Up the coast (Kaltag - Koyuk)

[Another UK Fan]

Joar Ulsom and Ryan Reddington out of Old Woman and now racing. Joar at 678, Ryan at 677.

[mira]

So.. Thomas has rested in Unk for three hours.

Unalakleet is at mileage 714.
The musher closes it Wade Marrs, 15 miles to go (mileage 699) - that is at least two hours of mushing time.

Further down the trail we have Jessie and Aaron at 695, Brent at 688. Even though these are going straight through Unk I think Thomas will depart first, but it looks like he will have a night crossing of the sound He will have a nice afternoon/evening run to Shaktoolik.

[flowerpower]

I thought when Thomas came in, what good timing he had. Temps are warm, and they can rest through the heat of the day and make their run at night, when hopefully temps are slightly cooler.

[Another UK Fan]

And we are resting too . . . great way to spend a Sunday night: pc plugged into tv. Watching 5 sled dogs sleeping in Unalakleet, live.

Yes - watching. In between reading and race following. Totally hypnotic effect. Our dogs nosed the tv and then promptly curled up and are still sleeping!

Meanwhile, Michelle Phillips is also resting - at mile 688.

[elsietee]

Trying to crunch some numbers and figure out what their plans might be, based on mushers' run/rests.

Kaltag - mile 629 > 85 miles to next CP
(Old Woman Cabin - mile 676 > 38 miles to next CP)
Unk: 714 > 40 to next
Shak: 754 > 50 to next
Koyuk: 804 = total miles 175

Back in Nulato, they were told that Shak was going to be nothing more than a drop bag location - with no amenities to speak of. Since then, the Shak villagers have worked diligently to produce a checkpoint out of thin air. I don't think it's going to be "manned" per se, but there's a warm building to go into and plenty of firewood - so essentially, any musher who wants to take a 4-5 hour break there, can do so with no problems. The main difference, as far as I can work out, is that there would be no dog drop there - which means you have to be confident that any dog on the team leaving Unk can reliably get all the way to Koyuk (in a storm?).

As to what they do, will likely depend on the conditions and what they see in their teams over the next 175 miles.

Possible Run Options:

Kaltag > 47 miles to Old Woman Cabin > 78 miles to Shak > 50 miles to Koyuk (this is what I think Jessie, Aaron, and Brent have in mind - after a slightly-less-than-4 hour break at OWC)
Kaltag > 85 miles to Unk > 55(?) to Cabin on spit just before Norton Sound > 35 miles to Koyuk (and don't rest until after Koyuk?) (I assume this is what Thomas has in mind)
Kaltag > 47 miles to OWC > 38 miles to Unk > 40 miles to Shak (/55 miles to cabin on spit) > 50 miles to Koyuk (/35 miles to Koyuk)

[elsietee]

elsietee is there a cabin or shelter at mile 676 - in that region?

Sorry, I just woke up when I read that and wasn't functioning yet.

I thought you were asking about the cabin on the spit - which is here (looks to be roughly 15 miles past Shak (depending on where "Shak" actually is this year?):

[flowerpower]

Eliminating Shak as other than a hospitality stop will make this more like the Quest, with longer runs and less amenities. Seems like that might give Quest teams a slight advantage?

[Another UK Fan]

oooo thanks for annotated map.

Following your analysis of options and the map makes it really clear. I wonder if Michelle Phillips is working on something a bit different? She's resting 11 miles from OWC where she rested for some time. Maybe wanted some quiet rest - OWC was quite a busy / crowded place for a while back there.

[mira]

Agree on that flowerpower, but I guess all the teams in the front are able to handle that.

I think most have stick to they original plan, I guess Thomas will go to Shak, shortish stop, before heading to Koyuk for rest there. Most mushers tend to stop at Koyuk I think

Jessie and the lot will most likely head for Shak, which is quite common last years.

[elsietee]

oooo thanks for annotated map.

Following your analysis of options and the map makes it really clear. I wonder if Michelle Phillips is working on something a bit different? She's resting 11 miles from OWC where she rested for some time. Maybe wanted some quiet rest - OWC was quite a busy / crowded place for a while back there.

I was wondering the exact same thing - if OWC was busy, going another two hours down the trail (mile 688, only 26 miles to Unk, and 66 to Shak) seems like a super-good move.. It's a warm night (relatively speaking), so provided she can stay dry, her plan seems really solid (plus she's used to camping out and long runs - YQ).