Day 6 of Iditarod
/The team took their 24 hour rest in Ophir and we’re hearing that it was very bare-bones, even for Iditarod standards. Part of this is due to the small volunteer and crew numbers this year, an effort to avoid spreading COVID.
Ryne came in with soaking boots and wet outerwear. She placed gear into the Arctic Oven to dry out and would spend in the night in a tent too. The Arctic Ovens are run by propane and it went out the last 10 hours of Ryne’s rest here. In other words, she was basic tent-camping in -30 temps!
After Ophir is the Iditarod checkpoint. The team arrived there around 9:00pm AKDT on Thursday and left it at 12:57am today with 12 dogs in harness. Our sweet Bowser stayed behind in the wonderful volunteer hands for extra attention and pets. Can’t wait for him to be home at the kennel so I can do that!
Ryne and the dogs camped at mile 477 for a couple hours but are on the move again! They have less than 367 miles to go.
The return journey brings two challenges: head-on passes and “knowing what’s to come.” Luckily for the mushers from Two Rivers, Alaska, they’re use to passing. It’s a mushing community and there’s plenty of kennels here that share the trails everyday.
Having already gone over the trail, it can be worrisome about redoing the tricky sections. Check at this wonderful article about this very topic and read what some mushers are saying about it! I particularly love this comment of Ryne’s when she’s speaking about the downhill over a glacier:
“It’s just like rocks and ice and dirt,” Olson said. “I do have chains on my sled, so I can put those down. But even still, it’s gonna be a pretty wild ride.”
