Up the Yukon by Myron Angstman

Martin Buser  has a substantial lead, and   he won’t give it up without  a fight.    He is a veteran racer with some winning experience, and he hasn't  done so well recently.  It is quite possible he will never hit the Yukon  with  a big lead again.   He won’t be waiting for anyone.

That said,  no one among the chase pack is going to concede first place just yet.  There are a number of teams of interest in that group, but the one that  has caught my eye from the stats is  Jake Berkowitz.  Before the race he would have figured as a dark horse, based on performance in other races this year and the past.  Few would have predicted  a win for him.  But I first spotted his time coming into Takotna from McGrath, which was fastest on  the trail.   The reported times are not always perfect, for a lot of reasons,  but  his reported time was consistent  with other  flashes of speed he had shown earlier.  Today, he had another  fast run to Grayling from Anvik, tops among the front runners by ten minutes in a run listed as 20 miles,  at the end of a long run from Shageluk.   Those end of run times count, because they show that a team has speed plus endurance.  White Mountain, the next to last checkpoint which is often viewed as  the unofficial finish line, is obviously at the end of a very long run, and  Berkowitz has shown that he is likely to be at  the top of his game during  that last  stretch.

Rookie Joar Leifseth Ulsom is running third right now and catching some attention.  For a rookie he is running in pretty fast company, but he does have a bundle of experience.   He has moved up rapidly in the last two days, and it is in this stretch of the race that such moves really mean something.    John Baker  has what seems to be an  insurmountable task in catching so many fast teams.

There was some suspense on the trail today as Martin Buser headed out of Grayling to Eagle Island before the  dog food and straw had been delivered to that location.   At last word it was on its way from Kaltag in less than ideal flying weather,  but at least there were no mountains in the way.  The Yukon is wonderful for that  well  known Alaska navigation system known as IFR, short for  I Follow River. 

Between Eagle Island and Unalakleet, big moves from the chase teams can be expected.  Sometimes those moves pay off, other times  they leave a team resting for hours along the trail.  Keep an eye on the tracker.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checking http://www.myronangstman.com/ 

Anvik by Myron Angstman

Martin Buser has a  22 mile lead over his nearest  rival Mitch Seavey  as of  11:15 Friday.  Seavey  is moving a bit faster, but  that’s about three hours of trail time at  current speeds, and  that is not a trivial amount.  Speeds vary from hour to hour, and  no one should  count Buser out of winning at this point.    Zirkle,  Berkowitz  and  Burmeister are the others in the mix right now according to my fool proof analysis.  By fool proof, I mean there is no proof  I am not a fool.

John Baker moved up a bit more with some serious non- stop pursuit,  and he is nearing  Anvik where he will likely take his eight hours.  That will put him  something like 12 hours behind  Buser,  and  in need of a storm to tighten things up.

This morning  Buser said he thought  his dogs were a little sick from drinking the swampy yellow water at Iditarod.  Of course that reminds me of  a story .  When I pulled into that checkpoint I was more than thirsty. In those days, no one carried bottled water, and my thermos bottle had been empty of coffee for a day.  It was  the middle of the night, and -30. The checker pointed me to the water hole in the ice.  There was a small metal dipper laying nearby. The first order of business was a drink of water.  I dipped into the hole with the extremely cold pan and got a  pan full of yellowish water.  In my headlight, it  looked like it might  still have some Iditarod gold in it.  There was no option.  Bottoms up.  It went down with a swampy flavor, tinged with a metallic overtone from the cold pan.  It was so bad, I had another pan full, and then put some in my thermos.   I don’t doubt Buser’s dogs are a little sick.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checking http://www.myronangstman.com/ 

Martin's Lead- Quick Update by Myron Angstman

So I was wrong.   Martin  Buser looks like he is extending his lead on the run from  Iditarod to Shageluk, and if that happens he becomes the favorite to hold on and win.    He started slowly  this afternoon, but kicked in  later  and right now is about 25 miles ahead of the nearest team.   Wow!

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checking http://www.myronangstman.com/ 

In and Out of Iditarod by Myron Angstman

Martin Buser was the first out of Iditarod, but is moving slowly.  Next out was Aliy Zirkle,  20 miles behind Buser.   She might not beat him into Shageluk, but will surely gain a bunch on him.   Keep a good eye on this segment, because  a strong run  to the Yukon will elevate  any of the front runners into likely winner status. 

John Baker has advanced a bit and  will arrive in Iditarod  in the early evening.   He and his team  must not like the 45 degree temperatures on the trail, but they have passed a  number  of teams today.

The trail from Iditarod to Shageluk brings to  mind an earlier trip up the same trail I made in 1979.  I was a rookie and  moving slowly.  I left Iditarod at -30 in the early morning.   I went all day, up and down the hills, hoping the top of the next hill would reveal the familiar sight of the Innoko River.  It didn't take forever to get there, but  it sure felt like it.   As I topped yet another hill  standing by the trail was a man I knew from a previous hunting trip to Shageluk.  The fellow was  the official greeter for the village, and met every boat that stopped in the summer, without fail.  He had some mental challenges,  and had a difficult time communicating.  I thought I  must be very close to the village, because this guy was standing along the trail. He motioned that I should give him a  ride.  I  declined,  because I was barely  moving  with my current load.  We had a  short  but animated visit, and he expressed as well as he could how happy he was to see me.  I waved and moved off for what surely was going to be a short ride into the village at about midnight.    About 1 am, I pulled into the checkpoint,  moving at about 5 mph.   I learned from people at the checkpoint that  my buddy had  eagerly awaited my arrival, and decided to walk along the trail  until he found me, about five miles out, at  -20. 

He showed up later and I thanked him as best I could.  He still loves the Iditarod, and attends the banquet each year in Anchorage, where he now lives.  Recalling that  stop on the trail still warms me up a bit, as it did that night.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checking http://www.myronangstman.com/ 

Storms and Strategy by Myron Angstman

It sounds like a windy day on the  Iditarod trail. As I gaze out my window in  Bethel, about 150 miles south of  Iditarod,  the wind has  picked up a bit, and appears to be part of a system moving toward  Iditarod and the Yukon River, next up on the trail.   Bad weather is  a significant part of Iditarod racing, although in recent years the race has had fewer big storms that  in earlier years when the race actually  ground to a halt at times.  This storm doesn’t look like it will stop anyone yet, but big winds and warm temps can make a messy, slow trail.

We are too far from the action to determine who might suffer the most from a soft, blown in trail, but there are a lot of hills between Iditarod and Shageluk, and  conventional wisdom points to stronger dogs getting the edge over faster dogs.  I know in my experience, I  used fast trotting dogs that bogged down horribly in soft snow-they wanted  nothing in their way.  Lighter weight,  well conditioned racers also have an advantage  going up  hills in such conditions.

With all that factored in, the first couple of teams to emerge out of the hills on to flat going  at before Shageluk are without doubt the teams  to beat in this  race.  Martin Buser is likely to  be the first team out of Iditarod,  but  historically his dogs shine  on hard fast trail.  The  next team out could well be  Aaron Burmeister and after that it gets  clouded.  One team moving up right now is Pete Kaiser.  His team has been moving a bit slower  in the early part of the race, but he  is a light guy, well conditioned, and  might be well suited for just the kind of trail he will  soon encounter.

Lance Mackey and  Sonny Lindner  are on their 24 hour break at Iditarod. They will leave after a bunch of teams, and that could turn out to be an advantage for them if the trail is the type that can get packed down by  the earlier teams.   John Baker is  50 miles from Iditarod at this writing,  and he needs a slow down up front in order to climb back into contention.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checkinghttp://www.myronangstman.com/ 

Frontrunners Ophir to Iditarod by Myron Angstman

While there isn’t a whole lot going on with most teams on their 24 hour break, there is obviously something unusual happening between Ophir and Iditarod. The three teams out there, Lindner, Mackey and King, have been starting and stopping frequently, especially the first two, which is not normal  for front runners.  I suspect weather or trail conditions are the reason but  we will soon find out as  Mackey nears the check point.    If they have had tough going, it becomes a factor in the race.  They have had a much longer run than anticipated, and  it may move them back in the standings if the following teams experience  better going.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checkinghttp://www.myronangstman.com/ 

24 hr Rest Mid-Day Report by Myron Angstman

Three  items of  interest while most of the teams rest in the afternoon heat.  John Baker provided  an exclusive interview to a reliable reporter today, and stated he was feeling good about his team.  He expects to pick up the pace now, with dogs that are strong and eating well.  According to the same source,  he sounded  rested.   He will have a lot of teams ahead of him, but certainly is not out of the running.

The second  item of note is the arrival of Martin Buser in Takotna.  Buser came in and left Takotna  about 9 hours before  Aaron Burmeister is able to leave tonight.  That is a  big chunk of time, especially because Martin has a  fast team and lots of savvy.

The final item is the fact that Sonny Lindner is now the first team on the trail.  Sonny is a serious veteran of this race, winning rookie of the year in 1978.   He and I raced the Coldfoot Classic in 1986,  in the Brooks Range.  At one stop  Sonny noted a veteran racer pass us  and he said to me “If you ever see me doing one of these races  after I am 50 years old, promise me that you will shoot me”    Sonny is now 63, and  each year I remind him of his request.

Myron Angstman, lawyer, pilot, and dog musher, lives in Bethel, Alaska. Read more about dogs, law suits and rural Alaska gossip by checkinghttp://www.myronangstman.com/