On the trail - Dawson City - Steward River
I had a good nights sleep at John’s place. Mike did not show up on Sat morning to pick me up, this Dawson thing was really not going well, thankfully John drove me to the dogs. Next time, if there is one, I will only have one handler, too many handlers were here this time and that confused things more than anything. Unfortunately I did not talk to any vets before leaving Dawson. There was none to be found at their vetcheck and my leaving time fast approached at 7 p.m. The dogs looked good, but I am certain we overfed them, too many meals, feeding them each 6 hrs. I looked through the vet book and decided to leave with all 12 dogs again, quite a surprise to me to still have such a large team.
I
have to admit that Dawson kicked me out of rhythm, so I believe
it does the dogs, they finally get accustomed to the long working
days before all for sudden resting for 36 hrs. My head was not quite
there, so I realized at the „starting line„ that I forgot
to put a blanket on Libby, the blanket was back at camp.... well
too late. The team left nicely, we were gliding along town where
a few spectators waved a good bye. My sled was very heavy, I think
I managed to pack even more than leaving Eagle. In Dawson I was
tossing the idea to slow down the pace, to get to see a bit more
along the trail and not just rush rush and freeze. Now that I was
leaving, I was not too sure if that would be a good plan after all,
well I decided to take it by ear and the how it goes. The trail
along the Hunker Road gradually climbs, so no wonder the team seemed
slow to me. After some 2 hrs Frank Turner passed me, not really
improving my feeling that the team moves slow. After talking to
Thomas Tetz I decided to run all the way to the Indian River bridge
approx an 8 hr run. So as usual I stopped after 4 hrs to snack,
but nobody ate. O.k. I really overfed in Dawson. Hydration was still
good, so no real worries other than all the weight in the sled.
It is a long nice downhill from King Solomon Dome. We were lucky
with the weather calm and perfect temperatures. We passed a very
inviting sign after about 5 hrs, I think it is Mark Pearson’s
place, hot water..., good reststop. At about 2 in the morning (after
7 hrs) I passed Frank again who pulled over to camp. About 30 minutes
later I could see the Indian River Bridge and some headlight there,
must have been Dan and Dave. I decided to stay up a little hill
short before the bridge, maybe it is a bit warmer there. It took
me 7.30 hrs. to get there. After pulling over ( I carried straw
for the dogs ) I made another feeding mistake and offering the dogs
the „ missed snacks „ which they of course took, but
that took their appetite away for the meal I tied to give them later.
Mad at myself I crawled in my sleeping bag besides the trail. I
decided to cut some rest and leave after only 6.30 hrs rest getting
me out at 9 a.m. not quite perfect running towards the heat of the
day. Very to my surprise Frank already passed me at 7.30, I guess
he had the same rest idea. My morning meal the dogs still took somewhat
reluctantly.
At
the bridge I caught up to Thomas and John, my dogs a bit reluctant
to pass them. They warned me of a long uphill ahead, which indeed
was long. In retrospect I should have run part of that last night,
especially after being faster than I thought, next time eh? There
was quite a serious of hills ahead, up and down, for long stretches
till we finally came all the way up Eureka Dome. It was hot, very
hot and Peter Ledwidge camped in a beautiful spot right up top.
It was definitely better to rest than to run in the heat, but after
only 3.5hrs running way too early to stop. At least the fish snack
went over well this time. Nobody was limping and only Libby’s
cut needed constant attention. My goal was to run to Stepping Stone.
There is an amazing number of mining camps on the following downhill
stretch, all kind of vehicles parked all over the place and even
some nice cabins but many old trailers. Here I thought to run this
long stretch in pure Wilderness, not quite. I always like to run
unknown territory it keeps my mind busy to take in the new stuff.
Some hours into the run while snacking again John passed me and
we ran within sight of each other into Steward River. Coming onto
the Steward River the scenery changed, bigger trees, quite a lot
of snow and just a beautiful landscape. Added was the bonus to un
in the setting sun, casting everything in a nice light. This was
definitely the longest run yet with taking me 8.45, another reason
why I should have run a bit more the night before. Dan, Frank and
Dave Dalton were also there. Here the race was about to change for
me.
