CB300: Onwards to Sourdough

Allen and 11 team mates left Meiers Lake checkpoint at 6:40am. They took their mandatory six hour plus differential rest here and will be credited six hours towards the overall minimum 18 hours they must take throughout the race.

Returned Dog Update

Unfortunately, Allen had to leave Chevie with the handler crew in Meiers Lake as she tweaked her shoulder just a few miles out from the checkpoint.

She had done an awesome job up to then, pulling hard up the hills and making the most of her promotion to the “big time”. She will enjoy some massage with warm liniment and enforced rest for a few days before reassessment. She gets to complete the race in the truck with the crew and will be spoilt, no doubt.

Allen was sorry to leave her as he was enjoying her enthusiasm.

Karolyn captured this video of the team arriving into the checkpoint. You can hear the checkers and officials doing a gear check of Allen’s sled. This is to ensure all the mandatory gear is present. Mushers must carry a sleeping bag, ax, snowshoes, cooker, spare booties, adequate food for dogs and human and a vet book with info about each dog as that has been deemed the minimum required for survival. Of course, mushers carry more than that for contingency, such as spare dog jackets, equipment, vet supplies, clothes, mitts and gloves depending on conditions.

You can also see how our handler crew tag-team at a checkpoint. Bridgett met the team at check-in and directed Allen to Mark, who was standing by the drop bags to show Allen where his were to pick up on the way (so he didn’t have to go back and get them after he parked), while Bridgett and Karolyn ran ahead to catch the team and lead them to their parking spot.

It’s a really efficient method and results in as little time as possible being “unproductive” with waiting around or retracing steps. An efficient checkpoint routine can make or break a race and the handlers are doing their bit to help.

While seeing out their mandatory rest here, there is also a mandatory vet exam of all dogs. Head Vet Nina Hansen and her crew of dedicated vets and techs spend a good deal of time going over every dog, checking hydration levels, movement in joints and overall condition of the dogs. They work in conjunction with the musher as a team, each with the welfare of the dogs as the top priority. They were able to advise on Chevie and agreed with Allen’s assessment that it was best to leave her behind today.

The trail over to Sourdough “heads westward along the Middle Fork Trail for about 7 miles to the first Gulkana River crossing, at which point the race trail turns southward and intersects Twelvemile Creek, 8½ miles out of Meier’s Lake checkpoint.  The third checkpoint at BLM’s Sourdough Campground is another 24½ miles further on down the trail.” With a number of river crossings and warmer temperatures the teams may experience some overflow on this section of trail.

There is zero cell coverage at Sourdough and limited facilities for mushers and handler crews (and volunteers!). It is a very ‘rustic’ checkpoint at the BLM campground where mushers must melt snow for water and often times will sleep out next to their dog team. This will be no problem for Allen, he is quite accustomed to camping on the trail in the Quest and Iditarod so this checkpoint is much the same. With no internet the volunteers employ old-school checker tactics – essentially they must just sit and wait to catch sight of teams arriving on the trail ahead of them. We will be seeing more than them via the GPS.

Here’s the top five as I see it with current information.

NOTE: from Moira. Although it is Sunday in Alaska, it is Monday here in New Zealand and I have to go to my day job so won’t be able to update as much as you and I might like. Please keep an eye on the GPS tracker and checkpoint times on the CB300 website in the meantime.