March 7 Galena— 12:30pm—Buser defends against agitated pack

Bruce Lee, Insider Analyst, and I have just flown the 50 miles of trail from Ruby to Galena on the Yukon River.  We saw Jeff King, Sonny Lindner, Mitch Seavey, Robert Sorlie, Hugh Neff, Nicolas Petit, and Paul Gebhardt. 

Robert Sorlie’s team was traveling nicely, yet the freight train of  Sonny Lindner passed him.  As I write, we have learned that Sonny just went through the checkpoint in pursuit of 4X Champ Martin Buser with a very animated team.  A short time later, I tallked with Sorlie, who agreed that Sonny’s team was supersonic, but he also added the observation, “We are only just halfway, a long way to go” .

It appears that Martin’s team has settled into a slower traveling speed, possibly a consequence of time on the trail since his 24 hour break in Nikolai. He took an abbreviated rest of a little over two hours in Galena, then left the checkpoint to portage back on the river trail, so we don’t think his speed will increase.  Therefore, my observation and our guys on snowmachine have observed that Sonny is driving the most powerful team on the trail today.  He is within striking distance of Buser and could reel him in if he maintains his team at the present strength.

Hugh Neff and Paul Gebhardt are driving smaller teams of 8 dogs or so and do not have the momentum to challenge the likes of Lindner, et al.  

Nicolas Petit continues to be a mind blower.  He clocked an incredibly fast time from Cripple to Ruby, and it seems his dogs still have the magic.  He just pulled into Galena and I have to go out and talk to him.  He is definitely a player with the likes of Lindner, King, Burmeister.

King is also driving a very smooth team in step with Lindner and therefore I include him in the front.

 When we arrived, Aliy was changing sled plastic and organizing her sled. In between chores, she took time to meet her special fans, often little girls impressed with her at the front.  She is a very hard worker and her attention to detail in some cases may work counter to her goal.  She was very tired by her own admission and needed sleep, but another detail kept her at the dogs in the yard.  Finally, she appeared in the community hall to eat and then hopefully recharge her own reserves with sleep.

Mitch Seavey’s  team  appeared very powerful, but some of us wonder if his conservative strategy may have put him too far back in the pack to make a shot at the front.  He is always banking rest and making common sense  moves with his team.  His goal is always to arrive at the Bering  Sea coast with a strong team, but he may have  put himself out of contact with the front with too little  time to salvage his race.  I have been guilty of misjudging the time swings that are possible in the last half of the race.  Mitch would tell me that seven or eight hours is not a big enough defense against a strong team.  He is always capable of surprises and cannot be discounted.

The weather on the Yukon is sunny, clear skies, with a gentle wind.  Here in Galena, in the protection of the trees, the temperatures are around 0 to 10 F and feel very comfortable.  The mushers, however, dress like it’s North Pole as they know that the dogs will drop down a slip off the high bank of Galena onto the three mile wide Yukon river bed enveloped in a stinging wind and even colder temperatures.  It is the low point of the Arctic freezer.

It is 1:20pm and Aliy is now dressed in full cold weather battle gear.  She says to  a few fans that it’s time for her to go.  This will be an important run as she must not only gradually reel in Buser, she and team must match the strength of Sonny Lindner, Burmeister, Jeff King et al.