It's Monday night and mushers have completed their first full day on the trail, with one day and five hours having elapsed since teams left the start. Official standings last had Kristy reported out of Rainy Pass in 21st place at 3:35pm Monday afternoon, and Anna took off not 2 minutes behind her in 22nd place. Ryan Redington was reported in 1st place when he pulled out of Rohn Monday afternoon a little after 4pm, with Martin Buser and Richie Diehl not too far behind. In fact, a total of 5 mushers were reported out of Rohn (race mile 188) before 6:30pm Monday evening, and I'm sure those standings will be updated with more departures and arrivals very soon.
The two mushers at the back of the pack were reported out of Finger Lake early Monday evening, and the first musher is out of the race. Iditarod.com reported that Cindy Gallea opted to withdraw from the race in Skwentna early Monday when she became ill (non-Covid-related per officials). This leaves 45 mushers on the Iditarod trail.
Kristy and Anna appear to have largely stuck with their run/rest plan thus far. Neither one spent any time to speak of in Rainy Pass, although Kristy did opt to return one dog from her team. I have since learned that Rampage was sent home with a sore shoulder, and he's already back at the kennel (where he promptly ran through the dog yard and peed on another kennel mate's house). That is the only dog to step out of either Seeing Double team so far this year, giving Kristy 13 dogs in front of her sled and Anna a full 14-dog team.
Although official Iditarod.com standings do not yet reflect this as I write, GPS trackers have Kristy now into Rohn and Anna only a mile or so before it. This means they will have put their first trek through the Dalzell Gorge behind them. I wonder, having plummeted down this 200 foot hill, what they think about later having to run back up it?! In any event, both twins should stop in checkpoint only briefly to resupply before you see their GPS trackers moving, only to stop again and rest 15 to 20 miles beyond Rohn. They were both planning a trailside camp, probably in the neighborhood of 4 hours, to feed and rest the dogs. This also helps to break up an otherwise long 75-mile stretch between Rohn and Nikolai.
Look for the twins to rest within checkpoint in Nikolai for a while (4 hours?) before they pull their snow hooks and make trail to McGrath. This is where they not only shipped their second sleds but also where they anticipated declaring and taking their mandatory 24-hour stop.
The two mushers at the back of the pack were reported out of Finger Lake early Monday evening, and the first musher is out of the race. Iditarod.com reported that Cindy Gallea opted to withdraw from the race in Skwentna early Monday when she became ill (non-Covid-related per officials). This leaves 45 mushers on the Iditarod trail.
Kristy and Anna appear to have largely stuck with their run/rest plan thus far. Neither one spent any time to speak of in Rainy Pass, although Kristy did opt to return one dog from her team. I have since learned that Rampage was sent home with a sore shoulder, and he's already back at the kennel (where he promptly ran through the dog yard and peed on another kennel mate's house). That is the only dog to step out of either Seeing Double team so far this year, giving Kristy 13 dogs in front of her sled and Anna a full 14-dog team.
Although official Iditarod.com standings do not yet reflect this as I write, GPS trackers have Kristy now into Rohn and Anna only a mile or so before it. This means they will have put their first trek through the Dalzell Gorge behind them. I wonder, having plummeted down this 200 foot hill, what they think about later having to run back up it?! In any event, both twins should stop in checkpoint only briefly to resupply before you see their GPS trackers moving, only to stop again and rest 15 to 20 miles beyond Rohn. They were both planning a trailside camp, probably in the neighborhood of 4 hours, to feed and rest the dogs. This also helps to break up an otherwise long 75-mile stretch between Rohn and Nikolai.
Look for the twins to rest within checkpoint in Nikolai for a while (4 hours?) before they pull their snow hooks and make trail to McGrath. This is where they not only shipped their second sleds but also where they anticipated declaring and taking their mandatory 24-hour stop.
