Come on UP and OVER the Alaska Range!

Looks like we got ourselves a Sled Dog Race! 

The top competitors (minus a few "regulars", I'll get to that later) Have been making their way to Rainy Pass and beyond.  Earlier today (eastern time) Nic Petit blew through the Rainy Pass checkpoint and camped out for some time at mile 163.  Kaiser was next into Rainy Pass and when he heard Nic went through he did the same, and camped out about 7 miles behind Nic as the "heat of the day" was bearing down.  Nothing better than resting your Team in the sunshine as opposed to slogging and zapping their strength to get further down the trail.  The chase pack stopped at Rainy Pass for 3 or 4 hours to rest there....no doubt bothered by several bush planes that have been making a tour business out of the race.  Why not....right?  Anyhow...EVERYONE up front is now back out on the trail, taking advantage of night time temps as they head down Dalzell Gorge on their way to Rohn Checkpoint, some 30 miles down the trail.  For those of you who don't have access to the GPS tracking...here is your snapshot in time at 8:00 pm eastern time:

Petit at mile 169
Kaiser at mile 164
Joar at mile 161
Ryan Redington at mile 157
Aliy at mile 157

There are several contenders still "tucked back" into the middle of the pack, I'm sure at this stage in the race they might just be pacing themselves....so far trail conditions have been fantastic and don't seem to be impacted by the warmer temps.  Snow machines have been packing it down and the consistency has not turned it into a churning mess.  My guess is there is enough moisture in the snow to pack instead of becoming sand like.  That is the kind of snow we have here....I groom my trails with 3 to 5 passes with a SnowDog groomer and it really becomes solid....no crust to break.  Alaska might be use to a drier snow that is fragile and doesn't set up hard.  Welcome to my world.....with 20 to 30 degree temps it packs hard and fast no problem.

Enjoy the ride down the Dalzell Iditarod Mushers!