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Journey Continues – Skwentna to Finger Lake
March 25, 2007
I finally got to see Skwentna in the daylight and it is a very pleasant
little community. I had hoped to leave Skwentna between 6:30 and 7
AM but Bass got up on three legs. He was sore in the left wrist and
I needed a vet to check him out. The vet thought it was a minor injury
and Bass would warm out of it as we ran. If I treated it aggressively
at every checkpoint (Algyval, massage, wrist wrap) he should make
it to Nome. With a poor checkpoint routine and the added delay for
Bass it was 8:05 when we finally left Skwentna. As soon as I pulled
the snowhook Bass forgot all about the sore wrist.
We started going up river and quickly left the river for trails on
the swamp showing signs that declared this to be a subdivision. I
didn’t see any homes, but it was pretty country. After about
an hour we crossed the Skwentna River again near an old structure
I assume was the Old Skwentna Roadhouse.
Old Skwentna
Roadhouse about 10 miles
down the trail from the Skwentna Checkpoint. |
It was a beautiful day, not too cold
(about 0) with a clear blue sky. We were in and out of the wind as
the trail wound through the trees, around and over hills, and through
the swamps. Every now and then we would get a great view of the Alaska
Range that I intend to cross the next morning at Rainy Pass. The high
winds are forecast to continue for the next couple of days and could
make crossing Rainy Pass very interesting. I’m carrying an extra
8 lbs of kibble, over the 8 lbs emergency kibble I always carry, just
in case we get caught in the Rainy Pass checkpoint longer than I expect.
That is in addition to the 16 lbs of kibble and 8 lbs of meat I’m
carrying because there are no drop bags for Finger Lake. All this
makes for a heavy sled.
Great view of
the Alaska Range from
the trail to Finger Lake. This sure is pretty country. |
After we passed the Old Skwentna Roadhouse
the trail became soft and punchy climbing small rolling hills. It
was pretty, but the dogs had to work harder. Every now and then there
would be a trench in the trail similar to last year. I think these
must be low spots in the underlying terrain where the trail isn’t
well packed. This year the trenches are only 6 inches to 1 foot deep
and not a major problem, but definitely an annoyance.
About 10 AM we had been on harder packed trail for a while when the
well used trail turned right and the staked trail turned left onto
a soft punchy trail. There was a straw bed where a previous team had
rested to the right just before the turn. Platinum was in lead and
he had no desire to pull that heavy sled through the soft punchy snow
so he went right instead of left. The snow was soft enough I had trouble
stopping the team and setting a snowhook, but we managed and I led
Platinum back to the right trail. When I got back to the sled Platinum
switched back to the right. We ran this drill a couple of times and
then when I got back to the sled Platinum swung the whole team off
the trail further to the right and onto the straw beds. The dogs were
not that tired, but were busy scarfing down left over food in the
straw. I got them off the beds, but now they were pointed back down
the trail we had just come up. I finally got them turned around, rolling
the sled on its side and spilling much of my drink cooler in the process.
We started down the left trail when I noticed my headlamp was missing
from my head.
That isn’t the end of the world. I carry a spare and I could
have communications in Finger Lake call Marti and ask her to mail
me one in McGrath. But I use both, swapping headlamps when the batteries
run out rather than swapping batteries in the dark. I didn’t
trust the snowhook to hold, but managed to stop the team abeam a small
tree and tie them off with the snubline. I walked back and searched
the entire area, but no headlamp. I was walking back when I reached
into the hood on my parka and there was the lamp. Whew.
From here the trail alternated between swamps, lakes and rolling forested
country with great views of the Alaska Range. The dog team is running
like Martin’s fine Swiss watch and I am very proud of them.
With no further adventures we pulled into Finger Lake at 1:33 PM after
a very respectable 5 ½ hour run. My plan is to take a short
rest in Finger Lake so I can run the Happy River steps in the daylight
and make it up to the dogs in Rainy Pass, leaving tomorrow morning
to also run the Dalzel Gorge in the daylight.
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
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