Nicolas Peitit yelled over ” Aren’t they beautiful ? ” Nicolas seems very pleased with his team and he has every reason to. Indeed they look beautiful. The trail is also a bit more set up than yesterday. That is an advantage, of not running right out front. Nicolas pulled into the short term parking …
Ken Anderson into Cripple
The next team in here in Cripple is Ken Anderson. Ken is driving a huge long sled, almost 17 feet long. Caboose and all. Ken, same as Brent, is very athletic. Where Brent is using one ski pole and kicking with one foot, Ken is firmly standing on both runners and double ski poling, rhythmic …
I caught up with Brent a few miles before the checkpoint. Backtracking on the trail is not much fun, with it being as bumpy as it is, but the last few miles coming into Cripple are some of the better ones with decent snow cover. It has been snowing lightly off and on since last …
Mushers in Cripple
One of the fun part is always listening to the mushers talk in the checkpoint. Its cosy here in the Cripple Cookshack. Then shack might not be the right word anymore, it actually is a very nice cabin by now, one could live her. Its just a little bit hard to get groceries. How does …
Morning update from Cripple
The night was relatively quiet here. Jeff King came and stayed exactly 4 hrs and is en route to Ruby. He seems to like having a good 5 star menu there, courtesy of the Lakeview Hotel. He is one of the few people who have 24’ed in Ruby before. Jeff will have some peace and …
Pictures from Ophir
Each year I only get to stop in Ophir for a short time. There is not internet there and accommodations are tight too. There is one mushers cabin with 8 bunks, and when I checked in this morning there were 9 mushers doing their 24 hr layover. Sigrid Ekran was talking about her team, and …
The other 2 teams I passed along the way today were Kelly Maixner and Jeff King. Jeff was at the Carlson Crossing Shelter Cabin 28 miles past Ophir. His team quietly camping on the river and Jeff was stretching in the cabin. He was overly talkative, and I could not blame him for that. So …
Update on Lance Mackey
Those of you following the tracker closely most likely noticed that Lance Mackey turned around after leaving his campout spot. That is surprising to see. When I stopped to chat with him there was no indication that something was wrong. Or at least Lance did not let it on. The only thing he was a …
Mushers en route to Cripple
Slow going on the trail to Cripple. Not much snow on quite a few stretches. Here are a few pictures of the next 2 teams to arrive in Cripple. 3rd in should be Robert Sorlie and shortly after John Baker. Both teams were moving really nicely. Matter of fact I had a hard time shaking …
Teams in Takotna Taking Their 24
Right now there are 18 teams resting in Takotna. That is about half of what it has been in most years. I had a brief chat with Larson Monson and Dag Torulf Olson. They are both happy with their teams and taking a relatively conservative approach. The pace feels quick, yet sitting with Aaron Burmeister …
