The first few teams came and went from Ruby early this morning (Friday). Brent Sass and Aliy Zirkle are on the Yukon River, heading for Galena. During his brief stop in Galena, Sass said he was looking forward to the river miles.
“Oh, change of pace… it’s always good to get to the Yukon.”
Teams will run 134 miles along the Yukon. The trail has been rerouted overland between Galena and Nulato due to open water.
Meanwhile, a handful of teams have opted to rest before heading down river. Jeff King is the only musher at the front of the pack that has opted to rest for 24 hours in Ruby.
“I don’t think it makes sense to use your 24-hour break until the dogs are starting to get tired, and with good trail and good weather, they were screaming. There’s no sense to stop and try to get your one shot at recuperation when they’re not tired yet.”
1975 Iditarod champion Emmitt Peters was in ruby to see King arrive. He’s the only musher in the race’s history to have taken a 24-hour rest in Ruby and then gone on to win. The two mushers bantered in the dog yard after King arrived.
JK: “As long as it doesn’t get cold or windy, I’ll be ok.”
EP: “Well, it looks like you got good weather. Well you have a good time, huh? So, I’ll talk to you later.”
King’s prize as the first musher to the Yukon this year was a five course meal. He shared it with Peters.
The forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid teens to near 30 along the middle Yukon over the next few days, with partly cloudy skies.
