Eye on the Trail: Late Friday Finishers

The number of finishers for Iditarod 2018 will reach forty-seven before Thursday turns to Friday and St. Patrick’s Day is here. As of right now, fifteen mushers have scratched or withdrawn from Iditarod 2018. Yes, weather and difficult trail have played a part in that number. Forty-five mushers have arrived in Nome, all talking about …

Eye on the Trail: Friday Afternoon Arrivals

For me, it’s a welcome sight to see two, three or four mushers close together on the GPS tracker as they approach Nome. Granted, the chute might get a bit crowded with more than two teams but multiple teams make it worth the effort to walk out on the Bering Sea toward Cape Nome to …

Eye on the Trail: Nome Pre-dawn Friday

As temperatures hovered around zero in Nome, ten teams completed Iditarod XLVI. It started with the Master Musher Martin Buser at 00:02 and right now we’re waiting for Larry Daugherty to come in from Safety. Word from back down the trail indicates the temperature is well below zero in White Mountain. Martin Buser completed his …

Eye on the Trail: Konno to Casillo

Michi Konno completed his rookie Iditarod on Thursday afternoon in 23rd place with a time of 11 days, 0 hours and 35 minutes. Run Iditarod was something Joe Redington Sr. told Michi he must do. Twenty years ago as a sprint musher, Michi trained with Joee Redington, Jr. Joee was a celebrated sprint man and …

Eye on the Trail: Fog for Finishers

Anna Berington who started mushing behind a collie and a Great Pyrenees brought 10 peppy sled dogs to the Burled Arch early on Thursday afternoon. She’s the 22nd musher to complete Iditarod XLVI. As a youngster in Port Wing, WI, Berington and her twin sister, Kristi learned about sled dogs from a neighbor. Soon the inventive …

Eye on the Trail: Zirkle, Royer & Kool-Aid

Twenty-one teams have finished Iditarod XLVI. Having been in several checkpoints along the trail, a pattern of “bunches” has developed, a bunch of twenty near the front. McGrath experienced a very dense influx of mushers near the front as did Nome and everywhere between. I’m now in Nome and will pick up with the mushers …

Eye on the Trail: Continues to Snow in Unalakleet

While Joar Leifseth Ulsom was on his way to Nome from White Mountain, Shayne Traska was feeding her dogs on the slough in Unalakleet. Shayne and Joar, pictured above, were the lucky mushers to win free entry fees for the 20918 Iditarod. As they signed up to race at the Volunteer Picnic at Iditarod Headquarters …

Eye on the Trail: Champion Crowned, Winners Continue to Arrive

Congratulations to Joar Leifseth Ulson and his leaders Russeren & Olive as champions of Iditarod XLVI. Joar and his powerful high spirited team made the Burled Arch in 9 days and 12 hours March 14 at 03:00. This was a race unlike others in recent history. The trail has been challenging for the leaders all …

Eye on the Trail: Tuesday Action in Unalakleet

Aaron Peck changed out sleds before departing Unalakleet on Tuesday afternoon. He’d shipped a smaller sled ahead for the 216-mile run along the coast to Nome. He changed out runner plastic as many of the mushers were doing before departing Unalakleet. Last Night Cody Strathe changed from red to green because the green had a …

Eye on the Trail: Lanier and Nolan in Unalakleet

For a while today the youngest and the oldest mushers of Iditarod XLVI were in Unalakleet. Jim Lanier who is 77 was parked on the slough at the same time as 18 year-old Andrew Nolan. Lanier and Nolan are running near the middle of the pack. Lanier has run in five decades of Iditarod. Nolan …