With both Dallas and Mitch Seavey going through Koyuk and nice evening light, I could not resist to catch up with them along Norton Sound. Mitch was once again sitting down and riding into the sunset. Not so Dallas. He worked hard and immediately started flagging me down. ” Sebastian the trail is very fragile “. That was his polite way to tell me to stay off trail. Luckily along the coast that is quite easily possible.

Mitch Seavey had carried straw and as I type this, he has been camped out for about 20 minutes in the hills outside of Koyuk. There is nice timber there and he can stay out of the wind. The wind on this run is much less than going into Koyuk. There are people at the shelter cabin, which Mitch could not know, they had the wood stove going. Dallas is at the cabin right now and it appears he has stopped there.  The trail over past the shelter cabin was much more traveled than the earlier part and also quite a bit local traffic out there. I guess people are waiting to watch the first teams go by.

The checkpoint here in Elim is ready for the Mushers to arrive. In the meantime Brent Sass is also on the move again, after a very short 2hr 53 minute rest. Time will tell if he catches up to Mitch before Mitch pulls the hook again. In White Mountain all 3 strategies will converge. If Brent goes straight through Elim, which Mitch Seavey is very likely going to do, they could be both neck to neck. It will show how long Dallas Seavey will stay here in Elim, I would be surprised if it is much less than 3 hrs. So technically, they could all 3 be very close to each other leaving here in Elim. 

Signing off for a few hours to get a nap Enjoy the evening shots of the ride over.