Circle City - fourth checkpoint

Katie surprised us and arrived a few minutes after 3p.m. (Monday).  She said the trail from Central to Circle was "boring".  This is a good thing, it means that the trail was smooth going and the team was traveling well.  She decided not to stop and rest on the trail but rather keep moving and take one longer rest here in Circle City.  She is currently sleeping after eating a large plate of Turkey dinner, chocolate cake and three chocolate chip cookies.  She is a good sled dog - eating, drinking and sleeping as much as she can.  The mushers provide better care for the dog such as nice shoulder, wrist and foot messages and lots of hand on contact.  If only the dogs could give Katie the same treatments.  However, Katie knows that if she takes the best possible care of the dogs they will in turn take care of her on the trail.  She will have to wait till she gets home to get a message.  Maybe she will get one in Dawson.

From Circle Katie heads out to Eagle 158 miles of trail .  She will make the trip in three runs.  From Cirlce she will run 68 miles to Slavin's Cabin.  From Slavin's cabin she will break the run up into two more legs.  Resting/camping on the trail.  In Eagle, a remote checkpoint that we cannot access, she will have access to her drop bags.    Drop bags are bags that Katie packed before the race and are shipped out to every checkpoint. They contain all the necessary food and equipment that she and the dogs need for that checkpoint and for the section of trail from there to the next checkpoint.  From Eagle Katie will head to Dawson City 150 miles down the trail. This is where we will see her again.  She intends on arrive sometime Thursday, probably later in the day to evening.

Handler update - Clear skies, temperatures dropping to around -15'F tongiht.  Once Katie leaves Cirlce City, ETD 11:30p.m. Monday, Anita and I will curl up in the truck and sleep till morning (5ish) and clean up Katie's parking area.  This includes racking up the straw the dogs were bedded down on and hauling it away.  We also collect any extra supplies she left behind.  Then we will be heading back to Fairbanks to pick up the trailer.  Fuel up and head out for Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.  From Circle City (for the record this is not a city rather a very small town) to Dawson City it is about 1,100 miles of driving.  It looks like we will be traveling with a few other handlers.  Having said this it maybe a few days before we update the blog again. 

Central update

Katie arrived around 8:30p.m. Sunday.  Her trail report was that Eagle Summit was not as bad as she had anticipated.  She actually said that Rose Bud was worse.  She finished her work with her dogs around 9:30p.m. and came into the Steese Road House for a Prime Rib dinner.  We ate together and then she went to a warm cabin to sleep for about five hours. I went to join Annita in the truck to sleep.  We woke around 4:30a.m. Monday and found Katie getting ready.  She was eating cheesecake and pumpkin pie with a cup of hot chocolate for breakfast. Once she was finished her meal she went to bootie the dogs and get them ready to run.

The dogs were bedded down on straw in groups of four. I watched Katie work with each dog.  She put booties on all four feet while they were still laying down taking advantage of every minute of rest possible.  Once all booties were on she moved Shilo out of lead and put Sneezy up front with Whitney.  Katie walked down the line back to her sled patting all the dogs on their heads.  Lighting was the first to start screaming to go and the enthusiasum spread to the rest of the dogs.  Katie got back to her runners pulled the hook and I helped lead her team out of their parking spot to the trail.  Once to the trail I stepped a side and watched as Katie and her fourteen furry friends disappear down the dark trail. She left the checkpoint at 6:30a.m. Monday.

Now we are at the Circle City checkpoint.  Temperatures are favorable, there is a light snow and now we wait for Katie.  She should be in around 6p.m. or so. 

Day 2 Mile 101 and Central

Today Katie arrived into the second checkpoint, mile 101 a little before one in the afternoon.  This is about 130 miles into the race.  She stayed for a few hours and left with a happy team and two other mushers to head out and over Eagle Summit.  She is doing well and should be arriving at Central soon.  She will rest here for about 8 or 10 hours. This checkpoint is nice it is at a road house. There is a dryer, food and warm buildings for her to rest. 

Anita and I are doing great, the roads have been just fine and temps in the teens.  It is suppose to cool down to subzero tonight.  Signing out to go and see if  Katie has arrived.

Greetings from Yukon Quest - day one

Well, today was the big day...the one Katie has been planning for since last year.  It's really hard to fathom the logistics to pull it all together.  And so rewarding to see it come to fruition.

Brooke and I dropped dogs this morning (took them out of their boxes on the truck) and prepared their breakfast, according to Katie's schedule for the day.  Some of the dogs were playful and bouncy, others just ready to eat...Sneezy was quiet and watchful.  Not so unusual maybe- but then he started growling and staring across the hotel parking lot.  After a moment a MOOSE strolled into view!  It moseyed around the building across the way and then came toward the team!  Fortunately it was not at all interested in sixteen barking dogs.  It just browsed on a tree nearby and then cruised on along behind the local Denny's restaurant.  Just like "Northern Exposure"!!!  Hopefully this will be the only moose encounter Katie and the team will have on their journey...

Our morning flowed without furthur distraction and we soon found ourselves in the proper parking area. Finally it was time to line out the team.  Katie and Brooke had fitted everyone with booties, 'harness-rub' jackets and harnesses.  They led the dogs forward and hooked them up as follows:  leaders for the first leg:

Shiloh (Veteran of the Iditarod) and Margaret.  The next couple on the line:  Cleo and Goon.  Sneezy was paired with Whitney, Lightning and Annabelle, Voodoo and Margarita, Etna and Charlotte, followed by Boggle and Patron in the wheel position at the sled. 

They use a snow machine to keep the pace under control as the team has to negotiate a very crowded parking area of trucks, trailers and  other lined out dog teams. It might be a very hairy trip down the icy ramp to the river if that snow machine wasn't behind the sled to hold it back. 

Brooke was at the front of the team and had to jog along the entire quarter mile frozen river to the start!!  I had the good fortune to quickly jump on the back of the snow machine and ride to the start once we were down the ramp.

The start was very well organized - teams were led to the staging area and ALOT of volunteers helped to keep them under control...these are very well-behaved animals.  But, they are bred and trained to RUN and are enthusiastic about it.  Teams started every three minutes.  This allows for the musher's bio and history to be announced (and the wonderful sponsors).  There are alot of veteran racers and quite an impressive following - lots of appreciative fans.

Katie's team looked so good!  Bright and alert and pounding the harness - ready to go at her word...then the countdown and they were off!  I can only imagine how it must feel for Katie to realize the payoff for all her hard work and preparation - the payoff is the time on the trail...the beautiful scenery, the connection to the team...the quiet after the hullabaloo...the total dependency between musher and dogs...the total independance of the team...musher and dogs!  Amazing.  

Katie made it into Twin Bear checkpoint by 4p.m. Alaska time.  She reported that the trail was fast, hard and lacking snow.  She stayed at the checkpoint for about 3 3/4 hours leaving at 7:45p.m.  We all watched as she hit the dark trail and headed into the night. Katie is headed to the second checkpoint, Mile 101 on the Steese Highway.  She will break the run up into two runs.  She will camp out with the dogs on the trail for about six hours near the base of Rose Bud.  Rose Bud is a rather steep mountain climb.  Today people where talking about it and how it just keeps going up and up.  After Katie rest her team and herself they will start climbing Rose Bud in the early hours of the morning.  I bet the view from the top will be beautiful.  We will meet her at the Mile 101 check point.

Weather update:  today was in the teens pushing 20'F!  It felt like a heat wave.  The sunrises around 9a.m. and sets around 5p.m. so it really is not that dark.

Team Roster

So it's official.  I have my 14 dogs picked and there will be 4 yearlings on the team.  We will have to slow down a little from my original plan but should still have a good run and a strong finish.  Everyone is ready to do something and get going on the trail.  We start at 11:15 Alaska time on Saturday 2/6/10.  I will be carrying a SPOT GPS tracker that you can follow on the Yukon Quest website and linked at the top of the blog page.  I hope to finish in the 12-13 day range.  Today was a balmy -5 degrees which is a HUGE improvement over the -30 we have been sufferening.  It will be colder out on the trail, especially on the first half of the race.  I have good gear and will stay warm enough.

I want to say a special thank you to everyone who has contributed to make this possible.  Whether you contributed money, time, labor, hospitality, moral support, a much appeciated phone message, I thank you for your support.  It has meant so much to me to have so many people rally around me and help me work towards my goal of completing the 2010 Yukon Quest.  I am sure there will be many stories to tell when all is said and done and Brooke and Anita will share stories along the way of my and their adventures.

So here is the team:

Sneezy Annabel

BoggleCharlotte

EtnaGoon

MargaretMargarita

Miss CleoPatron

ShiloVoodoo

LightningWhitney

Twelve Hours Until Starting Time!

Here we sit (Katie, Anita, Beverly and I) in the hotel room getting the final preparations ready for tomorrow's start.  Today we organized the truck and trailer and got all the gear Katie will need for the start ready.  We brought the dogs to the race track and let them run around and play.  Katie's mom, Beverly, sewed fleece on a harness for Whitney and sewed pockets on a vest for Katie to carry necessary oinments for the dogs.  By having the oinments on her body they will stay warm and pliable.  We finished the day with a wonderful dinner at Pasta Bella.  The dogs are now sleeping till 5:30 a.m. when we will wake them up to have breakfast before they embark on their great adventure.

Musher's Banquet

Tonight was the start banquet for the 2010 Yukon Quest in Fairbanks, AK.  We got to meet with mushers, officials, volunteers, fans, and sponsors and got a good dinner.  I was a good sled dog and ate everything that was available to me.  We did the bib draw and I will be starting #6.  I am glad to be leaving relatively early though I am glad I did not continue with my streak lasting 3 seasons now of leaving number one.  It will be nice to have someone who knows the trail in front of me.  Hopefully they go the right way. 

Anita, Brooke, and my mom (Beverly) got here just before midnight last night and it has been nice having the company and extra help.  The dogs are ready to hit the trail as am I.

On a sadder note, Detour is not going to be allowed to run.  She has a heart murmur of a high enough grade to warrent further testing before releasing her to race.  She has never had any issues before and could potentially be tested again next year and have a lesser or no heart murmur.  She will stay on the truck with Brooke and Anita and get lots of love and probably be chubby when the rest of us get to Whitehorse to join them at the finish.  This leaves a big hole in the team and a hole in my heart, but we will be OK and maybe I will find the next superstar leader on this trip.

Tomorrow is meetings most of the day and then Friday is the last day of packing and planning to head out Saturday just before noon.  The weather will be cold, though the latest forecast is for a warming trend.  Only time will tell.