Iditarod Race Updates and Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

The Race
Martin Buser continues his strong hold on first place. We have not caught up to him yet...he's in Koyuk, about a hundred trail miles ahead of us. But from all we hear, he still has a strong, fast team. It's his race to win, barring some major unforeseen catastrophe.
Ramy Brooks has firm grasp on second place. He is in Shaktoolik, and had faster times getting there than the other two mushers who currently occupy the checkpoint with him: John Baker and Dee Dee Jonrowe.
Jon Little and Vern Halter are battling it out for fifth place. But Charlie Boulding is close behind.

One of the remarkable features of this year's Iditarod is how many of the mushers who are regularly at the very front of the race are significantly farther back. Rick Swenson is currently in 16th place, and is sleeping next to me here in the Unalakleet checkpoint. He and Tim Osmar arrived about the same time that Ty and I got here-just after 10 PM. When I chatted with Rick about what has gotten him off his race plan, he indicated it was mostly due to a number of key dogs in his team who are in heat. I recall once a few years ago, Jim's mom, Cindy, asked Rick whether a musher could run a dog in heat in a major race like Iditarod. Rick's response was, "sure you can, but it will ruin your race!"
Bill Cotter and Bruce Lee, both former Yukon Quest champions were resting next to each other in Kaltag when we came through there in late afternoon. Bill told me he thought he had taken his 24 hr break too late in the race by going to Ruby, on the Yukon River. His team has lost it's speed, but they don't seem ill. "They're just slow." He also told me that this was his last Iditarod, and asked if I wanted to buy his dog team!   We'll see how he feels about that once he gets caught up on his rest. In Galena, Bill, Bruce, and I were joking about retiring from mushing, and taking up a more sane (and warmer) activity, like sailing. But we ended up agreeing that, given our personalities, we'd probably soon be entered in an around-the-world race, and end up just as broke and just as tired as we are now!!
Hans Gatt, who won the Yukon Quest this year, left Kaltag along with Bruce and Bill about 8 PM tonight. He told me he thought his dogs didn't want to race competitively in another thousand mile race within a month.    They seem "just flat" to him.
Sonny King, who was in the top ten last year is also nursing a sick dog team, and is back in 31st position.
Actually all these mushers are making great time. What these examples show is how very competitive the Iditarod has become. One can have a great team, well trained, and full of veterans, but if just one thing happens, like a virus going from dog to dog, or key dogs going into heat, you simply can't keep up with the frontrunners.

Mitch and Jim
Mitch left Unalakleet shortly after we arrived here in 10th place. This is wonderful, but not nearly as good as he'd hoped. He's down to 7 dogs now, which is enough, but it would be better to have 9 or 10 like Martin, Ramy and Johnny Baker. The GI bug really hit his team hard, like it did many others, and he's had to drop key leaders.
Jim should be resting at this moment at a cabin about 25 miles this side of Kaltag, called the "Tripod Flats Cabin". After a good rest, he's planning to make the run to Unalakleet without any other major stop, just snack stops. He remains in very good spirits. At each checkpoint along the way, vets, checkers, and communications people often tell me what a fine young man he is. Of course, I agree completely.

Otis continues to lead, and very strongly. He and Willow have been running together, and get along well. This is such an amazing story. Otis was one of the finishing dogs in Linwood Fiedler's team last year, which ended up in second place. Otis was not sold to us as a leader, and during training he did not lead for even one step. Yet here he

The Weather
There must be a huge mass of high pressure over the state of Alaska, because the weather continues to be stable and wonderful...just about perfect for the mushers, the dogs, and all of us working for and following the race. It is sunny and comfortable during the day, yet never above freezing. Nights are quite crisp, a bit below zero, but not severely cold. A brisk wind came up yesterday, and it has caused some drifting, but not too bad.
One wonders....when is it going to change??

The Trail
The trail along the Yukon River was like a highway...hard packed, virtually level, hardly a bump. The wind was at our backs, and the drifts were barely perceptible.

From Kaltag to Unalakleet the trail goes over the Old Woman Portage. I find this to be one of the most beautiful parts of the entire trail. For a time after leaving Kaltag, it winds through spruce forest, much like the trail out of Finger Lake, but before the Happy River steps. Then it climbs over a divide between the Yukon drainage, and the coastal plain. This broad, long valley, with mountains on each side is stunningly beautiful. The trail itself is gently sloping, and the surface is packed and smooth...great for the dogs and mushers alike. As we approached Unalakleet, we traveled on the Unalakleet River, mostly glare ice, with hardly any snow. Many of the markers which had been put out had fallen over, either pushed by the wind, or simply because the snow around their base had blown away. I recall that all of us in the family who have run Iditarod have had the same experience coming into this checkpoint....it can be a bit hard to be sure of the way...as if the locals are trying to keep the exact placement of the checkpoint a secret I had trouble finding the checkpoint riding a 'snow-go'....I hope Jim doesn't have any trouble. The checkpoint is in a bit different spot this year than in previous years.

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