We passed one lone team on the way to Finger Lake, that was none other than 4 time Champ Martin Buser. His team was moving really well, for some time I was actually wondering, if we had passed him camped out unnoticed in the trees, but than again, there was a single runner track. Shell Lake had some big bonfire going, but other than that, it was quite along the trail.
With the warm daytime temperatures, its going to be interesting to see what Martin will do from here on out. To avoid the heat of the day, he would need to shut the team down latest by noon. Rainy is about 3.5 hrs from here. Rohn about 4.5 hrs from Rainy. So total run time 8 hrs. So to make it there in one shot, he would need to pull out of here at 4 a.m. That does not give him much rest. Or….. he is going to camp out on the run to Rohn? Who knows. Just speculations.
If Martin gets here before 2.19 a.m. he sets a new record for earliest arrival. In 2010 Linwood Fiedler got to Finger Lake first at 2.19. It did not do him well, as he scratched from the race later on. So in any case, Martin is putting on the heat and for sure is taking a gamble. He said before the race: If you try something unconventional and it works, everybody thinks you are a genius. If it blows up, than everybody calls it stupid. Lets hope for his sake, that this long hard run into Finger Lake will turn out to be genius! On a side note, Martin had the fastest run to Skwentna with 2.44. Dee Dee was moving quick also with 2.51.
Here a few more pictures from last night:
Sebastian
Teams in Yentna
Straw to go!
Waiting for Mushers
That is quite the fire
nice and warm on the river…
the crew of the fire
Jodi Bailey camping out
Jodi´s crew
Jodi´s mix of dryfood and freeze dry food
waiting for mushers in Skwentna
One of Martin Buser dogs
Another Martin Buser dog
Team in Skwentna
One Of Michelle Philips teams
signing in
well sorted
Michelle Philips
One of Michelles dogs
Al Halman, vet
putting on Ointments
vetcheck at MIchelles Team
Nice place to stop. Good food too
