The trail heading into Kaltag early this afternoon was windblown, drifted in, and slow. Idiatord.com’s blogger Joe Runyan said he spoke to the trail breakers about the snow, and they described it as “mashed potatoes.” As the first musher to hit this section of trail, Martin Buser lost a bit of his lead. There is a small pack of mushers gaining ground, nipping closer and closer at his heels. However, currently, Buser does maintain first position in Iditarod 2013.
KNOM trail reporter Laureli Kinneen witnessed Martin Buser’s run into the Kaltag along with a crowd of fans welcoming him into the checkpoint:
Buser checked into Kaltag this afternoon at 2:24pm, with his team of 11 dogs. Despite the rough run, Buser is hoping his dogs’ recent experience on this section of trail in the Paul Johnson Memorial 450 will give them confidence for the 85 mile stretch to Unalakleet.
