SPK Dog Log

I.V. and Tatfish are doing just fine, thank you very much!

(Video from Pelly Crossing Checkpoint)

Ryne and her super R&Bs crossed the finish line in Pelly Crossing at 4.45pm. At the time of writing I’m unsure what position they came in as the official website has not updated that information yet.

Kipper, Spicy, Honda, L’il Debbie, Spoog, Sissy (right), Clyde, Nelson, Mismo, Outlaw, Felix and Pepe – you are all AWESOME! And so is Ryne – it takes something special to get a (mostly) yearling team through a race like this so congratulations Ryne! Kristina has worked hard handling for them, THANKS!

I’m sure they are enjoying a rest now before making the big drive back to Fairbanks.

Here is a link to a video of the dramatic finish last night of the YQ300!

Thanks to the Yukon quest official website!

Allen and the Black Team arrived into Dawson City at 3.09pm. Olivia and Quito led the team down the chute looking confident and happy to be at the front of the line. He is looking good; tired but good.

As you can see, he arrived with Scooter in the bag. She developed a bit of a sore shoulder late in the run so he gave her a ride for the last few miles – Allen said the trail was really soft leading into Dawson so he didn’t want to aggravate it by running her through the soft snow. Even after 451 miles and very, very few hours sleep he can still make a decision that puts the dogs first and keeps in mind the next 540 miles, pretty awesome huh?

Aliy mushed the team from the checkpoint over to the campsite and Ray has taken Allen to the hotel where we will feed him and put him to bed for a while.

This is where the handler crew step in and give the dogs 36 hours of TLC. Right now Aliy and Meghan will give them all a meal, a thorough rub-down then they will be left to sleep. We have a feed/massage/sleep/walk schedule mapped out for them and we will be working through that for the next day and a half. The veterinary team will do their mandatory checks on the team throughout that time and work with Allen and the crew to get everyone ready to go at 3.09am on Thursday morning.

Once Allen has rested I will talk to him more and give you some insights into the first half of the race. We are very happy to see them all safely into Dawson City!

The video is a bit wibbly-wobbly I’m sorry (you had one job Moira, one job!)

Ryne and nine R&Bs left Pelly Crossing at 7.33am, after just over seven hours rest, for the 60 mile loop to Scroggie Creek and back. We are unable to be in contact with Kristina (cellphone coverage issues) so at this stage cannot tell you which dogs were on the line as she left.

L-R Aliy, Ray, Meghan

We’ve set up the dog camp and we’re all waiting at the checkpoint (right) for the team to arrive; they could be soon, they could be a while.

As Allen’s tracker is still not working there is nothing we can do but wait… but we need to make sure we are here to greet him and the dogs.

The plan will be to see to him and the dogs first then I will post the video of their arrival as soon as possible.

Thanks for hanging in there!

Unfortunately, at time of writing Allen’s spot tracker hasn’t updated for nearly six hours so we are flying blind! We know he “blew through” Scroggie Creek dog drop at 11.47pm and still has the 12 dogs he left Pelly with. We are setting up the dog camp and trying to estimate what time we might be seeing them today. It will be tricky as the dog camp is over the Yukon River with no internet coverage so we can’t watch the jumping dog from there.

Aliy and Meghan arrived in Dawson in the wee small hours and are currently sleeping. I will talk with Aliy about the dramatic finish of her race and how she’s feeling later so keep an eye out for that. I’m sorry to disappoint you all but I do not have any video of the finish of the YQ300. I was in Dawson, with the camera, watching the internet for the result. I’ll see if I can get Meghan to describe what it was like to watch.

Ryne and the R&Bs pulled into Pelly Crossing at 2.18am and are resting before the final leg; we’re excited to hear more about them.