We found a tired but happy Ramy Brooks in Ruby today. After seeing that Doug Swingley was making his move to leave the pack behind, Ramy decided to push on and arrived in Ruby a scant 38 minutes behind Doug - I bet he was surprised!
Ramy cracked up his sled real bad near Cripple, but used Native Alaskan ingenuity and splinted the stanchions with 4 inch birch logs. When asked if he was going to have his replacement sled flown in from Unalakleet, Ramy replied "No....I'll just pick it up when I get there." We are hopeful that the run down the Yukon will be uneventful.
Ramy is quite sick still and fighting a cold. It amazes me that he can accomplish so much when most of us wouldn't even get out of bed...
It was a beautiful day for a flight to Ruby. Clear, sunny and 30 degrees.
Here is the village of Ruby. The mighty Yukon river stretches out in front. The teams will head west (to the left) towards Galena.
Here is the Ruby checkpoint in the community center.
Ramy talks with Rick Swenson
Ramy's sled. He broke it up pretty bad.
Notice the birch logs that are strapped to the stanchions. That's all that is holding it together.
Doug Swingley's dogs rest in the afternoon sun.