OK I will admit it,

sometimes I wish I was still out on the trail.

There I said it.  There are mornings now when I wake up, and even though it is great to sleep in a bed for a full 8 hours, I still miss being on the race trail. It is a privilege to be sure, the chance to be in this amazingly beautiful country with the dogs that you love. When you are on the trail the rest of the world melts away, and it all comes into focus “16 tails and the next mile of trail” is what it all boils down. Which can be pretty attractive when in reality faced with a full inbox, laundry basket, kitchen sink, and to do list. And I do not want to take away from the physical challenge (cause parts of the Alaska Range are brutal) but it can also be relaxing at times. I mean you are out there, traveling these historic trails across Alaska and it is beautiful beyond my ability with words. That is why I want to share with you this video, taken by Jennifer Baumgartner. She is flying into Ravenwoods Camp, a rest stop on Submarine Lake after Farewell burn on the way to Nikolia. It gives you a sense of how big the country we are traveling through really is. A taste of the majesty of it. A glimpse of a part of Alaska most people will never travel to. (more below)

Submarine Lake Iditarod Camp 2011

I had passed Rohn, and knew I would need to find a place to camp before Nikolia. Ravenwoods was like an oasis in the desert. You can see the sun is high in the sky and blazing. I came across the sign announcing it was a mile ahead just as I was thinking to myself, “its getting hot out, we have been going awhile, I need to find a place to camp these kids”.

The team rested comfortably out in the warm sun while I got my first good relaxing quite sleep of the race on a cot in the tent. Earlier checkpoints had been crowded, and I was too hyped up from the start to sleep during my first camp. But here it was quite and relaxed. It was a brief stop, enough to feed the kids, take care of their feet, and then let them rest while I ate and caught a nap. Woke up, stretched, then coffee, boot and scoot.  But it left us all refreshed and ready to enjoy the next leg of the race.

In the video they fly in over the trail I will take when I head out. I am the team parked out in front of the tent on the lake. The plane continues up the trail in the direction I came from, and you see Paul Johnson running his team toward camp.

See; now do you see why I sometimes wish I was back out there.
At least there is next year.

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