That didn’t matter much to the 25-year-old adventurer, however, who had just completed a 36-day solo ski trek of more than 1,000 miles without dogs.

You see, it could’ve been much, much worse.

“If I had left a little later, or gone a little slower, I would have been stranded on a chunk of ice drifting further offshore with no tent, no means of communication and deteriorating weather,” Mumm said.

The near calamity happened just west of Elim, where the trail parallels the coast for about 12 miles about a mile offshore.

Northerly winds blowing nearly 40 knots were strong enough to shift the entire ice pack south, opening a 300-yard wide gap between the trail and the shore.

“This (gap) opened less than two hours after I was on the ice,” Mumm said.

A snowmachiner got stuck on the ice and had to be rescued by a boat, Mumm said. Some thought that a musher may also had been stranded, leading to the preliminary preparations for a Blackhawk helicopter search and rescue.

Shifty ice aside, Mumm’s trek from Wasilla to Nome had its share of problems.

Skis broke, temperatures plummeted to 50 degrees below zero and the snow blew away in spots, turning the ski into a clumsy hike in ski boots on ice.

Then there was the monotony of traveling miles without seeing another human.

“After Ruby, there were 200 miles where there was absolutely no one there,” Mumm said. “It got a little boring.”

Mumm began his journey on Feb. 5 after weeks of preparation that included mailing supplies to different villages along the route.

He slept in a bivy sack along the trail and towed a small sled with extra skis and basic gear.

He arrived in Nome on March 10.

“It took a lot longer than I was thinking,” he said.

From time to time, Mumm said he would run into snowmachiners or mushers traveling from village to village.

“Most people didn’t think I was completely crazy,” Mumm said. “But they thought I’d be a little more professional. A lot of people asked if I was sponsored.”

Not only was Mumm not sponsored, he was actually out of work all together.

“I was in between jobs and was looking for something to do,” he said.

Former co-workers had skied the trail years before, and Mumm, a 2000 Homer High graduate and cross country skier figured he had the time.

Mumm stayed in Nome to watch the end of the Iditarod race and said the journey opened his eyes to the magnitude of the event.

“I guess it gave me more respect for the mushers,” he said.

Mumm pointed out that he didn’t ski the entire trail, which he knows might make some diehards scoff. At one point he got an offer to get towed by a dog team near the end of the trail and took it.

“I was tired of walking on glare ice and it was a fun experience to be towed behind a dog team,” he said. He rode for about 15-20 miles.

Mumm said his journey on the trail will likely be his last, although he thinks biking part of it would be fun.

As of last week, he was recovering from the trip by skiing in British Columbia.

Up next, Mumm said he is planning a ski trip up Mt. Sanford in the Wrangell Mountains.