Its 7.30am Tuesday
Firstly, we see Allen has left one team mate in Rohn. At this stage we do not know who it is or why so thanks for your patience as we find out.
RED TEAM
As anticipated, Aliy camped her team for five hours at Tin Creek, between Rohn and Nikolai checkpoints at mile 209. It was a popular place to stop as Ray, Ryan, Mitch and Jessie were all stopped around that same area as they arrived with Joar just one mile back.
They are now on their way to Nikolai where they are currently about 30 miles out. They just passed Sullivan Creek and the trail continues to wind generally west-northwest, in and out of treelines to the Salmon River fish camp. From the camp the trail is normally flat and fast, running through woods with occasional cuts across open swamps, sloughs, and lakes. A couple of miles before Nikolai teams drop back down onto the South Fork of the Kuskokwim.
As it’s been a couple of days since we have seen them, so to remind us all of their sweet faces, here is a video Aliy took of her team on one of their last training runs before the Iditarod.
BLACK TEAM
Allen and 14 team mates are also headed towards Nikolai having rested nearly four hours in Rohn. They are about 70 miles out. It is possible he will camp the team along the trail.
The weather forecast for the area is calling for some snow showers and a high of 30F. The latest trail report from the Iditarod team is:
6:00 AM here in Nikolai and there is still a light snow coming down as we await the teams arriving here this morning. Looking at the Iditarod tracker it appears that the teams are still moving along the trail at a pretty good pace but they will be hitting more of the fresh snow as they near the checkpoint. There’s not enough additional snow overnight to make a huge difference in the trail conditions from yesterday.
We did learn being here in Nikolai that only the first 20 miles of the trail headed down river to the next checkpoint of McGrath has been used by locals for most of the winter. Locals have been utilizing another trail to McGrath because areas of the river weren’t frozen up earlier this winter. That means that some of the trail heading west of here won’t have as firm a base as the mushers have been traveling over. Our Iditarod team is here awaiting the mushers and we will be posting videos on the Insider as they arrive in Nikolai.
So beautiful all that fluffy white stuff! Thanks for a peek at the team. Making good progress!
Go SPK Go!!!
They are one happy wagging bunch aren’t they! Thanks for sharing their happy faces with us….bet they are having a great time out on the Iditarod trail with their Musher!
Keep us posted on that Black Team member….you know how we worry!
That is a gorgeous team! Thank you for the video and the update. They are looking fantastic.
🙂
<3
Thanks for the video! Beautiful!
I was lucky to check the live feed from Nikolai just a few seconds before Aliy arrived. The dogs looked like they wanted to keep going….some jumping in their harness and it looked like all tails were wagging. Love being able to see some of the action live.
Thanks for the video! Beautiful!
I was lucky to check the live feed from Nikolai just a few seconds before Aliy arrived. The dogs looked like they wanted to keep going….some jumping in their harness and it looked like all tails were wagging. Love being able to see some of the action live.
Aliy sounded a like she weathered the trail to Nikolai well, but she might have enjoyed not having a microphone in her face while she was trying to get her thoughts, actions, and gear sorted out.
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Still, she knows her team and using them to the best of her advantage. It does sound from what the Insider reported and from what she said that weather and water will probably be a factor going forward
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I thought her comments on those needing to be in front to win, but also running the risk of tiring their teams to do so reflected the choices each musher must make with respect to their team. Those going forward in front now, definitely have confidence in their team’s ability to manage the trail conditions, despite it not being set by snow machine travel between McGrath and Nikolai.
Kindergarten Room 16 from Pinole, CA is rooting for you Aliy! We are tracking your progress on our maps! Good luck!
I enjoyed the training run video. Two Rivers Alaska definitely is a beautiful place to be, especially with all the snow. ❄️ The Iditarod GPS tracker is amazing to watch and I also love watching the most recent videos of the Red Team from the trail that are posted on the Iditarod website. I am cheering for you, Aliy!