McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

[elsietee]

Other info gleaned from the videos this morning:

Michelle Phillips busted her sled in some overflow after Rohn when her sled got hung up on a stump - didn't realise until she was changing her runner plastic in Nik. Ryan Redington graciously stepped up and offered her his spare sled, since he wasn't going to need it.

In another interview, where Bruce is chatting with her and Mitch, she says "That spot that you [Bruce] said was real bad [presumably from flying overhead] - it was right there!".
Mitch said his 3 yr olds went right through that which gave him lots of confidence.
Michelle then tells of another crossing "where the sticks were" when her dogs all got tangled up in some trees because they veered to the left, so she had to let them all loose so she could get her sled across and get the dogs out of the trees. Right then, Dallas comes up behind her and she's running back and forth with dogs, because the dogs don't want to cross the water - she was trying to get them across before they all took off with Dallas. "This day's never going to end"

Mitch - after that glare ice "Oh good! We're back on snow" ... then they both agreed BUMP-BUMP-BUMP.

Jessie H says this is his 4th time 24-ing in Ophir - likes the quiet and that he gets the pick of the spots. He said he "took an excursion to the Takotna dump" which cost him 15 mins because he was "too into my sandwich which they gave us there ". Apparently there was a guy in TAK giving out sandwiches and telling them how much they missed the mushers going through there. Jessie was busy putting mustard and mayo on his sandwich, eating him chips and - boom - ended up on a different trail. He was worried because "every minute counts". He says he went about a mile wrong - and had to climb and big hill that they'd just come down. Dogs were happy to oblige - they got a bunch of pets while he was untangling them.

Aaron B in MCGrath - he was getting ready to go through to Cripple - was all ready to go and just taking a nap, but couldn't sleep and was thinking about the bad jumble ice trail they'd just come across - and that it took its toll on him and the dogs, and that his run/rest schedule would put him running through the heat of the afternoon tomorrow getting into Cripple. Whereas if he stayed in McGrath, it would set him up better.

Snow looked deep leaving Ophir - Ryan floundering in it to get his dogs lined out and in the right direction, Brent's dogs floundering as they left when a couple veered slightly off trail.

Brent reflecting on how in years past, he made the mistake of chasing other mushers, but that he "doesn't do that any more".

Dallas going through Ophir - talking to the volunteers who offered him half a bale of straw "Good thing you guys are thinking, because I'm not. I need to sleep - SOON!"

[libby the lab]

Seavey's IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours
19m ·
There isn’t a short and easy way to Nome.
So far this year’s Iditarod has been fast and relatively easy. The trail has been bumpy, there have been some crashes, but the fact that all the teams made it to Nikolai with no scratches and overall team sizes are still high indicates it’s been easier than average.
But for the teams going to Cripple now, it just got hard. The Iron dog didn’t race over this section, meaning there’s not much of a trail, just wallowing in soft snow.
Brent Sass left his camp at Ophir at 4 this morning, and after 10 hours moving, he’s still 12 miles from Cripple. It’s slow, hot, and his team is getting tired. He said yesterday he wanted to keep his runs to 8 hours max. He was willing to go to 10 on this run since gets to take a 24 hr rest in Cripple, but a should have been ten-hour run turning into 11 1/2 is a big deal at this point. Especially since he’s running through the heat again. He can’t stop now, but undoubtedly wishes he could.
The chasing teams have it a little better, they took and extra rest break that took them past Ophir, thus shortening this run by 10 miles. But still team like Mitch Seavey have to decide if they really want to make a 9-10 hour run this early in the race with young, unproven dogs.
The concern is that once a team gets tired and slows down, it takes 2 weeks off for them to recover their speed. The run / rest schedules are based on not ever letting the dogs actually get tired, so that mere 4 hour breaks bounce them back.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mitch make an unplanned stop again prior to Cripple. It’s the smart old guy move. Dallas can’t let Brent that far ahead, so then he has to consider crazy stuff like camping now, skipping through Cripple and going to Ruby.
It’s the age-old problem with pushing the envelope on Iditarod. When it all goes your way and you make it, you look like a savant. But when the Iditarod trail goes all Alaska on you, you can end up slogging along at 6.5mph in 30 degree temps. That’s hot for those at home:)
If this trail decides to set up and get hard, Aaron Burmeister - who stopped back in McGrath for his 24 - could end up making up several hours tonight, and end up with a huge advantage.

[elsietee]

Other video info:

Hugh (in Nik): taking his cues from the four x 2 yr olds in his team, so he's watching them and altering his runs depending on how they do. Doesn't want to run them longer than six hours, and keep a big team to the coast.

Jessie (in Ophir): has never been in the top 10 arriving in Nik, and he was able to do that this year without even trying. Still has 14 dogs, so very happy. Listens to all the interviews with other mushers and saw a thing where Dallas said he likes his dogs to come in at their 24 and eat well, then the musher can get a good six hour sleep and feed the dogs every six hours.

Sean Williams (in McGrath, where it was snowing) being interviewed by Liz Failor: picked here to 24 for the building you can go into, and the outhouse. Thought the trail was OK, except for the vertical drops in/out of the river. Was nodding off on the trail and tipped over, but luckily the dogs stopped. He seems pretty tired, but says the sleep deprivation isn't too bad. It was just slow coming into McGrath in the early afternoon and he was nodding off and worried about falling off the sled.

Deke (in Ophir): the road from Tak to Ophir seems like it goes on and on. Came here in 2020 and says it's a special place. Likes the people there - first person who he saw brought him a cup of coffee. Very homey. Very busy and full in McGrath, so he prefers the smallness of Ophir, along with the trees - feels like coming to uncle's house/grandpa's. His girlfriend Nikki is an ID vet who he met in Ophir - he's hoping to see her. Says she helped him a lot with the dogs

* * *

By the way, they have live cams at McGrath and Ophir(?) = https://iditarod.com/live/
Free for anyone.

[ThisSpaceForRent]

No video in Cripple??? what the heck????

[mira]

Cripple has always been a bit off-grid checkpoint I guess we are getting a bit spoiled. Although, I must admit, that this middle part is kind of boring. The combination of long trip between Ophir and Ruby together with 24h rest... But.. since someone always go to Iditarod or Cripple, at least we have mushers on the move all the time. For some years ago, it was some hours with next to nothing happening.

[braider]

" Although, I must admit, that this middle part is kind of boring. "
Wasn't Buser saying that when he sent his 'test GPS' for a plane ride ...been chuckling to myself about that.
While lounging in his beach shirt and something waving in the wind.

[fladogfan]

I've been remembering that too Braider. Remember the GPS going all over the place, we had a good laugh though I think ITC was not very happy about it. Besides the Hawaiian shirt didn't Martin have some blow up palm trees?

[flowerpower]

How funny! I was telling DH about that in the car today! I think he might have had to pay a fine for sending the tracker on it's ride.

[flowerpower]

And I was trying to remember--didn't Eric get pinned down in a blizzard about halfway to Cripple?

[fladogfan]

I remember Eric getting stopped/trapped/snowed in when on the Yukon River. There were other mushers with him, seems like it was on the Southern route. But please correct me if my memory isn't working correctly. That year saw a really bad storm.