Leaving White Mountain, it’s always a good idea to dress for wind. This trip was surprisingly calm. The blowhole was holding its breath, at least for today. When stopping at the Safety Raodhouse, they said it pretty much blew till sometime yesterday afternoon. Good fortune for the mushers. The lake at the bottom of Topkok Hill was all glare ice. Many trail markers were already knocked down. With a good side wind, traveling that stretch will be difficult. On the other hand, it’s pretty straightforward. If in doubt, just follow the shoreline till you find the exit trail….

Travis Beals had stopped about 6 miles out of White Mountain. John Baker was working hard in the Topkok Hills. Ken Anderson was on his way down Topkok and we did a little photo shoot session. Right at the bottom, near the shelter cabin, a fox was dining on leftover dogfood. It will be a well fed fox, with dog teams still coming for many days and that being a popular stopping spot. 

Along the flats were Jessie Royer, Robert Sorlie, Richie Diehl and Paul Gebhardt. Safety Roadhouse was a quite place with Scott Smith just having gone through. And Scott was on a mission. He wants to catch Noah Burmeister. And when I passed Noah, he was on a mission too. Not to be caught. Along the seawall protecting the Nome shoreline I passed one last team, 4 time Iditarod Champion Jeff King. He was motoring right along.

Update, Brent Sass is on the move again, and headed for Nome!

Enjoy the shots: