SPK Dog Log

Some radio silence today – apologies for that, but all the handler crew are now in Dawson! Update as at 3.30am Tuesday.

Black Team

Allen and his 14 Black Team mates are currently about 51 miles from Dawson. They are stopped at the Indian River bridge where Allen will rest the team for a while before embarking on their climb of King Solomon’s Dome – elevation around 3,500 feet. Have a read of the trail notes (click link here) to find out about this final push to Dawson.

As expected, overnight Allen stopped the team at Stepping Stone Hospitality Stop for about five hours. Allen talks about that stop for weeks leading up to the race and after! No doubt he enjoyed triple helpings of lasagne while the dogs enjoyed a nap and meaty kibble meal. The Hospitality Stop is not an official checkpoint so times in and out are not recorded but if you follow their Facebook page you can get updates from there.

They then travelled to Scroggie Creek – a further 67 miles with some climbing, where they spent another five hours resting.

There isn’t much I can tell you about the team itself since the handler crew hasn’t seen them since Pelly Crossing but the team has been moving nicely since then – for a long while travelling with Hans Gatt and Brent Sass. Each very competitive men but friends and respected rivals. They are all three camped in the same area right now.

The temperatures have risen in that area and it is not quite so extreme cold. Still cool at around -15 to -20F(ish) so still good for dogs but a bit more pleasant for humans.

Karolyn, Bridgett and Mark travelled up to Dawson as the “advanced party” and spent the afternoon setting up dog camp at the Bonanza RV ground. We’ll take you on a tour once we have some canine tenants.

Red Team

After a morning off, Aliy harnessed up the team again in the afternoon and took them for a stretch out run back up the trail. They were excited to get moving again and they will have appreciated getting out of the truck for a few hours. Mismo and Cayenne led the team out with Chena and Lydia in swing, Five ran on his own, Jefe and sister QT ran together and siblings Sanka and Decaf paired up in wheel. McCaw and Perky sat it out as they were not so enthusiastic this morning but I took them for a nice walk where Perky in particular pranced around like he was the King of Everything.

While out on her run Aliy encountered Krys March just as she was arriving in Whitehorse – hence the “she’ll be here in ten minutes” you can hear in the audio. Thanks to Courtney, West and John for their help staging to team.

This evening Aliy and I attended the YQ200 banquet at the Canadian Legion. It was a really lovely and intimate banquet with all the finishing mushers and their supporters in attendance. The Women’s Auxiliary of the Legion had done a tremendous job catering and hosting with a delicious meal of salad, hand-made pierogis from “One Stop Pierogi Shop” in Pelly Crossing with what I presume are the traditional sides of bacon, sour cream, buttered onions and sausage. I’d never had pierogi before – what’s not to love about cheese and potato dumplings! We were then treated to an amazing rich chocolate cake from the Chocolate Claim in Whitehorse.

Each musher got up to speak to thank their dogs, sponsors and supporters. Aliy reiterated to everyone that despite this being “only 200 miles” it was HARD. It was hard on everyone, including her so congratulated everyone that finished. The first three place getters were presented with stunning hand-made knives from Rod and Rhonda of Alaska Rod’s – a longtime supporter of the Quest. It will take pride of place at home. Congrats to the Red Lantern winner Krys March, Spirit of the North award to Lori and Lourdes Twedell, and to Fabian Schmitz for the Veterinarians’ Choice award. Aliy was awarded the Sportsmanship Award, evidently voted on overwhelmingly by her peers. She was really thrilled with the snow-hook prize and said she will actually use it on her sled!

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Thanks to Laura from the Whitehorse Quest office for organising the banquet.

Aliy and I then headed up the Klondike Highway overnight to Dawson ready for Allen’s arrival in the morning. We will catch a few hours sleep now.

Note: the truck we are driving has ten dog boxes but we have eleven dogs – what to do…?

Black Team

Allen and the Black Team have moved through Pelly Crossing checkpoint and start their long, unsupported journey to Dawson City. They left Pelly in first position but the teams are on different run/rest schedules and will likely leap-frog each other all the way to Dawson so don’t get too excited yet! There’s still 700 miles to go.

You can see from the video it is snowing in Pelly.

Earlier in the day, after leaving -50F Carmacks they travelled through to McCabe Creek Dog Drop. This is not an official checkpoint but teams may camp there with half a bale of straw provided if needed. They took a 3.5 hour rest there before continuing to Pelly. The Kruse family as always so hospitable to mushers and their handling crew and this year was no exception. Allen enjoyed hot soup with homemade bread followed by a nap in the wood stove-heated room. The dogs also ate well, evidently Allen put multiple meals into Spark’s dish and he would like it clean each time! Their 1000 mile metabolism is kicking in and they will eat everything!

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Because they took a substantial rest in McCabe they did not need to stop in Pelly, some 26 miles further down the trail. Allen did, however, need to spend time packing his sled to ensure he has supplies for the 200 miles to Dawson. While there is no access to drop bags until Dawson there are two hospitality/dog drop spots for mushers to visit – Stepping Stone – 35 miles from Pelly, and Scroggie Creek – 66 miles from Stepping Stone, with a further 95 miles to Dawson – a total of close to 200 miles. That means 200 miles worth of dog food, booties, contingency equipment, human food (although I am certain they will be fed well at Stepping Stone and Scroggie – if they choose to stop), straw for camping and fuel for the cooker, plus his other mandatory gear of sleeping bag, snow shoes and axe.

Allen stopped for about 25 minutes giving the dogs a micro-pause and time to pack his sled. He joked that he was looking forward to the lasagna at Stepping Stone so I guess that’s where he’s headed!

Also joining the team in Pelly was Champ! Allen is up to his full team heading into the hills. Evidently Champ was so excited to go he wouldn’t stop prancing once he was harnessed and bootied. Everyone got a kick out of him dancing around and squealing.

There are some very large hills between them and Dawson City including the Black Hills and King Solomon’s Dome – as shown on the elevation map on the GPS tracker. That’s some climbing and lots of miles to be done before we see them again.

Check out the trail notes on the Yukon Quest website here!

Red Team

Of course, the big news for the Red Team is they are the new 2019 Yukon Quest 200 champs. Read more here. The whole team is now sleeping, most in the truck except Aliy, Mismo and Lydia who are in a hotel room!

And Karolyn just sent this through – she and Scooby are sleeping in the truck tonight.

As at the time of writing, Allen and 13 team mates are on their way towards McCabe Creek ‘dog drop’ between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing checkpoints. They are 7 miles from there.

Aliy and 10 Red Team mates are blazing a trail back towards Whitehorse in the YQ200 and are currently about 30 miles from the finish.

What happened between seeing them leave the start to this point?

Black Team – Braeburn

Allen and his 11 frosty faced canine mates pulled into Braeburn checkpoint at 10:21pm giving them a run time over the 89 miles of 10 hours and 6 minutes – that includes the half hour break they took where Allen actually bed the dogs down in the straw he’d carried from the start so they could take a good but fast rest. They were pretty vocal when they pulled in and didn’t want to waste time waiting for the officials to check Allen in to the checkpoint.

This arrival time gave them an eventual check-out time including time differential (the extra time teams stay to level the playing field from the staggered start) of 10:33am. As Bib 26 they had to stay an extra 12 minutes over the mandatory 12 hours.

It was COLD. When you hear a bunch of hardy, Yukon Quest veterans say “it’s cold” they really mean it! It was hovering around -40 at the checkpoint and reportedly it was colder out on the trail. Add the 10 mph they were travelling and… well… it was “wear your big mitts” cold.

The dogs were frosted as they came over the line due to them exhaling and their breath freezing on the guard hairs (outer layer) of their coat. One good shake from nose to tail and it just falls off – pretty amazing to watch actually. The humans on the other hand don’t have the built in insulation of a double fur coat so they were a little more frosted and took a little longer to thaw. At those temperatures extremities are particularly vulnerable – feet, fingers and faces so they have to pay serious attention to their own protection.

The teams had travelled through some wet patches of overflow and open water about an hour from the checkpoint but other than that, Allen said the trail was great and gave kudos to the Canadian Rangers for making such a nice trail.

Unusually, due to the section of trail between Braeburn to Carmacks being closed for business this year, handlers were able to step in as soon as the team was checked in and help the team navigate the road crossing (with help from volunteers) then lead them directly to the truck were we took booties off, undressed harnesses and coats while the vet teams did their mandatory checks on every dog. It was an amazingly coordinated effort from the vet team so kudos to them – there were many teams pulling in yet they were able to see to them all very quickly whilst still performing a very thorough check and provide advice on any issues. Karolyn was able to give the dogs their second omeprazole dose as soon as they arrived and after half hour they each got a snack of beef, chicken and poultry skins to enjoy once they were boxed after their checks. It was a great lesson in teamwork seeing all the teams in very close proximity efficiently and effectively getting their teams from trail to dog box.

When we got a moment to look up from all this activity, we were treated to a fairly modest green aurora display, welcoming us all to the Yukon.

This was where the handler crew split up. Bridgett, Karolyn and Mark took Allen and the team north to Carmacks to see out their remaining rest. I waited in the heaving Braeburn Lodge to greet Aliy and the Red Team. Yes, a cinnamon bun was consumed.

Here’s a few pics from Braeburn

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Carmacks

After a good long rest in the Carmacks Community Centre and excellent meals made by the volunteer team, the handler crew was able to help Allen get the team ready – essentially it was a restart. Just to be contrary, Carmacks is around -50F right now so they dressed the dogs in one more layer – dressing them in a wind blocker jacket and the insulated jackets with extra fox fur ruffs for the boys. “Nippage” (not a technical term) is a very real problem for the boys at these temps and something all mushers will be fending off their dogs.

Felix and Clyde were added to the line and they set off right on time at 10:33. The dogs were very happy to get back on the trail after an unusually long rest. The line up when they left was Commando and Junior still leading the way with Amber and Dutch backing them up in swing. Chipper has been moved up the line to run with Spark – she’ll be happier there – with Nomex and Clyde running together, Rodney still on his own for now, Iron and Bruno then Felix took up his wheel position with his partner-in-crime Violet. They have an excellent working relationship back there and seem to enjoy each other’s company. Champ will be added to the line in Pelly and will add some pent up enthusiasm to the roster.

Here’s a few pics from Carmacks:

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Red Team – Braeburn

A rather eventful run for Aliy and her team with a loose team to be caught (not hers), overflow to negotiate, equipment lent to others and the frigid cold, they were pleased to get in to Braeburn at 2:05am. Funnily, in Aliy’s race plan estimates before the race she said she’d be in around 2am. I guess she knows this trail and her dogs pretty well! Their run time was 10 hours 47 minutes, including their rest on the trail. They were the fastest team over that section by about 30 minutes.

Again, the vet crew did a sterling job to carry out all the YQ200 mandatory checks in Braeburn also, as this is the only checkpoint in the race. Thank you to the entire crew for their tireless and cheerful work.

After snacking, removing booties, bedding the team down in cozy straw and covering in fleece blankets Aliy left them to sleep for a few hours as they saw out their mandatory six hours stop (plus 18 minutes time differential). Jefe and McCaw were very comical as they prepared their sleeping quarters. They took a good deal of time getting the straw “just so”, turning is circles, pawing, shaping and testing until it was exactly to specification. Silly boys.

Aliy prepared the dogs’ meal and left it in the cooler to soak then she herself spent time in the Lodge and enjoyed beef and barley soup and the amazing fresh baked bread. A quick hour and a half nap in the mushers sleeping quarters then back out to feed the dogs and prepare for departure.

Bang on time, Aliy left with ten team mates as the sun was starting to rise in front of them. You’ll never guess who were the most vocal… yep – the two coffee boys Perky and Decaf. Lydia and Cayenne are still leading the pack and Five moved up into Mismo’s swing position.

Aliy left Mismo with me to do the last leg in the truck. She had been thinking of running him only the first leg as he was a little “under done” in miles due to an earlier minor injury and she didn’t want to push him too hard, but just enough to try to get him match fit. So, rest assured, he is not injured – he is currently enjoying a nap in the truck after a huge meal. He’ll enjoy greeting his team mates later this evening at Ship’s Creek in Whitehorse.

A huge thank you to Phil – Marcelle’s handler – who helped our team exit and also helped me rake and bag straw. It was much appreciated Phil!

General Comments

Due to the much-mentioned temperatures (did I tell you it is COLD?), cameras and phones don’t fare well so we don’t have a great deal to show you. Not only that but fumbling around in your coat pocket and taking your glove off to use a touch screen device isn’t that appealing so I have tried to paint you the picture with words – ha. I love you all but not enough to lose a finger 🙂 Note: I have taken some video but it will take some time to edit and post so stay tuned for that… eventually.

I wanted to mention one of the many amazing things I saw over night. I watched as Hendrik Stachnau and his team of Greenland Dogs and Alaskan Malamutes pulled in to Braeburn with no extra coats, just their thick natural coats and they were very happy and looked quite comfortable in such extreme temps. They were pulling the sled so hard after 90 miles it took many strong volunteers and snow hooks to keep them from continuing down the trail while he was trying to check in. Don’t get me wrong, I think Alaskan Huskies are the shizzle but these dogs looked incredible. The other spectator I was standing with and I both said “wow, that’s amazing” at the same time.

Black Team

12:15am local time Allen and 11 of his eventual 14 left the start line in Whitehorse. He left with Junior and Commando in lead, Dutch and Amber in swing, Spark and Nomex, Rodney is running the first leg on his own, Iron and Bruno then little wheel dogs Violet and Chipper. Once Felix gets put on the line, Chipper will move up.

It was incredibly crisp this morning in Whitehorse with temperatures according to our phones varying between -30F to -35F to “who knows because the phone just died due to the cold”. It was the kind of day that freezes your eyelashes together!

We took the dogs out of the truck soon after arriving so the vet team could check microchip numbers and note the tag letters for the vet book. Because it was so cold we decided to box them again for an hour or so until it was time for harness, booties, insulated coats and for a couple of the boys – a fox fur ruff around their personal area.

Nicole from Coast High Country Inn was Allen’s Quest Guest and Karolyn rode the tag sled for the first two miles of the trail. Every Quest Guest I spoke to said they were so excited about the prospect of going out on the Yukon Quest Trail.

The team is on the way to Braeburn as I write and I will rendezvous with the handler crew up there later tonight. Also joining us is Bridgett, Allen’s daughter who will be there for the checkpoints from there on.

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Red Team

After getting the Black Team on the trail it was time to send Aliy and her enthusiastic Red Team in the same direction at 3:18pm. They were dressed similarly with insulated jackets due to the frigid temps along the river. With some help from volunteers we got them to the line uneventfully and they are currently a few hours behind the YQ1000 pack.

She lead out with Leaping Lydia and Cayenne with Chena and a roaring Mismo in swing, Sanka and QT, Five get to run on his own, Jefe and brother McCaw then the crazy brothers Decaf and Perky closest to the sled in wheel position.

Not quite so many photos as the battery life of cameras and phones is limited in these temperatures but we captured a few pics.

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Please keep an eye on the GPS trackers for the YQ1000 here and the YQ200 here. Also I’d recommend refering back to the YQ Facebook page often for updates and live feeds.

Worth reminding you here also that due to the distance between checkpoints you will often see mushers stopping and camping on the trail. Don’t be alarmed if you see this – it doesn’t mean they are in trouble, they are just resting.

I’ll update again when I can.

Cheers, Moira