March 19
Trent pulled in to Unalakleet at 123AM this Thursday morning. He covered the distance in two 40+ miles runs
and a 6hour rest on the trail in a total of 18 hours 25 minutes. Trent checked out of Unalakleet at 924AM this
morning after an 8 hour rest.
Unalakleet, population 688, is the first checkpoint on the Norton Sound of the Bering Sea coast and is a major settlement of the Inupiaq tribe. The area is well known for salmon and king crab harvests and serves as a central transportation and supply hub for outlying villages in the area. In the 1925 Great Serum Run to Nome; Jack Nicholai and Victor Anagick carried the anti-toxin from Kaltag to Unalakleet.
Trent checked in to Unalakleet with 13 dogs and left with 12 dogs. I’ll try to find out who got off the team bus in Kaltag, and who got off the team bus in Unalakleet. The next checkpoint is Shaktoolik, 40 miles away. The trail can be very tough and windy from here to the finish. About a dozen teams were holed up in Shak for 20+ hours on Wednesday waiting for wind and storms to clear. It looks like they have all left Shak now, and I hope it will be better sailing for Trent through there. I’d expect Trent to be in Shak by mid to late afternoon.
A few pictures from earlier this week in Unalakleet are below.
