J C

KB440 mushers..

Trying (and failing, we stopped half way at Kobuk) to bike the KB440 route..

The streets of Kotzebue..

Have a safe,fun, and fast race!

Alas, that is what I expected. Thanks for answering! There is always interest in something like this to cover the polar regions better, but apparently not enough interest to actually fund&launch something.

Nice - I am wondering if we can get a signal from either Arktika platform in Alaska. Do you know if the Arktika M1 and M2 transmitter is pointed / aimed at a particular ground station or more direct broadcast like noaa20/snpp/etc are? Thanks!

Such a small field!

The worst wind is normally before the station, so the actual winds could be quite a bit higher.

Nice!

More sled damage.. this one was filled with dirt.

More sled damage from Rohn to Nikolai.

Runners are starting to come into Nikolai on the ITI. Gavan Hennigan's sled runners were worn down to the sled material. Most of the ITI folks say it was good the Iditarod changed routes - it is a bit worse than 2015, with less stuff between the tussocks between Rohn and Salmon River.

Apparently they ran into open water. They might have taken that route intentionally...

For folks curious about if the Iditarod made a bad decision about switching routes, the first four bikers in the ITI made it to Nikolai. They said the trail between Rohn and Nikolai is pretty bad (really a few miles after the trail crosses Salmon River ), similar to 2015, and worse than 2014.

I did that one year ( or maybe twice!), that area is confusing if you are not super familiar with the area. Which I am not, ha! The leaders are on a record pace right now. The skiers must be sad though..

Photo of the trail from 2015 halfway between Rohn and the post river. This looks like water, but it was smooth ice. It was worse in a few other spots where the trail was narrower and the ice extended well into the trees, but I didn't get photos. The ITI lead bikers will pass through tomorrow.

Eddy the semi sled dog has his own definition of comfort... #antipillow

One musher was singing to his dogs when he passed me, which made my day.

The Iditarod restart happens in a week and a half, and got me thinking about the last time the race (re)started in Fairbanks. I was biking to Nome via the "normal" route. After 4+days of not seeing anyone, I arrived on the Yukon at Ruby as the mushers arrived, and was suddenly surrounded by people.

In 2017 it was very cold for the first few nights as well - it was sub -40f at Ruby on the bank as the leaders came in. It should be colder than the forecast on the river, but nothing super cold in the forecast right now.

And likely safer for the dogs.

And not a lot of protection if the wind blows. I would expect a lot of soft trail between Grayling and Kaltag if there is wind and any snow to blow around. From 2018, between Eagle Island and Grayling. But more fun that bare tussocks, hah!

Wow, so much Yukon river!! That seems a bit monotonous, but I guess a very safe alternative, so long as the wind isn't blowing hard. And the Tanana -> Ruby leg is pretty long I think?

Water bowl pecking order. I re-filled the pets water bowl with warm water, Sinbad the cat demanded it be made colder, so I fetched some snow, then she made Eddy the semi-sled dog wait while she slowly drank, then finally Eddy got a shot. I think she drank extra slow as she knew Eddy was waiting.

The Iditarod could possibly avoided all the "angry mobs" by being a bit more transparent about the conditions up front, but such is life. It is a big organization and lots of moving parts, I am sure it is hard to organize.

That seems like something ITC needs to work on. Hopefully, they will put out some updates soon.

That seems a bit drastic. The Iditarod hopefully will provide some update on the gorge and reassure everyone. It is going to be bumpy though!

I think the ITI folks are thinking it is an improvement from the videos showing the Kusko covered in deep overflow and water running down the trail that were circulating a few weeks ago, hah!

I am volunteering in Nikolai for the ITI. I was going to bike McGrath to Shageluk for fun after but pulled the plug. The ITI is a totally different ball game - no one is being pulled by dogs. There are a handful of skiers from fairbanks who are very concerned, and one who switched to biking.

My memory is wrong then, I somehow thought Scott Jansen had his accident after rohn. Parts of the trail were horrible that year - areas that were flooded then frozen in burned black spruce, it looked like a pin ball machine, plus lots of tussocks. 2015 was worse tussock wise though.