5:28 PM
| Sunrise at | 10:27 AM | in direction | 145° | Southeast |  |
| Sunset at | 3:34 PM | in direction | 215° | Southwest |  |
Last night I volunteered at the Copper Basin Sled Dog Race Central office from 22:00 to 06:00 today (We recorded everything in military time). At first I took official musher status update calls, and then when Theresa the website designer became tired, I entered the time updates using her template (CB300 Current Standings ). We got a few reports from the trail of extremely cold temperatures. Despite having noticed sections on the drive where my auto thermometer raised dramatically, Glennallen temperatures were as severe as those of Fairbanks. One report was that it was -50F in Wolverine.
As I was preparing to go back to the hotel to sleep, our Race Central volunteer coordinator, Sarah, pulled over Theresa, who was now awake. I heard them talking quietly, but earnestly.
On one of my trips back in from loading the car, I noticed Theresa reading an email. Sarah asked if she wanted to read it to us, so we knew what was happening. In my fatigued state, I feared someone had been seriously injured - perhaps fatally. She carefully read an email from the Race Marshall staff, informing us that the race was being suspended. The route from Meiers Lake to Sourdough was impassable and all leaders of the race were being called back to Meiers Lake. The race had not progressed beyond the first two checkpoints.
I felt relieved that all were still okay and went to the hotel to sleep, too tired to think through all the implications of the statement. I woke about 3 hours later, at 9:59. I lay in bed trying to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. I thought about the race and how mushers probably did not bring large quantities of supplies on this race since it was a mid-distance race and many completed in two days. They would not be able to keep their dogs well fed and warm if they had to stay one place long. Then too, I was the only person signed up for my next two shifts .. volunteers had commitments elsewhere. Who would be able to man checkpoints if the race was seriously delayed?
I sent a text message to Sarah:
10:27 AM
me: Good morning. Race Status?
Sarah: Cancelled
me: Everyone going home?
Sarah: Yes
me: Bettr check out .. So sorry. Will try again next year
Sarah: Ok thanks for helping out
I got into motion because this did solve one issue that had been developing in my mind. As the temperatures plummeted, I kept thinking of a particularly icy stretch of road between Paxon Lodge and Delta. It had been okay coming in daylight, but parts of it were glare ice. May as well have been driving on a piece of glass. I'd taken it easy, but had the full advantage of daylight to gauge depth of ice and any sections more dry than others. My last shift would have me either driving that in the dark, or staying in Glennallen another day and I'd been debating asking to leave at 14:00 so I could make it past that section before dark.
It was when I was on the road that the disappointment sunk in. Teams that I have enjoyed following out of Fairbanks were doing really well: SP Kennel, Wild and Free Kennel, and Dew Claw Kennal were in the top contenders. Other drivers that I enjoy following were also showing strength: Schnuelle, Willomitzer, Phillips, and Hopkins out of Canada and then two teams from Northern Siberia added some interest. I thought of all the effort the volunteers and mushers had made for this race, and the expense and it was just plain too bad. But lives were not lost and when the rubber hits the road - that is all that matters.
I didn't come home totally empty handed; I took several photos of the drive. None of these are spectacular. Had I not wanted to get home before dark and not felt as beset by cold, I would have lingered and really tried to get the very best angles out of my camera. But I have several to go through and will put up any that are decent over the next few days.
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