McGrath-Yukon-Kaltag

[mira]

..I think we should try with ferwer topics? As the posting amount is going down

Anyhow, GPS shows Brent in Ophir, probably heading for Cripple for 24h rest there. Richie Diehl is on his way to Ophir, Mille is resting at/close to Takotna, Dallas Seavey is close to Takotna. And as usual, everything is a mess before they get to the river The top 5 at the moment also have bibs not that far away meaning it won't be big differences on their 24h rest.

[fladogfan]

Just watched Mille come into Ophir.

https://iditarod.com/live/

Of course don't know if this will work for you but it's the cam in Ophir.
(at this moment)

[mira]

Dallas, three miles from Ophir

[mira]

Dallas in and out from Ophir, had some problems leaving, guess the leaders just were confused by headlights and camera crew or something. Dogs looked good.

[flowerpower]

Wonder how this will play into strategy? Might not want to be the trail breaker.

Description
...Significant Snow South Of Telida and Anvik From Wednesday Through Thursday...

Heavy snow will develop from Telida to Anvik south on Wednesday and continue through Thursday. Telida and Anvik can expect 4 to 6 inches of snow, and areas closer to the Alaska Range could see somewhere between 6 and 12 inches of snow. There is a possibility of light freezing rain in these same areas on Wednesday and Thursday as well.

[Another UK Fan]

Wonder if Mille is doing a mandatory in Ophir?

[emwcee]

So are the leaders going to take their 24 in Cripple?

[elsietee]

This recap from Danny Seavey this morning on FB:

Brent made the first move in Iditarod 50

All of the teams will be taking their 24 hour breaks today/tonight/tomorrow, so which place they are on the standing sheet doesn't mean much, you have to figure out their relative position on the trail. And despite the persistent questions by the reporters, the mushers are not adjusting their schedules to the competitors yet, the good teams are all on their own schedule. Brent Sass leaving Ophir right as Dallas went through is coincidence and nothing more. By my math:
Brent Sass is set to go Nikolai*-Ophir-Cripple in two big runs with only one rest, while the rest of the field is breaking it into 3 runs with two rests.

The result is Brent is in lead by the length of a rest break - 4 hours in most cases - over the rest of the field. I imagine his plan is go non-stop to Cripple to take his 24 hour break, which would give him a commanding lead at that point. The question is at what cost? He's also slowed down considerably, indicating the trail is much slower than it was yesterday, and a long march with a tired dog team on a slow trail can take it's toll.

In 2nd is Aaron Burmeister, the only lead pack team that chose to take his 24 in McGrath, so he'll look like he's way behind for a day here, but he was the first to arrive there, and will be close behind Brent leaving Cripple.
Richie Diehl took a short break in McGrath and went up to Ophir for his 24. he's roughly 2 hours behind Brent in 3rd.

Dallas Seavey is in 4th, he left Ophir first, but needed to camp soon, and he camped an hour past Ophir, stopping at 5:03 this morning. I'd expect him to sit there three and a half hours and leave between 8:30 and 9, basically the length of his rest behind Sass. As I said last night, se seems very happy in his position, so I'm assuming he's where he wants to be, albeit tired. He cheerfully told the checker "I need to sleep" going through Ophir last night.

From there Mille Porsild, Jesse Holmes, Ryan Redington, Mitch Seavey, Paige Drobny, Hugh Neff, and Travis Beals round out the greater top 10, in a very difficult to distinguish order.

If you have anything you have to get done during this race, tomorrow is your day, as the teams will be mostly stopped. Plan your grocery runs and ER visits accordingly.

Danny

and, looking at the vid of him going through Ophir:

Dallas' team looked VERY strong going through Ophir, the dogs we're clearly much more awake than the musher.

[elsietee]

And this was from Danny 12 hours before the above post:

Mitch and Dallas Seavey are both sleeping at the McGrath checkpoint 300 miles into the Iditarod. I expect them to take a 4ish hour rest before continuing onto the halfway point of Cripple to take their 24 hour breaks. No one team is really standing out right now. You could make an argument for anyone in the top 10 into McGrath being the ‘best looking’ at the moment.

Dallas seems to be in cruise control mode, and I’m assuming/hoping that’s on purpose. He’s not in front, but close enough. Not the fastest, but fast enough. Not noticeably strong, but has no visible weakness. Whatever he’s not, it’s hard to bet against Dallas at with a full team going into his 24. By this point last year Dallas had taken over, but this race is 150 miles longer, thus the delayed burst.

Mitch’s puppies are running like rookies, they have a brilliant run followed by a ‘I can’t wait until you grow out of that’ moment, but they’re still moving and haven’t made any major mistakes so far, that’s about all he can ask for.

Rumors of some windy weather ahead were circulating on the trail today, could make this next bit interesting.

[elsietee]

So are the leaders going to take their 24 in Cripple?

Right now, per the trackers, the following are headed to Cripple to do their 24:

Brent
Dallas
Hugh
Ryan
Mitch

24-ing in Ophir:

Richie
Mille
Jessie
Paige
Michelle
Travis
and probably Aaron Peck


Joar hasn't been in Ophir long enough at this point to know what he's doing, while Deke and the Beringtons are on their way there.

24-ing in McGrath
Aaron B
Pete
Lev
Dan Kaduce
Matt Hall
Chad
Jeff Deeter
RIley
Hanna
Martin Massicotte
Ramey Smyth
Mats P
Joshua McNeal
Martin B