Finger Lake to Puntilla

 Waited to hear something from Ryan this morning before posting. I finally heard from him around 12:30pm ... pretty amazing that despite being completely off the grid in the Alaskan backcountry he would know exactly when my one meeting was today preventing me from catch up :-)  

Since I last updated, Ryan made great time to Puntilla (Checkpoint #4, Mile 153.5) marching through the night without a single trail nap.  I calculated his arrival at 3:40amish CST and of course Mr. Steady Eddy was perfectly on pace.  After some food and sleep, he sent a few pictures while enjoying second breakfast.  Rainy Pass Lodge is one of his favorite stops along the 350 route, the perfect place to get cycled up for the next big push.

Next up is going up and over Rainy Pass, the high point of the entire race.  Here's a great 4min video of what it's like (via dogsled).  EEK!

Conditions can get brutal at the top (is it ever not a whiteout?!?) and the back side is steep and icy.  It's recommended to go during the day and to go with a buddy.  In 2020, he went up with Chris Moroch actually (a guy he's spent quite a few miles already with), but at night.  I'm failing y'all, but I can't remember how 2021 went (I just know it wasn't nearly as scary as 2020, conditions-wise, and I *think* he went up alone). This year, he's got daylight but no company....I have no doubt there's a reason for this, but it wasn't relayed to me.  Good news is that the hills mean a bit of sled riding (read: don't get nervous if you see his mph suddenly jump up...he's not catching a snowmobile ride, just enjoying one of the few perks of sled dragging...the occasional sledding...weeeewoooo, I wish we could mike him up when he becomes an adorable stuckasaurus).  

He decided to hang around for a bit to try and let the racers in front of him get a gap large enough that there wouldn't be a backlog when he arrived at Rohn (Checkpoint #5, Mile 188).  Rohn is a small canvas tent with one in, one out policy...meaning if it's a packed house, people are bivying outside.  This way Ryan should have to wrestle with fewer stinky bodies, more access to the stove to dry clothes, and a shorter wait time for the famous Rohn brats.

(my favorite part about this is that he absolutely hates mustard...)

Good vibes please as he summits and descends!