SPK Dog Log

It’s 9.00pm Alaska Time.

Aliy and the Red Team left Rohn at 5.22pm and are currently sitting in second position. This early in the race and before anyone has taken their 24 hour mandatory rest it really is too early for that to mean anything too significant. It just means everyone is running their own race and her schedule happens to put her in the front two at this point in time. Basically, what I am saying is – there is still over 780 miles to go and anything can happen!

We watched an Iditarod Insider video of the team leaving Rainy Pass earlier this afternoon looking great. We saw Olivia getting a belly scratch as she was bootied and an adoring look on Clyde’s face as Aliy tended to him. The dogs all looked sleepy lounging in the sun until they were lined up ready to go and they were lunging on the line. It looks to us like she has moved Waylon back to run with Scruggs and Quito is running in single lead.

The run from Rohn to Nikolai includes “landmarks” such as the Buffalo Chutes and the Farewell Burn. The Buffalo Chutes are so named because a local herd of several hundred wild bison that wanders through the area and grazes in some of the small pothole marshes and lakes in the woods. The Burn was the site of one of Alaska’s largest forest fires, a million and a half acres in the summer of 1977. In this Anchorage Daily News article is a fantastic picture of Martin Buser’s team crossing the Farewell Burn – there is not a scrap of snow on the ground!

Allen and the Black Team are on their way to Rohn after a 4 hour 47 rest in the sun at Rainy Pass. Resting in the sun is great for the dogs because they can stretch out and really relax all their muscles. We haven’t seen any pictures or videos of the team yet, we hope to soon!

We’ve just watched a weather forecast and it calls for widespread persistent light snow tomorrow and overnight temperatures around -8F.

UPDATE: Scout is very happy. He’s just eaten a big dinner, had a walk around the nearby park and is now sleeping in a big straw bed in the truck. Thank you to all the volunteers who looked after him and to Dr Lee Morgan, a volunteer vet from Washington D.C. who is using up a week of his vacation time to be here and worked with Aliy and Scout in Skwentna.

Dana, one of the Iditarod Dog Dog Volunteers with Scout at the Millennium; Meghan and Scout

We have just picked up SCOUT from the Millennium Hotel where he was flown from Skwentna earlier this afternoon. We are very sorry to see him but happy that he is safe and well.

Scout is okay; he tweaked a tricep just before Skwentna checkpoint and he is still a little sore. The trail is hard and fast and, knowing Scout, he will have been trying so hard that he perhaps just overdid it a little and pulled a muscle – we probably all know what that feels like. He should recover just fine with some rest, massage and love – all of which he will get in abundance here!

Aliy will be so disappointed. He’s such a superstar and has had an outstanding season. He is a Yukon Quest, Copper Basin and Two Rivers Solstice champion this season and he really is one of the very best dogs. To lose him so early will be gut wrenching for her. Aliy will always put the well being of her dogs first so it was obviously the right call for Scout to be left behind.

Thanks for your patience as we confirmed this information. We could have speculated from photos but prefer to be absolutely certain, if possible, before we let you know.

Here is a quick video from the re-start in Willow yesterday. Don’t the teams look fantastic?

Its 8.00am Monday morning, Alaska Time.

Right now Aliy is on her way to Rainy Pass. The team ran to Yentna Station Roadhouse in 3 hours 38 minutes and went through, stopping only for a few minutes. Her run to Skwentna was just over three hours where they rested a little under four hours before heading to Finger Lake; next is Rainy Pass.

Allen and his team are on their way to Finger Lake. The standings show them having run through both Yentna and Skwentna checkpoints and the tracker indicates they rested four hours somewhere. I’ve not quite figured out the new tracker well enough to know where exactly they rested but it looks like they camped a little way out of Skwentna. This will, of course, be on purpose. You may know that both Aliy and Allen like to camp out on the trail, sometimes preferring it to the hustle and bustle of a checkpoint. With so many rookies and inexperienced dogs on Allen’s team he may have decided they would get better rest away from the other dogs, people, aeroplanes and snow machines that would be at the checkpoint.

Looking at average speeds and run times of the top few mushers the trail is as fast as was expected!

You will see from the current standings on the Iditarod website that Aliy dropped a dog at Skwentna. Please note that we currently have no way to know of sure who the dog is or why they have been dropped. The process now is that the dogs are flown back to Anchorage as soon as possible, they have a thorough veterinarian check then we are contacted and can pick them up. We will let you know as soon as we can! We are just as eager as you are to know.

Last year Mickey, Aliy’s Mom, wrote this fantastic post about dropped dogs and this year you may be aware the Iditarod put in place some new protocols for the handling and care of them; here is some information from Stu Nelson, the Iditarod Head Veterinarian.

After getting the teams on to the trail there is not much we can do but watch the tracker and leader board just like you… and, just like you we are having intermittent connection issues to the Iditarod website so we’ll do our best to get information to you as fast as we can… refresh, refresh, refresh.

In the meantime, here are a couple more pics from Jen Nelson from yesterday’s re-start.

Congratulations to NANCY AND GAIGE BOY who have won our bonus Iditarod themed Dog Fan Club Draw.

Nancy and Gaige are fans of PUD and win a copy of the 2013 Iditarod race documentary DVD along with some other goodies.

Before Aliy and Allen left this morning I got them to sign the cover for Nancy.

The next fan club draw is NEXT WEEK and the winner will receive an Iditarod “Dog Team Crossing” sign signed by Aliy and Allen and a 2014 Iditarod patch. The names of everyone who hasn’t already won and all new members will be in the draw.

Here’s Pud waiting to head down the trail this afternoon. He’s had a stellar year this year and we are so happy for him that he made the Red Team. Go Pud!

Click the button below for instructions on how to join:

Click this button below to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.

It was a beautiful day out at Willow Lake as the teams left us and headed down the trail to Nome. Denali was out, standing proud and majestically over proceedings.

Both teams got out safely and looking great. I have lots of pics and videos to edit and will post asap but thought you might like to see these first.

Aliy and the Red Team are on their way to Nome

Allen and the Black Team follow soon after

Having our two mushers just nine spots apart made for a very quick turnaround to get Aliy on the trail then run back to the truck to get Allen to the line. Here’s a quick shot of how we felt once they both got on the trail!

Meghan rode with Aliy for the Ceremonial Start yesterday and took the video camera with her.

I caught some video from the Allen’s tag sled!

It was so fun (and such an honour) to ride along and see the crowds of people in downtown Anchorage cheering on all the mushers. Some were barbecue-ing and partying, others politely clapping but all smiling and having a great time. The trail was really good and the city had done an awesome job shipping in snow for the parts of the trail on the city streets. Lots of volunteers lined the route making sure traffic was controlled and everyone was safe. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the Ceremonial Start happen.

What I didn’t capture was the bit where I wiped out in front of a large crowd as we did a sweeping left turn. Yes, I will admit that does top the list of embarrassing moments in my life! (Edit: yes, I’m fine – thank you for asking!)

Thirty two dogs will head down the trail with Aliy and Allen from Willow tomorrow afternoon.

Aliy’s Red team will be lead out by QUITO and WAYLON (below), followed by NACHO and BOONDOCKS in swing, OLIVIA and CHICA, SCRUGGS and SCOUT, CHEMO and WILLIE, CLYDE and PUD, MAC and SISSY with BISCUIT and SCHMOE in wheel. Click here to go to the team roster page to find out more about the team.

Allen’s Black team will be lead out by BEEMER and DINGLE (below), followed by VIPER and RAMBLER in swing, LESTER and SCOOTER, OUTLAW and BORIS, MISMO and FELIX, BONITA and IZZY, TUG and PUPPET with FANG and TATFISH in wheel.

Allen’s team has FIVE Iditarod rookies: Boris, Outlaw, Mismo, Felix and Izzy. Click here to go to the team roster page.

There are many great dogs that have been left behind and we want to give special thanks to the sponsors and fans of those dogs who haven’t made the final cut. Your dog has made a huge contribution all season and without him or her the others wouldn’t be able to do the things they do. They’ve been there on training runs, they’ve been the core of the “short-run” team (the team that runs shorter mileages so dogs coming back from injury can slot in to a team) or they pushed hard for a spot on the starting squad.

We realise you might be disappointed your dog isn’t heading to Nome this time but they are just as valued and special as the 32 on the trail and they are superstars too, they just might not get as much press! Wes, Wendy and Ryne will be looking after them back home at the kennel and they will be very well cared for!