Sunrise in Galena
Sleeping in… Feels good! Pete and the Team don’t have to be anywhere until they get going around 10 or so to be leaving this morning from Galena at 11:05am. Staying in Galena was a very good choice. It’s COLD up in them thar hills! Temperatures on the trail are pretty cold. In the arctic there cold settles in the valleys and the still cold as the trail dips here and there will actually have temperature variations of several degrees. While Galena and Huslia are reporting -28 to -30F temperatures, you can bet that the trail is far colder. Better to stay the night in Galena and make the trip in the warmer daylight. The 82 mile run up to Huslia should be a beautiful trip with palatable temperatures near zero.
In the Interior of Alaska, temperature swings during this time of the winter are very common. No wind and no clouds mean the sun can warm an area greatly during the day. All kinds of winter activities are much fun, but all cease as the frigid evening happens and temperatures swing to very cold temperatures. This is great for Teams running a bit down the pack as the trail will harden and make it much easier to contend with.
Jeff King is now on the Trail with all layovers complete except the last White Mountain Hold point. Mitch Seavey is also on the trail, but will need to take his 8 hour layover at some point. In this race, Teams are taking the 8 in checkpoints in combination with a break, so in reality they become just a 3 hour or so addition to a break. What is notable about Mitch is that his Ruby to Galena time was 45 minutes slower than Pete’s time in that leg.
As teams make their way onto the trail today we will begin to see a true leader and the real race now begins. We are a bit down the trail from the normal layover section of the race. Possibly 100 miles or so. It is going to be fun to see how this plays out in the final race time. Weather has not been a factor except for a bit of a soft trail and cold temperatures, but for the most part, it’s been very nice racing weather. Looking at the coast and Nome weather forecast into the middle of next week shows little change. Cooler temperatures and light winds. Could this be the race with no weather challenge? Stay tuned.
In terms of Teams on the trail to Huslia that decided to mush on last night… Well the cold has to be taking effect as I am seeing pretty slow speeds this morning of the Teams on the Trail to Huslia. I think it was a very wise move to take the 24 in Galena. This may be a chess move that will pay out much further on.
Go Team Kaiser!
