SPK Dog Log

Its 8:15pm Yukon Time.

After climbing King Solomon’s Dome immediately after leaving Dawson, Allen and his team set up camp around 55 miles later at Indian River for about three hours. They will have been ready for a rest after climbing to the highest point on the Quest trail.

They then continued on to Scroggie Creek Dog Drop on the Stewart River and joined Cody and his team who arrived a couple of hours earlier. Volunteers and vets would have welcomed them warmly. A Dog Drop stop is somewhere Allen can get inside if he needs to to dry gear and get a hot meal and also consult with the vet crew if necessary.

They’ll stay there for a few hours before climbing up through the Black Hills, described as ‘a series of rolling knolls’. Scroggie is 69 miles from Stepping Stone Hospitality Stop and another 36 miles on to Pelly Crossing. It will be a while before the handler crew will see them again and be able to hear stories about the trail.

Speaking of the handler crew – Aliy and Bridgett (and Ziptie) will spend one more night in Dawson City enjoying sleeping in a bed, eating some good food and enjoying the company of Dawson’s locals, other mushers and handler crews, and race fans.

This morning they broke down dog camp and loaded everything back into Hollywood (truck). Thanks to Ingabritt and Stephen – long time kennel supporters – for their help. It always seems so much harder breaking it down and fitting it all back in.

This extra night in Dawson also affords the crew some time to look around. Aliy sent through this cool pic of the RCMP building. They are very generous to open up their garage for teams to use.

Goodnight for now – see you back here in the morning!

It’s 1.30am Yukon time. It’s just below 0F (Updated 2am with pics and video from crew)

Allen and ALL 14 OF HIS TEAM MATES – Spark and Five in lead, Amber and Dutch in swing, Chipper and Commando, Bruno and Jefe, Perky and Rodney, Scooby and Clyde, Decaf and Violet in wheel – left Dawson city headed for the next checkpoint in the village of Pelly Crossing, 201 miles away.

We are really delighted and proud that all 14 are fit and ready to go with Allen, showing his exceptional dog care skills for the first 500 miles combined with Aliy and Bridgett’s ‘Princess Cruise for Canine Athletes’ for 36 hours paid off.

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Aliy went over to dog camp at about 7.30pm to slowly and quietly prepare the dogs while Bridgett stayed with Allen while he sorted out his personal clothing and equipment back at the hotel before heading over to camp for the final time at about 10.30pm. Once there he packed his sled while A&B dressed the dogs.

Allen said he was feeling great and was ready to tackle the last half of this race. He slept well, ate well and was able to relax knowing the dogs were in the best handler hands.

By obsessively watching and refreshing the zoomed in tracker, I could see that they had made their way from camp to the start point with plenty of time to spare. But then the tracker didn’t update for AGES so when it did it jumped right out of my zoomed screen. What the heck? They followed along the river for a short while out of town then exited onto Bonanza Creek Road to climb and climb.

This next section of trail includes a climb up the highest point on the Yukon Quest – King Solomon’s Dome, just outside of Dawson. I’ve seen varying measures from 3,800-4,002 feet – either way, it’s quite a climb! Back in 2015 Allen took video of his team climbing the dome – they were travelling in the other direction from Pelly to Dawson in this video but I have a feeling this is the only video Allen’s ever taken during a race so I thought I’d include it here. He will be travelling it in the dark tonight so will miss this view.

Check out this page that I stumbled upon while googling “how big is King Solomon’s Dome?” Don’t worry, it’s not a risky click – it will take you to a Yukon Quest page “Where to Watch the Race“. I had never noticed this page before so I’m sharing with you in case you haven’t either. Some really interesting information.

Time to get those refresh fingers back into gear – 460 miles to go.

It’s 5.00pm Yukon Time. Eight hours until the team is back on the trail.

When we work out the schedule for Dawson we work backwards from the time they have to leave then slot in the meals, vet checks, walks and sleep. For the last 28 hours Aliy and Bridgett have been working to that strict schedule to ensure the dogs (and musher) are in tip top shape to continue down the trail.

Here’s a voice update from Aliy

Thanks to Ed Hopkins with his help with fixing Allen’s sled!

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The crew takes the dogs out walking several times during the 36 hours, not just to complete their ablutions but also to stretch out limbs and shake off sleep. Bridgett took Chipper and Bruno out for a walkabout – can you say “Sassy”? She is ready to get back on the trail!

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And, here’s footage of the community howl Aliy mentioned in her update:

Mushers had a trail update from Ranger Sgt. John Mitchell, exercise coordinator of the four patrols of Canadian Rangers responsible for establishing and monitoring trail on the Canadian side. As per the Quest website he said the trail is in excellent shape this year, with above average snow coverage, few instances of overflow, very little jumble ice, and no major detours or reroutes. Mushers were cautioned to be aware of potential wildlife encounters, as Ranger patrols have reported significant moose activity in several areas on the way from Dawson to Pelly. For a reminder about overflow and jumble ice read Jodi Bailey’s (who was last year’s Armchair Musher) article that gives you more detail.

About 2.5-3 hours before departure the preparations will start. Allen will pack his sled for the remaining 460-odd miles, including for the 210 mile unsupported run to Pelly Crossing. Unsupported means he cannot resupply so needs to take all the food, straw and equipment he will need to take care of himself and his team. Allen goes into a concentrated ‘zone’ at this point running the trail through his mind to ensure he doesn’t forget anything critical. There are two ‘manned’ stops along the way – Scroggie Creek Dog Drop and Stepping Stone Hospitality Step, but handlers are not able to be there.

The dogs will get a final watery, meaty, calorific meal before getting dressed and ready for their trip.

Once the team gets on the trail Aliy and Bridgett will do a quick tidy up of camp but are likely to leave break-down until daylight. By truck miles they only have to travel 155 miles (or, now they are in Canada – 250km).

More soon.

It’s 10pm Yukon Time (PST).

The Team has been in Dawson for nine hours and for the most part, they have been sleeping. Both human and canine.

After arriving into the chute you might have seen the video where both Aliy and Allen took the sled over to camp while Bridgett drove Hollywood over the river.

Once there a huge, meaty calorific meal was ready for the dogs which they all ate hungrily. They also had more snacks to fill their bellies ready for their first long Dawson sleep. Each dog was stripped of their booties, leggings, harnesses and jackets and put into fresh, warm fleece lined sleeping jackets and a fleece blanket to curl up under.

The vet crew came by for the mandatory vet check and evidently they were surprised at the weight the big lads Rodney, Clyde, Five, Bruno and Jefe were carrying. They dogs are all in good shape, those boys’ shape is just a little porky!

Each dog got a massage that sent them off to sleep. They’ll be up again in a few hours for another huge meal – the name of the game in Dawson is sleep and eat, sleep and eat, sleep and eat.

The crew then split up as Aliy stayed with the dogs, Bridgett took Allen back to the hotel and settled him in for his first long Dawson sleep.

Did Cody really say cattywampus? I had to look that up, I have never heard that word before in my life! (Sorry about sound quality, website refused to upload Bridgett’s version so I had to do a workaround)

Bridgett then took the sled and dog gear to the RCMP garage shop that they very generously open up to Quest mushers to dry their gear and fix equipment. I’m sure the hotel managers are pretty pleased about that also!

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It’s dark there now and all is quiet. For now

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We’ll bring you more from Dawson tomorrow.

The 36 hour clock has started. At 11.55am AK Time (12.55pm Yukon Time) Allen and his 14 mates arrived enthusiastically in to Dawson City in 4th position.

The team line up was Spark and Jefe in lead, Chipper and Dutch in swing, Commando and Amber, Rodney and Five, Bruno and Perky, Clyde and Scooby with Violet and Decaf in wheel. He’s mixing his lead dogs around a bit to liven up things for them. Jefe’s surprise promotion to lead dog in last month’s Copper Basin 300 obviously gave him a taste for it.

Allen said he had found the going slow due to fresh snow and headwinds but was pleased with how the team performed.

Thanks to the Pixie and team from YQ for live streaming their arrival! I managed to grab a few screen shots to share.

They arrived from the North and popped up onto Front Street to pass under the banner and officially check in. Aliy then took over the team (including Allen on the back of the sled) and mushed them back over the river to the camp spot. Bridgett drove over in the truck to greet them.

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They will be occupied for a few hours tending to the dogs and Allen so we’ll be patient and wait to hear from them (that sentence was more for me than anyone else!)

More soon!

It’s 11.30pm AK time (12.30am Yukon Time)

Here’s today’s audio wrap from Aliy.

Allen and his 14 friends are at Clinton Creek hospitality stop, no doubt enjoying Sandy and Earl’s caring and welcoming generosity. They arrived in third position, just a few minutes ago at around 11pm. Allen appears to be breaking the run from Eagle to Dawson into three legs (I originally had “Allen IS breaking the run” but it’s the Yukon Quest and anything can happen so I have the more vague “appears to be“). He stopped the team to rest roughly 50 miles from Clinton Creek for about 2.5-3 hours before continuing down the trail. They will rest there for a few hours (three? four? five? I don’t know) before the final leg into Dawson – 56 miles up the Yukon River.

Handler Number One and Handler Number Two (Bridgett and Aliy) set up camp today and sent through some ‘before’ pics and ‘after’ video. The dog camp is over the river in West Dawson. An ice bridge is constructed from main town over to West Dawson, which can be pretty freaky the first time you drive over it – you are literally driving over a river.

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Some of you guessed right! Their mystery Handler Number Three looks to have been essential in camp set up. Once dog teams start arriving to camp she won’t be allowed there so has spent a bit of time checking it out today.

The camp spot is fairly close to the road entry point and is on the north non-river side of the main bisecting road. Neighbours are the Squids Cody and Paige and the vet shack is close by. Firewood for the log burner and fuel for the cookers is also in easy distance.

For those not familiar with what happens in Dawson – it is unlike any other checkpoint on this race, or indeed any race SPK runs in. Handlers are completely hands-on for 36 hours and can take care of every aspect of dog and musher care. Aliy and Bridgett will rotate around and work together on a schedule to feed, walk, massage and love on the dogs. They can also help Allen with his sled and make any repairs that are needed plus dry out dog coats, harnesses and musher clothes. Here Allen can also add to his own equipment from the truck without penalty. It’s pretty unique and is one of the things that makes the Yukon Quest extraordinary.

Handlers are important people as Andy Pace will tell you in his latest Armchair Musher piece.

I understand the Yukon Quest visual content team will be live broadcasting teams’ arrivals into Dawson via Facebook (**temperature and cell coverage permitting – a common disclaimer for this race) so make sure to catch that. If you can’t, the video should stay up on their page to view later.

It’s 8.30am AK time (9.30am YK time)

Allen and still 14 team mates are on top of the world. Literally. They are currently travelling the Taylor Highway which, later on closer to Dawson, becomes known as the ‘Top of the World’ highway. They have just climbed American Summit – the trail notes describe it as “17 miles of gradual climbing” from 364 feet in Eagle up to about 3550 feet to the summit. Check out the contour lines in the screen shot right before the highest point – just how many and how close they are! I’m not that sure ‘gradual climb’ is the right description.

Allen said upon leaving that he’s looking forward to seeing the next stretch of trail, which he often traverses at night, during the daylight.

They left Eagle checkpoint at 5:54am after five and a half hours rest. (Thanks Becky for pointing out I said everyone had a six hour mandatory stop in Eagle, in fact it was only four. Sorry to give anyone anxiety!)

Once over the summit they will descending down towards the Clinton Creek hospitality stop at Forth Mile at Sandy and Earl’s cabin. This is one place Allen talks of frequently – how incredibly kind Sandy and Earl are to mushers and teams by opening up their home.

Another feature of this run is the teams cross the border into the Yukon. Border guards are not stationed there, it has only a symbolic display of flags. Mushers need to present their passports on arrival into Dawson for customs and immigration formalities to be completed.

It’s 150 miles between Eagle and Dawson so will be a while yet before Aliy and Bridgett lay eyes and hands on the team. The Quest sends members of the visual content team out to Eagle so we look forward to catching a glimpse of them in photo form hopefully in the meantime – keep an eye on their Facebook page where they will be published first.

Dog camp is being constructed as I write this and we’ll show you round a little later.