the very famous and popular Takotna dining hall at the checkpoint. Legendary food, hospitality make this village a musher favorite. note flat screen in far right of photo

We wait for Aaron Burmeister—checkpoint on alert

12 miles out and the Takotna checkpoint prepares for the arrival of Aaron Burmeister.   Computer saavy fans are watching the little green GPS dots on a large flat screen in the community center, and deduce the following:   Aaron is leading the pack.   Aliy Zirkle, who started 2nd out Nikolai is being eclipsed by Lance Mackey.  He gained almost five miles on Aliy and also chewed slightly at the lead of Aaron Burmeister.  Additionally, he pulled away from Mitch Seavey who we previously acknowledged as the fastest on the trail.  So, for the moment, Lance’s team is cookin’—maybe the new speed demon on the trail.

 Big advisory: things can change fast. 

Meanwhile, Martin Buser is executing his master plan to the rear, somewhere in an anonymous place amongst recreational mushers—-the group whose goal is to finsih.  He has been passing up teams all afternoon, but appears to have stopped, predictably, at his camp at Salmon River Cabin, fifteen miles or so short of Nikolai.  All we need to know about Martin and his strategy is his time at Takotna.  If he leaves Takotna before Aaron gets off his mandatory 24 hour rest—then he is the new leader.

chainsaw man works to construct a norwegian torch at the checkpoint

a view to the takotna checkpoint

this is the last hundred yards of the trail into Takotna. Somebody spent a lot of time flagging this entry