If you live on a river, the terms Upriver and Downriver become parts of your daily vocabulary. This afternoon Pete and the Team took to the trail to head downriver to the other Kuskokwim Checkpoint, McGrath, 48 miles away.
After such a long rest in Nikolai, I am thinking Pete may have a new strategy in mind for 2016. In his past races he has taken his 24 hour layover in Takotna (remember the Pies!). Pete related to me before the race that if conditions were good and the Team felt okay, he might push out to a different checkpoint for the layover.
Why do this? Well, in a 1000 mile race it might do well to split the race into equal parts. Cripple, for example, is almost exactly halfway to Nome. He might be thinking that if his team has good speed all the way into Cripple, maybe he can get a recharge and keep that speed to the finish.
As I said, there are plenty of strategies and many years of mushers playing them out, so we will just see how this “plays” out!
Kuskokwim Mushing Weather today-
AKZ227-090345- UPPER KUSKOKWIM VALLEY- INCLUDING...MCGRATH...NIKOLAI...TAKOTNA...FAREWELL LAKE 343 AM AKST TUE MAR 8 2016 .TODAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 20S. EAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH. .TONIGHT...CLOUDY WITH FLURRIES. LOWS ZERO TO 10 ABOVE. NORTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.
Thanks again to Kim Pravda for this short video from yesterday showing Team Kaiser leaving Rainy Pass. What a Great looking Dog Team!
