YQ: Awaiting Dawson Arrival

As I write this, the team is traveling up the Yukon River towards Dawson with 16 miles to go.

They spent over four hours at Clinton Creek hospitality stop enjoying the warmth and fellowship before their final run to the halfway point. It has remained more than (less than? Colder than) -40F in Dawson and this afternoon the breeze has started to pick up. Allen will be cold on the river!

Even though currently the team is in first position, Allen is running a fairly conservative race – rest-wise. He has rested more in most checkpoints than ever before in an effort to keep the pace of the team up.

We’ve managed to keep ourselves pretty busy since the team left from Circle. We’ve driven around 1,100 miles, packed and unpacked the truck of Dawson camp gear, built a camp, had a nap and eaten a couple of meals.  All the while checking the tracker and calculating the eta of our 15 athletes. It is now within a few hours of their arrival and we are so excited to see them. This is the hard part… the waiting…

Right now we are doing our final prep ready to welcome the team to Dawson later this evening.

Camp is ready so now we are thawing a bunch of frosted beef snacks and salmon to give the team at the arrival chute. We’re soaking kibble ready for their hot meal and preparing some food for Allen also.

Thanks Padee for lovingly preparing these beef snacks just before we left the kennel. We know the dogs will love them! And thanks to those the Geared Up The Dogs by purchasing beef or fish snacks – this is your contribution put to good use!

When the team arrives they will be checked in by officials where Allen’s mandatory gear will be ticked off. Allen will also go through immigration procedures to enter Canada. Once official duties and interviews are complete Allen will then mush the team to the campsite. This is a change from previous years where Aliy has been able to step onto the runners and take the team over the river. This year, the camp is actually along the Quest Trail so the musher must take the team. The trail is about 2.5 miles so may take up to half an hour.

We will jump into the truck as they leave the chute and will be stationed at various points along the way to ensure he can find our shelter. Camp will be lit up using our Head-lites collars so he can find it.

Once there, the veterinarians will do a thorough vet check of all the dogs while Allen is present and ask about any issues, offer advice and treatment as required, and organise for further checks and urine testing to be done throughout the 36 hour stop.

Moira will then take Allen back to the hotel to get a hot meal, shower then sleep. Aliy, Bridgett and Jeff stay with the dogs to undress them, massage muscles and feet, put their cozy fleece sleeping coats on and cover them all with fleece blankets ready for their first of many long naps here in Dawson. Jeff gets to stay with the team over night to see to their every need.

Waiting… refreshing… getting excited! We can’t wait to see those faces!

The YQ Facebook page is sure to have pictures and videos of the team’s arrival and I will get something us as soon as I am able. Remember also to keep checking our Instagram and Facebook pages as I have been posting pictures directly there.