SPK Dog Log

Just to add another thing to the “to do” list over the last couple of weeks, the Yukon Quest Drop Bags were due on Saturday, January 21st.

Volunteers sorting drop bags for Yukon Quest 1000 and 300 mushers

The whole team worked really hard between Copper Basin and Saturday to get the bags finalised with dog kibble, meat and fat snacks, human meals and snacks plus spare dog jackets and harnesses, booties for Africa*, kits to replenish vet supplies, and other important bits and pieces for dogs, humans and sleds.

We then took both sets of bags into town for the enthusiastic volunteers to swoop in and lift them off the trailer, sort into the different checkpoints and check off against our master list in no time flat. Thanks team. There was a concurrent event happening in Whitehorse for the mushers closer to that end of the trail.

The bags will then be transported throughout the trail by the logistics team and be at the checkpoints waiting for the mushers as they pull in.

*Edit – it has become clear that “booties for Africa” is not a common saying here. Perhaps I should explain… “booties for Africa” simply means a LOT of booties (enough for all of Africa because Africa is so big). Apologies to anyone who was offended or confused. Those kiwi-isms catch me out now and again – Moira

The Northern Lights 300 is on this weekend and, for the first time in kennel history, SP Kennel is fielding a team. Chris will be taking a very young Red and Black (R&B) Team on this adventure.

The race starts at Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake on FRIDAY* at 11am. The route is an “out and back” to the Finger Lake checkpoint, one of the Iditarod checkpoints. The route is Happy Trails Kennels (HTK) to Yentna Station (75 miles), Yentna Station to Talvista Lodge (45 miles), Talvista Lodge to loop up Skwentna River and back to Talvista Lodge (50 miles), Talvista Lodge to Yentna Station (45 miles), Yentna Station to HTK (75 miles).

There is a mandatory 6 hour layover (+ start differential) at Yentna #1 (outbound) and a mandatory 6 hour layover at Yentna #2 (inbound). An additional 6 hours of layovers must be completed prior to leaving Yentna Station inbound for a total of 18 hours.

From the race website: “The Northern Lights 300 Sled Dog Race (NL 300) is organized and managed by volunteers and is recognized by both Iditarod and Yukon Quest as a qualifying race. The race is designed to test mushers’ preparedness, endurance and skills in a remote, wilderness setting. The race assesses their ability to care for themselves and their dogs, and complete a challenging course in a competitive manner. The NL 300 relies on musher camaraderie, volunteerism, and excellence in dog care; promoting the sport of distance mushing in South Central Alaska.“

We’re very excited to add this race to his team’s resume!

To follow along we will be watching the race website and Facebook page.

We’ll post the race roster shortly – expect to see a lot of youngsters!

(*edit: originally said it started Saturday)

Lydia – I love this little dog. She’s smart, one of the smartest dogs in the yard for sure, with the most drive. But, in saying that sometimes she drives a little too hard and in this race she drove too hard down hill and tweaked her shoulder. She just needs some time off to rest. She loves to pass other teams, absolutely LOVES it!

Junior is her bigger sister and has almost as much drive as Lydia but with longer legs, so perhaps that makes up for it. Junior is more tentative passing other teams but she loves to fly and she sure set the pace on the second 50 mile leg and won us the race.

Photo Julien Schroder

Daisy ran in swing the first 50 but after dropping Lydia I thought: “what the heck, she’s my new leader” and obviously winning her first race in lead is a comment to her talents. She runs hard with her nose about quarter inch off the ground so I worry about her trying too hard but she did great.

Amber is finally stockier and has filled out, that’s made her a stronger dog which we are excited about. She also has learned a new gait which is basically ‘put your head down and trot with a lot of power’ and that’s probably from the Copper Basin. So, despite the fact she is a small dog, she really helped up all the hills in the 100 mile race.

Scooter! I just love saying her name, that’s probably why I wanted to bring her ;-). She was happy for 100 miles and for 7 years has really tried her hardest, and she did so again in this race. She’s just a fun dog to have on the team.

I love Spark, in this race I basically gave him some mental time off. He felt a lot of pressure in the Copper Basin as the quarter-back and in this race all he had to do was boogie down the trail. He did so with gumption and I was pleased to see him enjoy himself.

I ran Champ and Nomex together because 2 1/2 years ago they had a little quarrel so it entertains me to run them together now and see how well they get on. Nomex has really held together physically which is always my worry for him but he seems to have it figured out. He’s very sincere in what he does and he always needs you to know that he’s doing his best. So, I was always very vocally appreciative of his efforts on this race.

Champ loves himself – he doesn’t necessarily need the coddling but he’ll take it if you give it to him. He just has the perfect body to be the powerhouse that he is so its really fun to see that 2+2=4 with him because that doesn’t happen all the time in the real world. I think he really had a positive happy run especially because of how hard he ran in the Copper Basin.

Rodney – I’m amazed at the transformation that Rodney has gone through in one year. It was this race last year that young, loud, obnoxious Rodney got loose and ran around the sleeping area and no one could catch him. This year he’s a veteran racing dog who has won his first race. Very impressive.

Outlaw – I was worried about Outlaw after Copper Basin; turns out I didn’t need to be. He did enjoy the cooler temperatures and that dog sure can eat some snow but the 20 below night on the river he sure shined. He still can be one of our best dogs.

I was very impressed about Scooby, I have never raced him but he’s a hard worker eats like a fool and actually rested fairly well so it’s not too long until he’ll be on the main squad. Come to think of it, he won this race!

QT’s first race, first win! She had a few yearling mistakes where she jumped off the side of the trail to take a break when the team was still churning at 10 miles an hour. She didn’t rest well in between Rodney and Scooby, perhaps they were a bit intimating for a little brown dog but overall I’m so excited about the future of QT and her siblings.

Thanks Wes, Padee, Steve and Mark for your help over the weekend.

Congratulations to all the place getters, prizewinners and finishers in the Two Rivers 200 and 100!

Tonight was the finish banquet and prize giving at the Two Rivers Lodge and it was a fun evening where all the competitors got to catch up with each other and share trail stories.

Aliy was awarded the Veterinarian’s Choice award for the TR100 – thanks to Chena Ridge Veterinary Clinic for donating the prize and for being official vets for the race.

For taking first place, Aliy was also awarded a beautiful Qiviut (musk ox wool) hat made and donated by Nicolle Hendrix – who also happens to be dog sponsor to our Chevie! Thanks Nicolle, it is a truly gorgeous piece.

Special thanks also to all the sponsors of the race and to the checkpoint hosts Chatanika Lodge, Two Rivers Lodge, Pleasant Valley Store and Angel Creek Lodge. If you are ever in the area make sure you stop by any or all of these local businesses.

The race could not have happened without the Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association, especially President Stacy, Trail Boss Abbey, Race Marshall Sebastian and Race Judge Darren. Thanks also to the many many volunteers who made the staging of the race possible.

Waylon doesn’t look like much but he is tough, intelligent, strong and dedicated. Losing a toe over the summer didn’t even slow him down and he was still barking to go at the last checkpoint.

Quito is the best dog in the world even at 10 1/2 years old, it is always a pleasure to be around her and run with her.

Violet is sweet, cuddly, fast and relentless. I haven’t been able to work with her nearly enough this year because Aliy and Allen are always running her.

At the start line – do you think Sandy is ready?

Don’t let Sandy’s looks fool you. She is a great little dog about half the size of her bothers Driver and Woody but doesn’t lack anything in strength drive and speed. (I was going to correct that typo but it seems fitting to keep it as it is – Moira)

Woody is still my boy. He came up with a bit of a sore paw so I dropped him off with Wes at the Two Rivers Lodge just because I didn’t want it to get any worse. He is still excited and I hope he joins me on many future runs.

Willie hasn’t had much a chance to run this year but I was really happy to have him on my team. He was still happy and wagging his tail when we got the finish line and could have done another 100 miles.

Bruno is STRONG! He amazed me this race because he never once felt sorry for himself or thought about slowing down. He still has to learn how to poop on the run but that will come with time.

Barista is a hard driving little dog. Since the time she was a puppy she has been a little bulldozer always running off into he deep snow and pushing so fast that her brothers and sisters couldn’t even catch up with her.

McCaw is turning into an impressive dog. He’s one of the biggest dogs in the yard and has strength to match. And although right now he as some problems keeping his mind on the trail and the task at hand, he was very important asset in this team.

Creamer was behind on miles because of an issue earlier in the year so I planned before the race even started to drop her at the Two Rivers Lodge. But, when we got there she was still strong and happy and wanted to continue. I wanted to make it a positive experience for her so I dropped her off anyways but I believe she could have finished the race with me and down well the whole time.

Decaf and Perky – these two brothers have an unbelievable amount of energy. They’re loud, excited and they drive really hard. Perky is a little more focussed when we are running but they both have a lot of potential and power.

Let’s just dip back into the Copper Basin 300 for a minute as Chris gives his dog by dog wrap up of their race.

Photo Julien Schroder – Arctic-mood.com

Scout led the charge for most of the race. He’s nine years old but he hasn’t let anything slow him down. He is smart, strong, dedicated and always ready to go.

Woody led for a good portion of the race; he is very strong, very motivated. I have a really close relationship with him after working on the glacier and he definitely held up his end as my number one dog.

Tried and true Olivia rotated through lead also. She hasn’t let three litters of puppies slow her down one little bit. (Photo left: Katie Hope)

Scruggs is the toughest dog I know. He was a really important part of the front end of my team, motivating all the younger dogs as we marched through deep punchy snow.

Chena’s my girl! Whenever we aren’t moving she looks contemplative, morose and not really all that excited but as soon as we start moving she gets a big smile on her face and doesn’t let up. She also rotated through lead.

Out of the starting chute

I was so excited to have Nelson as a last minute addition to my team after Aliy took Scooter for her team. He has so much energy and experience and just loves to run.

Five made a really strong showing in his first major race. He was always looking at me wondering if we were going to keep going and I would always tell him ‘yes’ so he would put his head down and he would pull up the next hill.

If there is one word to describe Ginger (right) it is smooth. She has such an effortless gait and is always tight on the tugline no matter what.

Ernie ran wheel for the entire race which is not an easy position but he did an amazing job. While he isn’t as big as his brothers he definitely makes up for it with strength and enthusiasm.

Outlaw was my other wheel dog and he was impressive. He pulled his heart out the entire race; didn’t even think about letting the line go slack. I don’t think I could have made it as far as I could without him.

Out of Meiers Lake Lodge checkpoint

Hotshot has improved by leaps and bounds this season. He is incredibly strong and while he is not the fastest dog he is always ready to pull up a hill, get me out of a rut or put his head down and keep driving forward.

Cayenne kept trying even when she got in over her head. She made it to the third checkpoint and although she wasn’t always pulling she never dragged the team down or thought about quitting.

This race was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done and scratching was even harder than running the 220 miles beforehand. The trail was incredibly difficult and some of my younger dogs were working harder than they have ever had to work before and I finally decided that it would be better for them to end early than try to drag them to the finish line.

Thanks Wes for being a great handler and to all the volunteers and organizers who helped make the race a reality.

Ruth and the Red and Black 200 Team scratched from the Two Rivers 200 earlier this morning.

Allen and Aliy went to pick them up not far from where our teams camp during training runs. I’m not certain of all the details at this point but I know everyone is okay. As I understand it, Ruth felt that continuing on the final 30 miles would turn the fun and positive experience they’d had up until that point into a negative one especially for the youngsters. She officially scratched at Angel Creek Lodge checkpoint (the last checkpoint she was at).

We’ll get all the dogs and Ruth home, get another meal into them (Ruth will have given them a good meal at her camp spot) and get everyone to their beds.

Ruth and seven of her Red and Black Team mates left Angel Creek Lodge checkpoint around 7.30pm on the final leg of the Two Rivers 200. They are heading towards the Pleasant Valley Store to finish sometime early Sunday morning. She and the team were excited to hit the trail again and are in good spirits.

It is likely she will stop the team to camp/rest along the way. The final leg is around 60 miles and Ruth’s main goal for the race was to get as many of the team to the finish line having had as positive experience as possible. Stopping to rest in the last leg will make it so.

She started the race with just nine team mates and left Five with Padee at the Pleasant Valley Store checkpoint, he was just a bit too tired to continue as he’s worked so hard through the hills of the first leg. Chemo did the final leg of the race in the truck, he’s a little sore after his big week and didn’t need to continue the race.

We’ll update when we can in the morning.