Kaltag-UNK- Koyuk- WM

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Travis literally just pulled into WM as I clicked on the livecam. He had 8 in harness, so must have had one in the bag.
The dogs were moving well, but looked ready for a break.

As Travis' team pulls in, one of Jessie's dogs is barking - they're saying an indication that the dog is not tired.

Jeff Deeter is next, just half a mile or so behind. They are complimenting Jeff on a solid race - staying back in the early days and building the team.

Bruce reports the weather in WM is beautiful and it's a good day to be mushing. Says the sun will come up and these arriving teams will get to rest in the sun.

And damnit, I have a meeting now for the next 30 mins, so will have to watch Paige coming in without sound

* * *

Mille is between Golovin and the shore travelling 5.7 mph... not fast, but she's getting there. Jessie R is still in Elim with Pete and Amanda.

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Paige arrived safe and sound (and I missed it, due to my meeting).

Looking now, though, it's interesting to see that Jessie's dogs are all mounded up sleeping in a big fluffy ball instead of in individual nests on the gangline. Makes sense if you have dogs that don't squabble.

These two photos just screen-shotted minutes apart - teams now nicely in the sun:

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Quick impromptu interview with Ryan Redington in Koyuk:

Ryan: It has been a roller coaster of highs and lows - we're still doing OK but it's been a tough one for us.

Katti Jo Deeter: sometimes mushing is a mystery..

R: From the beginning I tried new lines and harnesses - and the #1 rule is don't try new things in a race. It worked well until the 2nd day dogs got tangled - so it was a lot of stop and go. I changed the lines back at Rainey Pass - thankfully I brought my old lines along. So I was tipping the sled over more often than any race before. I bounced off the dead moose, was bouncing off trees and bounced off a parked car in Nulato, flipped sled - my cooler was upside down.

I've had a lot of fun, with good memories, but dog mushing is tough.

This is the champion team from last year's race, but it has been difficult. We had a bad year of training - it was too warm after Christmas and we had no snow (he's in Wisconsin). The temps were in 40s-50s°F... so I came up to AK in January when the leaves started showing up on the trees in WI.

So I'm taking it one run at a time, giving them the rest they need. A lot of stopping, a lot of petting, just having fun.

KJ: Is it more fun when you 're no longer competing?

R: No, I want to be racing, so not fun for me. <laughs>

Ryan: I want to ask you some Qs? How's your experience been doing the Insider coverage?

KJ: This is really Liz's (Failor's) job (she's sitting it out this year with a new baby). If Jeff does well this year and is amped about it, then I'll let him take the team again - half the dogs in that team are mine, half his. Doing the Insider coverage, the race goes a lot slower - lots of hurry up and wait.

R: You learn a lot from that side of things, though...?

KJ: Well, I haven't been creeping too much, so haven't gained too many industry secrets. <laughs>

R: Well, you kicked my butt in the Kusko, so I can learn from you. <laughs>

* * *

KJ's personality is infectiously cheerful - she's really good at maintaining an upbeat manner and good at interacting with those around her, and drawing the mushers out. Both she and her "co-worker" Dylan have been having a lot of fun at the checkpoints, enlisting the local kids and generally messing around. They are a good addition to the Insider team for the less serious viewer (and good for filling in the dead-air when nothing is happening at checkpoints).

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Matt is on his way to Nome!

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And a close up of Jessie's "Snuggle Puddle" as Sean Underwood is calling it:

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Sean is doing a nice job explaining what's going on, who's who, the trail layout, says there are 5 vets in WM, Bruce Lee is getting in a plane to go to Nome to join Greg, the Insider crew with all the equipment (looked like about 5 generators lined up on a snowmobile sled) drove out headed to Nome about 30 mins ago.

... and Mille just showed up, way in the distance.

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Mille:

[Alphashe]

With little Miss Fenix back in single lead Mille has raised like a Phoenix from the ashes.

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Dallas might have hit some wind coming along the shore - he's showing as moving at 3.3 mph, but the tracker froze 10 mins ago, so I'll keep an eye on it. Uh, never mind... he's back up to 9 mph

Matt is approaching the hills, travelling at a blistering 6.2 mph... steady, but not huge speed. He's ten miles past WM, which is the lead he had back when Jessie started out from Elim.

Jessie looks to be packing up his sled, and should be leaving at 35 past the hour. Will his team pick up speed from their rest? That's going to be interesting to watch.

Jessie R, Amanda, and Pete are in the hills before Golovin - Amanda passed Pete in Elim (cutting her rest to 3.5 hrs, while Pete took just over 4 hrs) and is chasing Jessie down - and will likely pass her before WM, given that she made the run from Koyuk to Elim nearly 30 mins faster than Jessie.

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Hmmm, interesting.

Sean Underwood is manning the camera at WM which was focused on Jessie leaving, but he panned away at the actual moment Jessie left (you could hear Jessie, off-camera, going "haw-haw-haw"), so I'm guessing Sean was being sensitive to any possible baulking of the team given the new rule ("if your team doesn't leave willingly under it's own steam, you have to stay another 8 hours"). You don't want a bunch of armchair mushers critiquing how eager Jessie's team were to go. (interestingly, he didn't do that for Matt's team, so presumably his looked a little more focused).

Jessie did get going after several dog bathroom breaks.

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Uh oh. Jessie H got about 2 miles out from WM and turned around and went back

He's not showing on the camera, however, so can't see what's going on.