Mille Porsild in Bib #33 Arrives in McGrath During the Blue Hour (Photo by Dave Poyzer)

Mille Porsild pulled into McGrath last evening at 19:07 as one of twenty-two mushers to achieve the 311 mile mark on March 8th.  Aaron Burmeister was the first to arrive at 17:41.  Hanna Lyrek was the final musher of the day arriving at 23:51.  McGrath is a popular spot for taking the long winter’s nap – AKA the 24-hour required layover.  Based on the fact that Aaron Burmeister remains at McGrath yet this morning some 14 hours later, it seems that he’s giving his dogs that long nap.

Mille has quite the impressive history behind sled dogs and much of it centers on exploration rather than racing.  Porsild has traveled with Will Steger on a three-month-long dog sled expedition in Canada.  She has slept more than 1,000 nights in a tent on dog sled expeditions and feels at home anywhere in the Arctic. Running her Polar Husky freight dogs, she’s done 15 long haul expeditions with the longest being 3,000 miles in Greenland.  Growing up in Denmark, Mille listened to her grandfather’s stories about expeditions and adventures.  From that time on she set her mind to a life with sled dogs.

Porsild has distinguished herself in her two previous Iditarod runs.  In 2020 she claimed 15th pace and rookie of the year honors.  In 2021 she moved up the ranks to 5th place.  Mille knows dogs and is at home in the Alaska wilderness.  Could she be the next female to earn Iditarod Gold?

BTW – The photo of Mille climbing off the river into the McGrath checkpoint was taken during the “blue” hour.  It’s a period of time just after sunset when the atmosphere has a blue color.  Photographers say the blueness can’t be artificially created even by the best photo processing apps.  The images are often very unique and portray emotions such as peace and tranquility.  What does Poyzer’s blue hour photo of Mille say to you?

Tools of the Trade Ready for Checkpoint Clean Up (Photo by Dave Poyzer)

How about the rest of the field?  There are a handful of guys – Dallas, Brent, Ryan, Mitch and Hugh that are out of Ophir and heading to Cripple.  There are seven mushers including Mille, Paige Drobny and Michelle Phillips that are parked in Ophir.  Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Deke Naaktgeboren are out of McGrath on the way to Ophir.  McGrath is a bit crowded with 17 teams on the ground there and six more are on the way.  Currently the Nikolai checkpoint is pretty quiet with a half dozen teams on the ground.  As mushers depart volunteers are raking straw and preparing for the group that’s making their way across the snowless burn.  Nine mushers departed Rohn yesterday and should make Nikolai shortly.  The final six mushers on the trail to Nikolai are traveling in pairs – KattiJo Deeter & Julie Ahnen, Apayauq Reitan & Lisbet Norris and Yuka Honda and Kailyn Davis.

Sleds Shipped to McGrath so Mushers Like Anna Berington Can Replace Broken Sleds (Photo by Dave Poyzer)

As teams begin to take the long layover that gets a little longer when the start differential is added, we are going to see the race come into focus as to who’s running in the front of the pack and who is actually in the lead.  Insider race analysts Bruce Lee, Greg Heister and Liz Raines Failor have great video clips ready for your information and enjoyment.