Yukon Quest '07

Brent and the team cresting American Summit.

After a good rest at Forty-mile yesterday, Brent and Richie ran slow and cold up the Forty-mile River to the wall tent at the Taylor Highway bridge, where they rested again. Today, they climbed up and across American Summit, before descending into Eagle. Brent had not slept since Dawson (36 hours) and told stories of falling asleep behind the team.

He described the inadvertent practice of “ditch-diving,” in which you jerk awake to find the sled dragging through the ditch. The Quest trail has no rumble strips, unfortunately. Brent adopted the habit of wrapping a rope from his sled around his waist. This way, when his body relaxes into sleep and his knees break, the rope prevents him from falling backward off the sled. In stark contrast to these stories, Brent appeared totally coherent in Eagle this afternoon.

Brent’s team and Richie’s team are moving at the same pace, resting on the same schedule, and sharing similar trail habits. It is -34°F and dropping, and both teams are scheduled to leave around 22:00. They follow the Yukon to Circle from here, where they turn southwest and head overland toward Fairbanks.

Lance Mackey on the Yukon, pushing record time.	American Summit.
Brent and the team in Eagle.

posted by Greg  # 11:56 AM