St Croix 40 Winter Ultra (Part 3)

Sunday December 8th, 2024

Plan was to head to the campground again, but to add in the extra 2 miles out and back on the north end of the campground. Conditions were the same as yesterday and I was able to follow the tire tracks of whoever decided to venture between the turnaround and the post office. Both sections before/after were fully plowed which made it incredibly easy! Cooler today around 25 degrees with a little bit of wind on the way back. I must be dressing okay, because I'm never getting too warm, although I'm also never getting too cold. If I do feel a little chill, I make sure my jacket is fully zipped up and I start to run a little and this always seems to work quickly to warm me back up again. One thing I might try...after boiling water, I might leave my warm puffy jacket on for the first mile or so as this is the time I'm the most chilled as I haven't been moving much for the last 20 minutes or so. Then I could stop to stuff it in my bag once I'm sufficiently warmed up again. I also need to swap my lightweight gloves to warmer mittens for the first mile or so - the gloves are handy while boiling water as they give me freedom of movement, but by the time I'm ready to leave, my hands are cold. 

Today, I discovered when I got to the campground that I'd lost my tin tube somewhere along the way! I need to think of the sled as a canoe - that everything needs to be secured in case of a swamp! So I had no wind guard for my stove. Instead, I used my camping pad and watched to make sure it didn't burn. It took 14 minutes to boil water today so I know the tin tube is a much better option. I also had a slightly damp fuel tablet that I risked using. After 12 minutes or so, I added a 2nd one and then the water really started to heat up. Warmed up my "grilled" cheese and ate it while I was waiting. This time, I added a packet of hot chocolate and drank it while I packed everything up. Weirdly, the person who ventured through the snow with their vehicle was also headed to campground #4! They even got out of their vehicle as I could see their footsteps. Hmmm....popular destination I guess! 

Lots of fresh moose and fox tracks today. Wolf again at the campground, maybe he enjoyed the gorp I dropped last time!

I also noticed about an hour in that my front foam bumper wasn't working right. Sure enough, it had failed, but not in the way I expected it would. I thought the foam would tear - what actually happened is the wirelock came loose and I lost it! This also meant I lost my 2nd layer of foam so the bumper wasn't as useful this time, although it still offered some protection against the back of my legs. I was able to secure the broken side with a carabiner, but it eventually tore through so I'll be working on repairing this at the cabin, hoping dad has some bolts and washers that'll work! 

On the way home, I needed to locate the items I'd dropped along the way. In bright snow with nothing around but white, I easily found all 3 items. 

Of course, Strava decided to stop recording once I got to the campground, but based on my elapsed time, pace was 18:12 today over 11.29 miles. The plowed road really helped as I was able to trot/run often, even though I tried not to too much as I didn't want to overheat. 

Things I still need to buy: 

• large enough dry bag to fit bivy and unstuffed sleeping bag (bought 25L and 35L from REI)
• extra wirelock pins (I have 2, that might be enough)
• extra pair of menards gloves
• more fuel (bought on amazon)
• waterproof duffel for items I don't want to stuff in a dry bag (bought huge one on sale at REI)

Things I need to fix:

• front bumper, it needs to be attached with bolts and washers to the extra holes in front of the sled (I knew this, I just didn't take the time so when I lost one wirelock and my 2nd layer of foam shortly into my run today, I decided this needed to be remedied sooner rather than later)
• tin tube - duct tape the sharp edges and make sure it's secured to sled with hooks

Things I need to add to sled gear: 

• duct tape