Sourdough to Paxson
The race rolls on and so much has happened since the last post. Cole got out of Wolverine without much trouble. A few mushers had trouble on Lake Louise as there are several marked trails for various races throughout the year. She made it into Sourdough with Goliath and Penny in lead, and the parking was as big a clusterfart as we expected. This year team went up a windy hill to the checkpoint to sign-in, they were then supposed to drop down the hill (about 1/4 mile long) through a path that had been plowed down to the dirt so there was no hope of getting a brake to bite. Then the mushers dropped onto a trail, still going downhill, with about a foot of sugary, podery freesh snow. Then they wound around a matel post in the trail, and at the bootm of the hill were supposed to take a 90-degree turn to then park IN FRONT of the team that came in before them. Despite how rishy this trail could be for injurying a dog’s shoulder, to park Cole where they wanted would have meant putting her about 1/2 mile away from her starw and water source. NOT AN OPTION. Instead I found a side path than gradually switched back and forth down the hill and came out BEHIND the park teams, where Cole and the dogs could rest without dozens of teams coming and going all around them. It worked out great.
The only problem with Sourdough is it was its usual cold, horrible self. The temperature got down to minus 33 below while Cole and the dogs camped, which is far from a good temperature for the dogs to rest in. Cole had sent out supplies to take her mandatory 8 hours rest (the race reuires 18 hours total) at various places, and before the race had toyed with the idea of staying at Sourdough, but the cold nixed that idea. After 4 1/2 hours rest she pulled the hooks and shot out with Zoom and Cyder in lead.
Cole made good time to Meiers Lake and blew through on the way to Paxson (the photo above is fer in a remote section between Meiers and Paxson), still trying to get ahead of the predicted wind (and windchill of minus 50). The team slowed their pace on the way a bit to Paxson, but they arrived tired, but having faced minimal wind. Teams just an hour behind her came in talling horror stories of the 30 mph winds they hit head on while crossing the 7-miles long Paxson Lake. This doesn’t mean she is out of danger though. From Paxson the race trail climbs into the moutains and for several miles will traverse above treeline where Cole and the other racers will be TOTALLY exposed to very likely 30 mph winds and minus 20 degree temperatures. It will be a long and challenging night run for her and the dogs. Hopefull they’ll make it in good fashion after coming off such a long break. Before Paxson Cole had slepts a total of 1 hour and 45 minutes so far in the race, but she will liekly get fours hours sleep at least, while the dogs will get close to 9 hours when her srating order time differential is added to her 8 hours mandatory rest.
ON a related note to the last post, as is often the case in a sport where stress levels are high and sleep in low, the musher who Cole had the bad pass with yesterday came over today after he had gotten some sleep and apologized for his trail grumblings. It went a long way for Cole, as she often views other mushers not as cometing against her, but as all of them together competing against the challengin terrain and elements. Everyone can lose there temper from time to time, but it was a classy thing to do for this musher to come and make amends.
O.K. all for now. Here a few pictures from the last 24 hours.
Cole arrives at Meiers Lake with Penny and Zoya back in lead.
Cole and the team crossing Meiers Lake after leaving the Meiers checkpoint, and heading toward some much needed rest in Paxson.
The team sleeping under their blankets at Paxson. We rarely don’t give our dogs equal rest to whatever they ran, so this years race is really pushing them a bit more than usual. HOpefully they will gain and get stronger from the experience in preparation for Iditarod.