And Mystery Dog Number 5?
DINGLE!
Sponsored by Alice Van Dorn
Congratulations to RJL for being the first correct guess! Send us an email at SPKDogLog@gmail.com with your t-shirt size, color preference (Red or Black), and address, and you’ll be sporting SPK gear in no time!
A bit about Dingle:
When Dingle was only two, Allen decided he was the one to lead the team to Nome. Ever since then, Dingle has been a main 1000-mile lead dog (I say 1000-mile because he is not known for his speed). Last year, Dingle led the Black Team through all the hazards of the Yukon Quest and into the Iditarod. Not only does Dingle have ChaCha’s leading capabilities, but his siblings Pud and Kipper are leaders as well.
Check back in on Monday, January 9th for the next Mystery Dog!
Guess That SPK Dog Week 5!
Since each dog at the kennel has their own personality and history, we thought it’d be fun to see how well the SPK followers know the athletes. Every other Monday, we’ll post “Guess that SPK Dog” at 1:00 PM EST, and the first correct answer posted in the website comment box wins a SP Kennel t-shirt! Limited one shirt per person.
(The answer and winners will be posted on Thursday instead of tomorrow. I apologize for the delay, but we’re escaping the cold interior for the warmer Denali Highway. The next couple nights, we’ll be away training and staying at Maclaren River Lodge!)
Game #5 Dog Clues
1. I’ve been Allen’s main 1000-mile lead dog since I was two.
2. Bridgett wanted to name me Silver.
3. All my siblings are leaders.
Who am I?
Merry Christmas!
From our house to yours…….
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Enjoy the friends, family and loved ones who make life so special.
All our best,
Aliy & Allen
Wes and Wendy’s Weather Five
It’s great weather for the mushers right now, but the current 20 degrees might be a bit warm for the dogs. Fortunately for them, there’s a lot of fresh snow available for dipping. We have a chance of snow every day for the next 7 days and this should ensure that the trails are great for the next month of training. But, temperatures will start to fall this weekend and could get as low as -40 again; a sharp reminder that we are officially into winter.
We are back in Two Rivers after an exciting weekend at the Sheep Mountain 150, which turned out to be a real glove biter. We are straight back into dog training with the Sheep Mountain dogs getting a gentle stretch out, and the ones that stayed behind picking up their regular training schedules.
Allen and Wes keep the Red Team lined out in Eureka
Sheep Mountain was Wendy and my first ever dog race. It gave us the chance to observe the logistics of race preparation, transporting two teams across the state, and what handlers can do to ensure a smoother race for the mushers. We watched and learned from Allen and got a good idea of what we need to do to support our three teams in the upcoming Copper Basin 300.
One of the key things that we learned was how tiring and sleepless it was to do absolutely nothing. The rules of the Sheep Mountain 150 permitted handlers to do nothing but pass on useful information to the musher and keep an eye on the dogs while the musher rested. Keeping an eye on dogs involved ensuring that dogs didn’t chew any lines, get pregnant, or get involved in altercations.
With this race, it was the threat of dog altercations that ended up being the biggest risk. Aliy’s team’s designated resting spot was very close to the Eureka checkpoint entrance. Aliy was the first racer in from leg two, and therefore immediately fed and bedded her dogs. They soon tried to sleep. But, since the dogs were so close to the checkpoint entrance, incoming dog teams would run in and turn a corner while the musher slammed on their brake to converse with the checker. These dogs, having been stopped and hearing no instruction from their musher, sometimes assumed that they had taken the wrong trail and would start moving, trying to find the right trail. On more than one occasion, dogs meandered over Aliy’s sleeping team. Fortunately none of these encounters ended badly. However, with 45 teams coming in, it didn’t take Wendy or I long to figure out that whenever we saw a headlamp coming in, one of us needed to stand near the sleeping dogs to make sure that the incoming dog teams did not wander into our team.
When there were no SP Kennel teams at a checkpoint, we were busy trying to update the Dog Log and Facebook page. Many of you may have noticed this didn’t always go as planned. However, we hope that you felt relatively up to date.
Sitting back in Sheep Mountain Lodge waiting for the winner to cross the finish line was nerve-wracking. We knew that Aliy had started with a 15 minute lead but there was a blizzard going on and finding the trail might be a challenge for her. We also knew that Jeff King was the only musher from the back of the pack to post a 5hr run time on a deteriorated trail and this indicated a very strong team. His support team indicated that he was also racing with a broken runner. Two mushers coming into view at the same time provided a lot of excitement at the finish line. In the end, it was Jeff King balancing on a single runner that crossed the line first and barely had time to exit before Aliy crossed.
Emotions were high for Wendy and I as we followed the various stages of the race. At the end of leg one, both SP Kennel teams had the fastest run times. We arrived in Alaska knowing nearly nothing about mushing or dog care yet Allen, Aliy and Ryne took the time to train us and had enough confidence in our progress to include us in all dog training activities. This included many fantastic hours on a sled and countless much less fantastic hours on a 4-wheeler freezing our toes off. It was very satisfying and nearly overwhelming to see a dog team that we had spent so much time working with engaged in such a brave push for a first place finish. We are so proud of these dogs and every one of them is special; we even get to take one home at the end of each day to warm our frozen toes.
SP Kennel Handlers at Sheep Mountain 150
We can’t wait for the Copper Basin 300, on January 14. It feels like so far away. Yet, there is a lot to be done before the race. The dogs will have their training schedules adjusted for this race and there are a lot more miles to run. Drop bags will have to be prepared and race equipment fine tuned. The time is really going to fly and it will be here before we know it.
Sheep Mountain Video
Sheep Mountain 150 Aliy Comments
We had a successful weekend at the Sheep Mountain 150.
However, the newspaper and website reports were not exactly correct. But, that is understandable. Any sled dog race held in rural Alaska has its communication limitations: often times there is no cell phone service and very limited internet access. But, the end result – that I took second place to Jeff King, is correct.
The SP Kennel Red team “rolled” from the start of the race. They were GREAT! Quito in lead, partnering with either Scout or Butterscotch, created super energy for the entire race.
The first two 50 mile legs were not completely flawless – I did have to turn the team around once – but all in all, we had a great first 100 miles.
During the last 50 mile leg the team was again nearly flawless despite the blizzard conditions that came in Saturday morning. The wind and snow created awesome drifts and blowing snow. I had to keep a keen eye on the sled’s main tow line and every dog’s harness because we were breaking through snow drifts as deep as Boondocks and in these type of conditions, it is easy to get a line or harness tangle. We were completely focused and driven this last 50 mile leg. I was pretty happy with the run …. until I saw a broken down snow machine and the driver walking down the trail about 9 miles from the finish.
It was the Race trail breaker. I stopped to ask if he was okay. He was. I couldn’t offer him a ride because at this point, the trail that had been so consistent, stopped where his machine had stopped. He told me that there was one other Race trail breaker snow machine a few miles ahead of us. He said that he was doing his best to find the trail, but the blizzard had pretty much erased all of the existing Race trail.
So, from here it became obvious that my dog team was now the trail breaker. All I can say is: I sincerely appreciate what snow machines do to establish our dog trails. We could not have a race with out them.
My dog team then began to wallow in neck deep snow. We followed the scout trail breaker’s freshly laid trail which often had no bottom as it got lost in willow bushes and through ravines. At times I could see a faint outline of the old hard packed trail, but I couldn’t get Quito to switch trails. I don’t blame her, it wasn’t an obvious trail! So, we got tangled in bushes, flipped the sled in ravines and crept along. I had to get to the front of the team to untangle a dog from a bush and literally crawled through snow that was over my hips. I will tell you, the dogs and I did our best.
I looked back periodically (as I did the entire race) and knew that someone would be catching me. And soon, I saw Jeff’s team at a distance behind me. At one point, I thought that I should just stop my team and have him pass me so that he could break trail. But, that’s not in my nature, so we plugged away until he caught up. He legitimately passed us.
I think it surprised him at first that there was no trail. His team struggled just as mine had in the bottomless snow, but they are a nice group of dogs and trudged along. To his advantage, the trail soon went down hill and connected to the old highway where the trail got better for the most part. We were still several miles from the finish.
We both raced hard to the finish. Jeff is a true competitor. At one point I almost caught him, but my team simply could not over take his squad in the end. Our teams traveled exactly the same speed. We crossed the finish line 20 seconds apart.
We spoke later and Jeff said “I would have let you pass me if you got close enough.” All I could say was, “I knew that…. and trust me, I tried my hardest.”
So, thanks Zack and Anjanette for a thrilling SM150. I look forward to seeing Jeff on another race this season.
Teams Heading Home
This is Aliy’s Mom, Mickey, checking in from South Florida.
I received a phone call from Aliy today at about 10 AM Alaska Standard Time. She and the SP crew were driving north towards Two Rivers. They had spent the night at the Sheep Mountain Lodge after the Sheep Mountain 150 Race and post race festivities. She reported that all humans and dogs are healthy and eager to get home.
Most of you have checked the final Sheep Mountain 150 standings and know that Aliy finished second with all 12 dogs. Ryne finished 11th with 11 dogs. They will update you on the last half of the race when they get home and get the dogs and equipment unloaded.
There is an article in yesterday’s Anchorage Daily News about the race finish. You can access it at www.adn.com/2011/12/18/2224293/zirkle-breaks-trail-to-finish.html