When Jeff King says “it’s nice to be here,” one imagines the veteran musher is talking about more than just a checkpoint.
Sure, King sings the praises of Nikolai – its “nice temperatures, nice people, good food” – but the former Iditarod champion also seems excited to have returned to the race from which he retired only a few years ago.
In his interview with KNOM’s Laureli Kinneen in the Nikolai checkpoint, King describes his Iditarod 2012 race, so far, in positive terms: his dogs are eating well, and even with heavier snows on the trail, King says that “for the most part, it’s just been great.”
The musher also speculates on whether veterans of the Yukon Quest (such as Hugh Neff, Aliy Zirkle, and Lance Mackey) have an advantage in this year’s Iditarod, and he talks about future plans – or rather, the lack thereof. As King proclaims, “I don’t make plans years in advance.”
Hear Jeff King in Nikolai:
Jeff King was third out of the Nikolai checkpoint; he departed with 15 dogs at 2:49pm.
