By his third race he placed in the top 10, and he sustained that position for six of the next seven years (from the 1998 to the 2005 Iditarods), only dropping to 22nd once again in 2000 due to dog trouble.

Like Ramy Brooks, Baker is one of the few Alaska Native dog sled racers who compete in the modern Iditarod.

[3][4] Other former handlers either denied or would not confirm the allegations, and images used to support the 2018 accusation later proved to be from internet postings not related to Baker.

Baker lives near his extended family on the coast of the Chukchi Sea in Kotzebue, Alaska, and has a fish camp/winter cabin 30 mi (50 km) away, across Kobuk Lake.

Baker is married to musher Katherine Keith;[4] the couple run four businesses and two nonprofit organizations in the Kotzebue region.