The Journey Continues
January 17, 2007

I’m fond of the Knik 200 race. To win is difficult because it is so fast, but in the middle of the pack it is a friendly easy going trip down the rivers. I had intended to run the race as two 100 mile runs (which is what you have to do to be competitive), but with one thing and another I didn’t have the dogs trained to that level. This is a stronger team than last year so, my new plan is to rest 2 hours on the way to Skwentna and 1 hour on the way back (half the rest on the river that the team had last year) and see how we do. I was a little concerned because the night before the start it was -24 and dropping about 10 PM. The forecast was to see -30 in Skwentna and probably colder on the river.


I always start the race a little short on sleep. The drivers’ meeting is at Settler’s Bay just before the Knik bar at 8PM Friday night. With a one hour drive home and last minute details it was after 11 when I got to bed. Then I had to be up at 4:30 to feed and load the dogs and be on Knik Lake before 9 AM. The start of any race resembles organized chaos and the Knik was no different. I drew bib 12 and at 11:20 was on my way. It was about 5 degrees and snowing lightly with 2 to 3 inches of soft snow on the trail. The dogs were running strong with Lycos and Dash in lead. We were passed by one team early and then didn’t see another team for a couple of hours. The first 35 miles or so are over small wooded hills, through swamps and across small lakes. It was almost like a scene out of Dr Zhivago. The trees were covered in snow, snow was falling lightly, and there was a thin fog. Everything was white and quiet – almost surreal. The only sound was the panting of the dogs and the swish of the runners.


After 30 miles of this quiet reverie Jeff King passed us on Flathorn Lake. Jeff ran the race in just under 24 hours with 6 hours of mandatory rest. He did each leg in 9 hours, so he averaged 10.5 mph (it’s about 95 miles each way). If you remember from last years Iditarod Jeff said that he trained his team to run at 10.5 mph average. It looks like he did the same this year. By comparison we ran the race in 31:20 with 9.5 hours of rest, running each leg in about 11 hours for 8.6 mph avg. The pass went well and Jeff pulled steadily away.


After Flathorn you cross the Great Dismal Swamp (about 5 miles of open country) and drop onto the Susitna River. In early years this drop was a thing of legend, being about 10 feet of nearly vertical river bank. Then several mushers built a ramp about 50 feet downstream of the original drop that held about a 45 degree angle and was much nicer. I don’t know what happened, maybe the new ramp washed away, but the trail went straight off the bank and nearly straight down. One of the nice things about being nearly 60 is that your life no longer flashes before your eyes. The highlight reel alone takes close to an hour. Even so it was a thrill. Later I talked to the trail crew and they said they shoveled snow for an hour to get it that nice.


As we turned off the Susitna onto the Yentna the wind picked up and it felt definitely colder. Lycos didn’t look like he was having fun in lead and I moved Balu into lead with Dash. Dash dominated poor Balu and the team took off. After about 15 minutes Balu had had all of this he wanted so I moved Platinum us with Dash and we were off to the races again. I found a quiet spot to camp out of the wind, but couldn’t convince Dash. I would get Platinum to agree to leave the main trail and Dash would pull him back. The area hadn’t set well and I wasn’t sure my snowhook would hold so after discussing it for 10 minutes I continued down the trail. 15 minutes later I found a better packed side trail and convinced Dash that we should stop, get a bite to eat and rest for a couple of hours. It was still snowing lightly and -2 degrees. Dale and Trish Keefe of Northern Restaurant Group, LLC are providing all my meals and it sure was nice to have a professional “heat and eat” meal – Chicken Catchatorie this time.


When we left the camp at 1948 and twenty minutes later passed Luce’s, another lodge on the trail. Forty minutes after that we passed Yentna station. Dash and Platinum were convinced I was nuts when we didn’t stop. We ran the Don Bowers for 2 years where Yentna is a checkpoint, and then the Iditarod – each time stopping for a 6 hour rest. They tried three times to turn into Yentna Station but moved out well when I convinced them we were not stopping.


As we approached the Skwentna River the wind picked up and there was a real chill in the air, but nothing like the -30 that had been forecast. The roadhouse is sheltered in the trees. We pulled in and I put coats on the dogs so they could rest better. A good meal, straw, warm coats, and shelter from the storm made for a happy resting dog team. It was about 1 am when I finished my chores and with the good meal earlier I went upstairs in the roadhouse and found an empty bed for a nap.


When we left Skwentna I moved Basil into lead with Platinum, but she really didn’t want to go. She stopped several times and tangled the front of the team so I moved Dash back into lead. Dash wound up leading the entire race – not bad for a little 2 yr old girl!


The run back was uneventful, except for the ½ hour it took me to convince Dash to leave the main trail for a minor snowmachine trail to rest. I was afraid that I had taken something out of my leaders with the constant corrections and dragging them back to the snowmachine trail, so when I handed out snacks I made a big deal of giving them each two snacks instead of one. It must have worked because after a 45 minute rest we were back on the trail moving nicely.


Just like last year, we passed two teams in the last 30 miles – always something fun. The second team we caught about three miles from the finish. It was dark and the dogs had been in chase mode for almost and hour, but it was still a surprise to come around a corner and see another dog team there.


We finished 17th out of 29 finishers and 36 starters in 31 hours and 20 minutes with a strong happy dog team and I was very pleased with their performance.

Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
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