Sunrise in Unalakleet as we Wait for Nicolas Petit
Sunday morning in Unalakleet, a crowd gathers at the checkpoint, while multiple 4-wheelers and snowmachines head east into the sun to greet the first musher to the Bering Sea. Nicolas Petit emerged from the newly risen bright sun behind a very spirited dog team. Nicolas left Kaltag for the run on the old portage trail to Unalakleet at 21:49 on Saturday evening. He arrived in Unalakleet a little before 09:46 on Sunday Morning. The 85-mile run took approximately 12 hours.
Petit Arrives from the East
Petit bedded his team down next to a snow berm and began cooking up breakfast. He ladled out a warm drink mixed with kibble for his athletes who went to work on devouring it immediately. Given his 12 hour run without camping, Petit will most likely be in Unalakleet for several hours.
Petit Dishes out Breakfast
Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Peter Kaiser, and Jessie Royer are resting twenty miles back up trail. Seven other teams have departed Kaltag and probably appreciate the teams who’ve gone out ahead to break trail. Trail breakers went through earlier however, winds yesterday caused drifting especially between Kaltag and Tri-Pod Flats.
Nicolas Petit talks it over with Race Marshall Mark Nordman
Teams are spread out on the trail for about 150 miles between Shageluk and Unalkleet. Alison Lifka, Jeremy Keller, Victoria Hardwick and Cindy Gallea have the 25 miles to cover between Shageluk and Anvik before making the Yukon River. Anja Radano and Kristin Bacon are only a couple miles short of Anvik.
When the trail leaves Kaltag, it runs through forests and open area along the Kaltag River, gently climbing to the summit of the Portage. It begins the slow descent to the Bering Sea as it passes Old Woman Mountain and the safety cabin. Five miles out of Unalakleet, the trail joins up with the river and brings the teams past the Dagon’s back into the checkpoint.
Unalakleet is a community of 700. It’s the largest community on the Iditarod Trail between Willow and Nome. Walking around town, one can shop at two grocery stores that also stock basic hardware and household items. There is a new health center. Peace on Earth in known for it’s pizza, the Igloo is known for espresso and sandwiches and Brown’s Lodge serves up outstanding burgers and chili. There are a number of churches in town including Covenant, Baptist and Catholic.
There are two major community events that take place during Iditarod week. There’s a citizen’s ski race and ski school late on Monday right across from the checkpoint. All ages are welcome. It’s a very fun event watching the school age kids and adults ski around the Dragon’s back while at the same time being able to see teams arrive at the checkpoint. The Covenant Church hosts a Pie Social on Tuesday evening. There’s a great deal of conversation about who is baking what kind of pie for this not to be missed event. One year I went hoping for a piece of pecan or pumpkin but instead chose spicy raisin pecan. It was the most delicious piece of pie I’ve every eaten.
Stay tuned for more action throughout the next several days from Unalakleet.
