A Look at Runtimes and Carrying Dogs
Sitting down with Mitch Seavey is always interesting. He is carrying dogs in the sled this year, voluntary that is. More and more mushers are doing that. Each times I pass one of those teams, I try to get a count of the number of dogs they have loaded up. Dallas often had 4 dogs …
Good Morning from Takotna
Are you a musher, you look like one? ” No, sorry I am not “. O.k. then I have to serve you a breakfast burrito, if you were a musher you would get a steak. This pretty much sums up the level of service here in Taktona. I am more than happy to take the …
Evening Update from Takotna
I normally stay the night in M Grath with my friend Rick Breckheimer, not so this year. The pace is a bit quicker and teams very tight and bunched up. Not wanting to get caught in the middle of that, I opted for going to Takotna instead. The run over showed me how quickly things …
It is a flurry of activity here in McGrath. Robert Sorlie quietly came into the checkpoint. At the same time, Nicolas Petit was packing his sled with more provisions behind the checkpoint. There is long term, meaning 24 hrs, parking here, short term parking meaning a normal 4 to 6 hr break and then there …
And here is the Top 5 teams into McGrath. Fan favourite Aliy Zirkle. You are looking for pictures??? Well…. me too. She was fast, too fast for me. Or better said, there was this one piece of chocolate cake someone handed me…, long story short, I got out about 1 minute too late and she …
Bethel’s own Pete Kaiser has arrived in McGrath. Watching his team cross the river was a sight of beauty. Keeping them stopped in the checkpoint was quite difficult with the low snow and because they were screaming to go. I wish my pictures would have audio. Watch for the Insider Video of his team arriving. …
Wade Marrs 3rd into McGrath
The Top 3 have rounded out. Wade Marrs has arrived. He decided to stay and declare his 24 hr layover. So his team is parked away behind a nice snow berm. Wade has been battling a cold himself, so the 24 hr break will hopefully help him to shake that. Top 3 mushers, and 3 …
This was another super nice looking team. Mitch this time had all 15 dogs on the line. And they were firing on all cylinders. Barking and screaming to go. It is quite the tight corner and steep descent back onto the Kuskokwim River, and they were flying down that ramp. Here some shots:
Dallas Seavey First into McGrath
It is always a big deal when the first team arrives in McGrath. It seems like the whole town turns up. Getting the checkpoint ready is logistics big time. Some TV stations broadcast live, the Insider als,o and then many, many teams will try to park here. That also involves kicking out any other traffic, …
The first 3 teams getting to the checkpoint here in McGrath should be Dallas Seavey, followed by his dad Mitch Seavey and then Wade Marrs. It is pretty cool to see young Wade Marrs having such a strong race. When passing Wade, his leaders were somewhat hesitant, so I was worried that I would screw …
