March 13, 2012 Iditarod News. The End is Near!!

Aliy Zirkle In At 1:25 AM, Ramey Smyth Surges and Now in Third
By Joe Runyan

1:25 AM (AK Time) Tuesday – White Mountain – (Dallas arrived into White Mountain at 12:14 AST) –
We are now in early AM reporting, after noting that Aliy Zirkle is now in at 1:25 AM. Her lead dogs Pocito and Dingle, impressively alert and crowd favorites, followed Aliy’s every move as she distributed a thick wet ration of commercial kibble, followed by frozen slivers of meat snack.

Aliy consults with super vet Dr. Dean Bauman.

She is about one hour behind Dallas Seavey in the standings. Add eight hours and see that she is free to move in direction Nome at 9:25 AM. She faces a challenge, not impossible, but formidable to catch Seavey.

Aliy feeds her dogs

Everyone notes the accomplished Dr. Dean Bauman and his crew working closely with mushers. “I see my job as an alliance for the wellbeing of the dogs.” His style is based on communication, often seen with the mushers consulting. He is an approachable personality for all of us in the checkpoint, one of the reasons he is successful with his mushers. To read the rest of Joe’s article, go to Iditarod.com.
Mittens and Ski Poles
By Terrie Hanke

The population on the Kaltag to Unalakleet portage trail exploded over night. Looking at the Ionearth tracker, that area of the trail held the largest concentration of dog teams compared to anywhere else on the trail. As the mushers made the coast today, we heard one common comment – it was cold.

Iditarod veteran Ed Stielstra said that the combination of the trail and the temperature was really tough. Sometimes it was frigid and then, it would almost feel warm but then in no time, it’d be back to frigid. Stielstra lost one of his heavy super warm mittens on the trail. He really had to improvise to keep his thinly gloved hand warm. Kelly Griffin was Stielstra’s savior – she found the wayward mitten on the trail and carried it into Unalakleet where needless to say she made Ed’s day. In the checkpoint as temperatures warmed and the sun shown brightly, Stielstra’s dogs slept under fleece penguin blankets made by his mother. You can read the rest of Terrie’s
article at Iditarod.com