YQ: Friday Catch-Up

Where are they? What’s happening? Is he over the Summit yet? How far from Eagle are they?

That was the handler crew each time we came within town limits and got some internet to check the tracker. Dawson to Two Rivers is a heckava drive but we are back at the kennel now and making a plan for the crew to head up the Steese Highway to Circle City to meet the Black Team.

As I write, Allen and his 13 team mates are about 25 miles past Trout Creek Hospitality spot and in first position. Since we saw them they have seen a lot of trail, climbed a big hill and enjoyed some trail hospitality.

Soon after leaving Dawson, the trail report called for five new inches of snow on the river – perhaps an advantage leaving the checkpoint in fourth position? Teams travel 50 miles on the river to “40 mile” then on to Clinton Creek Hospitality Stop. Sandy and Earl are huge supporters of the mushers and open their home to them, if they wish to partake. I know Allen always enjoys stopping there for a warm meal and bed and it looks to us like he rested the team just over three hours there. Allen took a cooler of already made food with him from Dawson to save time in Clinton Creek and the dogs could eat immediately as they arrived.

After Clinton Creek the teams travelled the Taylor Highway (that was built to provide access to Eagle, Chicken and the historic Fortymile Mining District) for a time. They crossed the border back into the USA and at that point there was a one hour time zone change. After about five hours running, Allen rested his team for three hours on the trail. Once rested they climbed up and over American Summit (3,652′). This is a technically challenging climb as the summit is almost always side-hilled and coupled with possible glaciation and/or windy whiteout – can cause difficulties for a team. Once at the summit there is a gradual 20 mile descent into Eagle.

The Black Team was the first into Eagle at 22:58pm with a combined run/rest time from Dawson of 23 hours, 42 minutes. At Eagle checkpoint is a compulsory four hour rest but you’ll see from the leaderboard that so far everyone has stayed longer than four hours. It is a welcome haven in the middle of the night. Also at Eagle is another mandatory vet check for the dogs and as Allen left with all 13 they must all still be doing well.

From Eagle to Circle City the trail is 160-odd miles. There are two hospitality stops – Trout Creek and Slavens with several other cabins as possible shelter or rest spots along they way. The trail runs on the Yukon River all the way and it can be extremely cold in that area. Forecasts for the area right now calls for fairly warm temperatures, above zero but with a good possibility of some blowing snow as the teams near Circle.

The Black Team rested for about 2.5 hours at Trout Creek and are now currently about 35 miles from Slavens.

If you haven’t already checked it out – the replay function on the tracker is a fun way to find out where everyone stopped to camp and to see the shuffling of places.