Stone's Throw to Ruby!

Updates! I've got updates!  Sort of... (and no new pictures, so when in doubt, cute dog pics).

FIRST OFF: RYAN IS OVER HALF WAY TO NOME!!!

What I would have posted Friday had I not got busy (...doing...IDK, things?  I remember thinking I'd post later after______...and then I didn't post):

Ryan was quite chatty Thursday night/Friday morning (as chatty as one can be when texting on a 7 minute delay with no chance of emojis, gifs, or pictures, and operating on a 2x2 in screen 😉 Sounded like they arrived at Cripple and were allowed to stay in the tent, which I wasn’t sure about given the three people who arrived when the dogs started coming through only stayed for 20 min, 1hr., and 40 minutes, respectively.  The guy who came before the dogs were in the area stayed 7 hrs. so this was promising. 

(speaking of snoozing...)

And I quote, “of course, when we get here so do all the dogs”.  My guess is that the dog sled teams are less “awesome” now.  Good news: lots of little paws will tamp down the snow, which sounds to be drifting quite a lot.  Bad news that there were a lot of teams coming through.  Based on nothing other than my ignorant self looking at times on a spreadsheet for a sport I don't understand, I think they should have encountered ~22 teams, with ~8 straggling in behind them.  We talked a bit about current events, but I’d welcome anything you’d like/think I should bring up...I told him updates on the slow going dog race, Russia/Ukraine is still a thing, MLB lockout is over.  He got word of Sam’s win and Mark & Judy’s trek to be there.  The plan was to sleep until 4am and try and go until the shelter cabin that I think is at mile 460 (I’m hoping he got confirmation that my assumption based on the length of other racers’ stops there was correct...I was very clear to underscore I received no such confirmation).  I’ve heard the wind should die down so 🤞🏻  It seems as though they left 8 minutes late, but I’ll allow it😉...lots of stuff to shove back in those sleds!

What I would have posted earlier today had I not scrambled to beat a rapidly thawing trail conditions in Sturgis and then drive back to Sioux Falls (Spring Break is ending...wahhhhhhhh):

I woke up at 2:30am to a series of texts from Ryan looking for the "cabin" supposedly at Mile 460.  Earlier in the evening he offered up that the cabin was actually a mining camp, so I had some confidence that they talked to maybe a musher and got intel there was in fact "shelter".  Around 11pm AKST, I got a message asking if they were close...then another...hen another stating they were cold, tired, and abandoning their cabin/mining camp dreams.  Bummer dude.  Good news is that the straight(ish) north shot to Ruby (30 miles from their bivy spot) is apparently on an old road that's fairly packed down.  Given today's speeds (whoop, whoop, I saw mphs in the 3's!!), I think his prediction for an "easier day" is coming to fruition 🙌).

At the time of this writing, he's 7.5 miles from Ruby (Checkpoint #12, Mile 494.5).  Ruby should be a good stop...food, sleep, LAUNDRY, wait for the wind to die down and switch to a tailwind, etc.  I'll try and post an update when I *hopefully* talk with him tonight/tomorrow.  Maybe I'll entice him by saying George wants to speak with him...

(Daaaaaaad....)