From KNOM Master Reporter Laureli Kinneen’s facebook:
Mushers might be getting a good, long smell of king salmon strips when interviewed. My bag leaked in my parky pocket and now my mic is covered in oil. 🙂 I offered some strips to Pete after realizing he’d probably been smelling ’em, but he said he’s been eating them on the way. So good ah? And by the way – it’s the coolest thing seeing some of John’s sealed food bags – beluga and black muktuk (cut real tiny), black meat & greens. It makes me want to go through his bags after he leaves a checkpoint. 🙂
You Go Girl!! Native way is the only way! Awesome!! I know I live on them! -JW
Iditarod.com was reporting Kelley Griffin into Kaltag. She is just into Nulato. Standings are now corrected and show Pete and the Team officially into Kaltag at 19:50:00 with 13 dogs. His trail time was 4h 20m. He arrived just a minute after Redington. The two mushers both bested Dallas Seavey’s trail time from Nulato to Kaltag.
APRN is reporting that trailbreakers say the way from Kaltag to UNK is good. Fresh snow over sold pack, overflow freezes right up. Zirkle expected between 3-5 am.
Pete and the Team are now within about 4 to 5 hours of advancing positions.
Pete and the Team have reached Kaltag. The three teams that we have been following arrived into the checkpoint about 8 pm. Redington led them into the village.
Times for the group are outstanding and should be pretty close to the fastest time so far posted by Dallas Seavey.
Expect a break here before heading out over the portage. The portage is a tough section of trail and teams will want to be rested before they head up into the hills.
Pete and the Team are now in familiar ground after a successful run, not a month ago, in the Paul Johnson Memorial 450 race.
Weather tonight in the area:
KALTAG.TONIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 17 TO 24 BELOW. NORTH WINDS TO 10 MPH.
UNALAKLEET .TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 12 TO 20 BELOW. WEST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.
Dee and Friend
Alot of folks don’t know that Dee Dee Jonrowe started her mushing out here in Bethel. As I watched her mush down the Yukon, chased by a much younger crowd, I thought back to those early days of the Kuskokwim 300 when Dee Dee was part of the Bethel mushing scene.
I called over to Beverly Hoffman to get a few details. Bev, Myron, Dee Dee, and a few others all caught the mushing bug around the same time. Relying on local mushing greats like Peter Jacobs, Mike Chase, and others, they got their start by pulling together whatever manner of dog they could to begin to build teams. “Some of them were Pound Puppies,” Bev related.
In any case, as time has moved forward, Bev and Myron have turned the sleds over to a younger crowd and I can only sit here in awe of Dee Dee still going strong and giving these young guys a run for their money. Pete, Jake, and Ray weren’t even a gleam in their mother’s eye when Dee Dee got going.
Good Luck Lady! We know you got your start out here!
With all of the activity, I haven’t forgotten Mike Williams Jr. It seems the major news organizations are really tied to the Zirkle – Seavey show up front and haven’t given alot of coverage to anyone back in the pack. As such, I can only go off the checkpoints and times.
Mike Jr. is having a real nice race. His times are very respectable.
Presently Mike Jr. is in 13th place and resting in Nulato.
He arrived at 12:58:00 with 14 dogs. His trail time of 5h 53m puts him in the top 25 speed wise. I hope to have more on him and I’ll share it as soon as I have it.
Good Luck Mike! See Ya down the trail!
Pete and the Team have a tailgater! Jake Berkowitz just sits there behind them like a backseat driver. It’s not like a neck and neck race, but it may be a bit mentally challenging to have someone just “There” all the time. Lucky for Pete, this isn’t the first time he has had to battle someone just behind him. In Iditarod 2011, Ken Anderson, was behind him for nearly the last half of the race. More recently in the Paul Johnson Memorial 450, John Schandelmeier followed him aggressively into Nome.
The three teams, Kaiser, Berkowitz and Redington are within 500ft of each other. In terms of time, that is a virtual dead heat. Maybe 10 seconds behind is Berkowitz and another 20 seconds is Redington.
It’s got to be a bit tiring with teams so close, so Go Team Kaiser!! Battle ON!
Current Kaltag Weather:
4°F
Scattered Clouds
Wind: W at 6 mph
Humidity: 60%
Current Forecast:
LOWER KOYUKUK AND MIDDLE YUKON VALLEYS- INCLUDING...GALENA...NULATO...HUSLIA...KALTAG...RUBY...KOYUKUK 314 PM AKST SAT MAR 10 2012 .TONIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 17 TO 24 BELOW. NORTH WINDS TO 10 MPH. .SUNDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS 8 BELOW TO ZERO. NORTH WINDS TO 10 MPH.
Check out the Kaiser Super Dogs in Mushing Magazine!
