March 13: Bering Sea
Kaltag: Sørlie was the first to arrive at Kaltag on March 13 at 3:43 am. He left Kaltag in first place at 8:44 am, followed by Brooks about an hour later, Buser another hour later, and John Baker yet another hour later. The top 10 are within slightly more than 6 hours, and the top 30 are within 26 hours. On March 16, Karen Ramstead scratched here, citing concerns for her team and trail conditions. Her teams is composed of Siberian huskies, instead of the more common mixed-breed Alaska huskies.(pdf)
Unalakleet: Sørlie won the Alaska Gold Coast Award for reaching Unalakleet in first place on March 13, at 20:45 pm.(pdf) Sørlie was the first to depart at on March 14 at 0:11 am. The top 10 departed within 8 hours, and the top 30 within 27 hours. Sørlie said, "it's still a long way to Nome".
The trail normally runs down the Unalakleet River into town, but shifted 7 miles (11 km) due to water overflowing the ice.(pdf) The xtrail markers led through a 1-foot (0.30 m) deep over flow, which several teams went through. Temperatures are expected to hit the 40s (F, or 5–10 °C) through March 16. Unalakleet is on the shore of the Norton Sound, and the race normally picks up pace and intensity as the leaders start the long final dash north and west along the shore of the Bering Sea to Nome.
Read more about this topic: 2005 Iditarod
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