As of ten o’clock Monday morning, Ryan Redington is the first musher to check in and out of the checkpoint at Rainy Pass in the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Redington took a quick 10 minute break at the checkpoint before heading back out on the trail toward Rohn. Redington checked out of Rainy Pass at 7:24AM with 14 dogs after checking into the checkpoint at 7:14AM.
- In second position is Richie Diehl who checked out of Rainy Pass at 9:20AM with 14 dogs.
- In third position Nicolas Petit checked into Rainy Pass at 9:46AM and checked out at 9:57 with 14 dogs in harness.
Ryan Redington and his team zoomed in and out of the checkpoint at Rainy Pass, stopping only to grab straw and supplies and getting back on the trail to camp. Buser checked into Rainy Pass less than an hour after Redington departed, but he appears to be resting there, while K300 winner Richie Diehl reached the checkpoint and got back out on the trail shortly before this update.
Iditarod Insider reporters are the only ones on the trail right now and they talked to mushers as they came into Finger Lake on Monday morning. Nicolas Petit described the trail as very hard and fast. It’s been in the high single digits and teens but apparently not a lot of wind so its been really good for teams.
Listen to the full update here:
Image at Top: Ryan Redington on a break with his sled dogs at the Rainy Pass checkpoint in 2019. Photo: Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media.
