Ice ultra - stage two

Stage two : mountain day. A good night's sleep. Coffee, hot cereal breakfast, all going down well. Off we set again : still giddy to be part of the race. Flat at first, then forest.  Checkpoint before the big one : an enormous, pretty scarey, mountain. Off we go, head down. Can see runners in the distance ahead and behind, feel safe. Plod, keep going, plod. Reach the top - false summit. More up. Finally there. Insane beauty, out of this world. Clear, sunshine, mountains in all directions. Continued plodding. Almost lunar landscape at this stage. Hit the next checkpoint. My Mars bar was so frozen, the medics melted it and we added it to hot water and a coffee sachet to make the best mocha coffee anyone had ever had. Calories in, continue. Down, stunning. Keep going. Caught up eventually with people in front. Finally in to the camp. Staying in cabins at a camping ground : electric heating, hot water, proper toilets, the works. Food : crashed out. Awesome.