Lance into Anvik while Martin puts boots on to leave Anvik The contrast couldn’t have been staged better. Lance just rolled into Anvik with one of the fastest times from Shageluk (I think Jake was maybe five minutes faster) in to Anvik. At the same time, Martin was putting boots on his dogs for a …
Anvik 8 20AM , Burmeister through Anvik A short update on the lead pack here in Anvik this Friday morning. Aliy Zirkle came in and out Anvik at 7 20 this morning. I didn’t see her but was told that she rolled in at a lope, signed in, at left at a lope. A little …
With Martin’s impressive entry to Anvik, let’s take a look at the competition. Martin has been sitting for almost an hour at mile 486 in Anvik. On the tracker we note the nearest competition on the trail is Mitch Seavey at mile 459, a huge gap of 27 miles. Add up the numbers and Martin …
Martin into Anvik at 2 17 am, with 14 dogs loping into the checkpoint. martin dropped the hook, and said, “Rocket ship.” He was as impressed as we were . Everything we have been seeing on the tracker and checkpoints indicates his team is the fastest on the trail (see account below …
We took advantage of a weather window and jumped an airplane from Takotna to Anvik. We wanted to stop in Iditarod but high winds and a bumpy ride in the plane weren’t worth it. I took a few photos from the plane window to illustrate that the trail has now changed in character to the …
10 am Takotna—Planes flying today
Takotna 10 AM Finally, weather has improved and planes are starting to move the iditarod infrastructure of veterinarians and officials and volunteers up the trail. The Takotna school has served as a media base but now there is a ruffling of sleeping bags as reporters wad up gear in bags and wait for a small aircraft flight. …
The Takotna checkpoint stirs first this morning with news from pilots analyzing weather for the region. They report that is already blowing on the Yukon 30 knots and conceivably temperatures could rise with the wind to above freezing. These winds and temperatures are big factors for mushers leaving iditarod in direction Shageluk over mammoth rolling …
Takotna Mass Exit, 11 PM Wed March 6
11PM After 24 hours of recuperation in a mandatory rest, AAron Burmeister , Mitch Seavey, and Aliy Zirkle led out a large group of “Takotna” mushers all bound in direction Iditarod, a distance of about 100 miles. Predictably, big favorite Aaron Burmeister left the checkpoint at 10:14 PM with 15 noticeably thick and …
Old Man Weather Enters Iditarod
5:15PM march 6 Wednesday Status report Old Man Weather has entered the Iditarod as a major player. In an effort to simplify the situation, I deferred to a number of pilots who are presently grounded in Takotna. Unable to move because of visibility limits caused by continuing snow fall, they told me that weather was …
Martin Buser and team arrived in tokotna with 16 and departed minutes later at 1:10 PM with 14 dogs, leaving two with the vets. His time from McGrath to Takotna was respectable at 2hours 25 minutes and he continues to imress mushers who realize he could be hours to the front. Even the most …
