With a younger team this year, Kotzebue’s John Baker has been facing more challenges than anticipated. He says each run has presented a situations that his dogs need time to recover from, rather than presenting a challenge they rise to.
Iditarod 2015 offered up severe cold for days on end, sometimes dipping to -50F. In Koyukuk, Baker said those temperatures are not the kind of thing you seek out for training, so his dogs just weren’t prepared. Looking back, Baker says, “I should have done, right from the start, a lot of things differently. So many things they just hadn’t ever seen before this event.”
Leapfrogging in and out of the top twenty amidst a group of about 5 mushers running within an hour or two of each other, Baker hopes to finish strong. “Hopefully move up, but I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet.”
Practicing flexibility and positivity in the face of adversity, from Unalakleet Monday, Martin Buser said he was trying to keep a positive attitude and project that to his dogs. “You gotta have your spirits up for your kids. I try to be up and happy, and hopefully it gets contagious.”
The trail has thrown some challenges to Martin this year, and he’s rolling with the punches. Faced with brutal cold the first half of the race, and then howling wind added to that coming out of Koyukuk to Nulato. Martin said he just decided to take another rest in Nulato, and was happy to enjoy some unexpected hospitality. Buser is continuing his laid back approach now that he’s at the coast, where weather is notoriously unpredictable. “Take it as it comes, because it is what it is. If you expect something, the opposite will happen.”
