Newsletter
We had made it. I could not believe the relief I was experiencing. However where was everyone. Why was there no checkers out? I followed the trail of markers into a slew where they had set up a little tent village above us on a hill, which separated us from the main river. When the checker came down to sign us in he said, “We did not expect you. We figured you had stopped and camped for the night.” I replied with a question, “Where out there might I do that?” He just looked at me. I explained that we had a tough run over and I wanted to park my team and give them the meal and bedding that they deserved. When he helped me to my parking spot I instantly put the straw down. My dogs began to howl and tear into the straw. They were wagging their tales and the checker said to me, “Those dogs look awfully good for just running 13 hours in that storm.” I agreed but the true test was to see how they ate. If you over work a dog they tend to loose their appetite. This becomes a slippery slope. A dog that does not eat cannot continue to pull. I prepared a warm meal as fast as I could and I was pleased to see them eat like ravenous wolves. By this time the veterinarians had made their way over to inspect my team. After a complete inspection they were happy to see empty dog dishes and a healthy looking team. I prepared another meal after seeing them lick their dishes clean and they all ate again. I was relieved and very happy to see these guys finally get some rest with very full bellies. It was no warmer than minus 50. I covered each dog with a pile of straw and made my way to a tent to get some sleep for myself. I had been in the checkpoint for about two hours and there was no sign of the other mushers. I slept like a rock for 6 hours. That was the best sleep I had gotten thus far since weeks before the start of the race. It took me about ½ hr to wake up and get my eyes open. I felt as though I had slept for days. The sun was up and the place was buzzing with people. I went out and checked on the dogs. They were all sound asleep and looking good. I prepared one more meal as they all woke up and began to stretch out. Not a crumb remaining. At this point we had been in the checkpoint for nine hours and they had eaten three full meals. They were all well hydrated and I could not ask for more.
I suddenly realized that the other teams still had not arrived. I went and asked the checkers if they had heard anything. Well one of the teams had turned back to Grayling and the other four were somewhere out on the trail. The wind had calmed a little but not much. They were going to have a plane fly over to see if they could see the others.
There was one other team in the checkpoint. I had not seen them when I came in and the dogs did not make a sound. I guess they were pretty tired. I was talking with the musher and I explained that I had promised a 12-hour break and I planned to deliver. That would put me out of the checkpoint mid afternoon and give me enough daylight to make it most of the way to Kaltag the next checkpoint. The checkers caught wind of my plan and informed me that no teams would leave until all the teams on the river were into the checkpoint. This had been passed down from the race marshal. So I took each of the dogs for a walk to inspect them and gave them a chance to go to the bathroom. They all looked great so I headed back to a tent to get some sleep. I was not tired though. I was ready to move on.
Several hours passed and three of the other teams made it in. I had been there now for 15 ½ hrs. They explained that they had camped near Blackburn. Once it had gotten dark they were having trouble finding the trail and their dogs were shutting down. They had no choice but to camp. If they camped near Blackburn then that means I had gained at least 1 1/2 hours on them because I had passed Blackburn at least that much time before it became dark. One of the teams traveling with them could not get his dogs to continue forward so he made a snow shelter and stayed behind where they had camped. He was needing to be rescued. It was nice to see the others were in good shape. A little frostbite but nothing too bad.