Its Snowing!!! Time to rest for 24 hours!

Takotna has the best pies on the trail, and is a great place for a 24 hour rest, especially when its snowing!

Joar Ulsom was the first into Takotna around 7:00 pm Alaska time and appears to be taking is 24 hour rest...probably not for the pies, but rather due to the snow.  Its snowing out, making the trail a bit slower.  Joar did the run in 2 hours and 19 minutes from McGrath, where he did not stop to rest, rather pushing on for the big rest in Takotna.

Nic Petit was resting in McGrath as Joar blew through, making it into Takotna 3 hours after Joar and taking a little longer to get there in 2 hours and 31 minutes.  That was AFTER resting in McGrath, so Joar beat that time, out in front, on no rest in McGrath.  Interesting.

Before Nic got in, Jessie Royer came in 2 hours and 15 minutes after Joar, doing the run in the same time as Nic, followed by Pete Kaiser coming in in about 3 hours after Joar, doing the run just minutes longer than Nic.  Needless to say, Joar has the fastest team out there right now. 

As of right now, Nic is the only one who has left Takotna, and is going to reach Ophir any moment.  My guess is he will 24 hour there.....but it probably depends on his dogs (as it should)....but there is a chance he may push on to the remote checkpoint of Iditarod.....trail conditions would also come into play, as mentioned before this section of trail between Ophir and Iditarod is seldom used except for this race.  There is a halfway prize waiting in Iditarod for the first Musher there....typically $3,000 worth of god, but last I heard the sponsors are still trying to figure out what the prize will be this year.  I highly doubt prize money will lure Nic out if things are not perfect otherwise. 

So, it looks as though several of the chase pack are now holed up in Takotna....eating pies and feeding dogs no doubt.  Aliy took a rest in McGrath and I thought perhaps she was doing her 24 hour rest there, but I now see she is on the move towards Takotna after a 4 hour and 11 minute stay in the checkpont.  This is a bit of a deviation for Aliy, as she typically 24s in Takotna and blows through McGrath.....I was a bit surprised to see her there when I woke up and now I am again surprised to see she is not doing her 24 in McGrath and quite likely is setting up her 24 hour beyond Takotna, which is only 2 to 3 hours down the trail....again....interesting.  I'm now faced with being distracted at work as I watch her make her move.  As noted above, Nic rested in McGrath and blew through Takotna and is resting in Ophir....looks like Aliy may do the same, which is a change from her "normal" routine. 

Jesse Holmes had a little mishap when he was traveling to Nikolai....the back of his sled fell off at a creek crossing and he didn't realize it for a few miles down the trail, adding a total of 4 miles to his trip.  He still did the run quite fast while also doing an "extra long" run compared to everyone else. 

The biggest heartfelt story of the day is hearing Linwood Fieldler tell about traversing the Buffalo Chutes in the dark, when all of a sudden his sled hit a stump and the caribiner popped on the gangline, separating his sled from 13 Alaskan sled dogs who continued down the trail without him.  He was horrified at the sight of his dogs disappearing into the night.  He got emotional just reliving the story.  He tried to haul his sled on his own, but that was futile.  Along comes Matts Peterson and Matts hooked Lindwoods sled to his and the Team trotted along pulling both sleds for several more miles.  At one of the creek crossings Lindwood shown his headlamp up and down the creek, and caught a glimpse of eyes staring back at him, far off the trail but out on the ice.  It was glare ice, but Linwood had spikes on his boots, and he rescued the tangle of dogs out on the creek ice.  He says if it wasn't for the night he may not have even seen them they were so far off the trail.  Lucky for him and his dogs the mishap only resulted in a few minor injuries. Lindwood is currently on the trail at mile 312 with 13 Team mates just out of McGrath on the way to Takotna.

More to come as Mushers hunker down for that much needed rest!