The sky is cloudless, the sun intense, and the thermometer in the shade of our temporary headquarters at Rainy Pass lodge reads 38F. Very warm, not usual, generally ccepted as not a good time to run dogs, rather, wait for the evening cool is always the accepted advice. Schedules usually try to put run time at the “turn of light (that is morning and evening)” and like the choice of a human, rest at noon and afternoon and at midnight.
Therefore it is no surprise to see the 2013 champ Mitch Seavey and team resting in the sun this afternoon in Rainy along with colleagues Hans Gatt and Jake Berkowitz. The sun usually sets behind the tall mountains guarding Puntilla Lake about 3:30PM —-look for major departures.
Aliy Zirkle left at 1:32pm after a big 5 hour rest with plenty of fan support. She arrived in Rainy half-soaked, the result of a dumping in the Happy River. Her leaders missed the bridge at the bottom of the Steps and insisted on following the old trail—they have an unbelievable memory of the trail. “Well, I didn’t touch bottom, but the dogs pulled me out while I held onto the handlebar of the sled,” recounted Aliy.
I like to follow Aliy’s leaders because she has so many role players. On the front today are Quito, her little gray female, and Waylon, a 42 pound male. Of course, Quito is her super reliable, close to her heart leader. Why Waylen at the co-leader position? “Simple, Quito can boss him around and do what I want.”
Great anecdotes about the trail circulate. Dee Jonrowe came down the steps not very gracefully, having flipped her sled. She seem to be fine, but our comeraman said she bonked her head, and Dee admitted she had a sore neck and a little headache.
Jake Berkowitz, in the same descent at the Happy, wrapped his sled on the opposite side of a tree. The 1000 pound mass of his team broke the 7000 pound test rope tow line and left him with two wheel dogs. Jake is a big guy, but made a speedy run down the steps. Luckily, a cameraman grabbed the line and balled up the runaway team. Jake tied a knot in the tow line—wasted 22 minutes by his estimation—and continued to Rainy. His intention was to reverse the towline and put the weak end at the leaders and the undamaged rope at the wheel.
Mitch Seavey also had his moment of high tension, but luckily, made a circus save, bounced back to the trail, and survived the steps. As an aside, I was talking to Mitch about the temps today. “I was lucky and trained in 46f temps
Lynwood Fiedler lost his team but is reported to have yelled “whoa”, and , miracle, the team actually stopped. Lynwood , who has been mushing for decades and lost plenty of teams in races and training, said that’s the second time a whoa actually worked.
What about Joar Ulsom, the top ten rookie in 2013 from Norway? He AND team made an error in the dark last night as he crossed straight across Finger lake, avoiding the trail that followed the shore. Rather than take a 30 minute penalty, he decided to retrace his tracks before exiting Finger Lake. In total, he told me in Rainy that he lost seven minutes in total—a lot better than a half hour penalty. (Rules state mushers must follow the trail.)
