From Sebastian Schnuelle – Koyuk this evening at Sunset.
It’s going to be a real nice night for mushing! It’s still pretty clear and the temperatures will be colder so both dog and Musher alike will be at their peak efficiency. Tired, but ready!
Tonight’s Trail takes the team along the southern coast through Elim to White Mountain.
From Iditarod.com to Elim:
This leg always seems longer than it is. Plan on five to seven hours, more if the wind is blowing. The trail follows the main snowmachine trail to Elim and is usually well marked. However, the wind can blow hard in the Moses Point area and the trail can drift over very quickly. From Koyuk, the trail runs southwest just offshore on the sea ice for about 12 miles and then cuts inland to the west across the wooded peninsula behind Bald Head, a prominent cape.
Ten miles later the trail crosses the mouth of the Kwik River, makes a three mile overland run along the dune line, and then jumps two miles across Kwiniuk Inlet to Moses Point. It then runs along a narrow spit and across some tidelands for about 11 miles to the old Moses Point FAA station, now abandoned. From there, the trail usually follows a nine-mile unplowed state highway up and over the heavily forested bluffs and down into Elim. An alternate route has been followed in the past along the sea ice from Moses Point to Elim.
Weather-
SOUTHERN SEWARD PENINSULA COAST- INCLUDING...NOME...WHITE MOUNTAIN...GOLOVIN 940 PM AKDT MON MAR 11 2013 .TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH FLURRIES IN THE EVENING...THEN PARTLY CLOUDY AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS 12 BELOW TO 3 ABOVE. LIGHT WINDS. .TUESDAY...SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID TEENS TO LOWER 20S. LIGHT WINDS. .TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS AROUND 7 ABOVE. LIGHT WINDS. .WEDNESDAY...SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S. SOUTHEAST WINDS TO 10 MPH.
