December 29, 2005 Dear Landlady...

My poor, dear landlady – she had a rough day yesterday – but I do want to say for the record that MOST of it wasn’t my fault...

• Sure, it was my completely misguided faith in myself that I’d remember a trail I’d been on twice (3 years ago) that got us lost – 
• I did set a pace that it seems made her and her team feel like they had been run over by a semi at the end of the 27 miles (and I must say, for the most part her team looked pretty good at the end of the run – and she is simply ‘bubbling’ about the performance of her young leader, Molly) – 
• But I wasn’t responsible for her locking her keys in her dog truck (with the lights on, I might add) and her truck breaking down on the highway on the way home either.

Luckily, we all survived yesterday's run. Did I mention that Dasher and Hilda dragged me – on my side - through some trappers yard and around his circular driveway before they started to worry that I might follow through on one of the numerous threats I was making against their lives and brought the team to a stop – or that Jamie’s team scooted under a gate that was too low for her sled to follow?? It was an interesting day. Dogs, mushers, and gear are all fine though – so I consider it a very successful run. You know what they say about that which doesn’t kill you….. Thanks for being such a good sport Jamie!

Dasher

Hilda

Anyway, things in Alaska are going pretty well. I’m able to run 8 dog teams out of the yard here and bigger teams out of Bob Chlupach’s (and his lovely fiancé, Shae’s) dog yard, which is just a short trip up the Parks Highway. The only problem with running out of Bob’s yard is that the two of us inevitably end up talking Siberians and that stretches the day out – but the conversation is always enjoyable and educational, so I’m sure not complaining. Many of you may or may not know – but Moses, Herman, Hector, Hilda and Lingo all came to us from Bob. I greatly respect what he and kennel partner, Rick Outwin are doing with their breeding program.

Moses

Herman

Hector

Hilda

Lingo

Doug Grilliot is coming over this morning and we are going to load the dogs up and head over to do a river run today. Not too sure what conditions will be like, but I’m hoping to get a nice long run in on the critters.

Markus headed home last Friday. I haven’t got any frantic phone calls from his family, so I’m assuming that he made it home safely! I was very disappointed that we were unable to get him out on a sled during his visit, but I just haven’t quite figured out a way to make Mother Nature adhere to my schedule yet. He took it in good spirits.

Christmas was enjoyable. Sure, nothing is ever the same as being home for the holidays, but Jamie and Harry really do make me feel like family here. Doug and his family were also very gracious and made sure I was very well fed around Christmas.

I expect New Year’s Eve will be a quiet one. Usually at home with our satellite dish, Mark and I ring in New Year’s at 10 pm, by watching a New York channel. No dish here – and no way I’m staying up until midnight – so I’ll have to welcome 2006 when I get up in the morning. Ah, us mushers are real party types – as long as the party doesn’t go till past 10!

Anyway, that is the report today from Alaska!

Wishing you all the very best for the coming year!!

“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart might desire” (Irish blessing)

Karen

December 20, 2005 2005 Sheep Mountain 150

Well, I know the first question many of you will have was "Who was on the team?" (I thought of all you playing our little Mile Pool 'game' this year - and figured not knowing was killing you!).  Well, because we delayed our departure for Alaska by a few days and we just stopped at Sheep Mountain to race on the drive up (rather then having a chance to get settled prior to heading back to Sheep Mountain, as was the original plan), I hadn't had an opportunity to run the dogs on a sled at all yet this winter, so I figured it was only fair to use the race as an opportunity to get some miles and work on the veteran dogs. So, the make up of the team at the starting line was: | Skor | Surge | Hector | Moses | Odie | Herman | | Crunchie | Kara | Hilda | Olena | Dasher | Snickers | Name Sex Age Status Races Skor Male 5 Veteran Leader Iditarod 2005 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Surge Male 7 Veteran Main leader Grand Portage Passage Iditarod 2001 Finisher Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher John Beargrease Marathon Race to the Sky Iditarod 2005 2005 Knik 200 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Hector Male 4 Veteran Leader Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Moses Male 5 Veteran Leader Yukon Quest 250 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Odie Male 6 Veteran Leader John Beargrease Marathon Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Herman Male 4 Veteran Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Crunchie Male 5 Veteran Leader Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Kara  Female 6 Veteran Main Leader Champion Showdog Iditarod 2003 2003 Knik 200 Finisher Iditarod 2004 Finisher 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Hilda Female 4 Veteran Leader Iditarod 2004 Finisher 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Olena Female 5 Veteran Leader Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Dasher  Female 4 Veteran Leader Champion showdog Iditarod 2005 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Snickers Female 5 Veteran Leader Mark’s favorite!  Iditarod 2005 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 As it turns out Surge didn't want to set the same kind of pace Kara was (I should have known, Surge always puts in his best work after miles and miles of 'warm-up'), so I stopped pretty early to throw Crunchie in lead with her instead. That worked great and those two drove the team up and over the SERIOUS climb over Gun Sight Mountain in fine style. Surge Kara Crunchie I'm not sure what exactly I expected from the Sheep Mountain Race Trails, but I know it wasn't anywhere close to reality. It quickly becomes apparent why the 40 limited spots on this race fill up so quickly every year. Hugh Neff told me at the musher's meeting that I would like this race because it a 'mini Quest'. Well, all I can say is that if this is what Quest is going to be like - BRING IT ON!! I cannot remember a trail that I've enjoyed running more. 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start - Kara & Surge in lead (Photo by James Foster)   After the climb over Gun Sight, the trail drops and winds through a pretty, forested area; a quick a little jaunt down a road that leads to some cabins and you drop onto a trail that rolls over gentle hills, across little streams and ponds (with a little bit of glaciated trails and overflow to keep a musher on their toes) for the next few hours. As one team passed me, Crunchie's tug line somehow came undone and Crunch headed off down the trail hot on their heels. Not good, but all that off leash work I do with the team paid off big here. It took 3 calls, but on the third one Crunch heard me turned around and SPRINTED back. The trail makes a quick little climb onto what seems like a bit of a plateau and then works it's way along some meadows before winding through a forest and making a fast, hard drop into a wonderful little creek bed. At the beginning of this stretch the creek is narrow and you are sandwiched in between steep, snowy, rocky cliffs. The dogs and I both loved this section and they moved strong and steady through it. I stopped and moved little Dasher up front with her Mom, Kara. Dasher This stretch and the one after it reminded me very, very much of the Dalzell Gorge on Iditarod - except most of the deadly components of the Gorge were scaled down. Kara and Dasher negotiated a few spots where the creek had pushed it's way through the snow and ice. Rushing water has always been a big challenge for my team, so I was very pleased at how they handled it. A local miner waved out his window as we passed by. Although he lives really in the middle of nowhere - a mailbox sat hopefully outside his building.  I dug out my iPod and headlamp as dusk started to close in. The trail left Caribou creek and started to climb. There were some tough dips and climbs here, but the dogs handled everything admirably. Eventually, the downs were gone and we were just working our way up to the top of a mountain. There were two teams ahead of me in the dusk. Occasionally they would flick on their headlamps bathing their teams in light and making for fantastic pictures - although sadly, these are only recorded in my mind. My iPod seemed to sense the appropriate mood - or I just tuned in to the appropriate music and tuned out the rest when it came on - but I prefer the first explanation. Magic, rather then logic suited the experience and moment much better. If right before we die, our minds do actually flash back through a 'highlight reel' of our lives - it is very probable that this evening will be included in mine. Gorgeous weather, a beautiful trail in a beautiful location, and a dog team I love and admire - I simply could not stop smiling. It is these moments that I think mushers are addicted to. Those days.hours.minutes.or even seconds of time that are so perfect, so magical, so spiritual that we simple MUST continue to hit the trails looking for more of them. Once at the top of the mountain, the bright night gave up a fantastic view. It was very reminiscent to me of the Race to the Sky trail in Montana where it climbs up over Huckleberry Pass. The remaining 10 miles or so into Eureka Lodge was almost all downhill. I kept my dogs' speed down, as without any sled miles on them this winter, they just weren't ready to really rock on a long downhill like that without injury. The team bounced into Eureka with wagging tails and huge grins. They trotted obediently behind Markus and a race volunteer to get to our parking spot and parked themselves flawlessly. They ate as if they had never seen food before and then attempted to see what they could scrounge from the teams around them. Foiled from that plan by some strategically placed snow hooks, they eventually plopped down on the straw and slept. 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start (Photo by James Foster)   Dasher, along with her Mom, Kara, was definitely the star leader of this race. In fact, Dasher's performance was darn near flawless - except for her over exuberance in checkpoints. She bounced, she scrounged, and she talked back to me - generally just had a fine time. An hour or so before I was ready to leave on the second leg I caught her amusing herself by tormenting a dog on the next team. She discovered that if she took two steps off her straw one of the dogs in the team next to us would bark at her. As soon as it barked, she bounced back into 'the safe zone', grinned and stepped over again. The dog barked, she bounced and did it again.and again.and again.. I suggested she find another hobby and she reluctantly quit her game - but only after giving me a stern canine lecture for my lack of a sense of humor. Quite the character. Snickers was the only dog that didn't look 100% in the checkpoint, so I called one of the Race vets over to look at her. Snickers acted like a major spoiled BRAT for her exam, so when Denny pronounced her completely sound - just spoiled - I moved her into lead and gave Kara a break back in the team. Snickers Our second leg was mostly shrouded in fog and snow, but after the first climb out of the checkpoint, we did get a cool vision of about 10 headlamps out on the trail winding through different parts of the valley. The trail didn't have as many serious ups and downs as the last leg, but it was still challenging. I did end up getting lost for a couple miles in the night. Turned out the musher ahead of us went the wrong way and my leaders just followed her trail. When I caught up, passed her and realized there were no other dog tracks in front of me. I turned around and backtracked the few miles back to the last trail marker, sorted out my mistake and (along with the other musher) got headed in the right direction again. The dogs loped the last few miles back into Eureka Lodge, but did seem more tired and not quite as spunky as after the first leg. I got them fed, bedded down and left them to sleep. Several hours later, as I was heading back down to my team to water them and start to get ready to go, I got a few reports that they were causing some trouble down in the parking area. Sure enough, Dasher and Snicks were rested up enough to go shopping in the straw of the teams next to them. "Good thing they are so cute and it's hard to stay mad at them", one race official commented. With me back down to keep an eye on them, they reverted back to 'perfect' little angels. 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start (Photo by James Foster)   I must admit, I was perturbed to be leaving Eureka last. I have not 'won' a Red Lantern since my '01 Iditarod and I was NOT in a hurry to add to my collection - but I did have to keep in mind that with no sled miles this year, this team was not prepared to 'race' this race. I was doing what was best for the team, even if my ego took a blow in the process. We didn't leave Eureka particularly well. I fiddled with leaders, eventually settling on Odie and Snickers and I resigned myself to that last place finish. Imagine my shock when about 3 miles out we caught and passed Eric Rogers' team on that big climb out over the mountain we had come down on Saturday night. My dogs marched up that hill without complaint or even a glance over their shoulders - something they actually repeated on every single hill on the way to the finish line - overtaking 2 more teams in the process (although one team overtook us again about 10 miles from the finish and ended up beating us by 3 minutes). I firmly feel their last leg of the three was their strongest, with them actually getting stronger and faster as each mile clicked by. Kara and Dasher loped the team hard the last 4 miles into the finish and proceeded to storm over the checkers and volunteers at the finish line in an effort to get back to their dog truck. They all ate and drank exceedingly well at the finish line. All and all, I couldn't be any happier with what they team did for me at this point in the season. I am now very excited about their prospects for the rest of the winter. Great job!! Officially we came in 26th out of 36 teams that started. 28 teams finished. Complete results can be found at http://www.dogsled.com/SheepMountain150.html   A couple notes of thanks - first off to Zack Steer and all the rest of the folks involved with the Sheep Mountain Race. As Jon Little said to me Monday morning, "Everything is just done right.". This is a race by mushers, for mushers. The emphasis is put on things that really matter to mushers - like a good trail. Truly a quality event! BTW - Zack's Sheep Mountain Lodge is a fabulous place to stay - and not just for musher types. They have year round activities, great food, gorgeous cabins and a location to die for. Check them out! My in laws, Harvey and Sylvia, (Mark's parents) stayed there a few summers back and raved about it then. We should have listened and beat a path to the lodge long before now! 2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start (Photo by James Foster)   Also, big thanks to Markus for all his help. He turned out to be a fantastic handler - as good as any I've ever worked with. When I pulled into the parking lot on Sunday night, kibble was already measured out for the dogs in their bowls, chains hanging around the truck for them and soup sitting ready. I would have expected no less from Mark - but he's been doing this for years - this was really Markus's first time at a race like this. He's a bright boy with a good head on his shoulders (although contrary to what he thinks - he isn't right about everything) and I was glad to have him along. Karen Karen & Markus at the Iditarod 2005 Ceremonial Start

December 20, 2005 Alaska Arrival

Well, I’d send out an announcement that we have arrived in Alaska – however, I’m sure the ruckus that Batdog is making out in the dog yard is loud enough for everyone to hear. Seems he is very fascinated with the fact that there are dog yards all over the neighborhood to trash talk and gossip with. With time out only to gulp down his dinner, he has been striking up conversations with every dog within a 5-mile radius – which is hundreds!

If he doesn’t shut up soon, he is going to get us run out of the state or at least the neighborhood!
Anyway, our trip up to Alaska went very well. The new dog truck is a DREAM to drive and live out of – even when stuffed to the max with gear and supplies. With those two tanks on it, we had a much bigger safety margin on when we had to fill up and were able to eliminate a lot of stops along the way. BTW – the truck was full when we left home. It cost me $649.67 Cdn and $100 US to get us to Willow. The highest price we paid was $1.185 per liter in Watson Lake – although I’m not sure what the $2.749 per gallon US price from Tok works out to in liters/Cdn $.


Markus was a very enjoyable traveling companion. I was especially pleased to find out that we are both country music fans, so battles over the radio station were not an issue (I guess I always just assumed that the LOUD pounding sound that we could hear long before his truck pulled into our yard wasn’t country music!)

Moving towards the Iditarod 2005 Restart...
Grover and Gus in lead with handler Markus (red hat).
(Photos by Gwen Ross) 

 

Markus will also be able to exercise his right to vote for the first time when Canadians head to the polls this January. As a person that gets very upset over voter apathy, I was pleased beyond belief that Markus not only intends to hit the polls, but also wants to be an informed voter. So, as we drove over from Tok to Sheep Mountain we were very happy to be able to listen to the leader’s debate on the satellite radio. 

The border crossing went wonderfully. I think if border guards could give out ‘gold stars’ we would have got one. When they asked what I had in truck (in regards to dog food), I pulled out a lovely list that Mark had made up listing what we had, how many lbs of it, and where it was from. The border guard smiled as soon as he saw that and muttered about that being how it should be done. He made a quick trip to the back to double-check the most recent rules and regs and came back out with another agent in tow. Both commented that this was the way to do things and that we should continue to do up our ‘Bills of Lading’. They smiled, handed me back the sheet and wished us a nice trip. In talking to other Canadian mushers at the Sheep Mountain race, we were pretty much the only mushers that scooted through the border without problems. 

For the record – what was on the truck (dog food wise) was: 

• 750 lbs of ground chicken (accompanied by a letter from the supplier stating that the chicken was all Alberta chicken – BC chicken is banned from entering the US right now due to ‘bird flu’ issues)
• 160 lbs. Of Eagle Pack kibble (the remained was shipped up to Alaska for us by Eagle)
• 300 lbs of BC Salmon (Alberta doesn’t have much of a salmon fishery and apparently ‘fish flu’ or ‘Mad Fish’ disease hasn’t hit BC yet)
• 160 lbs of herring

I must say that it sure doesn’t feel like I have been away from Alaska for nine months. This place feels almost as much like home as Perryvale does now.

Jamie and Harry have a wonderful new kennel sign on the edge of their property. It was very touching to walk in the house and find a lovely wood NorthWapiti Kennels sign (with our dog team/maple leaf logo) almost ready to hang up there next to their Westrunner Kennels sign. What a special gift. I am so very lucky to have friends such as them.

The veteran dogs definitely remembered the dog yard and a few ran straight back to their houses from last year when turned loose. The rookies are definitely mind boggled. Jinx’s eyes have been the size of frying pans for a couple days now due to all the new and exciting things she is seeing. 

Oh gosh, that is right – I guess I haven’t even mentioned who all is up at NorthWapiti North with us. Sorry about that – things got rather hectic when we decided to try to scramble up to Alaska in time to hit the Sheep Mountain Race, so I didn’t get a diary entry out before we left.

The dogs here this year are:

| Draco | Skor | Surge | Hector | Moses | Odie | Loki | Herman | Barq |
| Crunchie | Kara | Hilda | Olena | Dasher | Snickers | Pepsi |
| Sprite | Nahanni | Jr | Q | Jinx | Batdog |

Name	Sex	Age	Status	Races
Draco	Male	8	Veteran Main leader	Iditarod 2001 Finisher Klondike 300 Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Knik 200
Skor	Male	5	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2005
Surge	Male	7	Veteran Main leader	Grand Portage Passage Iditarod 2001 Finisher Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher John Beargrease Marathon Race to the Sky Iditarod 2005 2005 Knik 200
Hector	Male	4	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Moses	Male	5	Veteran Leader	Yukon Quest 250 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Odie	Male	6	Veteran Leader	John Beargrease Marathon Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Loki	Male	6	Veteran Champion showdog	Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Herman	Male	4	Veteran	Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Barq	Male	4	Rookie
Crunchie	Male	5	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2004 Finisher Iditarod 2005 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Kara	Female	6	Veteran Main Leader Champion Showdog	Iditarod 2003 2003 Knik 200 Finisher Iditarod 2004 Finisher 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher Iditarod 2005
Hilda	Female	4	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2004 Finisher 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Olena	Female	5	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2003 Iditarod 2004 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200 Finisher
Dasher	Female	4	Veteran Leader Champion showdog	Iditarod 2005
Snickers	Female	5	Veteran Leader Mark’s favorite!	Iditarod 2005
Pepsi	Female	4	Rookie	(Busy having a litter for our friends Jackie and Rick last year)
Sprite	Female	4	Veteran Leader	Iditarod 2005
Nahanni	Female	5	Veteran	Iditarod 2003 2005 Copper Basin 300 2005 Knik 200
Jr	Male	3	Rookie Leader
Q	Male	2	Rookie
Jinx	Female	2	Rookie
Batdog	Male	3.5	Rookie

I got GREAT news last night. There has been some stuff going on with Mark’s job and it was looking like he wasn’t going to be able to get time off until February this year. That would have been a big disappointment for both of us. However, last night he found out that he is okay to come up January 2nd, as originally planned. Wahoo!! That just took care of my Christmas list – well almost took care of my list. If the temps here in Alaska would drop, it would start snowing, and I found out Mark was coming up January 2nd then my list would be completely filled!

I’ve got a diary entry on the Sheep Mountain Race well in the works – so watch for that later today!
Karen