Monday, 4 February 2013
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Friday 1st Feb.
The training session was very worth while with a presentation from Shelly who is a Yukonner and race veteran followed by a Q&A. I learnt that there will be more overflow than usual this time due to the mild weather, overflow is where the pressure of the water under a frozen lake or river pushes water up onto the ice, it quickly freezes but its possible to break through an get wet feet. Big insulated over boots were recommended, or by some described as essential so I was back down to Coast Mountain Sports to part with some more cash.
The real valuable bit of the training course was the evening trek, with sleds, to an area a few miles south of Whitehorse called hidden lakes. On arrival we all had to set up our sleeping system (in my case a tent as I don't want to weather a storm in a bivi bag), light our stoves and make a fire. Good training and good to get out and stretch the legs. It was a still night and at -15C still mild for February. The river had open water in the faster flowing areas and was a joy to wanders along side with the head torches off.... easy when its a 2 hr outing and then back to the hotel bar....
Saturday 2nd Feb.
The final trail briefing was followed by a final shopping trip for supplies and more trail food. We were handed our Spot devices which will allow the organisers and anyone online to follow our progress: http://trackleaders.
We watched the start of the Yukon Quest dog sled race which travels the 1000 miles to Fairbanks.
If I am half as keen as the dogs at the same start line tomorrow I'll be in a good place. It was taking
12 people to hold them steady at the start.
Drop bags were handed in and a race dinner was followed by a final shandy. 12 hours to race start
and looking forward to it. You can follow progress at the above link and I hope to find a couple of
places to update this blog on route.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
1 day to go
On the 30th I flew North via Chicago and Vancouver to Whitehorse. I missed the connection at Vancouver as we were late out of Chicago which meant buying a later ticket from Air North, not all bad as then I was sure that my kit was actually on the flight and I met up with a fellow racer and friend from previous events Pete Gold.
Thursday 30th
After steak and eggs for breakfast we headed out to acclimatise and test our kit. It was around -12C with a light wind which is above average for this time of year. White horse sits in a valley alongside the Yukon river, we followed the riverbank South on our 3 mile trek to a series of lakes where where we planned to get the tents up, test our camping stoves and build a fire. Karl Shields, a Yorkshire man who had completed the 100 mile distance had returned to tackle the 430 mile route to Dawson, joined us for the outing. He had followed this route last year as it is used on the training course provided by the organisers, the same course myself and Pete will be attending the next day.
Beautiful views over the city and of the surrounding hills as we climbed up towards the lake. A successful outing with the tension building..
We visited the local supermarket and outdoor gear shop to buy yet more supplies. I'm packing a zip lock food bag per day plus the mandatory 48 hour emergency food bag, I'm planning on taking 5500 calories per day. A daily pack includes 3 dehydrated meals, 100g beef jerky, 350g trail mix, 100g chocolate, 60g of cheese, 100g crisps (great for calories and salt intake), coffee x 2 and a chocolate recovery drink. We do get to put food in our drop bags for the checkpoints at 100 miles, 170miles and 270 miles, but I'm beginning to get worried that my sled is too small. The distance from the 270 mile to the finish is 160 miles which will need 5 days of food + the emergency 48 hour pack, at around 1500g per bag I'm beginning to get concerned that it will fit in my sled..
More to come with photos later today
Thursday 30th
After steak and eggs for breakfast we headed out to acclimatise and test our kit. It was around -12C with a light wind which is above average for this time of year. White horse sits in a valley alongside the Yukon river, we followed the riverbank South on our 3 mile trek to a series of lakes where where we planned to get the tents up, test our camping stoves and build a fire. Karl Shields, a Yorkshire man who had completed the 100 mile distance had returned to tackle the 430 mile route to Dawson, joined us for the outing. He had followed this route last year as it is used on the training course provided by the organisers, the same course myself and Pete will be attending the next day.
Beautiful views over the city and of the surrounding hills as we climbed up towards the lake. A successful outing with the tension building..
We visited the local supermarket and outdoor gear shop to buy yet more supplies. I'm packing a zip lock food bag per day plus the mandatory 48 hour emergency food bag, I'm planning on taking 5500 calories per day. A daily pack includes 3 dehydrated meals, 100g beef jerky, 350g trail mix, 100g chocolate, 60g of cheese, 100g crisps (great for calories and salt intake), coffee x 2 and a chocolate recovery drink. We do get to put food in our drop bags for the checkpoints at 100 miles, 170miles and 270 miles, but I'm beginning to get worried that my sled is too small. The distance from the 270 mile to the finish is 160 miles which will need 5 days of food + the emergency 48 hour pack, at around 1500g per bag I'm beginning to get concerned that it will fit in my sled..
More to come with photos later today
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Unfinished business
Friday 11th January, back to the Prairie Spirit Trail
After last weekends debacle (when my wheeled sled fell apart) I was determined to head back to the Prairie Spirit Trail to finish what I had started. This time I would take a rucksack to carry my kit the 30 miles to Garnett and the campsite.
The 100 mile drive East to Iola was completed in time for my 7am start, all snow had now melted from the trail and the weather was cool, clear, dry and with a useful tail wind.
The trail is maintained by the 'Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks', again I filled in my details on the trail permit envelope, provided my $7 for 2 days use of the trail and placed it in the pay station. The park authority wont take in too many funds this weekend, I did not see another person on the trail over the 2 days.
It felt good to be travelling without towing the sled, I stopped rarely but still only managed to average 3.2 mph, this was important learning for the main event where I need to plan to average 2.5mph I guess...
The old station at Garnett is now maintained as an R&R stop for trail users, its a grand old building with memorabilia covering the walls.
These were the only utilities open on the trail at this time of year with water, toilets & heating. I was tempted to bivi on the floor, I guess it would have been locked at dusk and opened at dawn.
I got directions in the town for a general store to get some supplies. After 10 minutes of walking the directions were not proving very useful. Just as I was being threatened by an angry dog the police appeared and asked me to get control of my dog.. they then chased it down the street (without leaving the car). In the Dollar General I bought bagels, cheese, crisps, cola, lemonade and trail mix, 1 mile to go to the campsite.
The State Park in Garnett is well designed to enjoy the long summers, facilities include golf course and club, football pitch, baseball, walking trails, swimming in the reservoir, kart track, shooting range, RV park, camping and more. The police pulled alongside again to ask where I was heading and gave directions to the campsite.
As the light faded I got the tent up and built a fire, fuelled by a generous splash of coleman fuel and the strong wind the fire lit easily. A few seconds later a siren sounded across the park, this was quickly followed by the sirens of emergency vehicles, I was convinced that the local fire department were about to join me but they did not. I presume the siren was to inform park users that it was dusk and time to head home.
As I was heating water for dinner an animal walked toward me from the woods, it stopped 15 yards away to check me out and then wandered into some trees. I could see from the glow of its eyes lit by my headlamp that it was still watching me. It was a wild cat about the size of a medium dog, I considered packing up and leaving but figured that if there were dangerous animals here the policeman would have warned me. I now find on-line that there are cougars and mountain lions in Kansas (!!).
Even though the camp site was at the far end of the park, cars still passed by the site for much of the night, the police also circled passed several times, maybe to check if the cats had got me.
I was up and away by daybreak at 7am, I headed through the small city and back on to the trail.
7 hours into the return journey a storm blew in and put down an inch of snow, the wind was blowing hard and the trail quite exposed. Good weather for testing the race kit.
After last weekends debacle (when my wheeled sled fell apart) I was determined to head back to the Prairie Spirit Trail to finish what I had started. This time I would take a rucksack to carry my kit the 30 miles to Garnett and the campsite.
The 100 mile drive East to Iola was completed in time for my 7am start, all snow had now melted from the trail and the weather was cool, clear, dry and with a useful tail wind.
Sunrise
The trail is maintained by the 'Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks', again I filled in my details on the trail permit envelope, provided my $7 for 2 days use of the trail and placed it in the pay station. The park authority wont take in too many funds this weekend, I did not see another person on the trail over the 2 days.
I passed through Raymond at 10 miles and then Welda at 18 miles, still at 3.2 mph so on target to get to campsite before 5pm.
The old station at Garnett is now maintained as an R&R stop for trail users, its a grand old building with memorabilia covering the walls.
These were the only utilities open on the trail at this time of year with water, toilets & heating. I was tempted to bivi on the floor, I guess it would have been locked at dusk and opened at dawn.
I got directions in the town for a general store to get some supplies. After 10 minutes of walking the directions were not proving very useful. Just as I was being threatened by an angry dog the police appeared and asked me to get control of my dog.. they then chased it down the street (without leaving the car). In the Dollar General I bought bagels, cheese, crisps, cola, lemonade and trail mix, 1 mile to go to the campsite.
As the light faded I got the tent up and built a fire, fuelled by a generous splash of coleman fuel and the strong wind the fire lit easily. A few seconds later a siren sounded across the park, this was quickly followed by the sirens of emergency vehicles, I was convinced that the local fire department were about to join me but they did not. I presume the siren was to inform park users that it was dusk and time to head home.
As I was heating water for dinner an animal walked toward me from the woods, it stopped 15 yards away to check me out and then wandered into some trees. I could see from the glow of its eyes lit by my headlamp that it was still watching me. It was a wild cat about the size of a medium dog, I considered packing up and leaving but figured that if there were dangerous animals here the policeman would have warned me. I now find on-line that there are cougars and mountain lions in Kansas (!!).
Even though the camp site was at the far end of the park, cars still passed by the site for much of the night, the police also circled passed several times, maybe to check if the cats had got me.
I was up and away by daybreak at 7am, I headed through the small city and back on to the trail.
7 hours into the return journey a storm blew in and put down an inch of snow, the wind was blowing hard and the trail quite exposed. Good weather for testing the race kit.
Sunday, 13 January 2013
Life's a drag
Saturday 5th January - 'Prarie Spirit Trail' Iola, Kansas
I planned to tow my sled from Iola in Kansas to Garnett along the Prairie Spirit Trail, this is an ex railway line that has been converted to an excellent flat, straight trail. The full trail is 51 miles long, I aimed to travel the 26 miles to Garnett and on for 2 to 3 miles further to the campsite.
I spent a couple of evenings buying wheels and other tackle from pawn shops and hardware stores and fitting them to the sled. I'd spoken to a park ranger who had informed me that the trail was 'like tarmac', so I had designed the wheels accordingly. I'd packed everything needed for a 2 day outing including much of my YAU kit for testing: sleeping mat, sleeping bag (which would have been too hot), stove, flasks, new 1 man lightweight tent, sled towing system, freeze dried meals, trail-mix, etc..
The trail was not to be used during the hours of darkness and no camping was permitted, the plan was to set off at 7am and average a speed of 3mph, including rests, which would get me to the campsite about 10 hours later at sun-down.
The first 9 miles of the trail were covered with an inch of wet snow, all other snow had melted except on the trail, I considered removing running gear but suspected the snow would cease soon and I was short of time. This made dragging the sled a strenuous affair and put a considerable strain on the sled until it buckled and was digging itself into the trail.
A running repair stiffened the base sufficiently but cost 30 minutes in time. (I found a piece of wood that I screwed inside the base of the sled then wired the centre of the sled base to the wood..).
I averaged 2mph over the first 10 miles, I'd used up half of the available daylight and covered one third of the route, I needed to speed up and accepted that I would be travelling for a few hours along the trail in the dark.
The trail was largely tree lined with some open expanses providing views of the prairie which was predominantly farm land. I saw a lot of cattle, a few owls, squirrels, deer, rabbits and much bird life. I did not see any other human traffic. I regularly saw a very striking bright red bird and tried without success to snap a photo, so here's one from t'internet.
Its a Northern Cardinal, more widely seen in the Angry Birds computer game.
At mile 10 the snow cleared from the trail but the trail was very wet so I was not able to speed up, each of the three wheels ploughed a track half a cm deep.
I passed through Welda at 18 miles and soon after the sun set, I still had 10 miles to the campsite. Dogs were barking from each farm and then the Coyotes started howling from the fields, I started thinking there may be a reason why trail use is not permitted after dark. The temperature dropped below freezing and I switched off the ipod so I could hear any inquisitive animals approaching. Then the rear axle snapped...
10mm of threaded steel, surely that should have been strong enough... I had no real option but to remove the remainder of the rear axle and wheel and return the 2 miles to Welda. I disturbed my wife's movie night to recruit help in finding taxi numbers to get me back to the car in Iola. Lucy could find none so sent me the numbers of the local police(!).
I arrived back in Welda to a chorus of all the towns dogs barking at me, I thought should I call the police before someone else does? Some people appeared with torches to see what all the commotion was about, the sled made quite a noise but not as much as the dogs. I walked over to the elderly couple with the torches and tried to explain myself (not an easy sport in a very sleepy Kansas town 100 miles from Wichita). I called the police in Iola and Garnett to enquire of taxi numbers - there were none. The couple very generously offered to drive me the 20 miles to my car, we had a good chat about the trail, which they lived alongside, they remembered the last train to pass through back in the 60's. They also said there were bob cats and cougars on the trail to Garnett(!). An hour and a half's drive had me back in Wichita for 9pm.
Not quite the outing planned but good strenuous training, very touched by the generosity of the first people I met in Welda and back in time for a shandy and some real food in the warm.
I planned to tow my sled from Iola in Kansas to Garnett along the Prairie Spirit Trail, this is an ex railway line that has been converted to an excellent flat, straight trail. The full trail is 51 miles long, I aimed to travel the 26 miles to Garnett and on for 2 to 3 miles further to the campsite.
I spent a couple of evenings buying wheels and other tackle from pawn shops and hardware stores and fitting them to the sled. I'd spoken to a park ranger who had informed me that the trail was 'like tarmac', so I had designed the wheels accordingly. I'd packed everything needed for a 2 day outing including much of my YAU kit for testing: sleeping mat, sleeping bag (which would have been too hot), stove, flasks, new 1 man lightweight tent, sled towing system, freeze dried meals, trail-mix, etc..
The trail was not to be used during the hours of darkness and no camping was permitted, the plan was to set off at 7am and average a speed of 3mph, including rests, which would get me to the campsite about 10 hours later at sun-down.
The first 9 miles of the trail were covered with an inch of wet snow, all other snow had melted except on the trail, I considered removing running gear but suspected the snow would cease soon and I was short of time. This made dragging the sled a strenuous affair and put a considerable strain on the sled until it buckled and was digging itself into the trail.
A running repair stiffened the base sufficiently but cost 30 minutes in time. (I found a piece of wood that I screwed inside the base of the sled then wired the centre of the sled base to the wood..).
I averaged 2mph over the first 10 miles, I'd used up half of the available daylight and covered one third of the route, I needed to speed up and accepted that I would be travelling for a few hours along the trail in the dark.
The trail was largely tree lined with some open expanses providing views of the prairie which was predominantly farm land. I saw a lot of cattle, a few owls, squirrels, deer, rabbits and much bird life. I did not see any other human traffic. I regularly saw a very striking bright red bird and tried without success to snap a photo, so here's one from t'internet.
Its a Northern Cardinal, more widely seen in the Angry Birds computer game.
At mile 10 the snow cleared from the trail but the trail was very wet so I was not able to speed up, each of the three wheels ploughed a track half a cm deep.
I passed through Welda at 18 miles and soon after the sun set, I still had 10 miles to the campsite. Dogs were barking from each farm and then the Coyotes started howling from the fields, I started thinking there may be a reason why trail use is not permitted after dark. The temperature dropped below freezing and I switched off the ipod so I could hear any inquisitive animals approaching. Then the rear axle snapped...
10mm of threaded steel, surely that should have been strong enough... I had no real option but to remove the remainder of the rear axle and wheel and return the 2 miles to Welda. I disturbed my wife's movie night to recruit help in finding taxi numbers to get me back to the car in Iola. Lucy could find none so sent me the numbers of the local police(!).
I arrived back in Welda to a chorus of all the towns dogs barking at me, I thought should I call the police before someone else does? Some people appeared with torches to see what all the commotion was about, the sled made quite a noise but not as much as the dogs. I walked over to the elderly couple with the torches and tried to explain myself (not an easy sport in a very sleepy Kansas town 100 miles from Wichita). I called the police in Iola and Garnett to enquire of taxi numbers - there were none. The couple very generously offered to drive me the 20 miles to my car, we had a good chat about the trail, which they lived alongside, they remembered the last train to pass through back in the 60's. They also said there were bob cats and cougars on the trail to Garnett(!). An hour and a half's drive had me back in Wichita for 9pm.
Not quite the outing planned but good strenuous training, very touched by the generosity of the first people I met in Welda and back in time for a shandy and some real food in the warm.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
'Pennine Way' Path, English 'Peak District'
Friday 28th December, 'Pennine Way' Path, English 'Peak District' National Park
Had a good run out for 5 hours early morning on a dry day for a change. The 'Pennine Way' is a 270 mile path that runs North - South along the Pennine hills in Northern England. Its a well trod path and is paved (in a very loose sense of the word) with rough stone slabs as the trail is often very wet. I set off around 5am, 2 hours before daylight, in a very strong wind. The forecast was oddly for the temperature to dip below freezing after 7am and the winds to drop.
See the route and stats at: http://www.movescount.com/moves/move9577079
A hilly route and unnerving along some cliff-tops in the pre-dawn. Good training country and the forecast was correct, there was a freeze half way through the run (/walk) which produced a veneer or ice on the trail which made the return journey interesting. Back to the family for lunch.
Will add photos when I can fix an error on this blog site.
Training and gearing up
Tuesday 1st January 2013 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Snow arrived so time for a drag. Good day out, covered about 20 miles, very useful for learning the speed I can travel at whilst towing a sled. I used the gravel roads north of home in Wichita and received some very funny looks from locals driving by. One gent got in his truck, drove out of his long drive and up along side me to ask 'can I help you?'. I explained that this was training and I was not transporting 'stuff' in the snow. He bought my crazy story and after a friendly chat headed home after telling me that what I was doing was 'unusual', I had to agree.
Good training day, good to be out and using the walking poles simulating race conditions, destroyed another training sled (only cost $5 so did not break the bank).
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