He described some of the challenges. "Going through the snow berms, their tired. This is the most tired they've been this whole trip." The weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse. Temperatures below zero and a head wind coming straight out of the north made for blizzard like conditions. It took Mackey 7 hours for the trip from Shaktoolik. He would rest his team for 9 hours at Koyuk.Behind Mackey, Yukon Quest winner Sebastian Schnuelle was trying deperately to catch up. He arrived in Shaktoolik within close proximity of 5 other teams some 5 hours after Mackey. He spent a mere 19 minutes at that stop and pushed on. The others would rest their teams for a few hours hoping that conditions would improve. The drift dodging trip to Koyuk would take 8 hours, but he would once again make touch with Mackey who was still resting there. The veteran of many Iditarods and Yukon Quests said it was the toughest run he had ever made. A group of 6 mushers would leave Shaktoolik about 2 and a half hours after Schnuelle including Aaron Burmester, Mitch Seavey, Jeff King, John Baker, Hans Gatt and Hugh Neff.
Watching them progress via the Iditarod Insider GPS tracking, fans could see them travel in packs and take several stops. John Baker was the only team to push on though so far covering the stretch in 8:23. Burmeister and Seavey seemed to have found a spot to rest on a peninsula just off the sound. The remaining 4 teams turned back and are once again resting at Shaktoolik.Meanwhile Mackey has left Koyuk. The trail from that post takes a westerly direction so the brutal headwind has turned into a crosswind for him he is still dealing with a drifted over trail however. The trail also stays off the Norton Sound ice for the most part. He covered the 40 miles to Elim in a bit more then 5 hours.
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