Jeff King rounded the bend four miles down river and veteran race fans from the village of Kaltag saw his headlight bobbing in the moonless dark and predicted an arrival a half hour later. King and team continued to drive directly into a stiff headwind and pulled up the slip and checked in at 9:23PM. King now has earned a new lock on the Iditarod, with a majority of pundits I talked to concluding that race leadership had shifted once again from Buser to King—-at least for the moment.
Buser started from Eagle Island about five minutes behind King, but King widened the gap through the 70 mile section of trail. Buser lost about an hour in total when he arrived in Kaltage about 10:15PM.
How It All Happened
Our helicopter and Wescam camera arrived in Eagle Island this mid-morning Saturday March 10 and discovered Buser, King, Mackey and Gebhardt teams camped out of the wind in a north channel slough of the Yukon. Basically, we find Buser slightly ahead of King, and Mackey and Gebhardt about two hours further back.
The day has all the feel of a Tour de France time trial. The 70 mile run from Eagle Island, mid-way between the villages of Greyling and Kaltag, is flat and mind-numbingly monotonous with long interminable runs on the wide river bed of the Yukon, further complicated by a strong downriver wind that drives spindrift directly into the face of dogs and musher.
The question is simple. Which team and musher will post the fastest time and demonstrate the strength and momentum to take over the destiny of the race.
In what I think was a surprise and daring move, King boots his dogs after a five and a half hour rest. Recall that he was just on the trail from Anvik to Eagle Island for almost a dozen hours. He gives the ready command, moves a few dogs into different positions in the team, distinctly but softly commands “alright” and team unceremoniously trots off down a narrow slough at a brisk trot.
Buser, who has rested longer than King—almost six and a half hours-is five minutes behind King in preparation and also departs. It is possible that he felt it a strategic move to force King to lead out on the unbroken trail and lead him into Kaltag. After all, Buser was posting the fastest times into Eagle Island—–precisely the reason he arrived at the front of the pack.
We launched the helicopter to watch this drama and immediately noticed that King’s team had the advantage. After 35 miles on the trail it appeared that King had widened his lead from five minutes to a half hour, then steadily gained advantage to Kaltag.
Other Developments in The Future
Lance Mackey and his 15 dogs are demonstrating very impressive durability and strength. The team dogs are consuming mountains of food and bright eyed when I saw them in Eagle Island. His supporters are looking for a break out run which will propel him to the front. Although his team speed has matched King and Buser, he has not notably surpassed them. Since he is two or more hours behind, he will have to demonstrate superiour speed to gain the lead.
Watch His Run Time to Kaltag
Paul Gebhardt and team are also very strong but likewise not surpassing the speeds of Buser and King. On a physical level, the always optimistic Gebhardt, is fighting a terrible cold. To protect his eyes, Paul wears a snow machiner helmut with a clear viser—a great idea on a windblown track like the Iditarod trail. Unfortunately, it leaves a an area of cheek and chin exposed and he arrives with good frost bite.
Ed Iten has fifteen dogs in terrific shape. But he acknowledges that he has given so much time to King and Buser that he understands his team will have to be much faster to recuperate time. Still, he is committed to his strategy of runs complemented by very generous rest. Iten is a come behind master, predictably vaulting to the front in the last third of the race. He almost caught Robert Sorlie, in a wild rush to the finish, in 2005. Is there enough time or luck for Ed Iten to spoil the victory party?
Sunday Morning
I talked to King about his exit time for Sunday morning out of Kaltag. Traditionally, mushers rest six hours before attempting the 80 mile traverse over a coastal mountain range to the Berring Sea Village of Unalakleet. King did not commit, probably gauging his competition to make sure he keeps advantage.
My prediction? Expect a 3:30 AM departure by King. In 2005, King made the traverse to Unalakleet in 11 hours 2 minutes.