Author Archives: Lead Dog

Out Times and Stats

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Pete is doing very well on the trail. Hot on his heels are Ken Anderson and Mike Williams Jr. He was out at 7:55 with 13 dogs officially. I have updated the Stats Page to let us see how he is doing now that we are back on the route from last year. Keep an eye on the Stats page as it will give us an idea of what time he might make Nome and the other checkpoints.

In other news, John Baker is holding his 2 hour lead and is headed North. If he wins this, Kotzebue and all of Bush Alaska will be going NUTS!!

It’s another perfect day for mushing and this run might be the prettiest of the bunch. The oranges of the sunrise against the rolling hills. It’s going to be a once in a lifetime experience. Winds are at their backs (Tails) and trail conditions are good.  The front runners had trail times of 10-11 hours over this run. Expect Pete into Unk in the early evening.

WEATHER FORECAST-
INCLUDING...UNALAKLEET...STEBBINS...ST MICHAEL...ELIM...KOYUK...
SHAKTOOLIK
.TODAY...SUNNY. HIGHS 15 TO 20. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.TONIGHT...CLEAR. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.

 

 

Unalakleet this Morning

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Day 8- The Bering Sea Awaits

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Team Kaiser is out of Kaltag this morning. GPS shows him on the move, but still in the village, so he must have just gotten underway.

Pete had a great trail time from Eagle Island to Kaltag with the third fastest time of all of the mushers. Only John Baker and Ramey Smith had faster times and presently they are in Unalakleet leading the race.

Pete arrived into Kaltag at 00:58 with13 dogs in 19th position. He made up a bunch of time on Mike Jr. who arrived just 30 minutes in front of him.

At this point he is in 15th place as he leaves in front of mushers still resting. This may be where he has made his move to up his position. Go Team Kaiser!!

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Day 7- Evening Update- Last Stretch of the Yukon

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John Baker is 19 miles ahead of the nearest competitor and 48 miles from the Bering Sea. 12 teams have checked into Kaltag with 5 out and on the trail to Unalakleet. Ten teams are on the trail from Eagle Island to Kaltag.
The Kaiser Team is presently in 16th place with a plethora of fine mushers just ahead. They left the Eagle Island Checkpoint after a 6 hour rest just after 4 pm. (And the webmaster was out galavanting in the warm spring day!)

Pete and Ken Anderson, who have been traveling together are just behind Rick Swenson and Mike Williams Jr. They are about 25 miles from the Kaltag checkpoint.

Kaltag Weather: Clear – 7 Degrees – Wind Calm. (Beautiful night for mushing again!!)

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Baker into Kaltag

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John Baker just reached Kaltag. Ramey Smith has broken away to second place and is about 11 miles behind. The second group behind John had been following between 15-18 miles behind, but Ramey broke away from that pack. It is going to be all about strategy from here on out. The musher can’t skimp on rest, but can’t give up too much either. John has about a 90 minute lead on Ramey, so he can rest a bit, but can’t go to sleep on this one!!

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Yukon Two Step

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There are all kinds of talking heads out there. But the best one I think in terms of the Iditarod is Joe Runyan. The Alaska Dispatch is doing nice job I think this year

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From Alaska Dispatch– Most lead mushers like to extend their runs to about 10 hours on the river, so they can do the Yukon in two big hops. Neff and Baker, for example, rested in Anvik and will probably stop again in Eagle Island on their way to Kaltag and the turn overland to the west.

The benefits of two long runs are obvious. Mushers only have to change booties on the dogs twice, and the labor of breaking camp and loading the sled again is reduced. As a practical matter, too, there are no good camping spots on the Yukon River. You have to camp in the wind. That’s a very vulnerable position. No one I know considers it a very good idea to take a rest in the middle of the Yukon. Most mushers prefer to rest their dogs in a village or out of the wind in a slough at Eagle Island.

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Ron Kaiser interview back from Shageluk

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Funny story about a mirage on the trail. Ron relates the story. Apparently he had been pretty tired and kept seeing a man standing next to him on the sled. So this happens several times and then he sees another man up on the trail. So he reaches out to slap the man on the trail and wouldn’t you know it, IT’S A REAL MAN!! Totally freaked Pete out. Apparently there was an Iditawalker on the trail. In any case– Funny!

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Photos from Shageluk

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Just got done having a chat with Ron Kaiser. Myron Angstman flew Ron and Rick Hanson to Anvik and Shageluk yesterday. The team caught a bit of stomach trouble in Nikolai and are about recovered from it. I have a video interview with Ron that I am uploading right now.

The photos of John Baker are from Anvik. The rest from Shageluk.

Here are the photos:

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