Good Evening Race Fans!
This section of the race is always a little slow for the Tracker Fan. After a long 24 hour break in which nothing happens, it is followed by a long day on the trail where we don’t even see our Team until this evening here.
Pete arrived into Cripple, the halfway point in the race, with a Team that looked real nice. Barking a bit and a bit of spark in their step, it was a very encouraging sight. After hours and hours on the runners, Pete checked in and went right to work. The Team has the work between checkpoints and it is up to Pete to jump to and get straw down, some food and water, and start massaging those muscles. He’s all business and watching him work I can see why he likes to break away from the checkpoints. A question here or there is a distraction to the task at hand.
It isn’t hard work, but in a sleep deprived state, each detail by rote must be attended to accurately. Unbale the straw and get it to each dog. Back to the sled and get out the cooker and all the fixins. Open the food bag and get out all the goodies that he packed seemingly so long ago.
I stopped by one year to watch the food packing operation and I made a mistake… I asked a question. I quickly realized that I was a distraction and left after a few quick shots. Pete is a meticulous planner and one question at the wrong time throws him off. Those bags have to be perfect when he opens them out in the wilderness. He has checklists and a computer setup that has tracked each years’ packing. Each of the bags is filled with food for the dogs, extra supplies and of course Pete food as well. One year, at a Fairbanks restart, Pete asked me, “Hey, can you go grab a couple of pizza’s?” “Of course, what do you want on them?”I asked. “Pepperoni- Large” It was an odd request the night before the restart and we had just ate at a restuarant. I grabbed the pizza and made it back to Pete who gave them to Bethany and popped them into ziplock bags. “Trail food” he said, smiling.
It takes a bit for the cooker to get underway. It is a stove that uses HEET (Isopropyl Alcohol) to warm up dog food and water. Pop a ziplocked pizza in the water and instant yummy Pete dinner as well. Over the years he has had many different trail foods. Burritos have been a favorite. Dry Fish (Salmon Jerky) are also staples. This year he’s traveling with Bethel’s own Baba’s pizza, Doug Dorland’s famous homemade pizza, and some home cooked vacuum sealed Moose Burritos from his Mom, Janet.
The dogs eat good food as well. Some years he has Sheefish brought in from Kotzebue. The dogs love it and it’s full of great fat and protein. They also eat chicken, lamb, and other proteins mixed with Red Paw kibble sponsored by Drew’s Foundation. Each year Paul shows up with a trailer of dog food or a nice check to cover it. Thanks Paul!
Pete’s Dad, Ron is predicting 4-5 hours here. I’m not so sure. He just did a 6 hour run into Cripple from his last camping spot. The dogs will need a good recovery break and some food. But if he gets back into his 6/3 schedule, he may blast off a little earlier.
Check out this video we made in 2018 about family. It shows the family preparing Pete’s trail meals for the trail. Little Aylee was a bit younger then, but Pete elaborates on how much the family is part of the whole program.
Go Team Kaiser!!
