“The dogs are real happy,” Iditarod musher Richie Diehl says. “They’re all doing fantastic… I’m happy with ‘em all.”
The Kuskokwim musher – Diehl hails from Aniak, Alaska – was taking his 8-hour Yukon River layover in Ruby when he caught up with KNOM’s Laureli Kinneen.
Both the dogs and their driver seemed to be doing well, even on the long runs leading into Ruby. Arriving into Ruby, furthermore, put them on the Yukon River – and river running, Diehl says, is where his team hits its stride.
“We’re on the river – our favorite. This is something we like: nice, flat, easy trot, easy going.”
Going forward – looking to the last portion of the Iditarod, on the Norton Sound coast – Diehl’s plans didn’t include too many predictions or specifics, except that he’ll simply run his team “checkpoint to checkpoint,” resting them as needed.
“I got some younger dogs in here, and they’re doing fantastic right now. I don’t want to sour ‘em. We’ve got a long ways to go.”
Hear Richie Diehl in Ruby:
As of Saturday morning, Richie Diehl is in 21st position. With 13 dogs, he arrived into the Nulato checkpoint at 9:08am.
