Final days, on the coast
Kari and her trusty sled on the trail earlier in the race. Photo credit: Kari Gibbons
Erick Basset (ski) and Jon Richner (foot) - After an overnight rest at the Walla Walla safety cabin overnight, Erick and Jon headed out around 9 am this morning for the trek up and over Little McKinley. They’ve been generally close together today, but Erick has consistently been a couple of miles ahead of Jon. Little McKinley is the last significant climb of the 1,000-mile race, up to an elevation of 1,000 feet and then back down to sea level. From there they went across the ice of Golovnin Bay to the town of Golovin, where they likely stopped at the school for a meal and to rest. This evening they are back on the trail, headed across the Golovnin Lagoon towards White Mountain, to the home of trail angel Joanne Wassillie. Currently, they are less than 80 miles from Nome.
Kari Gibbons and Petr Ineman (both on foot; Team KarPet, PetAri, Gibmon, Gineman - please vote for your favorite in the comments!) are on the go! After a good rest at the Koyuk school overnight, they started walking at 5:30 this morning, passing the 800-mile mark in the race! Kari reported that it’s been a beautiful day and a little windy. They stopped for lunch at the Kwik River safety cabin and just passed Moses Point, the location of a fishing village, airstrip, and Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Radio-Range (VOR). They will likely stop for the night to rest at the Elim school.
Weather conditions tonight and for the next couple of days call for lows down to 0 deg F, highs around 10 deg F, and a steady north wind about 16 mph tonight and then dropping to 5-10 mph starting tomorrow. They have experienced remarkably stable weather conditions for weeks.
Today we got an update from Larry, provided via ITI racer Gavan Hennigan. Larry opens up his home in Galena (at mile 545 on the course, on the Yukon River) for ITI racers and provides much-needed recuperation at a time when it is really needed. Larry reported that over the course of the race, he housed a total of 20 ITI racers overnight at his home. During that time, he worked 18 hours each day for 9 days straight. Racers would travel 50 miles from the village of Ruby before they arrived at his home; that trip would take some racers over 24 hours, and they would take a few cat naps or stop to bivy along the way. Larry reported that the walkers came in much more tired and hungry than the bikers. During that time, he cooked 60 all-you-can-eat Grand Slam breakfast and 60 all-you-can-eat dinners. He went through 14 dozen eggs. He bought them outside of town, and had to hand carry them through the TSA! As per Larry - “You should have seen the looks on their faces!?!! What a fun-exhausting 9 days. I met men and women racers from all over the world. Some have come back year after year and are like old friends!!”
Author: Leah Gruhn