YQ: Black Team In Circle

Circle City checkpoint is the furtherest North we can support the team by dog truck. Once teams leave here we don’t see them again for a couple of days, after they’ve mushed 300 miles.

The checkpoint is the Circle City fire house. The famous fire truck is housed here and makes for a great sleeping spot. The walls are adorned with posters for each musher made by the local school students. It’s pretty cold up here – between -25-30F.

I was speaking with John this evening – he is part of the trail crew who rode the trail from Circle back to Central this morning. He said that the creek trail was beautiful today. There was no overflow and although there was plenty of snow making it perhaps a little slower than normal, there were no wet areas for the teams to negotiate. He also said there was loads of caribou out there today – they rode by a herd of around 50. That will certainly energise the dog teams if they catch sight or smell of them. He also said when he rode it he saw no sign of the forecast winds.

Allen and 14 super looking athletes arrived into Circle checkpoint in the early hours after an approx 13 hour total “run” time that included a four hour rest on the trail. He said the dogs are looking fantastic and made great time to get here. He was also happy that the creek had no overflow! He was in really good spirits and even called across the dog yard to us “who won the Super Bowl?”

Allen’s checkpoint routine at Circle started with him giving antacid to the dogs immediately he arrived at the campsite. Because he then had to wait half an hour before snacking the dogs he set about giving them straw, heating water for their meal and took their booties off. The meal for the dogs is meat, fat and kibble that soaks while they are sleeping. They get that, with a second type of kibble added add calories and crunch, an hour before leaving the checkpoint.

Five got completely covered in straw with only his head poking out. He looked quite content. When Allen was taking his booties off he just lay there and lifted his front leg straight up in the air ready for bootie removal. After half an hour they all got a few snacks of beef, chicken and/or poultry skins then settled down for a nap.

Joe Hardenbrook, chef from Hard Eats had made an amazing Thanksgiving meal with turkey and veges, fired chicken and buns. He remembered Allen doesn’t eat potatoes and that he likes fried chicken. I can see several turkeys thawing on the side ready for the crowds that will arrive later today because the YQ300 teams also come here before turning around and heading back to their finish line at Central. And the turkey soup and peanut butter rice crispy treats? YUM! Thanks also to the community of Circle who also donated home made goods for handlers and visitors.

There is an excellent drying rack for musher gear in the firehouse and a quiet room for them to sleep so it is a checkpoint I know Allen looks forward to after the frigid Birch Creek. He will sleep for a little while (I really do mean a little while, perhaps an hour?) before feeding and dressing the team and packing his sled ready to leave for their run to Slaven’s Roadhouse, Trout Creek and Eagle.

As soon as we say goodbye to the team and watch them run off into the distance we will clear the camp spot and quickly jump into the truck back to Two Rivers to get ready for the drive to Dawson (more on that later). I won’t be able to post again until we get back to the kennel so keep an eye on the Quest website and Facebook for updates.