We have nearly 24 hour daylight this time of year. The gorgeous skies are nothing short of spectacular.
Our weather has been varied with torrential rain showers and bright blue sunny skies. The dogs are either sun bathing or hiding from a nature’s bathe. The normal Alaska wildfire season has not escaped us yet either. There is a large wildfire burning to the south of Two Rivers near the town of Delta. We have luckily only had limited smoke in the air thus far. Fingers crossed.
This is a musher’s view looking back up the trail after the team crested Rainy Pass summit.
This video starts as the team begins a long, sometimes steep descent down from the summit. As you see, high up in the mountains there is very little vegetation. The brown coloration high up on the mountain slopes is where all the snow cover has been blown away. Massive wind storms come through these mountains and scour the Earth.
After this video sequence, the smooth descent soon gives way to the most technical portion of the Iditarod trail. It winds up, over, around and across a small creek – that is often flowing. There are tunnels made from willow bushes, steep sidehills created by ice and windblown snow and exposed mountainous gravel. Soon after that, the small creek becomes a river and the ride gets WILD! Hang on because you are in Dalzell Gorge. Aliy did not take a video of the gorge run in 2019 but she did manage to video the ride in 2016. Here is the video link to that wild ride.
Bill and Wu are 9 months old and still love to play. But doesn’t everyone… really?
The small field to the west of the kennel is a nice spot to let a couple of the dogs run around and burn off energy. The only traffic we might see is a local red fox, a snowshoe hare (or 10 of them), the nesting pair of sandhill cranes that often fly over and occasionally our human neighbors – who live over the ridge and across the field. Other than that, our dogs have a lot of freedom to run around and tear up the turf.
Here is a short video I just took – two playful puppies, their Auntie Tig (she babysits every pup born at SPK) and their mama Junior. Mama likes to play with them, but prefers to deal with the one-on-one. Two 9 months old rambunctious huskys can be a bit much.
This field has changed over the years but we are all intimately familiar with it, dogs and humans. When we raise puppies, their first outdoor explorations are always in this field. This is also the field that we cross as soon as we pull the snow hook and leave SP Kennel on each and every mushing adventure. The handler cabin overlooks this field. And truth be told, this is the field that Allen and I were married in almost 15 years ago. Whew!
Thank you so much for your contributions to my adventure, we can’t tell you how much we appreciate your generosity. Your ‘travel gifts’ were sent out from Two Rivers post office yesterday and international parcels go out today from Fairbanks.
Anyhow, I thought I should update you on what’s been happening. Back in April I had to have a rabies booster vaccination. New Zealand doesn’t have rabies and although I don’t either they just need to be certain I’m not carrying anything. To be sure, this week I also had to have a ‘titre test’ to check the level of rabies antibodies in my system and give the customs agents proof I am rabies free! Yay!
At the same time as my titre test I had a kennel cough booster vaccination and also a flu jab, just like you all do (the flu jab, not the kennel cough haha). The flu vac is actually only the first jab of two. Boo hoo. Everyone at North Pole Vet was very nice to me – especially Ali the Vet Tech – she even gave me several cookies afterwards. While at the Hospital I met a shaggy, funny-looking dog named Bubbles, two Sharpei puppies, a white standard poodle, two Labrador retrievers and a teeny tiny Boston terrier puppy. Only Bubbles and the poodle wanted to play.
You’ll be pleased to know that I’m also booked into my quarantine kennel in Auckland. I must stay there for 10 days once I arrive on NZ soil before Moira can pick me up. It’s kind of ‘no man’s land’ where I am neither in Alaska or NZ proper yet.
My next tests and vaccinations aren’t for a little while but they will include parasite treatments (fleas, worms etc), tests for Leptospirosis, Babesia gibsoni and Brucella canis – whatever the heck they are!
I could still use some help with my fund raising – I am nearly half way there – so if you are keen to help out please click here or go to the ‘travel fund’ tab at the top of the page. Every little bit helps.
Aliy took many short videos during her ten days on the Iditarod trail this year. We have complied them into short episodes that will be posted.
The term “Rainy Pass” is used in two ways. Rainy Pass is the name of the checkpoint that is located at Rainy Pass Lodge. Many teams will stop and resupply here. It has also become a very popular location for race fans to watch the action and really feel like they are in the middle of the Iditarod. It can be one of the most stunning and gorgeous spots of the trail. It is surrounded by incredible mountains and people who witness a dog team traveling through the heart of the Alaska Range say it is unbelievable to watch the human/dog commitment.
Rainy Pass is also, literally, the mountain pass that the dog teams must climb over and pass through in order to get north of the Alaska range. From there, teams can then continue north and west. This is the second video in a series of three from in and around Rainy Pass.
Traveling up to Rainy Pass is always phenomenal. In 2019, the scenery was no less stunning. The sun was in the sky to the southwest. The sky was gorgeous, the hillsides were white and the team was determined. The team composition was: Commando & Amber (in lead), Dutch & Mismo, Five & QT, Nomex & Spark, Driver & Rodney (no booties), Bruno & Jefe and Violet & Decaf.
In this video the team is always climbing towards the pass even as they cross over dips and go around corners. They are actually traveling at a rather fast speed – perhaps 9 or 10mph – for heading uphill. Rodney was running barefoot in this video. Aliy talks about him being hot in the warm afternoon temperatures. Because of this, she left his booties off. Dogs do sweat through their pads and on occasion, in warm temperatures, Aliy will see if a dog looks more comfortable barefoot. You can see for yourself that Rodney looks great regardless of boots.
Where is exactly is Rainy Pass in this photo?
This spot is still 40 minutes from the top. The route goes west for several more miles, then turns north at the base of the mountain pictured in the foreground. Here is where the real climbing begins. The trail travels up a steep gully in between the foreground mountain and the mountain to the west. The trail is located in the crack between of two bases of these mountains. At times, there are 15 foot high snow drifts – well above a dog’s head – along the sides of the trail. These snow formations are amazing and are different every year. Their forms depend on the power and direction of the winter winds and amount of snowfall. Avalanche slides are common. As the trail seems to get swallowed up by the two mountains coming together, it suddenly opens up. Here is a small alpine lake off to the east. The climb resumes after the lake. Now it climbs up a very steep, wind blown, boulder field. Once the team reaches the boulder field – hang on – because the leaders of the dog team will immediately start to descend the pass as the wheel dogs continue to climb. DONE!
Here is an overhead satellite view of Rainy Pass and the Alaska Range. Of course, the most famous mountain nearby is Denali… but Rainy Pass is spectacular as well!
Congratulations to Brita Rubin who is a fan of Jefe. To celebrate our biggest sponsor Matson, Brita wins Matson prize pack including a nalgene drink bottle, carabiner, a turtle fur beanie and reusable shopping bag – plus a glam shot of Jefe and some other kennel goodies.
Jefe – “The Boss” had a stellar season. He became a Yukon Quest 200 Champion and ran all the way to Nome to take 4th place. After the YQ200 Aliy described him as having the zip and energy of a chihuahua but with the body of a 60lb husky. He is very affectionate and loves to be with humans but can get a bit over-enthusiastic and resembles an eight week old puppy at times. He has a huge, bright future ahead.
Find out more about our athletes at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here. We are keeping the Dog Fan Club open all through summer so it is never too late to join.
Sunshine and warm temperatures have taken over in Two Rivers, Alaska. The dogs are rather mellow and quiet during the day (unless someone gets giddy for 30 seconds to chase their tail… Peach!) But the entire yard of huskys are a playful bunch once the temperatures cool in the evening or early morning.
Paws High Chevie
Lovable Nomex
Crazy Jefe
One of the most common questions that we are asked is: “What do your husky sled dogs do during the summer?”. The simple answer is that they are normal dogs during the summer months. Many kennels will send their dogs away to ‘summer camp’ on a glacier or tourist excursion area to continue to run and work in harness. We have never taken that route. We generally give our working dogs (and working mushers) the entire summer “Off.” This is not to say that the dogs or the mushers do nothing – but they certainly are on vacation compared to Fall Training or Winter Racing.
However, dogs will be dogs and they like to have fun and generally just, yup… be dogs. So, in the summertime this means digging, running around, chewing on bones, Kongs and each other. And they absolutely love playing. They play a lot with their neighbors. The yard is set up so that “BFFs” are situated right next to each other. You often look out and see Perky and Barista tearing it up, or Decaf and Daisy, or Bill and Wu. Yes – siblings are often best buddies throughout their lives. But it’s not always family members who wind up Best Buds. For instance, Cayenne and Scooby are amazing friends and their playful antics get rather crazy. Usually one dog is upside down and squirming until the other one tucks tail and gets the “zoomies”.
Right now several dogs are living in pens. We will soon start the Summer Play Pen rotation schedule. We have three large pens at SPK that are literally made for playtime. These pens are larger and allow room for running around. They are generally full of holes and chew toys. We put two dogs in the pens together for a day or half a day depending on the schedule. Some dogs like Driver and Iron simply run and chase each other until they get hot and then lay in the shade. But other dogs like Ginger and Spark will chew on each other and play all day long and go home exhausted at night. Either way the dogs have a good time and burn off some summertime steam. If you do the math… 2 dogs per one pen at one rotation a day = means 6 dogs per day or 42 dogs per week. But when we do two rotations a day = means 12 dogs per day or 84 dogs per week. Fun fun fun. Add in the Summer Dog Walks (more info HERE and HERE) these guys are gonna have a fantastic summer.
Aliy took many short videos during her ten days on the Iditarod trail this year. We have complied them into short episodes that will be posted the next few weeks.
The Alaska Range is spectacular. I find that I can’t help but keep taking videos because the scenery seems to get better and better. However I controlled myself and only took three videos. This first one is about an hour out of the Rainy Pass checkpoint and still 5 miles from the actual summit. You can see both trail lathe and tripods marking the route.
