Martin in Rohn, Matt on the way, Aliy, Justin Savidis and Dee Dee in Rainy

Martin  Buser made it into Rohn before 10 a.m.. Now that is impressive. His runtime with 4.13. is pretty darn quick.  Pretty much at the same time, last years Champion Dallas Seavey has left Finger Lake, dropping 2 dogs, being down to 14 dogs. Now 14 is not big deal, after all we start the Quest with 14, but still, it must weigh on Dallas´s mind. Many of the „ normal „ Top 10 „ condenders are further back down the trail, either camped out, or en route to Rainy Pass. Justin Savidis arrived here in 4th position and commented “ I followed your advice “ to get here before the heat of the day. “ I hope he has his team trained for these long runs. Would be nice to see a fresh face up front, but it’s a long way to hold it together.  Dee Dee´s team looked energetic coming in and she was quick to bed them down on HAY. Yes no straw here in Rainy Pass, they use hay, so it can be reused to feed the horses here.

We just talked about Matthew Failor. He is not running Martin´s puppy team. When he arrived here in Rainy I chatted a bit with him and Matt mentioned that many of the dogs this team, actually qualified him for Iditarod 3 years ago. So not only are they a veteran team, Matt knows them from running them before.

Wahooooo, the first Yukoner Team has arrived in Rainy at 11.06. Michelle just had a nice writeup in the Whitehorse Star, where she clearly stated, that she wants to be Top 10 this year. Her placing, and the fact that she is ” pushing ” to the front shows that she is serious! Nice to see. 16 DOGS TOO! Go Michelle!

Its a challenging snowmachine ride down to Rohn. In order to not be in the way, or get too screwed up ourselves, Gerd and I will head down the trail soon, but than will be in ” a dark ” hole in Rohn when it comes to Internet. Even my satellite Unit I can not get to work down there. Hopefully from somewhere around Bison Camp, the sky should be clear enough to the southeast, to hook up to the orbiting stars again.

Enjoy a few more pictures here from Rainy.4V1A7982 4V1A7984 4V1A7986 4V1A7991 4V1A7994 4V1A7997 4V1A7998 4V1A8004 4V1A8006 4V1A8009 4V1A8012 4V1A8014 IMG_0347 IMG_0349 IMG_0351 IMG_0353 IMG_0354 IMG_0358 IMG_0359 IMG_0361 IMG_0365 IMG_0370 IMG_0371