Waiting for ‘Cool Runnings?”

Newton Marshall from Jamaica- maan. Cool Runnings Alaska Style!

Newton Marshall from Jamaica- maan. Cool Runnings Alaska Style!

Is it just coincidence that we have a musher from Jamaica that we think of the movie “Cool Runnings” and that’s more than likely what Pete was waiting for. Word from the trail is that it was 38 degrees in the shade at Rainy Pass today. That explains the early rest for Pete and the Team. Pete and the Team took a 4 hour break and left back on the trail at 8pm. I expect him into Rohn before Midnight and am thinking that he will continue a couple of hours before breaking to split the run between Rohn and Nikolai.

Here’s my perennial look at the Dalzell Gorge– It’s a Doozy, but times have been decent and I expect it isn’t as bad as it has been in the 4 preceding runs.

Dalzell Gorge Entrance

Dalzell Gorge Entrance

From Iditarod.com-

This leg is not as long as the official mileage indicates. It is really only about 32 miles, and should take three and a half to five hours. It has some very tough trail, including the notorious Dalzell Gorge. Given a choice, most mushers prefer to do this during the day, although a nighttime run is entirely feasible, and with a bright moon can be ethereally beautiful. If possible, leave Rainy Pass Lodge so as to be at the summit of Rainy Pass about dawn (about a two or three hour run). If you do it in the afternoon, plan to be at the summit with at least two hours of daylight remaining.

The trail runs in the open on the tundra of Ptarmigan Pass from Rainy Pass Lodge to the mouth of Pass Creek, which it then follows northwest up to the summit of Rainy Pass itself. Then there are several miles of sometimes steep downhills and often tight, twisting trail through scrub willow southwest along Pass Fork to Dalzell Creek. The trail then drops into the infamous Dalzell Gorge for a few miles and finally onto the Tatina River for the last five miles to Rohn.

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Through Rainy Pass – Trail Break before the Pass

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Pete and the Team were in and out of the Rainy Pass checkpoint after 3pm this afternoon and came upon Richie Diehl camped out on the trail for his trail break. It must behave been a good spot, for Pete and the Team decided it was time to join them. Of course Pete and Richie are pretty much trail brothers after spending so much time together this season, so I’m sure it was comfortable to be camped out together.

Team Kaiser Media is just getting on the jet to Bethel. More Soon!

Mushing 

UPPER KUSKOKWIM VALLEY-
INCLUDING...MCGRATH...NIKOLAI...TAKOTNA...FAREWELL LAKE
536 PM AKST MON MAR 3 2014

.TONIGHT...INCREASING CLOUDS. SCATTERED FLURRIES.
LOWS 7 BELOW TO 8 ABOVE. NORTH WINDS TO 10 MPH.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGHS IN THE MID
TO UPPER TEENS. NORTH WINDS TO 10 MPH.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW.
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Out of Finger Lake

puntilla

Pete and the Team are just out of the Finger Lake checkpoint just about Noon. Weather is warming a bit, and the sun is blinding, but the day is just beautiful. Clear skies and light winds will make this trip literally breathtaking.

I am looking for him to work his way all the way to Rohn before resting and then heading out over the “Burn” this evening. The trail ahead is 30 miles of tricky terrain to Puntilla and then another 35 miles to Rohn. This will be the Alaska Range Crossing that everyone has been worried about. Worried because there have been such warm temperatures and virtually no snow.

Conditions may be better than expected as the first Musher, Kelly Maixner, has just arrived into Rohn in from Puntilla. His time of 4 hours 21 minutes isn’t too terrible bad and in fact is about the average over the run of last year’s race. Times into Puntilla are also pretty comparable to last year’s race. This tells me that the trail crew has done an outstanding job of putting a trail together for this race.

Description of Trail from Iditarod.com-
After leaving Finger Lake, the trail climbs steeply over a ridge to Red Lake, runs along it for a mile or two, swings up a ravine, and then follows a series of climbing wooded shelves interspersed with open swamps. About ten miles from Finger Lake, the trail drops down a series of wooded benches toward Happy River, then onto the river itself via the dreaded Happy River steps. Then it’s down the river to its mouth, up the Skwentna River for a few hundred yards, and back up a steep ravine to the plateau on the south side of the Happy. The trail will cross Shirley Lake, then Long Lake (11 miles from Rainy Pass Lodge) and then run along the steeply sloping mountainside above the south side of the Happy River valley to the checkpoint. There are two nasty stretches of sidehill trail in the last eight miles.

Kusko Trio Report:

Mike Williams is on the trail between Puntilla and Rohn, about half way to the checkpoint. He is running 14 dogs.

Richie Diehl is about halfway between Finger Lake and Puntilla. He is running all 16 dogs.

Weather for today and tonight:

UPPER KUSKOKWIM VALLEY-
INCLUDING...MCGRATH...NIKOLAI...TAKOTNA...FAREWELL LAKE
1001 AM AKST MON MAR 3 2014

.TODAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S. NORTH WINDS
TO 10 MPH.  
.TONIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 6 BELOW TO 5 ABOVE. NORTH WINDS TO
10 MPH.

 

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Morning Update – Welcome to Finger Lake!

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Puntilla – 8am – March 2

As dawn breaks over the Iditarod Trail, Pete and the Team are just pulling into the Finger Lake checkpoint on the first full day of the 2014 Iditarod Trail Race. Pete is sticking hard and fast to his 6/4 rest strategy at this point. Last night on the trail 6 hours down the trail from the Restart, he pulled over and took a 4 hour break before heading out early this morning on the trail to Finger Lake. This next run will be close enough to 6 hours that I fully expect a 4 hour break before continuing on.

Richie and Team Diehl pulled into Finger Lake at 5:18am this morning and is taking a break there as well. With the start differential, Pete and Richie are pretty much on the same schedule at this point and on the same pace.

Mike Williams Jr. has been keeping pretty close with the top group of Mushers. He is resting with the top 5 in Rainy Pass after arriving at 7:10am this morning. Mike only started the race with 15 dogs, and dropped one during the night in Finger Lake.

Weather this morning is about as perfect as you could get. Single digit temperatures and clear skies with light winds. According to reports from the trail, conditions are hard and fast for the teams.

The next stretch of the trail will be much more difficult with the infamous Dalzell Gorge among the challenges on the trail. The next 158 miles between Finger Lake and Nikolai are the miles that mushers have been nervously dreaming about since the rainy warm conditions of last month. Hopefully the trail is not as bad as expected and the Teams are able to make it unscathed.

GO Team Kaiser!!

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The Game of Rest

At this hour (12:00am) Pete and the Team are on a break just before Skwentna. Pete’s strategy will be all about rest and run cycles with a little weather and trail condition thrown into the mix for good measure.

In some ways, dogsled racing is just like Chili. Everyone has their “Secret” recipe to make it “Just Right!” In the Iditarod, mushers run on cycles of rest and run that keep the Team fresh and ready for the next stretch of trail. The proper recipe largely depends on the Team, but also on experience and miles and miles of training. Pete has a pretty young team so he must keep them rested and happy and wanting to push on ahead. Every musher has this “perfect” recipe that they hope will put them farther up the leaderboard.

Over the years we have seen many recipes and many failures as Mushers didn’t get it right. Pete will play it pretty conservative on this stretch of the trail with so many unknowns ahead. After a bit more of a break, expect him back in the running.

Weather Conditions-

Tonight: Mostly clear. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows 5 to 15 above. Variable wind 10 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny. Patchy morning fog. Highs in the mid 30s except 15 to 25 toward the park. Light winds.

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