Race leaders on the Trail to McGrath
This is the lowest snow I have seen on the Kuskokwim River. Normally in low snow, there are not many moose. Not so this year. I finally even managed to get a shot of one. The river as such often only had a skiff of snow, if any for snow cover. Fast traveling conditions. …
Mushers Camping Out
One perk of being on the trail with a snow machine is that I can sneak up on mushers which are camped out. Brent Sass, was sitting a few miles past Nikolai, to enjoy some peace and quiet. He either pretended to not hear me come, or he was really napping hard ( earplugs?? ) …
The mushers who are leaving Nikolai right now got a nice break in the weather. After a clear sunny morning, some clouds have rolled in, and make the ” heat of the day ” feel a lot less hot. Dallas Seavey rolled out of here a while ago, and Mitch Seavey has just pulled the …
Noah Burmeister in the Lead
Definitely an unusual turn of events here in Nikolai. Brent Sass has come and gone. He said in the pre race interviews, that he would not stay much into the checkpoints this year. Brent prefers the solitude of the trail. With being able to grab some hot water here in the checkpoint, this was a …
On By…. Lance in Nikolai
The dog teams resting in Nikolai are getting some very quality rest. CALM and SUNNY. And the checkpoint is relatively quite. Very few snow machines and other traffic disturbing the dogs. No airplanes. It is always fun. Where most dogs are resting in pairs, a few mushers have them sleep single file. I have seen …
Scenes from Nikolai
Nikolai is hopping. And this is just the beginning. Team after team is coming in. Wade Marrs was checking in. It was fun to see him sit down while driving his sled. He used to give me a hard time for having a sit down sled. Wade’s leaders wanted to visit locals first, before heading …
Dallas Seavey was very happy with his run over. Before the checkers could check his gear, he had to unload dogs. Not dogs who were injured. Dogs he gave a ride, to slow his team down. He is still doing close to 10 miles and hour with having 4 dogs in the basket, 2 dogs …
Nicolas Petit 1st into Nikolai
Nicolas Petit arrived 1st on the banks of the upper Kuskokwim River in Nikolai. The checkpoint was ready for him. This place is always very dialed in during Iditarod. And this year they need to be. There is a long line of mushers out there, all hoping to get here before the heat of the …
The leaders are getting to Nikolai. Their strategies seem to converge here. And VERY different strategies they were. Nicolas Petit did a huge long run all the way to Rainy Pass, then followed by a short run to Rohn, now running nonstop to Nikolai. His travel speed is still up. Dallas Seavey has done …
MUCH better trail than in 2014. That is the short version. good enough…. good night….. Just kidding. After leaving Rainy I caught up with Noah Burmeister and was able to get some nice shots of him up in the high country. Lots of snow up there this year, no gravel or rocks showing. Very nice …
