling anonymously in the front pack waiting to make his move after the pack settled into Takotna for the mandatory 24 hour break (more on that rule which requires each musher, somewhere along the trail, to shut the dogs down. Note: this allows the vets to thoroughly inventory the dogs.”)
The setting on the trail
While viewing the times and doing your own calculations, here’s a few things to consider. Generally speaking, all the tough stuff TECHNICALLY, is over. Mushers have survived the insanity of revved up teams passing in the narrow confines of trail over the Alaska range. All have negotiated the wild descent down the Happy Valley steps just outside of the Finger Lake checkpoint, circumvented side hills and ice into Rainy Pass, deciphered the broad pass that communicates to Rainy Pass, descended north off the summit of the Alaska Range, deciphered a maze of creek crossings down the Dalzell gorge, and missed a few trees at some wild curves in the lower Dalzell Canyon. The last technical test was the exit out of Rohn to the Post River (usually guaranteed to require good leaders).
Now the mushers are on the wide plain of the Yukon where trails are uneventful and essentially level. The chances for a good wreck are minimal and now the lead pack, having survived with a team intact, can focus on dog management.
Aliy is now just a few miles from a fish camp on the Salmon River. This camp, seen as a hard dog leg turn on your Iditarod map (check the gps map at the Insider) consists of a cabin and some fish racks for drying salmon. Martin Buser often uses this spot to take a break and rest his dogs. I notice this year he is hanging back in the pack (sort of like John Baker last year) and running with a different strategy.
Behind Aliy, John Baker is tagging her and may pass her. Just my observation—use it like you want. Aliy has very quick athletic dogs, but they are noticeably small. I think most musher insiders would say she could beat John Baker on a hard trail for a hundred miles with speed, but we are now in the second full day of racing.
John Baker’s dogs are much bigger than aliy’s. Compare 40 to 50 lb dogs with the enormous 65 lb to 75 lb dogs of Bakers. When power becomes speed, my pundits believe Baker’s power will prevail. It may take a hundred miles, but the power is a nice asset.
Note: I saw John in Finger Lake. Snickers, his super leader was a little off gait. He found that she had a little soreness in her left front elbow. She might have gotten nipped, bumped some brush—its hard to tell. When she left in the lead, I could tell that it was a little stiff. But, as so often happens, the moderate trot of Johns team is an easy way to work out a kink. I see John is still driving 15 dogs so I am assuming that Snickers is pack to full speed (look at John’s elite speeds into checkpoints.) Johns dogs travel with lots of power, but the pace is always at a trot, which is comfortable. Its kind of like going on a fast hike with the boy scouts, except the boy scouts are BIG.
Probably, Baker and Zirkle will continue from the Salmon River dog leg to the village of Nikolai. Here it appears that their strategy will ask for a good rest of around 5 hours? And then scoot without distraction to McGrath, where they will sign in and out in seconds, and continue 22 miles to Takotna,.
Baker told me pre-race, that he will unequivocally declare a twenty four hour break in Takotna even if others opt to break open the race by continuing north to Cripple (check your Insider map.)
Let’s look at the rest of the pack
Predictably, Hugh Neff and Lance Mackey, the battle hardened Quest mushers are travelling together in close pursuit of Zirkle and Baker in 3rd and 4th. These two are perfectly situated to make any number of powerful moves. Never, NEVER, underestimate the capacity of either Neff or Mackey to break this race wide open. Note: Lance told me in Anchorage he was driving a team with a substantially different line up than the one he used in the Yukon Quest. Add Lances ability to manage a team, and he is an unknown front running entity.
No surprise, I like to watch Dallas Seavey within easy striking distance behind Mackey and Neff. He is tough , organized, experience, and Athletic (remember he was working out with the USA Olympic wrestling team.) Ray Redington is to the front, also prepared to pressure front runner Zirkle.
Jeff King likes to be further to the front—in my experience—so it feels like his team doesn’t have the power at the moment to test the front runners. Martin Buser, the 4x champ, is noticeably off the pace, but never count him out. He may simply feel the pace is too fast and decided to march to his own strategy.
Paul Gebhardt is in the front pack. I talked to him but he did not reveal his intentions. It is very possible—as he has done in the past—that he will advance beyond the Takotna checkpoint and take his 24 hour in Cripple or Ruby. This would require that he take it easier at the moment. Its something to watch—if you enjoy strategies developing.
More on Dan Seavey
I happened to be in the Finger checkpoint when Dan arrived last night. Unfortunately , he went 16 miles off trail after following lathe to a lodge out of Skwetna. In hindsight, he realized the lathe were not consistent with the orange top Iditarod lathe with reflectors and blue ribbon. In fact, Dan criticized himself, recalling that he had asked for the blue ribbon marking as an aid for color blind mushers years ago in his capacity as boardmember.
Nevertheless, he was in good spirits, and left this am about 6;47. He will have to hustle to stay in contact with the race.
Dan Seavey feeds his dog team before departing Finger Lake in falling snow
Final thoughts
Race is on high burner, heating up as teams head for the 24 hour break in Takotna. Conventionally, most mushers will end up in Takotnal. A few, like Gebhardt, may shake up the field and go further.
Aliy Zirkle is the rabbit. Baker, Mackey, Neff, are the hounds in pursuit.
Dwight Ruff, part of the crew at Finger, mans the cook tent in the early am
Travis Cooper stops in Finger, consults with vets before departure
