Official race standings did report Kristy, and then Anna, into Rohn at 7:33pm and a little after 8pm, respectively. They stayed a little longer in checkpoint than I had expected. Possibly grabbing and sorting extra gear, likely giving the dogs a quick snack, perhaps getting any info on the trail ahead or comparing notes with fellow mushers. Anna also used the stop to return the first dog from her team. I have not yet heard which dog or why, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do.
This put Kristy out of Rohn reported in 20th place at 8:16pm Monday night with 13 dogs on her team, and Anna pulled out in 22nd at 8:42pm, also with 13 dogs. They both moved along the trail for a bit as anticipated, before hunkering down for a trailside camp from a little before midnight until after 4am.
They've been moving steadily along the trail since, and are currently trotting along just shy of 8mph at race mile 250. This should put them into Nikolai, race mile 263, in a couple hours - sometime between 12pm and 1pm Tuesday afternoon. They promise to have plenty of company there with lots of mushers resting their teams in Nik before heading out on the 48 miles to McGrath.
Only one musher is currently reported out of Nikolai, and that is current front-runner and former Iditarod champ Dallas Seavey. GPS currently has him at mile 274. The back of the pack has yet to check out of Rohn, giving us a lead-lag field spread of 86 miles.
That isn't as much of a spread as I might expect as we approach two full days into the race. But teams are really moving along this year, and I'm not unique in that assessment. I watched an Insider clip of Dallas in Rohn and he also commented on it being a fast trail with fast moving teams. Benign weather during the start of the race surely contributed to that. Recent weather conditions definitely sound more "Iditarody" though. Temps of -20F Sunday night morphed into +20/25F around Nik early Tuesday. The winds picked up overnight, and the snow started to come down.
There was a great Insider interview with some of the trail camera crew earlier today. They had been out on the trail between Rohn and Nikolai and provided some firsthand reports. It sounds like the early portion of this section of trail had very little snow. This can be troublesome in this section as mushers and their teams travel through the Farewell Burn, and area still recovering from one of the largest fires in Alaska history. They reported big rocks and areas of glare ice. Then the storm moved in and things got real snowy, real quick. The crew did run into a few teams along this stretch, and so far it sounds like the consensus among mushers is the return trip through "the burn" will not be a welcome one.
Another huge bit of Iditarod news since my last post... Aily Zirkle was injured as she came into the Rohn checkpoint Monday evening. She was transported to a hospital in Anchorage and became the second musher to scratch from Iditarod 2021. A bit more information was released on Iditarod.com, namely: "Zirkle is in stable but guarded condition after sustaining a significant impact that resulted in a concussion and orthopedic injuries to her upper torso. Zirkle has been released from the hospital and is resting in Anchorage with family and plans to return home when they are able." She was running a 14-dog team at the time and the dogs are all reported in good condition. They will be well cared for in Rohn before taking the soonest available flight with the Iditarod Air Force back to Anchorage and then on to their home kennel.
On behalf of Seeing Double, I send my very best to both Aliy and Cindy as they each make their way home from the race. Dog Speed.
This put Kristy out of Rohn reported in 20th place at 8:16pm Monday night with 13 dogs on her team, and Anna pulled out in 22nd at 8:42pm, also with 13 dogs. They both moved along the trail for a bit as anticipated, before hunkering down for a trailside camp from a little before midnight until after 4am.
They've been moving steadily along the trail since, and are currently trotting along just shy of 8mph at race mile 250. This should put them into Nikolai, race mile 263, in a couple hours - sometime between 12pm and 1pm Tuesday afternoon. They promise to have plenty of company there with lots of mushers resting their teams in Nik before heading out on the 48 miles to McGrath.
Only one musher is currently reported out of Nikolai, and that is current front-runner and former Iditarod champ Dallas Seavey. GPS currently has him at mile 274. The back of the pack has yet to check out of Rohn, giving us a lead-lag field spread of 86 miles.
That isn't as much of a spread as I might expect as we approach two full days into the race. But teams are really moving along this year, and I'm not unique in that assessment. I watched an Insider clip of Dallas in Rohn and he also commented on it being a fast trail with fast moving teams. Benign weather during the start of the race surely contributed to that. Recent weather conditions definitely sound more "Iditarody" though. Temps of -20F Sunday night morphed into +20/25F around Nik early Tuesday. The winds picked up overnight, and the snow started to come down.
There was a great Insider interview with some of the trail camera crew earlier today. They had been out on the trail between Rohn and Nikolai and provided some firsthand reports. It sounds like the early portion of this section of trail had very little snow. This can be troublesome in this section as mushers and their teams travel through the Farewell Burn, and area still recovering from one of the largest fires in Alaska history. They reported big rocks and areas of glare ice. Then the storm moved in and things got real snowy, real quick. The crew did run into a few teams along this stretch, and so far it sounds like the consensus among mushers is the return trip through "the burn" will not be a welcome one.
Another huge bit of Iditarod news since my last post... Aily Zirkle was injured as she came into the Rohn checkpoint Monday evening. She was transported to a hospital in Anchorage and became the second musher to scratch from Iditarod 2021. A bit more information was released on Iditarod.com, namely: "Zirkle is in stable but guarded condition after sustaining a significant impact that resulted in a concussion and orthopedic injuries to her upper torso. Zirkle has been released from the hospital and is resting in Anchorage with family and plans to return home when they are able." She was running a 14-dog team at the time and the dogs are all reported in good condition. They will be well cared for in Rohn before taking the soonest available flight with the Iditarod Air Force back to Anchorage and then on to their home kennel.
On behalf of Seeing Double, I send my very best to both Aliy and Cindy as they each make their way home from the race. Dog Speed.
