The daily grind continued. A strong wind was blowing right into my face, so I decided to get out my ruff. It’s amazing how the fur breaks the wind around the face and keeps it warm.
After a few hours of tough moving with terrible trail conditions, I reached the Iditarod Cripple checkpoint just past 8am. Cripple, current population of 0, is an old mining district. During the Gold Rush (1908-1925), $35 million in gold, including some of the largest nuggets ever mined, were taken from the area. The first musher who makes it to Cripple receives a trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets. I only got breakfast, but that was unexpected and better than gold. The Iditarod folks let me hang out in a warm tent, where I quickly loaded the resupplies of my 3rd dropbag as well as stove fuel for the remaining 535ish miles.
It was hard to believe that I hadn’t even reached the halfway point yet. I tried to focus on Ruby, the next checkpoint, which was still about 70mi away. Yet, the current trail conditions made that thought difficult. The wind had covered the trail almost entirely with a foot of fresh snow. Just as I was about to leave, a group of six snowmachines pulled into the checkpoint and then continued on. Yay, I hoped that would improve the trail’s state. It did for an hour or so, then the snow was all blown in again and filled the trail with fresh snow.
I stopped for a lunch and snow melting break in the middle of the day, when the temperature reached a high point. While I melted snow and refilled my thermos bottles, I ate a dehydrated meal. Eating and drinking enough can be very challenging in these conditions. Yet, if you are not on top of your calories and fluid intakes, things won’t go well. A calories deficit accumulated over days is very hard to fix. According to my spreadsheet, I had just over 7,000 calories packed per day. On most days, I did indeed eat that much.
The day ended with a nice sunset, the northern lights in full swing, and another bivy. Seeing the musher’s headlamps silently floating by all night was rather magical.
It’s amazing how the fur breaks the wind around the face and keeps it warm.
The Cripple Iditarod checkpoint. Cripple, current population of 0, is an old mining district. During the Gold Rush (1908-1925), $35 million in gold, including some of the largest nuggets ever mined, were taken from the area. The first musher who makes it to Cripple receives a trophy and $3,000 in gold nuggets.
I only got breakfast, but that was unexpected and better than gold.
A runner and Iditarod volunteer, who had just just competed her first winter trace (the Susnita 100), handed me a 2nd breakfast. Thanks!
I must eat calories! I ate a lot of nuts, cheese, and chocolate.
A lunch and snow melting break in the middle of the day, when the temperature reached a high point. It takes time and fuel to melt snow for about 1 gallon of water.
The wind had covered the trail almost entirely with a foot of fresh snow. I had to wear snowshoes all day and the going was very slow and tough.
Another sunset…
Another display of the northern lights. After a while, you’ve seen it.
#iti2022 #iditarodtrailinvitational #ultrarunning #nome #alaska