10 am—Camp on Edge, Speculation out of control, more info on trail to Cripple by Joe Runyan
Speculation here at Camp Cripple is reaching critical mass as the little green squares (available for users at the Insider) indicate the approaching mushers. At this moment, Jim Lanier, running tenuously to the front, and bound to Cripple for the halfway prize of GCI gold is twenty five miles out.
John Kimble with groomer attached. Notice controls which raise & lower cutting blades
Trail breakers, now fully engaged in camp discourse, mine their memories. Oh yeah, they did notice that twenty five miles from Cripple the trail conditions changed dramatically to a soft bottomless pit. In their opinion this last stretch of trail into Cripple is the toughest.
machines ready to groom trail to Ruby
On other fronts, volunteers like Bill Gallea ( an ER doc from Montana, see photo on snowshoes) does last minute arranging of food and gear bags for the mushers. Despite constant traffic, the check point grounds here have not hardened—hence, the snowshoes. My sources here say that snow just wont harden as you would imagine. With any kind of disturbance, including machine traffic, the loosely bound snow turns to powder. Counterintuitive, for sure, but the Alaskans will tell you that -50F has modified the snow, actually dried it out, and given it that peculiar powdery character.
Just a little note on the gear bags. The rules require mushers to ship out dog food to designated checkpoints. A minimum is stated in the rules, but most mushers send out way more than actually required to cover all contingencies such as brutal weather, equipment/sled breakdown, and unknowns. The ITC establishes collection points before the race and assembles gear bags for shipment by the Iditaord Airforce and some commercial carriers. These lists are available, so we (the insiders) can make a calculated guess on strategy. If we notice big food shipments to Cripple for example, we know that a musher might have planned on coming to Cripple for a 24 hour mandatory. This year the front runners are well stocked in Cripple although it just happens trail conditions dictated a conservative move to 24 hour in Takotna. I took a photo so you have an idea of what it looks like here in Cripple.
Food and gear bags of mushers arranged A B C, this area on slough
bill gallea, volunteer, note the snowshoes b cuz you cant walk anywhere without them
Most mushers, particularly considering the deep trail conditions, will stop in Cripple and leverage use of the facilities. Even a cup of coffee is worth stopping. One trail breaker told me he jumped off his machine about 20 miles from here to take a break and found himself almost chest deep in snow.
Therefore, original predictions for a 1;30PM Alaska time arrival have been MODIFIED. Actually, everyone is so exhausted crunching numbers, your guess is as good as ours.
Life in Camp
Debski, as she is known (see photo), has been at Iditarod camps for 16 years. She is so highly regarded that many volunteers, for example, trail breaker Noah Burmeister, refer to her affectionately as 2ndMother. She organizes food shipments and logistics for 20 or so volunteers and hosts of mushers. In addition, she actually executes the plan, personally preparing meals.
debski, actual leader of cripple camp, owns kitchen. note race judge jim gallea who has received food ration
Final Thought
Photos of the stunted black spruce is included for comparison. These trees dominate the landscape, indicators of a sparse environment. Mushers may be visually numbed after a 100 miles of flat lit featureless tundra, but this could be the breakout run of the race.
worlds greatest photo of stunted black spruce---just for viewers south of Dallas
