Susitna 100 February 17 – 19, 2018
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| Spoiler Alert - I finsihed! |
Where to go for a winter ultra this
year? Alaska offered two choices: White Mountains 100 near
Fairbanks and Susitna 100 near Wasilla. We were not lucky in the
White Mountains lottery, so Bonnie Busch and I registered for Susitna
and were accepted. One of the difficulties for me racing in Alaska
is getting all the gear to the event. My mega-bag weighed 36 pounds
at the airport. The -30F sleeping bag is a big space user, and there
was the other gear: bivy sack, insulated ground pad, waders, trekking
poles, harness, shoes and all the cold weather clothes I could take
that would fit.
Most racers in this event are from
Alaska. I casually asked Erin Kittredge, the race director if there
were some sleds available for me and Bonnie to use. Sure enough, two
guys from Colorado left their entire rigs last year. We could use
them. Surprises to come. We looked at the sleds at gear check on
Thursday evening. They were identical kids toboggans with rigid
poles attached to the sled and harness. Hmmm. Upon further
inspection each sled has skis attached. Hmmm.
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| Loaner sled with skis and rope |
People occasionally
have skis on their sleds to improve drag on the snow. It was early
enough in the evening that we could have made a quick trip to REI to
purchase Paris Expedition sleds – the standard workhorse for gear
hauling. We decided not to go that route. We detached the poles
from the sleds. That involved unwinding miles of duct tape. We got
them to the Westmark hotel and continued modifications. We enlisted
help from Warren, the evening maintenance man at the hotel. “Bring
your cart.” There were tools used for cutting the thick plastic
rope and a saw for cutting through several pieces of PVC pipe.
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| Warren - Darrel Busch - sled modifications in the hotel room |
“My job is to help guests.” Other
winter races use the Westmark as their host hotel and this wasn't
Warren's first rodeo. He asked us what we do “out there.” He
was puzzled that racers look quite normal before the race, but when
they come back days later they are exhausted, their skin is very
weathered and sometimes sunburned, some are inured or limping and no
one is energetic. We talked a little about the winter events going
on in the area, compensated Warren for his help and finished
preparations.
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| Happy Trails Kennel owned by Martin Buser 35+ time Iditarod musher |
Race start time was 9AM Saturday at
Martin Buser's Happy Trails kennel, a 30 minute drive from Wasilla,
AK. Martin is a famous Iditarod musher who has a Bed & Breakfast
at his property for guests to experience all things sled dogs. It's
a beautiful public facility for our race start. There is plenty of
parking, a warm place to check in, flush toilets and space for family
and spectators. Martin was mingling with racers. He is celebrity
who signed the back of each racer bib. There was no fanfare at 9AM.
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| The start |
The first several miles are on the property dog trails. The
beautiful blue sky was with us all day and we saw Mount Susitna
often. It's typical that with 123 racers at the start, it doesn't
take long for the group to string out. The bikes are long gone while
other runners and skiers are around us. A funny exchanged early on
the trail when a guy passed me and recognized his sled from last
year, the one I was using. Turns out he was one of the guys from
Colorado last year who donated the sleds Bonnie and I were using.
His friend was with him and we all had a good laugh. Temperature was
around 0 degrees making the snow firm and fast. I never know how
much my sled weighs. I'd estimate 30 pounds at the start.
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| my sled with the red bags and cooler |
We plugged along walking and running.
The terrain was mostly flat with a few little hills. There are no
mile markers and we are in unfamiliar surroundings. Our race route
is marked with hundreds of pieces of SU 100 lath in the snow.
The
first check point was a tent at mile 22. There were a few snacks and
cold water. This check point is mostly to keep people on pace.
Neither Bonnie nor I have ever missed a cutoff, especially early in
the race. Holy Sh*t, we got there with 10 minutes to spare! No more
time pressure as the other cutoffs are more generous.
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| Iowans in Alaska. 95 miles to go |
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| Mt Susitna on the horizon |
Twelve miles later we were at Flathorn
Lake and our cabin checkpoint at mile 34. It was dark. Everyone
leaves their sleds on the ice and walks up a steep hill to the cabin.
The property is privately owned by a race supporter. Flathorn Lake
is lined with private homes and cabins. There are no roads. It's
fly-in, snow machine in, or dog sled. Not a good place to drop out
because you have to pay to get flown out. As we open the cabin door
we are greeted with enthusiasm by volunteers, two dogs and other
racers. There is spaghetti and all kinds of snacks and beverages.
PESTO sauce? Who would guess, but I chose that and was not
disappointed. The volunteers, dogs and all supplies were flown in
days before and preparations were in full swing since then. The
younger guy volunteer had on a memorable pink sequined disco shirt.
It was a great stop.
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| Check point volunteer Watson the Corgi |
As we headed out we passed the an
airplane parked on the ice. Don't get off the trail and on to the
landing strip! After several miles the trail took us to the Susitna
River that is well covered with snow. There are lots of snow machine
trails going every direction, so we follow the lath that has pieces
of reflective material attached to it. At one point we stopped to
look at the stars. There is no light pollution with our headlamps
off. The night sky is brilliant. Next up – 5 Star Tent Camp. It
comes into view at mile 48 without much preview. All the sudden
there it is, what looks like a lighted space ship on the snow covered
river. It's a tent alright. Inside there is a stove cranking out
heat, a pile of wood, several camp chairs, some overturned buckets, a
folding table with snacks in bowls, and a camp stove – the source
of our hot food. Straw is all over the floor. There are also three
volunteer men, all 60-something years old. It's fascinating that
they have hauled all of this out to the ice on snow machines. They
put the tents up, got the stove going and waited for us. There's a
second sleeping tent with no heat. The sleeping tents aren't
supposed to be comfortable, so people get up and going again.
Another key structure is the outhouse. It's another smaller tent
with a bucket and toilet seat made of Styrofoam that is not cold on
the back of my legs as I sit on it. Thoughtfulness in the
wilderness.
The hot food choices are beef stew and
chicken noodle. It's important to me to respect the event and people
who put it on. I fueled my self with two cups of beef stew and some
snacks. There were a few other racers inside. Five star aid
station, Thank you!
Seventeen miles to Eagle Quest Lodge.
This resort is accessible by car and has all modern conveniences
including cabins that are rented for us to sleep and rest. The
restaurant is open 24 hours for us to get food of all sorts. The sun
rose as we made our way here – it seemed to take forever. The
trail took us off the river and on to roads with houses and cars.
The lodge became obvious when we saw lots of bikes and sleds outside.
Many people slept here but we weren't two of them. One advantage of
riding a bike is the faster pace. Some cyclists slept all night
here. Wow, I was envious. I ate something from the menu, got a cup
of chai tea and bought snacks for the miles ahead. We talked with
other racers. Some racers quit and were waiting for rides. I
changed my socks. Bonnie was energetic, I was tired.
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| Bonnie and Lisa on the trail |
This second day on the trail was
cloudy. In another 17 miles we would be at Cow Lake, another
inaccessible check point in a heated tent. Onward. The Iron Dog
Snow Machine Race commenced the same weekend and goes to Nome and
Fairbanks. We were told that at one point some of our route would
also be used be the Iron Dog Racers. By afternoon we were seeing
lots of snow machine activity. I couldn't tell if they were racers
or not, but a memorable minute occurred when someone popped a
“wheelie” if you will, on his machine. It lasted several
seconds. Throughout the race we saw several recreational snow
machine users on nearby trails. Some were hauling kids, dogs,
fishing gear and one had a large rigid rifle case mounted to the
side. Killing large animals is a sort of religion in Alaska. We
passed someone who was bivied. We later learned he got his feet
soaked to the knees and was waiting for rescue.
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| Frozen over flow |
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| Swampy terrain |
We plugged along. The trail was
through frozen swamp land a lot, but we had some beautiful wooded
hills to keep things interesting. I ate everything Bonnie offered
me. I don't like white chocolate pretzels or peanut butter
somethings, but I ate them. Never had electrolyte tablets, but it
couldn't hurt. The cloud cover and increasing humidity made the
ground blend into the sky. The view was very flat, difficult to
distinguish details. Far ahead we see a guy coming out of a tent and
setting out across the lake. It's snowing lightly. We must be at
the Cow Lake Check point at mile 80. Same setup with a stove, chairs,
snacks, hot and cold beverages and helpful volunteers SuperAl and
Cody. SuperAl is from Dennison Iowa. Bonnie is much more energetic
than me. She agrees to go on ahead as my pace will be slowing. I'm
tired, overtired as my mother would say and concerned that I may not
finish. Rather than unroll my sleeping bag, I lay down on the straw
near the stove. It's like being in a nativity scene. After ten
minutes, I get myself together and peek out the tent flap. It's
snowing. One of the snow machine volunteers uses the term “snow
storm.” It does not bolster my confidence. Cody attaches my sled
to the harness and I walk toward the lath across the lake. Ten
miles to Hunter Loop Tent. I see no one for hours, but I know people
are behind me. Yes, it's snowing, but it is day time so I can find
my way using the lath. At one point I am on a narrow trail having
just made it over the crest of the hill when a musher and dog team
are coming my way from the other direction. I got to the side with
my sled the best I could. Ten dogs are unhappy to stop while Sim
Smith, the local musher and I exchange pleasantries. Then, a snow
machine is in the mix, too, so we break it up and go on our ways.
Dogs in motion don't like to stop. I had been reluctant to ride the
sled down any hills fearing a crash would damage one of the skis.
But now the end was much closer, I sat on my rear bag and rode the
sled on several of the biggest hills. It was fun and getting off my
feet for a minute or two felt great.
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| lath trail markers |
Daylight waned and I put on more
clothes and my headlamp. I used hand warmers in my mitts, but my
feet stayed warm on their own. The snow tapered off and eventually
stopped. I continued forward motion. At one point I couldn't see
any lath ahead. Each stick has a reflective patch in addition to
the SU 100 identification. Any foot, sled or tire prints on the
trail were erased by a snow machine. Hmmm. Race organizers get
teased by the locals because of the number of trail markers they use.
“Are the racers so stupid that you need a marker every ¼ mile?”
I turned around, walked back and found the previous lath. Then
retraced my steps and continued. No one likes to be lost.
I was welcomed to the Hunter Loop Tent
by race organizer Erin Kittredge. What a nice surprise. As with the
Cow Lake stop, I laid on the straw floor for a few minutes to rest.
A few guys came in while I was there, and left. For the most part,
I'm happier on the trail by myself at this stage. Only ten more
miles, optimistically three hours. After 5 hours, I theorize there
were more than ten miles to cover, but there are no complaints. At
some point we were back on the Martin Buser dog trails that went in
every direction. Artificial lights could be seen beyond trees in the
distance, but I could never quite get to them. I walked and walked.
I kept seeing lath but thought I must be lost. I walked. I was
tired. Eventually I saw the building where we started. It was a
long way away, but at least it was a beacon. Bonnie finished hours
earlier, and enthusiastically welcomed me. Alaska never disappoints.
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| Finish! 44 hours 14 minutes. |
Epilogue: At the post race party that
evening, we talked to the guys from Colorado, the original owners of
our sleds. Turns out they didn't finish again this year, in spite of
having different rigs. We suggested they take the sleds back since
now the sleds had finished. They thought that was funny.
For more of my photos:
And Bonnie's photos:
Hundreds of great photos by Andy Romang:
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