Nicolas Petit was the 1st team in and out of Unalakleet. He stayed close to 5 hrs. That is a pretty big luxury at this point in the race. When leaving Kaltag last night, Nic thought he would not run straight through, but in typical Nic fashion he changed his mind. Running here straight was likely a good move, as he stayed completely out of sight that way. 

While flying over from Kaltag, we saw the chase pack resting right at 20 miles out. They were resting at the detour at Cheroski Creek. Unalakleet is surprisingly calm weather wise. It can really blow here. With all 4 chase teams, Jessie Royer, Peter Kaiser, Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Mitch Seavey stopping en route to camp, they will not stay here. 

When talking to Jessie Royer last night in Kaltag, she had talked about doing this type of run. She said up until Kaltag, here sights were set on maintaining 3rd place. But in Kaltag, she switched gear and said she is now eyeing the lead position. It looks like she is in firm contention for 2nd place, with traveling right with Joar and Pete Kaiser.  Jessie still has 13 dogs, with Joar only having 10 and Pete 11 dogs. That can prove a significant advantage once leaving Unalakleet. The blueberry hills are nothing to sneeze at. Constant up and downs, and 3 extra dogs will come in handy. Mitch Seavey seems to be a little bit off pace and is still camping out.

Part of their strategy was to schedule a definite stop in Shaktoolik. In some years teams skip Shak,  but the trail from Shak to Koyuk is going to be about 10 miles longer than usual, due to thin ice out in Norton Sound.

3 Teams resting about 20 Miles out of Unk

Nicolas Petit all smiles

Nicolas Sled in Unk, he switched to a smaller one in Kaltag

Nicolas Petit team resting in Unk, no wind

Nicolas on his way to his sled in Unk

Comfy dogs from Nicolas Team in Unk

Here a few unedited, unlabeled pictures…, sorry, try finding the teams in the areal picture…