Feb 28 :: Day 3 // Puntilla
Place: 12 Foot Racers Total in the ITI 1,000 (men & women)
Herman Watson (Bozeman, Montana) - 142.8 miGavan Hennigan (Ireland) - 137.5 miBrandon Lott (Burbank, Washington) - 137.2 miBeat Jegerlehner (Switzerland) - 129.5 miJeff Leuwerke (Plymouth, Minnesota) - 125.3 miFaye Norby (Plymouth, Minnesota) - 125.3 miMagdalena Paschke (Germany) - 120.4 miChristof Teuscher (Portland, Oregon) - 120.7 miMark Hines (U.K.) - 103.9 miSean Brown (Lyons, Colorado) - 102.7 miKlaus Schweinberger (Austria) - 89.6 miDonald Kane (Scottish and Australian) - 89.4 miDaily Miles: 36
Average Daily Miles: 48
Current Weather:
Current Temperature: -14 F (Feels like -23 F)
Daily amount of snow :: <1 in.
Daily :: High -12 F / Low -31 F.
Humidity :: 94%.
Cloud Cover :: 23%.
Wind :: 15 MPH W.
Visibility :: 10 miles.
As Herman is getting closer to crossing the mountain range at Rainey Pass here are views Denali National Park in the distance.
Herman reached Finger Lake (mile 125) @ 6:00p on Feb 27.
He will have enjoyed several burritos and picked up his first drop bag at this location. There are warming tents, however, Herman will likely have set up his bivy to sleep on the outside of the tent. Last I spoke with him, Herman reported that the wind was harsh and that he planned to bivy where the tents would block the wind.
Others on the trail are reporting slowed conditions as the trail is getting wind blown and lumpy. The wind looks to continue and the temperature will remain cold the next few days. Especially as Herman climbs up in elevation towards the pass. It doesn’t look to get much warmer than -20 for a stretch here.
The cyclist reported that a few inches of fresh snow and high winds on the pass, such that cyclists had to push their bikes not only up the pass, but also part of the way back down — I don’t know how that will relate to walkers, who are on foot anyway. We shall see!
Herman left Finger Lake around 1:30a this morning, having hopefully collected 6 hours of sleep or so. He then continued on until around 6:00a and stopped for another two hours for a little more rest, about 6 miles down the trail. Probably rising around sun up at 8:00a. He has since been moving steadily at around 2.5 to 3 mph. He is currently about 10 miles to the next Aid Station at Puntilla Lake (mile 160).
Puntilla Lake will have warm showers and full dinner available, it is rumored that dinner includes unlimited wine. He will also pick up his second drop bag at this location. This is the final aid station prior to the final climb over Rainy Pass.
I have found this FFA website with live camera’s from the airports along the route to be helpful in understanding the conditions along the route: https://weathercams.faa.gov/map/-160.5819,63.08176,-145.99206,66.29508/airport/GAL/details/camera
