Enter the Cold!
On day 4 we are seeing Alaska really show up and challenge our racers. Temperatures overnight in the swamps between Skwentna and Shell reached -25°F. And it was very slow going with the trail completely blown out and thigh deep snow drifts in some areas. This morning three of the lead men cyclists took a nice rest and hopefully snooze at Bear Creek Cabin around 4 am AK time, now Clinton Hodges and Kevin Breitenbach both on bike for the 350 are on their way to the finish line in McGrath. Miron was in the lead for the 1,000 bike and he has now linked up with Tyson Flaharty as they make their way to McGrath.
Leading 350 womens bike Lael pulled an all nighter and is still in the lead despite bike issues early on in the race. After 7am she too took a break at the cabin as well and is now 16 miles to Nikolai. Less than ten miles behind her is number two women for the 350 bike, Nikki Potter.
A huge pile of bikers including womens 350 athlete Tazlina had breakfast in Rhone this morning before filling out to tackle the Farewell Burn. This checkpoint is a welcome treat after climbing up and over the pass, however there is a “one in, one out” rule for sleeping as the tent is fairly small. I am wondering who got to snooze on cozy straw and who had to bivy outside! Nikkie Potter was sitting .9 miles from Rhone for 7 hours, maybe this was a calculated rest stop to avoid the shuffle! Five athletes including Jessie Gladish on bike are still climbing the pass and on their way to Rhone, it has been a long day for them, and the speed they moved indicated they are pushing bikes, in that group is also Nicolas Janssen, 1st male 350 on ski, steadily moving upward.
Backtracking to Puntilla lake, there are currently 17 athletes hunkering down at the welcoming Rainy Pass Lodge, including our first 1,000 mile foot athlete Herman Watson, and several womens bikers including Leah Gruhn and Missy Schwarz, who went out earlier and came back to rest a knee, both in the thousand. Stephanie Schmit and Mayella Krause,for the 350 bike are also there, do yourself a favor and check out who Mayella is sponsored by, you won’t regret it! With the wind being so bad and the temperature dropping, this large group decided to stay the night and make a push for the pass tomorrow morning. “Temperatures are the focus of the forecast for the next several days as cold air plunges south out of the Arctic. Overnight temperatures will plunge into the 20 below to 40 below range across the Interior, with the coldest temperatures occurring the valleys” Not everyone is staying in however, after a break just a few miles out of the Happy River Steps, 1,000 mile bikers Kinsey Loan and Mark Moeller have made the brave decision to head out now, and tackle the pass at night.
As I write this, our 1,000 mile foot Leading Lady, Faye Norby and her partner Jeff Leuwerke are walking down the Happy River Steps, a tiered and winding trail that drops them down onto the Happy River for a jaunt before a nice climb back out. It can be treacherous if icy, but these two are pros. Magdalena, the other womens 1,000 mile foot has left Finger Lake as well, where a few more athletes including Wild Winter Women Amber Crawford and Carole Holley are waiting out the bad weather. Amber commented about the incredible wind today adding an expletive, but strategizing this event is something she is very good at.
Sunny Stroeer is steadily making her way to Finger Lake, and will probably catch her partner Paul Gagner there, which would be a welcome treat for them. Behind her is 1,000 mile foot athlete Mark Hines, overcoming some physical adversity the day before, recovering and now pushing on. Multiple 1,000 mile finisher Petr Ineman (this year on skis) and fellow 1,000 mile skier Joshua Brown are also on their way to finger lake. Joshua battled stomach problems that kept him from eating or drinking for more than 30 HOURS and is moving well on his way to Nome. Our Red Lantern tonight is the delightful Sarah Hurkett, who is taking a break at Skwentna, once she leaves the building it is a very exposed hike for several miles to the Shell Hills, I imagine she will stay put for a bit as well.
There are a lot of things that can go sideways out in the Alaska range; we have had a few drops this year, including Erick Basset, Ronnie Carrara, Jeremy Fields, and my amazing friend Jeff Goldstein. Often pure grit will get you far, but a healthy dose of luck also plays into it. The amount of planning and training that each person does for months is just incredible, and true bravery shows when we don’t know what will happen out there, but try anyway. We hope to see each of you on the trail again.
Written by Kari Gibbons, photo credit Tiziano Mulonia