Pete and the Team are into Iditarod! They came into the checkpoint under clear skies in super bright sunshine. Expect a 4 hour rest before heading out for Shageluk!
Go Team Kaiser!!
I don’t have the names yet, but here is Team Kaiser 23! They are the heartbeat of the Team and with Pete as the Leader, Team Kaiser!
Good Morning Race Fans!
Saying see ya later to one member of the Team last night, Pete and the 13 remaining dogs were out on the trail on time at 22:13 last night. 2 hours and 32 minutes had them into Ophir in 4th position with Kelly Maxiner right on their heels a minute later. After a quick 8 minute stop, the Team was back on the trail to Iditarod.
After 7 hours on the trail, Pete stopped the Team for a break at 5:10 this morning. It is 103 miles from Takotna to Iditarod. Pete is presently resting pretty much halfway on that run. 47 more miles will put them into Iditarod and most likely another break before heading to Shageluk and the Yukon River.
Weather this morning is 3 above, light winds and partially clear skies. The 24 hour layover came at just the perfect time and as forecasted, the Team rested during the warm weather period and left at the beginning of cooler temperatures. This should make for a fast trail if the trail warmed and then cooled. Musher Wade Marrs, first Team into Iditarod, remarked that the trail was smooth and fast. Perfect!
In terms of the outlook, you couldn’t ask for a better weather forecast. A couple of High Pressure areas have moved into the race area and the outlook is for cool temps and light winds for the next several days. Could it be that we see perfect weather for the last half of the race? Cross your fingers!!
After a 24 hour layover to rest and refresh, Pete and the Team are bound for the Yukon via the namesake for the race, Iditarod!
“Out like a Freight Train!” said one of the spectators as Team Kaiser made their way to the trail. From here it is 102 miles to Iditarod and then on to Shageluk.
Weather seems to be real nice for mushing. Cooler temps should have hardened the trail as well as the fact that there are only a few Teams actually on the trail as most are inside of their 24’s as well. Leaving 32nd meant that virtually no time was added to the layover and some that he was traveling with will actually be a bit more behind than they were upon reaching Takotna.
Trail Description – Takotna to Ophir to Iditarod
This leg is probably closer to 32 miles than the posted 38. It follows the old mining road over to Ophir, built in the 1920s to connect Takotna and Ophir with Sterling Landing, a steamboat landing on the Kuskokwim River. It is now maintained by the state; the stretch from Takotna to Ophir isn’t plowed in the winter. Like other Bush roads, it doesn’t connect to the state highway system.
The first part is a 9-mile climb to the top of the divide between the Kuskokwim River drainage and that of the Innoko River, which flows into the Yukon. The rise is about 800 feet on easy grades. Then the road crosses the divide and runs downhill along Independence Creek for another 8 miles, then follows the south bank of the Innoko River for the last 15 miles into Ophir, with possibly a few overland shortcuts across bends.
his is one of the emptiest legs on the entire race, a full 90 miles of lonely country and endless trail. The trail crosses a mix of terrain and vegetation, ranging from taiga (black spruce) to barren upland tundra to thick river-bottom forests to brushy ravines and hillsides to swamps and lakes. This leg has no major problems, although are always patches of minor overflow, plenty of hills, and some potentially rough trail across the uplands. Its biggest feature is, as somebody once said of driving through Texas, miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles.
You should plan for 12 to 18 hours, including a good several-hour rest somewhere along the way. Many drivers stop at Don’s Cabin, 36 miles out of Ophir. It’s a ramshackle plywood hut but it’s sheltered in the trees and has a stove. Another good camping spot is the tree line at the Windy Creek crossing, 10 miles past Don’s Cabin, or the Dishna River, a couple of miles past Windy Creek.
Leaving Ophir, the trail runs west down the Innoko River valley for five miles and then heads southwest toward Beaver Mountain Pass, slowly climbing through black spruce for ten miles. It breaks out above timberline briefly to cross the pass (actually a gentle, wide-open saddle) and then drops back into the tree line to cross a couple of creeks. Then it heads back up across Beaver Flats, a barren rolling upland flanking the Beaver Mountains, an isolated range of 4,000-foot mountains prominently visible five miles southeast of the trail.
After crossing the Beaver Flats, the trail re-enters the tree line and passes Don’s Cabin 36 miles after leaving Ophir. From the cabin, the trail continues southwest across lightly wooded uplands to Windy Creek and the Dishna River, the halfway point of the leg. From the Dishna, the trail climbs slowly back up through wooded country to another saddle and drops sharply down to First Chance Creek, which it then follows into the valley of the Iditarod River.
The trail leaves First Chance Creek a few miles before the river and runs south for 18 miles on the east side of the Iditarod River valley. It crosses several large creeks, swamps, and lakes, and runs up and down small hills. The old town of Iditarod is on a cut-off slough to the east of the Iditarod River. The checkpoint is across the slough from the few remaining buildings.
The weather can be a major factor on this leg, especially on the Beaver Flats, which are completely exposed. Whiteouts can happen quickly and winds can be severe. In fact, the materials for Don’s Cabin were flown in by a musher after he ran the southern route; he thought the trail desperately needed some kind of shelter in that area. Expect the trail across the Beaver Flats to have little snow; you’ll undoubtedly find yourself bouncing from one tundra tussock to another for many miles. The trail is generally well marked, with tripods augmenting the trail stakes across the uplands.
Pete and the Team are into Takotna at 22:11 for their 24 hour layover. A great time to take a break. 24 hours will hopefully let some of this warm weather pass by and then tomorrow evening, leaving at the coolest part of the evening puts Pete in fine position.
Bruce Lee, veteran Iditarod Musher and Analyst, told viewers that Team Kaiser was the strongest dog team he had seen tonight and in Rohn this morning as well. Those are fine words for a fine Team.
Now it’s time for a break as we get ready for the last two thirds of the Iditarod!!
Go Team Kaiser!!
Pete and the Team were through McGrath at just about 8pm this evening with Matt Failor in hot pursuit.
A couple more hours on the trail and I expect a nice 24 hour rest before returning to the trail, bound for Nome!
Pete and the Team were out of Nikolai after a 4 hour break. Weather in the area looks beautiful to be sure!
Team Kaiser Fan Dietrich Nikolai got some great drone footage. (Pete’s Twin! Haha!)
Next on the agenda will be Takotna or Ophir for a 24 hour layover and the next section of the race. Teams are looking forward to a break at this point in the race and Pete is no exception. What everyone is hoping for is cooler temperatures.
In Pete’s 2019 Championship Iditarod, it took just under 10 hours total time from Nikolai to Takotna. That would put Team Kaiser into Takotna this evening around 10-11pm. Looking at trail times compared to that year, Pete is about an hour and 30 minutes later at this point in the race. In 2019, Pete and the Team left at 12:23pm, while this year Pete left at 13:48.
Presently the weather is vacation like with 29 degrees, calm winds, and super sunny skies. It’s going to be a warm bright one for Teams on the upper Kuskokwim River.
This is the only section of the race where Pete will travel the frozen water of the Kuskokwim. In the summer, Pete runs Kuskokwim Wilderness Adventures, a riverboat charter operation that runs the rivers on the lower section of the river. Fun to be able to travel on his “home court” so to speak.
Weather for the rest of the day:
McGrath:
Today– Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 30s. Light winds.
Tonight– Mostly cloudy. A slight chance of light freezing rain and snow after midnight. Lows in the lower to mid 20s. Light winds.
Check out the Kaiser Super Dogs in Mushing Magazine!
