SPK Dog Log

At 6:50am Aliy and team arrived into Sourdough checkpoint. Their run time over from The Point was 6 hours, 23 mins.

Remember how I said the order of arrival into a checkpoint does not necessarily dictate “who is winning” – (unless that checkpoint is the finish line), because of the different amounts of rest each team has taken. Here are my current calculations of the total runtime of the four that teams are into Sourdough at the time of writing. (Disclaimer, my calculations only, not official results)

We currently have no contact with the handler crew so no on-the-ground updates as yet so we’ll catch up with the happenings once they are back in cell range. We do know that all the dogs left The Point in the same running order as they left except Aliy swapped Sanka and Violet around therefore Violet is now running in swing with her sister Amber. The line-up is now Commando and Junior in lead, Violet and Amber in swing, followed by Sanka and Razz, Chevie and QT, Jefe and Perky, with Champ and Decaf in wheel.

After 5.5 hours of rest, the team left The Point Lodge checkpoint at 12:27am. Aliy has all 12 team mates with her.

The CB300 website says of this next leg: “From the Lake Louise checkpoint on the southern edge of the lake, the race trail crosses over Lake Louise itself for a distance of just over 3 miles to the lake’s eastern edge. The trail through this next section skirts or crosses over numerous lakes including Crosswind Lake (32 miles before Sourdough) and Fish Lake (19 miles before Sourdough) in a northeasterly direction before reaching the second checkpoint at Sourdough Campground on the banks of the Gulkana River. Total distance between the first and second checkpoint is ~ 55 miles.”

The temperature at the truck was reading -50F around that time so everyone is in for a frigid few hours. Sourdough checkpoint is a basic BLM campsite with no warm lodge or food to partake. There is usually no cell coverage either, meaning no trackers, so it is a tough one for handlers and volunteers. “Old School” still applies. The volunteer team there have been working hard this afternoon and will do so over night to keep the arctic oven tents warm for mushers, officials and handlers.

Once the team leaves the checkpoint the handlers don’t just jump in the truck and drive to the next checkpoint – their job just begins! Every team must have at least one handler and they are required to clean up the campsite before moving on. This involves gathering up all the left over equipment, food and trash from drop bags and returning it to the truck then raking and bagging up the straw the dogs slept in. I can tell you from many years of experience that is no fun at -50F. It’s not that much fun at -20F to be honest but less so at -50F. All the handler crews will be working tirelessly to support their musher this race.

Now that Aliy’s tracker is working we can employ our refresh-fingers again!

Aliy and team arrived into The Point Lodge checkpoint at 6:57pm local time. Their run time was 8 hours 33 mins. Big ups to the handler crew for being ready to roll as soon as they arrived, given that the didn’t know where they were on the GPS tracker.

The theme for this leg was: “Old School”. Karolyn, Ryan and Lisa had to go old school hander as Aliy’s tracker did not start working at all during the first leg so they had no idea where they were or when they would arrive. The crew just had to keep an eye out for them and be ready whenever they got there. Luckily, The Point Lodge has a good view out over the lake and they could see mushers coming so didn’t have to wait outside the entire time. There were a few other teams in the same boat but the officials will get the trackers working, or replace them so we can follow along for the remainder of the race. A reminder that, as with most things, the trackers don’t particularly like extreme cold so you might see some anomalies now and again.

Once the team arrived, Karolyn found them a great parking spot further away from Lodge and therefore away from the hustle and bustle that inevitably comes at the first checkpoint. The priority will be letting the dogs get a good rest and Aliy won’t mind walking a little extra distance to get water and get herself inside.

Aliy’s checkpoint routine is pretty well honed after so many years of racing. First priority was to get straw down for the dogs to start digging in for a rest, get booties off and get some quick calories into them by way of poultry skin and other fatty meat snacks. Aliy then took time to check feet and joints and tucked the dogs in under fleece blankets, then left them for a few hours to sleep. While they are sleeping, Aliy has started preparing a big meal for them to eat upon waking. She mixes high fat, high protein kibble with meat and skins and hot water. It is really really important to keep the athletes, canine and human, well hydrated as even though it is cold it is VERY DRY. The dogs will get their hydration from the water Aliy adds to the meal. She is also repacking her sled and changing runner plastics before coming inside herself to get something to eat, warm up and maybe try to catch some rest herself. Aliy will then head back out to the dogs 1-1.5 hours before leaving to feed the dogs, redress them and go!

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Here are some pics of the Lodge earlier in the day and you’ll see the great views it affords of the Lake.

More soon!

All teams are on the trail in the 2020 Copper Basin 300 and are headed towards Lake Louise on the first leg of the race. Aliy and her team, led out by Commando and Junior, ran out of the chute looking strong and are headed towards The Point Lodge – 75 miles away, Kudos to Karolyn and the handler crew for getting them out on-time – making the start line is sometimes one of the hardest parts of the race.

The weather is a main character in this story so we will be keeping a close eye on this over the weekend. Currently there is no wind so we are hoping that stays the case as wind chill combined with the frigidity makes for an unpleasant day.

The dogs are well protected for this weather. All dogs racing today have their natural Alaskan or Siberian Husky coat that has inherent cold insulation properties due to a thick soft under-layer protected with longer ‘guard hairs’ on the top to seal in the warmth. To supplement that and ensure they don’t burn more calories than they need to, all our dogs are wearing an insulated (puffy) jacket. Some are wearing T-shirts as an added layer under the jacket, generally those with a shorter natural coat or the lead dogs, and the boys are all wearing fox fur ruffs around their bellies to protect their personal areas from possible frost nip. It’s important to know each dog individually and know their needs in this situation (and, in fact, all situations).

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You’ll notice from the start video that Aliy is wearing her white wind block gear over all her other clothing. You know it’s cold when you see that.

Remember to keep an eye on the Trackleaders GPS tracker to stay up to date. Click on the heart icon next to your favourite musher’s name to highlight her on the map (you can choose more than one if you really want). Unfortunately, at time of writing a few of the trackers are not working as they should, Aliy’s included, but we expect they will be seen to at the first checkpoint if they don’t start pinging their signal before then.

The handler crew are currently fuelling up, both for the truck and their bellies, then will head out to The Point Lodge to enjoy the hospitality out there and wait for the teams to arrive. Good job team!!

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A couple of tips for following this race for those that haven’t heard me drone on about this before. All teams must take at least 18 hours of checkpoint rest during the race. Most of the top teams will take only 18 hours and because this can be spread over the checkpoints in any combination, but with one mandatory six-hour stop (plus differential) somewhere, it can be difficult to keep track of who is leading. ‘First into a checkpoint’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘first in the race’ because that team might have not have taken as much rest yet as those that arrive later. The answer to the question “who is winning?” is not so straightforward. The thing to look at overall is the total runtime of the teams – the cumulative time since the start. We will update you now and again on the top 10 or so teams and where they sit but you can play along at home by checking the CB300 website checkpoint times tabs and doing your own calculations.

Thanks Lisa for braving the cold to take these pics and video.

Okay… the dog truck is packed… except for dogs and humans.

LOTS of dog jackets, blankets, booties and human long underwear. We are ready for a chilly race.