This morning has Pete and the Team on the Ice bound for Koyuk.
They are the faster team and have moved up in positions over the night to 12th place. They passed both Aliy Zirkle and Lance Mackey. GPS shows the Team 31 miles out of Koyuk.
They were in and out of Shaktoolik the morning at 05:01 with no drop dogs. Having a good team of dogs is really going to pay off on this last stretch to the north. This stretch over the ice has got to be one of the worst at this time of the day. If he was seeing things on the Shageluk trail, who knows who he’ll meet on this desolate Bering Sea ice.
If the temperature is right, he’ll see mirages of Koyuk as it appears out of the ice. Temperature inversions can make you think things are closer than they appear. Stick to the trail markers and they’ll get you there.
Go Man Go!
On the Baker Front- John is maintaining the 8 mile lead with Ramey Smyth not giving much ground. They have an 8 hour mandatory layover in White Mountain and then it’s a shootout to Nome and Smyth has the faster sprint team.
From Alaska Dispatch Joe Runyan Description of Trail-
This crossing to Koyuk is, however, a challenge even without bad weather. The trip can be beautiful beneath expansive skies, but numbing in the monotony of the sea ice, and the white. The temptation to doze as the sled rocks like a cradle over windblown hard pack on a generally straight-arrow trail is a constant struggle.
At night, the musher must keep his headlight scanning the trail to be absolutely sure the lead dogs do not wander onto an errant snowmachine track. The trail is well marked but occasionally a blast of wind can take out a section of the carrot-topped, reflectorized Iditarod markers; or the ice can shift to break the thread of the trail. Then the musher must move cautiously from marker to marker, using his or her headlight to scan for a reflection in the dark. The dog driver best look back, too, just to make sure he hasn’t wandered.
About 30 miles shy of Koyuk, the lights of that village finally become visible, but they are like stars. The dogs trot for hours still and the village on a hill overlooking Norton Bay never seems to get much closer. “When will we get there?” is the thought that goes through a musher’s mind as he fights to stay alert in the dark and the white.
