It’s 8.45pm Sunday evening AK time
Race Mile: 73
Next Checkpoint: Skwentna
As the support crew packed up and headed north, back to Two Rivers, Aliy, Commando and Dutch, Sparkie and QT, Amber and Decaf, Mismo and Driver, Rodney and Bruno, Peach and Jefe, Violet and Perky headed onto the trail along the Susitna River.
Kaz sent through some more pics from the start this afternoon.
Lisa sent through a couple of amazing aerial shots of the start chute and staging area to give you an idea of how it was all laid out.
Like many of you, I have spent the afternoon reacquainting myself with the GPS tracker and trying to glean as much information as I can from it. So far… not too much to tell you. After leaving Deshka Landing the team travelled South West along the Susitna River for about 30 miles then hung a right onto the Yentna River. They didn’t stop at Yentna Checkpoint, rather travelled through and are now camping at mile 73 between Yentna and Skwentna. The team ran for about 5.5 hours so are due a rest.
The Analytics view of Aliy’s tracker shows a few snack breaks (the short dips in speed) and the start of her rest break. It also shows them going 75 miles per hour at one point! Not so sure that’s legit.
As you may have read or heard elsewhere, mushers will need to be prepared to camp out this year as none of the traditional indoor checkpoint facilities are available for mushers. Tents are the alternative except for McGrath where the mushers have an aircraft hangar they can visit. This will not bother Aliy one bit, she is prepared to camp outside with her dogs, and often times prefers it. This also won’t bother any of the Yukon Quest mushers who are well accustomed to camping. Expect to see Aliy and her team resting outside of checkpoints along the way. If a checkpoint fits with their run/rest schedule, they’ll stop but if not, they’ll keep going, grabbing resupplies from the drop bags on the way through. What I’m saying is: don’t be alarmed to see mushers stopping on the trail outside of checkpoints.
Edit: my apologies to Dutch in the earlier post. Turns out it was Dutch and Commando in lead with Sparkie and QT in swing. On my little-bit-fuzzy live feed he looked just like his younger brother.
I hate it when she goes 75 miles per hour, but I like it better than the phantom tracker. LOL
Kaz and Lisa thank you for the awesome pics.
Aliy’s team has been moving at a very nice pace.
Rest up pups
Mismo has the look of experience and wisdom. He definitely has this! ❤️ that the big boys Mismo and Driver were lined up together. Sweet picture of Aliy with Dutch and Commando. She is moving along nicely again at this early hour (5 AM my time, 2 AM in Alaska). Go team!