Kristy and Anna arrived in Takotna (race mile 329) a little after 8am AKST Wednesday morning and were reported in 18th and 19th places, respectively. They have declared and are taking their mandatory 24 hour rest here, as are many other mushers.
The reports of the trail they most recently traversed have one common theme - rough. The run from Rohn to Nikolai was plagued by mud and moguls. Mushers faced mud on the uphill slope of hill and ice on the downhill side for 4 to 5 miles just leaving Rohn. The Farewell Burn was mogul-city, but then it sounds like the final 10 miles or so into Nikolai was nice by comparison.
My last post had the twins in Nikolai Tuesday afternoon. They rested in checkpoint for nearly 6 hours and pulled their snow hooks around 10pm. They mushed for about 48 miles to McGrath, stayed quite literally for 2 minutes around 5:45am, and then hit the trail for another roughly 18 miles to Takotna.
Iditarod Insider posted a great video of the twins in Takotna from Wednesday afternoon. The initial seconds of the interview completely cracked me up. Bruce commented that neither of them looked very tired coming into their 24s. When Anna started to answer, she took a quick pause. The twins are known for completing each other's thoughts and sentences, and that's what happened here - only when Kristy chimed in, Anna resumed at the same moment. With no prompting and no practice, they replied in unison that they probably "got a little more rest" than teams further up the trail. I thought I was magically getting them in surround sound for a second!
It was only a 2 minute interview, but they went on to talk about how far it felt traveling from Tin Creek (about 22 miles after Rohn) to Nikolai. When they left their Tin Creek camp, the sun was coming up, and it just got "hotter and hotter". Granted, it was probably about only 35-40F, but you know how the sun can warm things up, and those temps by themselves are quite balmy by Iditarod standards. Warmth can be hard on the dogs, as they thrive in the cold. But the twins had trained in some warmer temps around their kennel in Knik this year, so the dogs were tolerating it quite well. Kristy felt the warm temps benefited them to a certain degree, allowing the dogs to stretch out and rest better, and be more warmed up when they hit the trail again.
They also said the moguls through the Farewell Burn were as advertised, if not worse. Kristy likened it to a "pump track". This made for far more technical sled driving than is normal through this stretch, with the applications of the brake and how you rode the runners key to making it easier on the dogs. This type of involved sled driving also limits what a musher can do on the back of his or her sled, like sit down for a little bit or dig out a meal. If you can't eat out on the trail from the back of your sled, you'll be doing it in the next checkpoint when you might otherwise be having a nap!
All in all, they looked and sounded good for race mile 329!
Given when they arrived in Takotna, plus the additional minutes added to their 24s to equalize teams for the starting time differentials, we should see Anna and Kristy hit the trail again by 9:30am AKST Thursday morning.
I mentioned in my last post that each twin had returned a dog home from Rainy Pass, and I now have details from our RDC Courtney. Tesla, from Kristy's team, had some diarrhea and Forrest, from Anna's team, just seemed tired. Never ones to push their dogs, Kristy and Anna opted to send 'em on home. They are now back at the kennel. Courtney said they're both doing just fine, although Tesla seemed upset - not from whatever had upset her tummy, but rather from being separated from her team and sent home! Pictures of both, below, from just after they were picked up in Anchorage.
I also see that each twin returned a dog after my last post and before they departed Nikolai, so we should have another report from the kennel on the whos and whys in the next day or so. I'll keep you posted.
Thus each twin arrived in Takotna with 12 dogs in front of her sled. After a good 24+ hour rest, massages, hearty meals, and some walks around checkpoint to keep muscles loose, I'm pretty confident they'll hit the trail again with all 12 dogs each Thursday morning.
As for the rest of the field, we still have 32 teams making their way to Nome. Remember, you'll see a fair bit of changes in the ranks and leapfrogging along the trail until each musher completes his or her 24. When I checked earlier, Wade Marrs was in the lead and reported out of the checkpoint of Ophir, but he hasn't stopped for his 24 yet. Meanwhile, Nic Petit declared and took his 24 on the early side in McGrath. He's back on the trail already and will be making up ground while Wade and others finish their rest. It will be another day or two before all of that shakes out and we have a clearer picture of where each team really is in the ranks.
I'll be back with another update Thursday afternoon once the twins are on the trail again!
The reports of the trail they most recently traversed have one common theme - rough. The run from Rohn to Nikolai was plagued by mud and moguls. Mushers faced mud on the uphill slope of hill and ice on the downhill side for 4 to 5 miles just leaving Rohn. The Farewell Burn was mogul-city, but then it sounds like the final 10 miles or so into Nikolai was nice by comparison.
My last post had the twins in Nikolai Tuesday afternoon. They rested in checkpoint for nearly 6 hours and pulled their snow hooks around 10pm. They mushed for about 48 miles to McGrath, stayed quite literally for 2 minutes around 5:45am, and then hit the trail for another roughly 18 miles to Takotna.
Iditarod Insider posted a great video of the twins in Takotna from Wednesday afternoon. The initial seconds of the interview completely cracked me up. Bruce commented that neither of them looked very tired coming into their 24s. When Anna started to answer, she took a quick pause. The twins are known for completing each other's thoughts and sentences, and that's what happened here - only when Kristy chimed in, Anna resumed at the same moment. With no prompting and no practice, they replied in unison that they probably "got a little more rest" than teams further up the trail. I thought I was magically getting them in surround sound for a second!
It was only a 2 minute interview, but they went on to talk about how far it felt traveling from Tin Creek (about 22 miles after Rohn) to Nikolai. When they left their Tin Creek camp, the sun was coming up, and it just got "hotter and hotter". Granted, it was probably about only 35-40F, but you know how the sun can warm things up, and those temps by themselves are quite balmy by Iditarod standards. Warmth can be hard on the dogs, as they thrive in the cold. But the twins had trained in some warmer temps around their kennel in Knik this year, so the dogs were tolerating it quite well. Kristy felt the warm temps benefited them to a certain degree, allowing the dogs to stretch out and rest better, and be more warmed up when they hit the trail again.
They also said the moguls through the Farewell Burn were as advertised, if not worse. Kristy likened it to a "pump track". This made for far more technical sled driving than is normal through this stretch, with the applications of the brake and how you rode the runners key to making it easier on the dogs. This type of involved sled driving also limits what a musher can do on the back of his or her sled, like sit down for a little bit or dig out a meal. If you can't eat out on the trail from the back of your sled, you'll be doing it in the next checkpoint when you might otherwise be having a nap!
All in all, they looked and sounded good for race mile 329!
Given when they arrived in Takotna, plus the additional minutes added to their 24s to equalize teams for the starting time differentials, we should see Anna and Kristy hit the trail again by 9:30am AKST Thursday morning.
I mentioned in my last post that each twin had returned a dog home from Rainy Pass, and I now have details from our RDC Courtney. Tesla, from Kristy's team, had some diarrhea and Forrest, from Anna's team, just seemed tired. Never ones to push their dogs, Kristy and Anna opted to send 'em on home. They are now back at the kennel. Courtney said they're both doing just fine, although Tesla seemed upset - not from whatever had upset her tummy, but rather from being separated from her team and sent home! Pictures of both, below, from just after they were picked up in Anchorage.
I also see that each twin returned a dog after my last post and before they departed Nikolai, so we should have another report from the kennel on the whos and whys in the next day or so. I'll keep you posted.
Thus each twin arrived in Takotna with 12 dogs in front of her sled. After a good 24+ hour rest, massages, hearty meals, and some walks around checkpoint to keep muscles loose, I'm pretty confident they'll hit the trail again with all 12 dogs each Thursday morning.
As for the rest of the field, we still have 32 teams making their way to Nome. Remember, you'll see a fair bit of changes in the ranks and leapfrogging along the trail until each musher completes his or her 24. When I checked earlier, Wade Marrs was in the lead and reported out of the checkpoint of Ophir, but he hasn't stopped for his 24 yet. Meanwhile, Nic Petit declared and took his 24 on the early side in McGrath. He's back on the trail already and will be making up ground while Wade and others finish their rest. It will be another day or two before all of that shakes out and we have a clearer picture of where each team really is in the ranks.
I'll be back with another update Thursday afternoon once the twins are on the trail again!
 Tesla pouting in the back of Courtney's truck, in good shape but disgruntled by being separated from her teammates. |  Forrest settling in for a nap after being picked up in Anchorage. A few more Zzz's and he'll be bouncing and barking up a storm back at the kennel. |
