Update March 12th 2008
Matt is out of White Mountain and on his way to Nome at 18:23:00 tonight with seven dogs. Nome is in his sites. 77 miles to go!

Update March 12th 2008 - Into White Mountain at 10:23:00 morning with 8 dogs. Matt has to complete his last 8 hour mandantory layover before heading to Nome 77 miles away. He can leave White Mountain anytime at 18:23 this evening.

Ten miles later the trail crosses the mouth of the Kwik River, makes a three mile overland run along the dune line, and then jumps two miles across Kwiniuk Inlet to Moses Point. It then runs along a narrow spit and across some tidelands for about 11 miles to the old Moses Point FAA station, now abandoned. From there, the trail usually follows a nine-mile unplowed state highway up and over the heavily forested bluffs and down into Elim. An alternate route has been followed in the past along the sea ice from Moses Point to Elim.

 

Update March 10th Into Shaktoolik
Arriving into Shatoolik at 21:53:00 with 9 dogs. Weather for the areais currently
cloudy with scattered snow showers. Lows 5 to 15. Variable winds 10 mph except gusts to 20 mph north of Unalakleet.

Update March 9th 2008 Kaltag:
Matt arrived in Kaltag at 16:30:00 in 32nd position. Next stop the coastline of Unalakleet.
Trail from Kaltag to Unalakleet: This leg follows the ancient Kaltag portage, a relatively straight valley angling southwest through the coastal mountains; the route has been used for millennia by Natives. It is normally a well-used snowmachine highway. It marks the major transition from the inland river environment to the Bering Sea coast. Conditions can be vastly different at opposite ends of the portage, and wind is a constant threat on the western half.

The distance to Unalakleet is actually about 82 miles. Plan on 10 to 15 hours for this trip, depending on whether you want to camp along the way, and for how long. (By this stage of the race your team may be able to make it without a major rest.) If the weather gets bad, though, this trip can easily take 18 or 20 hours. There are two excellent resting spots on the trail, fifteen miles apart: the Tripod Flats cabin is 35 miles from Kaltag, and the Old Woman cabin is 15 miles farther on, about 35 miles from Unalakleet. Both are snug log cabins maintained by BLM and the local villages and can provide welcome refuges in case you encounter a storm.

The trail climbs for 15 miles from Kaltag through mostly wooded country to the summit of the portage, about 800 feet above sea level. Then it descends slowly into the valley of the Unalakleet River, staying mostly in wooded or semi-wooded country with some excursions across taiga and open areas until Old Woman, then running across mostly open tundra on the south side of the river valley. The trail drops back down onto the Unalakleet River about 8 miles out of town, making a couple of short portages across river bends before crossing the frozen lagoon into Unalakleet.

Check the weather carefully before leaving Kaltag. In a few years the race has actually been shut down because of storms on the coast, or drivers were at least advised not to leave Kaltag. Watch conditions closely as you work your way to the sea, and be prepared to hole up in one of the shelter cabins if conditions turn bad, which they can do out here with breathtaking swiftness.

On this stretch of trail the primary markings will be permanent four-inch metal reflectors on trees, or on wooden tripods in open areas. Most of the reflectors are yellow or gold, but many have weathered to various shades of off-white; they still reflect well, but may be hard to spot during daylight. You might want to keep your headlight on in twilight periods to help you pick out the reflectors.

The permanent reflectors often mark a corridor rather than a specific track; this corridor can be a hundred yards wide, and there are multiple markers in many sections. The exact hard-packed trail will usually be marked with standard Iditarod trail stakes. This can be a major factor on the western end of the trail where it runs for miles across open tundra and the wind can drift everything in within minutes. When the trail is drifted over, you’ll want to try to follow the trail stakes because that’s where the packed trail is. (You don’t want to be floundering through unpacked open snow with your dog team if you can avoid it.)

Update March 8th 2008 Galena:
Matt arrived in Galena at 17:48:00 with 10 dogs. He looks good and he has a team of happy dogs. Temperatures continue to remain in the mid 30's ƒ

Leaving Galena the river runs generally west. Fifteen miles from Galena the trail passes the fishing camp at Bishop Rock, a prominent landmark on the north bank of the river. Ten miles later it passes the mouth of the Koyukuk River, a major tributary, flowing in from the north, with the village of Koyukuk on the northwest bank. Five miles past Koyukuk the river swings south and the right bank becomes a low range of mountains rising to a thousand feet above the river. Nulato is eleven miles past the big bend to the south, on the right (west) bank.


Matt rolls into Tokotna (photo by John Schandelmeier

Update March 7th 2008 Cripple:
Matt left Cripple today at 15:00 with 10 dogs on his way to Ruby, 112 miles away. He has completed his 24 hour layover.

Trail between Cripple & Ruby: This leg is now a manageable 65 to 70 miles and can probably be covered by some teams in one leap. It is all on well-defined trails (mostly old mining roads) and there are no surprises other than some inevitable overflow and glaciering. You should expect to spend 8 to 12 hours on the trail depending on whether you camp inroute. For reference, this leg is a bit less than the run from Rohn to Nikolai, which is about 74 miles. As on the previous run, you must be careful not to run too far without stopping on this leg—it’s just long enough to cause problems. You can easily lose track of your progress and keep pushing until your dogs tell you that yoursquo;ve gone too far—after which it’s a long walk to Ruby.

From the runway, the trail will head up through the old Poorman town site and will begin to follow old mining roads. Shortly it will drop down the valley of Fourth of July Creek to the Sulatna River on a long downgrade. It’s about 15 miles from the airstrip to the river, depending on the exact routing. After crossing the old steel bridge over the Sulatna River, the trail runs up an old mining road like the one from Takotna to Ophir for 50 miles to Ruby.

The terrain is generally wooded rolling hills for the entire route, with black-spruce taiga (Russian for “land of little sticks") interspersed with heavier forests on better-drained slopes and in river bottoms, as well as the inevitable open swamp and muskeg areas. The road from Sulatna Crossing to Ruby has some moderate hills with long but relatively easy grades, with a few excursions to timberline. Scattered overflow is common all along the leg, as are short glaciered and drifted sections, especially on the road to Ruby.

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