Good morning from Kaltag. While the sun is coming up Jeff King came off the Yukon River all bundled up. It’s about 15 below F in town and much colder on the river. There are 4 teams currently resting. And there is a ” new ” face here with Dallas Seavey who now makes his presence in the front pack known. He still has to take his 8 hr layover, nevertheless the front runners see him, and know he is lurking behind.
I noticed the tuglines on Sonny’s dogs were still on, although they were bedded on straw. Knowing Sonny and his superb dog care I was wondering about that. Quizzing him about it, he pointed out that he only does it if he stays real short, like 2 hrs. It give the dogs a clear signal, as they are used to that routine, yet they sleep warm and comfortable. Always something to learn for the pros.
Robert Sorlie was feeding his team, and same as Aaron Burmeister,s dogs, they are in ” eat anything ” mode, ripping the food out of Sorlie’s hand and starting to even scrap over little morsels. That sure puts a smile on a mushers face, as when they eat like that…. you can go places. And usually get there fast. The weight on his dogs looked great, specially for this late in the race.
In the short time it took me to write this, Jeff has left the checkpoint and is out en route. Sonny pulled the hook, too. In most checkpoints the internet is in the schools and, unfortunately, they are usually quite a ways away. Once it gets fast paced like this, it’s hard to keep up. Wow, and look at that runtime from Jeff King. 3.38!!!, that is about an hour faster than Martin Buser, 45 minutes faster than Aliy. If he keeps that speed up, Jeff will make some serious time on those ahead of him.
Enjoy the sunrise pictures from beautiful Kaltag, which brings the Yukon River run to an end. Kaltag Portage next.
