As you can tell, Allen is on a completely different run / rest schedule than most of the top mushers. He and Michelle Phillips seem to have the same idea. Allen is doing most of his rest away from the Check Points. Last night, he rested at the McCabe Creek Dog Drop. Ray hiked in there and said it was the perfect place for a stop. With so much less activity around them, the dogs and Allen got some well deserved sleep. Although there was no road access to McCabe, the cabin was stocked with luxury. The wood stove was cranking out heat, there was a delicious moose stew for the mushers and lots of straw for the dogs. You don’t get that everywhere!
After resting at McCabe, Allen and the Black Team headed off to Pelly Crossing, a short 34 mile run. After picking up supplies for the next LONG trail section (210 miles), Allen left Pelly with all 14 dogs. He is running on the dogs’ schedule perfectly.
Aliy is in the communication dead zone of McCabe Creek, but we expect her into Pelly Crossing at about noon. She dropped two dogs when she left Carmacks, so the Red Team is running with 9. I am assuming one of the dogs was Cutter, but we will know for sure soon.
The Quest is still showing Ryne at Carmacks.
A note on the Quest 300 Race itself. Our friend, Gerry Willomitzer, is having a great race. He is running his Iditarod team in the 300 as a practice run. He and Ed Hopkins are the two clear leaders in the race. Both are veteran Yukon Quest mushers. Gerry is in Pelly now resting. The trail from Pelly is a 64 mile loop, ending back at the Pelly Crossing Finish Line.
Temperatures were close to 30 below F last night on the trail. Great for the dogs. Cold for the handlers!
Sorry to hear Cutter may have been dropped – did Aliy plan to keep his run short or did something surface in Carmacks that she wanted to watch?
Thank you for explaining what Allen was doing. Good move in going to a place where there is rest and good food. Your handlers are wonderful in getting information out to you to put on the blog.
It's hard not to stare at his "dog" on the tracker and will it to go.
Appreciate the insite on Gerry and Ed also.
and the temperatures are even worse for the musher! Mushers have a slight wind in their face form the movement down the trail. The only one's that benifit from the cold are the dogs! They will eat better, rest better and run faster in the cooler temps. Our dogs are acclimated to these temps coming form the interior. So keep on moving SPK!
Bridgett, you are awsome. I forgot to mention the MUSHERS! How silly. Ray did say that Allen looked great at Pelly.
I am still not sure if it was Cutter who was dropped. I just know Aliy was talking about him before leaving Braeburn.