CIRCLE CITY — After a dismally frigid two days on the Yukon River, fifth-place Sebastian Schnuelle said he’s not aggressively mushing anymore in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race until the temperature warms.
“At least for me, it’s too dangerous,” said Schnuelle, while eating one hamburger at the Circle City firehouse checkpoint with another one waiting. “If I drop in the standings, so be it. This is really too cold. I just don’t see the point. My fingertips, my dogs, are worth more to me than the money.”
To prove his point, Schnuelle, who arrived in Circle City at 3:56 p.m. Sunday after an eight-hour run from Slaven’s Cabin, planned to rest in Circle for 12 to 14 hours in order to make more of the 74-mile run to Central — much of it along low-lying Birch Creek — during the considerably warmer daylight hours.
Schnuelle says his cutoff for normal mushing travel is 40 below zero, and if the conditions remain dangerously cold, he will take a similar long rest and repeat the process over Eagle Summit during daylight.
“The locals are saying it’s going to be 60 below on Birch Creek,” Quest race manager Alex Olesen said Sunday shortly after noon.
Mushers have been sure to keep blankets and booties on their dogs while in transit, and give them plenty of straw when stopped. Many have also been staying as active as possible on the sled — by pedaling, poling, pulling, running and pushing depending on the terrain — and making longer runs in order to camp less frequently. On the 147-mile river trip from Dawson, most sought out cabins warmed by wood stoves.
“Because of the temperatures, we go with the cabins that were open and heated,” said William Kleedehn, who has been traveling for days near Gerry Willomitzer.
Kleedehn suffered frostbite on a couple of fingertips earlier in the race and had a close call on the Yukon.
“I had trouble with one of my mittens. I couldn’t get it on and before I knew it, I was going to get frostbitten really quick,” said Kleedehn, estimating his hand, now a bit swollen, was only bare for two or three minutes. “So I had to stop the team and deal with it.”
Unlike Schnuelle, the four mushers ahead of him — commanding leader Lance Mackey (departed Circle City at 9:30 a.m. Sunday), Hans Gatt (left at 2:56 p.m.), Willomitzer (4:45 p.m.) and Kleedehn (4:47 p.m.) — only took between five and six hours rest at Circle City before bundling up and plugging on. The town of 73 residents is 243 trail miles from the Fairbanks finish and accessible by road at the end of the Steese Highway.
Gatt, who was in fifth place upon leaving Dawson City on Friday, gained a time-advantage on Kleedehn and Willomitzer mostly due to briefly cutting his rest at Eagle and Slaven’s Cabin, they said.
“I have (young) dogs that wouldn’t stand up if I cut rest but Hans has mostly veteran dogs,” said Kleedehn, adding that he’s focused only on his team and not worried about what Gatt does. “Hans, you never know, maybe we can get him. At one of those checkpoints things can go wrong for him, too. It’s all a matter of how much rest you want to cut.”
Kleedehn then sought out some precious rest for himself, climbing atop the Circle City Volunteer Fire Department truck for a snooze.
Willomitzer, asked whether he was willing to cut rest in chase of Gatt, replied: “I could try that. I gotta look at a couple dogs first. You never can forget about your dog care issues.”
Gatt, if one believes him, repeated his position that he doesn’t care much where he finishes in this Quest, throwing in the phrases “not that important” and “get it over with.”
“I guess I lost my competitive edge,” said Gatt, adding that he’s eager just to complete the Quest and take a short break before starting the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 4.
Asked how he felt physically, Gatt, whose knee is bothering him, said with a laugh “OK. I’m obviously on pain pills.”
Shortly thereafter, Gatt dropped Wyatt, an all-black dog who hadn’t been pulling steadily, and pulled hook with his nine remaining huskies.
On Sunday morning, Gatt arrived in Circle City just as Mackey was putting booties on his dogs in preparation of departure. Their visits overlapped by 18 minutes.
Did Gatt, the three-time champion exchange pleasantries with the man who is likely to tie his record?
“Oh yeah, we talked a little bit, nothing serious,” Gatt said of Mackey. “He broke a part of his sled off. I think he hit a tree,” said Gatt, a sled builder whose Gatt Sleds are being used by Mackey and the majority of the Quest’s mushers. “He can still drive it.”
That much was apparent when Mackey blazed the circuitous run from Circle City to Central, a stretch replete with taiga and frozen swamps, in 9 hours and 41 minutes, presumably in one shot.
Mackey, the only musher who seems undaunted by the harsh conditions, arrived there at 7:11 p.m. and had no company as of late Sunday.
Parvin arrives in Dawson City
Greg Parvin of Two Rivers reached Dawson City before daybreak Sunday and officially became the fifth musher to scratch.
Parvin’s arrival in Dawson City came about four days after he originally left the Stewart River checkpoint 99 miles away Wednesday morning.
Two friends of Parvin’s on snowmachine found him and his dogs camped safely on the trail Saturday morning 23 miles from Stewart River, close to the same time Quest officials had planned to begin a search by plane and snowmachine for the overdue musher.
Hessert arrives in Eagle
J.T. Hessert, the musher withdrawn Thursday in Dawson City by race marshal Mike McCowan primarily for lacking a handler, has indeed continued on his own along the trail.
Hessert arrived to 40-below temperatures in Eagle on Sunday around 8 a.m., having passed Benedikt Beisch (into Eagle in 18th place), Regina Wycoff (19th) and Tom Benson (20th) along the way.
Hessert was being allowed basic courtesies of the race infrastructure in Eagle, such as parking his team in the designated area, using the schoolhouse checkpoint and taking a nap in the bunkbed sleeping area. However, Hessert said checkpoint officials were apparently unaware he was continuing along the trail, and used some of his drop bag goods that he needs for resupplying.
Hessert’s arrival and departure from Eagle were not acknowledged on the standings list.
While walking down Amundsen Street en route to an ATM machine, Hessert said his trip was going fine, though he needs to drop a dog and is prepared to pay to have it flown out.
Hessert also said he succeeded in arranging for his truck to be driven from Dawson City to Fairbanks in order to meet him there.
Red-hot race
The Red Lantern competition, an award given to the last finisher, is heating up, as Bob McAlpin of North Pole checked through the 40-Mile River hospitality stop at 10:14 a.m. Sunday, just 62 minutes behind Kyla Boivin of Whitehorse.
Remarkably, McAlpin, a 56-year-old retired helicopter pilot, is still traveling 14 dogs, the number he started with.
Every musher remaining has dropped at least three dogs, with the exception of Russ Bybee and Benedikt Beisch, who have dropped two apiece.
Contact staff writer Matias Saari at msaari@newsminer.com
February 19th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Hi Hatias, Great story about the Quest and Sebastian Schnuelle. He has dropped some dogs. Do you know the names of the dropped dogs? We hope one of them was not his faithful lead dog, Tang.
Please get back to us. Thanks. Lee