I had the chores all done and the dogs resting within 1 hour and 15 minutes at this checkpoint and made my way inside to get something to eat and chat about this run to the finish. I joked with JJ that I had actually considered running through Wolverine and continued on to the finish without another camp. I'd have to get some more food out of my drop bags and probably get some more hot water for another feeding along the way, but had thought that might be the way to go rather than camping the dogs in the cold out on the lake and letting them stiffen up and then potentially have trouble getting them going again.
Turns out JJ had talked with Bill and he had suggested I cut the Wolverine rest a little short and try to push the dogs to get them along home. I was thinking the same thing and while I may have cut the rest a little shorter than he was thinking, it worked out well in the end.
So I decided to shoot for about a 4 hour rest and set to work getting a good meal in my system and then getting my clothes dried as much as possible and put on a new pair of socks and boot liners for this last push. On Wayne's suggestion I took a 15 minute power nap and then was rousted by JJ and started packing up.
When I got out to the dogs I tried to snack them with some chicken and some race diet. Most of them ate and some were even sitting up and pretty alert. This was after all of the dogs had completely devoured the meal I had prepared for them when we had arrived. Those two clues instilled in me a confidence that I was making the right call and that they were able and mostly ready to make this final push.
One
of the great success stories of the race was another rookie, Pancho. He had
never even started a race before because of his finicky eating habits. He would
be at a great weight when we left the dog yard at home, but then not eat and
by the time the race would start a few days later he would be skinny and too
much of a gamble to take along. This was to be his final go round and if he
didn't make the team on this race, Bill was probably going to try to find another
home for him. It would be a shame because he is an incredibly strong and athletic
dog and a quite reliable puller.I have a special connection with Pancho. Last year we brought him down to the Copper Basin as dog #13 and the night before the race when I got up midway through the night to drop the dogs, he snagged a toenail as I was putting him back into his dog box on the truck and the toenail pulled right off. It was a freak accident, but effectively made the decision for us about whether or not Pancho was going to make the team.
This race experience was different for Pancho and with some encouragement he was eating before the race started and throughout the race as well. He was still losing a bit of weight, primarily because he pulled so hard he wasn't able to eat enough to offset the calorie burning. Apart from an injury, I was confident he was going to finish the race and be a true success story.
Now as we were getting ready to leave Wolverine, a new side of Pancho was emerging - that of cheerleader - as he was the first of the whole team to start to vocalize and bark and show some excitement about getting on the trail again. That's exactly what the team needed as we were getting ready to leave and they got up, stretched and a few even joined in the barking.
There were three other teams at Wolverine while I was readying to leave and two of the mushers were sleeping in the lodge. The third team had just returned to the checkpoint after trying unsuccessfully a second time to leave Wolverine and get his team going down the trail. The dogs just didn't want to go and were either too tired or not trained well enough and he couldn't get them going. He ended up scratching after trying to rest the dogs one more time and still being unable to leave the checkpoint.
That musher's difficulties raised a bit of concern about my team, but I was pretty confident that I had read the dogs accurately and that they were ready to go now. If I had stopped for a shorter period they may have balked. If I had rested longer they may have stiffened up and resisted. I found out later Bill was a bit concerned that I had cut the rest too short, but he deffered to my judgment and my read of the team.
Curly left the team at Wolverine due to his sore wrist and I was now down to 9 dogs. I had rested Goldie and Dale on the last 60 mile run by running them further back in the team and I now put them up in lead to take us on home. We left around 7:45pm after about 4 hours and 20 minutes of rest.
