“I don’t have my sights set on anybody,” Bethel musher Pete Kaiser says.
In the remaining few days of the race, his goals are relatively straightforward. “(Let’s) just get to Nome as fast as we safely can, and whomever we pass, we pass, and whoever passes us, passes us.”
On Sunday morning, Kaiser caught up with KNOM trail reporter Laureli Kinneen in the Unalakleet checkpoint.
He told Laureli that the trail into Unalakleet from Kaltag was relatively good, although there were some “mogully” parts early on after Kaltag and some icy conditions just before Unalakleet. It was mostly “hard and fast,” however.
The musher also talked about some of the conditions, in his view, behind the quick runs on the Iditarod trail this year. Little adverse weather and a consistently fast trail, Kaiser says, can make for fast runs even for a tired dog team.
Finally, Kaiser talked about his dogs this year – a relatively young, “rebuilding” team – and what that will mean for the years to come, regardless of how Kaiser finishes in Nome this week.
About his dogs, Kaiser says, “This is a fun group; I’m excited about getting them there (to Nome), and then… the years to come with them. I think it’ll be a tough team.”
Hear Pete Kaiser in Unalakleet:
As of Sunday afternoon, Pete Kaiser is in 17th position. He arrived into Unalakleet at 9:18am with 14 dogs.
