Putting those Puppies on the Yukon!

Just outside of Anvik, Team Kaiser has reached the frozen waters of the Mighty Yukon. Weather hasn’t changed– Warm and foggy, I’d imagine it is pretty humid and the Team and Pete are a bit damp.

From here, expect a quick check in and on up the trail to Grayling. Standings page hasn’t been updated so we don’t have an off time from Shageluk.

Expect a leaderboard change as soon as Pete and the Team move out of Anvik. They have their layover completed, so as they move out of Anvik it will show 8th place immediately. Actually it’s closer to 6 or 7 as teams ahead also haven’t taken their 8 hour layover.

Here is a photo of what Pete is seeing– If you imagine a bit, you might just see him! The camera is looking right at him.

212-72300 (1)

anvikapproach

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Out of Shageluk and into the Rain

With their 8 hour mandatory layover behind them, Pete and the Team got back on the trail right at noon. Current weather up there isn’t great with light rain and warm temperatures, but it isn’t something they haven’t seen before. A look at the weather cam shows low clouds, but the sun just visible, so maybe Pete will get lucky and it will burn off the clouds. If it clears just a bit it will cool quickly.

 

Several Teams are now running with 12 dogs, so the smaller Team shouldn’t be much of a factor in terms of any kind of liability. It just means that Pete needs to be a bit conservative and make sure everyone is happy.

The faster times to Anvik are about 3 hours and then Anvik to Grayling 2 hours 30 minutes. I figure to see Pete and the Team into Grayling close to dinner time at 6pm or so. Then a 3 hour break and on the trail to Eagle Island.

Go Team Kaiser!

Trail to Anvik from Iditarod.com

This is a relatively straightforward leg across low, mostly open country. The trail runs across open lowlands and lakes, along sloughs, and through some wooded areas, finally dropping into the heavily timbered Yukon River bottomlands before crossing the mighty river itself at Anvik. Plan on two to three hours for this run. There are no surprises, although some of the sections through the tree lines can be a bit tight in the heavy timber. This is a fairly well used village-to-village snowmachine trail so it’s normally in pretty good shape.

 

 

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Trail Rest Update – Taking 8 at Shageluk

Just off the phone with Ron. He figures that Pete is taking his mandatory 8 hour Yukon layover at Shageluk.  Unfortunately however put him and the Team out on the Trail at mid-day which will be the warmest part of the day when he sets out on the trail, but everyone else has the same weather to deal with.

The trail is supposed to be quick and hard from Shageluk to Anvik and I would expect the same moving North at least as far a Grayling, where I would expect a short break as well before the long grueling stretch to Kaltag via Eagle Island.

Weather is supposed to cool this evening, so a conservative run today and a break early this evening will put him into the best conditions he can expect during the North run.

When I originally posted, I thought that the Mandatory 8 had to be actually ON the Yukon. Pete rolled into Shageluk at a bit after 4, so he will be able to leave just after noon.

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Don’t Eat Yellow Snow…

Martin Buser talks about using water from a slough like this

Martin Buser talks about using water from a slough like this

Here’s an interesting article from Joe Runyan on water quality and how it may be affecting some teams. It just goes to show that ANYTHING can happen in a race and sometimes its the little details that can get ya–

Martin talks about water in Iditarod- By Joe Runyan

Martin declared an eight hour rest in Anvik and took the liberty to answer questions from the press while enjoying each course of the Millenium gourmet meal.

Martin admits to making a mistake in Idiarod.   After 26 Iditarods he knew that slough water from Iditarod was not good to mix with the ration.  Normally everyone melts snow water.  But, volunteers had punched a hole in the ice and transported water by bucket for the mushers.   Even some of our camera guys observed that the water had that brown, partly decayed, look of stagnant water.  Martin took advantage of the water but realized up the trail that it had affected his dogs.  He suspected that other mushers staying in Iditarod may have the same problem.  He is feeding dry dog food and thinks that the dogs will tighten up, but one can imagine the damage to the pack if other mushers used the water.

I raced in the 80?s, thirty years ago, and was aware not to use swamp water in Iditarod—always melt snow.  But that kind of knowledge even goes deeper.  On the trapline, I remember being told by Athabascan friends of mine not to use swamp water for the dogs.  Even a lake on the tundra often has that brown, stagnant, mossy flavored water that still has that taste with tea and surgar.   Its better to chop ice or just melt snow, even though it takes more effort.

Contemplating this news, I think that Aliy Zirkle probably did not use the water from iditarod because she rested outside the checkpoint.   If the reason Aaron Burmeister is pulled over parked, and Mitch Seavey is shown to be parked in Shagelulk, is water at iditarod—-then its a total bummer.  I hope it’s not the reason.

Inexplicably, I notice that AaronBurmeister’s tracker shows zero speed at a point short of Shageluk.  Could his team be affected by the bum water?  Somehow Seavey and Berkowitz, who started AFTER aaron from iditarod, are now ahead resting in Shageluk.  This is a big mystery.

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Resting in Shageluk

Shageluk Checkpoint-

Teams rest in the Shageluk checkpoint on Saturday morning    Iditarod 2009

Welcome to Friday Racing! As the weekend approaches and the Yukon is at hand, the excitement heats up and the half-way point of the 2013 Iditarod is just around the corner.

Pete and the Team arrived into Shageluk at 3:58am with Musher Nicolas Petit who had been closing on Team Kaiser through the night. Arriving in a solid 6th position, there are 6 teams within an hour of each other in this small group close to the front.

Anvik looking East at Shageluk - 26 Miles Away

Anvik looking East at Shageluk – 26 Miles Away

Pete and the Team are resting presently in Shageluk with several other mushers as they prepare to move onto the Yukon and head North towards Kaltag.

Standings show differently, but based on Shageluk, here are the positions based on arrival into Shageluk. Again, rest cycles put musher positions differently on the leader board, but IN times are the best way to see where teams really stack up.

Sorted by Arrival into Shageluk

Sorted by Arrival into Shageluk

Mushing Weather Forecast:

It’s going to be a warm one today as teams push North, but a cooling trend will keep things below freezing tomorrow. Tonight should be a fairly nice evening with cooler temperatures and winds at their backs.
>Find more about Weather in Shageluk, AK

LOWER YUKON VALLEY-
INCLUDING...RUSSIAN MISSION...GRAYLING...HOLY CROSS...SHAGELUK...
ANVIK...FLAT
416 AM AKST FRI MAR 8 2013

.TODAY...CLOUDY. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE MORNING...THEN
SNOW LIKELY IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 2 INCHES.
HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH.   
.TONIGHT...SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN SCATTERED SNOW
SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. LOWS IN
THE LOWER TO MID TEENS. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH
LOWER KOYUKUK AND MIDDLE YUKON VALLEYS-
INCLUDING...GALENA...NULATO...HUSLIA...KALTAG...RUBY...KOYUKUK
416 AM AKST FRI MAR 8 2013

.TODAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S. NORTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH.   
.TONIGHT...CLOUDY. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS IN THE EVENING...THEN
SNOW LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES.
LOWS IN THE MID TEENS TO LOWER 20S. EAST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH.   
.SATURDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGHS IN THE MID TO
UPPER 20S. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH.
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Does Anyone Remember Kusko Swim??

Here are some photos from Alaska Dispatch showing 10 miles from Iditarod today. Oh Fun… The Kuskokwim 300 had an issue like this once. It wasn’t much fun!! The Idita-swim??

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Late Night Update

As we close this Iditarod day, Team Kaiser is a bit smaller, but still moving along nicely between Iditarod and Shageluk. Looking at previous runs, Pete was in a similar position in the 2011 Southern Route as well, but finished in great shape. Since Iditarod Team Kaiser has kept the interval between teams following with more dogs, so it is having a minimal effect at this time.

Trail Ahead (From Iditarod.com)

This leg is every bit of its official 65 miles, and its unendingly hilly terrain makes it seem more like 100 at times. You can plan on 7 to 10 hours for it, more if you want to stop and rest somewhere. There is absolutely no human habitation for the entire route—no cabins, no mines, nothing. The people of Shageluk rarely have any need to go over to Iditarod and Flat and vice versa, so this trail is normally only put in every other year, and then only for the Iditarod. Much of the area between Iditarod and Shageluk was burned in a forest fire years ago and some areas still have not grown back. In short, it will be pretty lonely and maybe even a little spooky. This is a good leg to find another driver to run with, just for the company if nothing else.

Mushing Weather Report-

The weather pattern that was looking like it might cause trouble is dissipating and the advisories have been cancelled. Temperatures haven’t cooled like I thought they might, but it is still slightly below freezing.

LOWER YUKON VALLEY-
INCLUDING...RUSSIAN MISSION...GRAYLING...HOLY CROSS...SHAGELUK...
ANVIK...FLAT
1034 PM AKST THU MAR 7 2013

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS CANCELLED...

.TONIGHT...CLOUDY. PERIODS OF FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW IN THE
EVENING BECOMING ALL SNOW OVERNIGHT. LESS THAN AN INCH SNOW
ACCUMULATION. LOWS IN THE 20S TO AROUND 30. EAST WINDS 20 TO
30 MPH.   
.FRIDAY...CLOUDY. SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S. SOUTHEAST
WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH.  
.FRIDAY NIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. LOWS IN
THE TEENS. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH.

 

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6th position out of Iditarod

All teams in front now have their layover completed and Team Kaiser is in 6th position. This is the highest position that Pete has held this early in the race. This keeps with his strategy of staying close enough to the front to make a strike for the lead at the end of the race. AWESOME! Go Team Kaiser!!

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