Koyuk Update, Lots of Action, Burmeister In

Posted by Sebastian Schnuelle
Date: March 9, 2014 6:21 pm

Koyuk is a busy place. The most current team to arrive was Aaron Burmeister. It had been a long run for him, with only resting less than 2 hrs in Shaktoolik. Conditions start to get worse out there, as the wind has been picking up. Now combine that with all the glare ice out there. It has been very hard mentally on mushers and dogs. Sonny Lindner said: ” You simply can’t get where you need to go .” At times it also looks like the trail is going away from Koyuk, with its meandering course it is longer than usual.

Mitch was in a cheerful mood, although he thought that this last run had taken him forever.” This old dog needed to be dropped a long time ago ” He referred to himself. He was talking about how often he had to stop out there to find leaders in his team, because some of his good ones had been dropped.

Aliy Zirkle and Jeff King were getting ready to leave at the same time. Simply walking around the checkpoint is treacherous, the volunteers put straw on the ice, than water on top to freeze it, yet is still is very slick. Both teams left without hesitation, they have to navigate around a street sign, which once again is easier said than done on the ice and the wind pushing. Here the teams have to cross a road and Jeff King’s team did not… and kept on going down the road. No way of stopping as everything is downhill. At the bottom he turned his team around, by that time Aliy Zirkle who was initially past him got her team on the out trail, her sled dragging sideways on the gravel and ice. There is a tough run ahead of these teams and the wind is supposed to pick up even further. Although they call for sunny weather, I do not like the forecast. It is forecasting 25 to 30 mph winds in the communities, the usual blowholes will see much more than that. It will be a real challenge and another mental and physical test.

Here are the shots from this afternoon: