Post Iditarod Withdrawal - White Mountain 100

22 March 2012
5:32 PM

Sunrise at	7:42 AM	in direction	86°	East
Sunset at	8:15 PM	in direction	275°	West

Duration of day: 12 hours, 33 minutes (6 minutes, 44 seconds longer than yesterday)

If you have been following this blog since January, you know that January, February, and March are pretty well consumed with racing season.  The Iditarod marks the end of that season and race addicts must direct their attention elsewhere.  Oh drat!  The beauty of the racing season's timing is that it spans the months of deep winter.  Even if a person enjoys living in Fairbanks for the most part, enduring the 4th coldest January since temperatures have been recorded takes some doing.  Following the races provides interest at a time when it would be all too easy to dwell upon the negative aspects of life here in the Interior.

But, now it's done.  No more races.  Sigh.  But spring is not fully arrived, so what next?  This coming weekend is the White Mountain 100.  Racers bike, ski, and run (yes run) 100 miles and the link I just posted includes several photos taken from previous years.  There are cabins all through the White Mountains spaced apart at about 10 mile intervals.  Each racer can be assured of a rest station up ahead.

The bikers win.  In Alaska, bikes have very specialized tires to traverse snow trails.  Some are studded for hard snow and icy conditions.  Others are designed for soft snow and almost balloon like.  I snatched the photo below from a site discussing conditions for the Winter Cycling.

A biker obviously enjoying his winter sport

Having said that and acknowledged that biking is the fastest way to traverse the terrain, that does not discourage a strong contingency of skiers, most of whom use the Skating technique over the slower Classic (or Nordic) method.  And there are those hardy individuals that trust their own feet more than either bikes or skis and they run.

Of course, there are no GPS trackers and the updates may not be as timely, but I do know people in the race, just as I do for the sled dog races and that keeps it personal.  And, no matter what, it's another way in which Alaskans and a few hardy Outsiders show their grit.


Another aspect of life after the Iditarod is the amazing increase of light in March.  For grins, below are a few photos of March light upon the snow and at sunrise.

A previous photo from this same spot was taken 5 days earlier and a few minutes later.  It was posted 3/14 if you want to compare how rapidly the light changes.

Birch shadows on the snow

 I couldn't resist taking yet another comparison of light filtering through the trees as it hits the snow.  I love the contrast and in this one, the many lines of the trees as the sun moves to the south west in intriguing.   I set the image to its original size in order to remove rippling effects visible in the image otherwise.  The angularity and contrast of the photo was an apparent challenge for the computer pix-elation.

Looking toward the western glen of fireweed