Trio Report – Up the Coast Into Shaktoolik

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Pete and the Team were into Shaktoolik at 20:50 with a great Trail time of 5 hours and 27 minutes. He was followed in just a bit later by Richie and his Team at 21:20 with a trail time of 5 hours and 43 minutes. Mike Jr. is now out out of Unalakleet after a good long break to rest his dogs for the run to Nome. The Kusko Teams are doing a fine job on this section of the course so far. Most other mushers have taken 4-6 hours in Shaktoolik knowing they will have a tough run up to Koyuk. The trail normally crosses Koyuk Bay, but this year veers off due to ice conditions and the trail is about 10 miles longer than usual.

Given the conditions, I am thinking they will stay 5-6 hours before heading North to Koyuk. That would put them into Koyuk in mid Morning. I always think of this section of the race because a couple of years ago Pete and the Team passed Mitch Seavey while Pete was completely asleep. Fun Memories.

Mushing Weather Report Tonight-

INCLUDING...UNALAKLEET...STEBBINS...ST MICHAEL...ELIM...KOYUK...
SHAKTOOLIK
223 PM AKDT SUN MAR 9 2014

.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 5 TO 15 BELOW. NORTHEAST WINDS 10
TO 20 MPH.

Here are some great shots from Andy Angstman this morning of Pete, Mike, and Richie in the Unalakleet checkpoint. Thanks Andy!

[fbalbum url=https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.672436432814647.1073741859.285788138146147&type=3]

 

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Tuesday Delta FOURce Report

LOGO

As the leaders leave White Mountain on their final stretch into Nome, Pete is just arriving into White Mountain- he should be there within the next 30 minutes. He will have an 8 hour mandatory layover before also returning to the trail.

The support crew for Team Kaiser is in Nome at this time. Pete’s little guy and Bethany arrived yesterday and are also waiting patiently for Daddy to arrive.

All of our YK Delta mushers are out of Unalakleet at this time:

Mike Williams Jr. – Into Elim.

Richie Diehl – Into Shaktoolik

Mike Williams Sr. – On the trail to Shaktoolik.

Nome is preparing for the arrival of the winner this afternoon. The finish is expected around 11pm this evening.

Beautiful Weather here in Nome and along the coast today. It is a sunglasses day for sure!

Go Teams!

 

 

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Out of Koyuk

From Sebastian Schnuelle - Koyuk this evening at Sunset.

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.
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