Willow-Tug 300 Pt 3

Brrrr.  It is 3:30 AM and it’s chilly outside.  I laid down for 3 hours at Yentna, but didn’t sleep.  But this is a race and it’s time to get ready to go.  Pry myself off the foldout recliner bed (real luxury at a checkpoint), get dressed and venture into the night.  The dog lot is a hot bed of activity as mushers come off their mandatory 6 hour rest and prepare to leave.  The thermometer on my sled reads -20, so much for the forecast -10 for tonight!  I finish booting the dogs and hear a shout.  Lots of activity by the outgoing trail, but I can’t tell what is happening.

In this race we must check in and out of each checkpoint.  There was a checker here a minute ago, but now I can’t find one.  I walk down to the tent “checkpoint” and both checkers are holding a dog team without a musher in sight.  So that was the excitement.  Some poor guy hooking up had his team run off without him.  Luckily they stopped it before it ran to Skwentna!  One of the checkers comes back to sign me out and help me find a way around the other dog team without exciting them so they pull the hook again, while the musher waits out his mandatory rest.  Of course that means threading our way through the other teams that are still resting here.  Never a dull moment.

With the new snow, the trail up the river is still pretty much in a trench about 4 feet wide.  Passing will still be an issue.  Temperatures are holding at -20 with clear skies and too many stars to count.  Every now and then the Northern Lights come out faintly on the horizon.  The dogs quickly settle into a nice Iditarod trot and we cruise smoothly down the trail.  Most of the way to Skwentna a freight train comes barreling out of the night and passes us head on – the lead team in the race.  Later I found out it was Bob Bundtzen on his way to his first win – he sure looked good. 

A few more passes and we reach Skwentna, go up the Yentna River, cut across past the roadhouse and airport and onto the Skwentna River in front of Joe and Norma Delia’s, then downriver and back to Yentna – the first time. I promised the dogs a nice rest at Skwentna, but can’t find a place to pull off the trail with the deep snow.  We had got stick behind another tangle near the airport, and by the time they cleared it (two teams), my team had lost steam.  About 30 minutes later I found a side snowmachine track, turned the team onto it, fired up the cooker, and settled into a the 3 hour rest I had promised them.

The trip back to Yentna was uneventful.  But the snowmachine traffic going up river was incredible.  It looked like they were making snowmachines in Anchorage and shipping the entire lot to Skwentna in one day.  There were no passing problems; everyone was blasting through the fresh snow and having a ball.  By the time I got back to Yentna, out 4 foot wide trail was more like 300 feet wide.

We parked in the same spot we had last night and had another bale of straw on top of the first one.  For 12 dogs this was pure luxury.  After caring for the dogs I went back to the lodge – this time sleeping (or unsuccessfully trying) on the floor.  But it was warm.  When I left home the forecast was to cloud up and warm up on Saturday.  It stayed clear and beautiful, and now they tell us it will be colder than last night!

I’m up at 8:30 PM, but have trouble really getting motivated.  It’s -20 and dropping down on the river so I dig out the foxtails and belly wraps to protect sensitive spots from frostbite.  With all the putzing around I’m 45 minutes late getting out, but we are not trying to be competitive and that’s ok. 

We move up the river and the night sky is more beautiful than even last night.  The cold clear air shows more stars and the lights come and go in fascinating displays.  The dogs seem to feel it and are pumped for this run.  I keep slowing them down, but they insist on a fast, smooth 10 mph trot – very different from the previous run.  Teams are like that.  When they feel righteous, they are very impressive.  We fly through the night and I wish for a couple of hills to run up to generate some warmth.  In no time at all we are through Skwentna and headed back to Yentna.  This time I only stop for 20 minutes to snack and let them blow off steam. 

About 3 AM we hit the witching hour and my lack of sleep catches up with me.  Every time I blink or yawn I fall asleep for a few seconds – the fear is that sleep may not be the only thing falling.  Several times I jerk awake just as I start to slip off the sled.  The dogs run fast, but time slows to a crawl.  I check my watch and it’s 3:15 AM.  Half an hour later I check again and it’s 3:20 AM.  I’m torn between admiration for the dogs and exhaustion.  Luckily we have several more head to head passes to help keep me awake.  We pull in at 5:15 Sunday morning and this time I’m tired enough I do get an hour of sleep.



Keep 'em Northbound


Eric