Kaltag, the anticipation is building

Posted by Sebastian Schnuelle
Date: March 9, 2019 3:52 pm

Earlier in the day, we expected the lead teams to arrive at 3 p.m. That was 45 minutes ago and they are still 9 miles out. That tells you everything about the current trail conditions. Snow has stated to fall AGAIN. On the upside, it is not rain, like they experienced further down river yesterday.

The lead pack has now divided into 3 groups of 2 mushers. Bethel’s Kusko 300 Champion Peter Kaiser is leading the charge, closely followed by Nicolas Petit. I expect Pete to pull over here to camp. He is wanting to dry out his gear, before hitting the coast. 8 hours here in Kaltag is a good place to do so. The fire is roaring in the Barrel stove. With Nic, well, it is Nic. Hard to predict. We pulled out his sled in case he does want to change it.

Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Jessie Royer are the next group chasing. They are 15 miles further down the trail, or about 28 miles out of here. That likely is 4+ hrs. I can see Jessie push on to Tripod Flats Cabin, as she has done in the past.

Mitch Seavey has pulled over to camp about half way to Kaltag. Aliy Zirkle has caught up with him and I that likely will get him moving pretty quickly.

Here a few more pictures from around town and the checkpoint. Tune in to the Insider Videos for the teams arriving here.