What a Difference a Day Makes

Galena -> Nulato -> Kaltag

The ITI Throuple left Galena for more Yukon River time bright and early Tuesday morning. Yayyyyy.  The Throuple marched most of the day about a 1/4 mile apart because (my impression) everyone just needed to get that section done and recognized they weren’t going to be the best of company.

I would say of all the inReach texting we’ve done, this was the lowest I have witnessed him. The river was massive, at times drifted with snow, with no wildlife to be had (if you know Ryan, you know playing animal eye spy is an absolute favorite past time). I lied. He did mention some ravens who would buzz by to see what was going on before determining nothing was going on, save a couple crazy bipedal mammals marching around for no discernible purpose. Add on the fact that this was Day 3 of long 50 mile pushes, and I think it was just mentally and physically a lot. 

All of this was not helped by the fact that when they got to the village around 9:30pm they couldn’t find Brother Bob and the Catholic Church, the POC at the Checkpoint, so they got a nice little tour of Galena…bonus miles! 😬  The day ended at Mile 593.7.

Good news, for George and me at least, is that we were asleep and missed all the texts during this part of Ryan’s journey.  The other piece of good news is that I could happily relay he had a short 37 mile day to Kaltag, where encouragingly, fellow racers had been posting very happily about their experiences at the school gymnasium checkpoint. Oh, that and I could say with this “short” push, they could be done. with. the. Yukon. 

Let me tell you. What a difference a day makes. The weather was cold. The snow was a bit "sticky".  None of that mattered because they hit the 600 mile milestone, the calmish wind was at their back, and they were hours away from no more Yukon River.  The text exchange as they rolled into Kaltag was night and day different from the previous evening.  Positive vibes only.

Apparently after 629 miles this is your "elated" face.

We exchanged some actual texts in the evening and scored a FaceTime in the morning (which was just largely of the school gym's ceiling...he was multitasking, seeing George while packing up his sled).  He relayed that the Throuple was likely to consciously uncouple, as priorities were shifting...some needed to double time for things like work, while others seemed to be in no real hurry. Some wanted to take full advantage of the upcoming cabins and pizza stop in Unalakleet (read: full pie, growler of beer, live music), others wanted to get 'er done.  Sounds like the breakup was mutual and ended on good terms...they just realized while they cared a lot for each other, they were each at different places in their lives and it was probably best to go their separate ways.  Or something like that... ;-)

Breakfast of champions...1) Who taught him to make oatmeal like that?!?! 2) Any guesses what that Capri Sun cost?? ;-)

Ryan shot some hoops in honor of March Madness and took off midday.  It was 18 miles to the Tripod Flats Cabin and another 37 to Old Woman Cabin.  Tripod Flats was "amazing" and he stopped for a short hot chocolate break before sauntering on.  He got to Old Woman Cabin shortly before midnight last night and indicated a 5hr. nap was in his future.  Plan is to knock out the remaining 35 miles to Unalakleet (Checkpoint #16, Mile 705) today and then live the pizza life he was destined for (Peace on Earth Pizza is at the top of his ITI bucket list).

Can't wait to share pictures of the happy guy in what I know will be his happy place.