Category Archives: Kaltag to Koyuk

GPS is a little slow, but Pete is into Unalakleet. Very fast time. He will undoubtedly take a break here and then continue the journey up the coast. We have now reached the last part of the race! 229 miles to go!

I’ll go out on a limb and say that Pete should finish Tuesday evening. (Team Kaiser Pit crew arrives Tuesday Morning)

229 hours divided by 8 = 29 hours. Divide that into 8 hour chunks and that is 3 eight hour runs. Add 4 hour breaks to those and you add another 12 hours of breaks and add a 4 hour layover. That gives him (at the earliest) about 48 hours. I think that is a bit optimistic, but that is best case scenario.

I am updating Stats page at this time.

From UNK Airport Cam

Anyone in Unalakleet that can get us some photos! Pete is about 60 minutes out! WaaHOO!!

Team Kaiser has moved into 13th place. It is early yet, but this is the highest position the team has held in their Iditarod career. Congratulations on a nice run Pete!!

In some places 13 is an unlucky number but:

From Iditarod-
Lance Mackey won in 2007 to become the second son of an Iditarod champion. To further set a record, father and both sons were wearing bib number 13 when they crossed the finish line in first position, and they all three won in their sixth Iditarod. Anyone superstitious? (Emmitt Peters was also wearing bib #13 when he won the Iditarod in 1975.)

Pete and the Team are doing GREAT! They have moved into 14th place and are less than a mile behind Martin Buser whose GPS speeds have been increasingly slower over this run. Team Kaiser has been gaining on Buser all afternoon.
I just got off the phone with Janet. Linda Towarak and her family are headed as we speak to their cabin on the Unalakleet river. Their plan is to be on the trail as Pete and the team go by. Stay tuned. This is an exciting afternoon of Mushing for Team Kaiser! Pete is 19 miles from Unalakleet. That would put him into Unalakleet between 5 and 6 at this point.

Pete and the Team are almost half-way across the portage. They are moving along nicely and are maintaining the lead of about 5 miles on the mushers Ken Anderson and Mike Williams Jr.

Meanwhile up front, John Baker is maintaining his 2 hour lead as well. He is 15 miles from the Shaktoolik checkpoint. Hans Gatt left Unalakleet in the past hour, but Baker now has a 24 mile advantage. Cross your fingers on this one! There are still many miles to go and it will take a healthy team to take John to the burled arches in Nome.

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