McGrath-Ophir-Iditarod

[elsietee]

Aaron B in Ophir:
Says it's supposed to be 40 below tonight. Says Brent breaking trail to Iditarod is perfect for him. Got about five hours sleep himself so far, was off to have another nap. This is Aaron's 20th Iditarod.

Susannah:
Running one of Mitch's dogs from a previous Iditarod. Not usually a dog she'd depend on, but he'll go through water - unlike the others on her team. They were thirst, so drinking in the creek. A little tired, hence rambling. This is the furthest she's ever gone. Very chipper and upbeat. Tells her mom over camera that "I do have a hairbrush, I just haven't used it yet" <pushing hair back under her hat>.

Dennis K:
Says "you're breaking my heart, that we won't be able to do the Flat Loop"... says he's being sarcastic. Also says he doesn't know if he'll finish - going back through the Gorge. Doesn't know how the other mushers do it on no sleep.

Ryne in Ophir:
Not a night owl, so has a hard time staying awake between midnight and 5 am. Can sleep and do "bobblehead", but prefers not to, since she's supposed to be in charge. So if she starts falling asleep she eats some caffeine gum, or sings, or listens to music, or cleans her teeth.

Jessie R:
Trying to build the team up with plenty of rest and is happy where she's at.

Matt Failor:
It's his b'day - so they sang happy birthday when he arrived. Richie stuck a birthday pin (says "Birthday Boy") on his sled (so he'd know it was his sled), and he got hand-drawn cards from the local kids. Has been recharging his batteries and his body (got 6 hours sleep).

[Moose]

I'm very happy to see Mille in Iditarod! Time to add another woman to the list of mushing's "big guns"!

[fladogfan]

Very True. Saw an interview with Mille, I love the sound of her voice. Will be fun following her.

[tanglefoot]

Great work Elsietee x

[elsietee]

Picking up stuff from a few of the longer interviews that I didn't listen to last night:

Jeff Deeter in McGrath:
There was a grooming machine stuck in some overflow, so he whipped out his phone to video - and his front four dogs promptly disappeared into overflow. He was scared to begin with that it was open water, but it did have some base, and the other dogs were able to pull the first four out. So those dogs were sopping wet and he got sopping wet from the knees down.

Said the trail through the Burn was the worst he's seen it in five races. That he followed Kristy B down the Gorge and would not recommend doing that - seeing what's about to happen watching the team ten seconds ahead was terrifying.

The Burn is from the Farewell Fire in the mid-80s - 20 miles of no trees, just dirt and tussocks and stumps. The ITC does their best to set them up on a good trail, but it's gnarly.

He's dropping two dogs here, just because they're a bit slower than the rest of the team, so he's been slowing down to allow them to stay comfortable. Says that's fine for the first half - to go slow - but it's time for them to fly home. All but one of his dogs are 1000 mile veterans - and his inexperienced dog is doing great, eating really well. Says the team has shown him that he can reduce their rest slightly.

Disappointed that they aren't going to Flat - he was excited by that, because it's a historic place, but understands why, with the weather coming in.

Says he feels blessed by everything.

[Another UK Fan]

elsietee you are amazing! Many thanks.

So Pete K, Joar, Richie Diehl are all resting at mile 418, 14 miles from Iditarod at mile 432.

What's at mile 432? Maybe an old cabin? Anyone know?

Meanwhile Dallas has 4 miles to reach Iditarod. And he's done his 24.

Mille is at Iditarod, looking like she's taking her 24, with another 12 hrs 43 mins to go. She's already done her 8, so she's ahead of Dallas in terms of rest. She's looking good

[Another UK Fan]

On the other hand, Aaron Burmeister and Ryan Redington are 20-30 miles from Iditarod and both have done 24 hr and 8 hr.

And Dallas has arrived at Iditarod. Resting. How long for I wonder?

And Rick Casillo has also done both 24 and 8 and is resting at Ophir. Lots of different strategies going on here.

[Gatekeeper]

With the leaders sitting in Iditarod, and the trail between Iditarod and Ophir looking like an incoming conga line, I wonder how much of that trail is trenched? It will make for some interesting head on passes.

[flowerpower]

If you have the GPS, you can switch it to sat view and zoom in, it shows "moose creek safety cabin" where they are all camped out at. I'll post a screen grab on FB. https://www.alaska.org/advice/iditarod-national-historic-safety-cabins

[Another UK Fan]

Aha! Thanks Flower

With the leaders sitting in Iditarod, and the trail between Iditarod and Ophir looking like an incoming conga line, I wonder how much of that trail is trenched? It will make for some interesting head on passes.

. Indeed! There are 23 mushers in Iditarod right now. The remaining 19 are en route. Mushers leaving Iditarod will be meeting the second half arriving. I'm wondering with you Gate.