TIMBER IN MEMORIAM

Photo: Timber in the foreground, with Sulatna and Chena on a trailwalk last fall.

Timber, age 11.5, died today from a fast moving problem with his spine. While we lost Amaroq to a similar problem earlier this year, Amaroq could still walk . Yesterday at 3PM Timber could no longer get up and I did manage to get him back into the house on his bed for the night. He has been living in the house for about two weeks and seemed to be doing better/quite well.

This morning I took him in to the vet ( we loaded him with a log carrier with handles, a blanket and a toboggan). The vet agreed it was time to let him go and he died peacefully in the back seat of my truck while I sat with him.

Timber, part Heeler, Corgi , Husky and Boxer, was happiest living alone. He would do his doggy day care duty for puppies, teaching them manners, but we always knew he wouldn't be happy with sleepovers with other dogs in his pen. He was the best watch dog... nothing came this way that he didn't announce, loudly.

This past fall he was my walking companion every morning and he often warned of the presence of wildlife. After we were visited by the bears, he was even more vigilant on the trails. His leash has a bear bell on it. He was aloof and not too friendly with other dogs, but with me he was a sweet brown eyed good boy. He couldn't have been a better dog.

The hardest decision to make with a dog is when to let him or her go. I always wait too long because I love each and every dog so much. I appreciate their loyalty so much. When I do have to let a dog go, I come back home and appreciate each and every dog still here even more.

Timber was a rescued dog and as is very typical with rescues he doubly appreciated every kindness given to him . He did have a happy life here. It's quite a bit less happy here tonight with him gone.

When a dog leaves us, I move his sign with his name to the main wall for kennel dog signs. I did that this afternoon. His sign is now with Scuba, our original matriarch.... he was her companion too. He is with Charlie and Champ, Sibby and Banjo, Solo and Stardust and many others.

I can hardly believe he's gone... it's been a sad day.

Newest Snow Bunny

This is Josefina Picabo in her new sled. with her Mama and pal, Apache, the next generations of family snow bunnies.

More wolves, too close to Aliy/Allen

http://newsminer.com/2007/12/07/10280/

You can also read about this on Aliy's/Allen's dog log, Skunk's Place Kennel.

Alaskan Wildlife

http://www.adn.com/front/story/244258.html

When traveling in Alaska, especially alone, I do remind myself as I take my walks that "This IS
Alaska". While I've met a few wild critters while I've been wandering around with or without dogs, I have never had an experience like this one, thankfully.

We have wolves here, too, but most I've seen together are two, now occasionally one. There is an active pack out by our river cabin, but we've never seen any signs. Can't imagine why these Anchorage wolves are after dogs when there are moose around.

Merry Christmas!!

Photo: That is a little buck in the lower left facing.

Merry Christmas to all!

We have been busy with some aging dog friends with problems. It goes with the territory with an aging kennel.

Timber, the most recent, lost use of both back legs, so he is yet another house dog. We have beds around the living room, their little 'dens'. We thought we would lose him but our vet put him on a combination of medicines that allows him to still walk, so we'll watch him through the holiday and hope he can still function/be happy.

The stores were out of decent dog beds, so I bought him a pet sleeping bag by Coleman. It is perfect! washable, comfy. Timber is a rescue (12 years old) with husky, Corgi and heeler in him, so he's a bit touchy/sassy but is learning house manners.

And, now, comes the weather... up to 12 inches of snow (preceded by sleet) expected today/tonight/tomorrow. The deer are herding up and come in often for carrots, corn and apples. Frita found a small spikehorn antler near the feed pile.

Stay safe and have a wonderful holiday wherever you are!

From Julie and her dog friends

Kennel Archives

This is the link to the archives of our former site (with used up storage space):

http://groups.msn.com/SummerPlaceKennelDogPoweredSports/iditarod2005.msnw

Since there are many photos there that have been otherwise lost in cyberspace (in my computer somewhere never to be found again), I keep this site active, but can not add to it.

Races

The Sheep Mountain 150 in Alaska was cancelled due to lack of sufficient snow for 12 dog team safety.

The Copper Basin 300 is scheduled to start January 12th. Both Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore are signed up for this challenging race.

Locally there is a Trailblazers sprint race near Ironwood, MI on Jan 5th and 6th.

Our local trails are just getting up to par for running, which we are postponing until Christmas week. Dogs are still free running. New dog, Copper, has learned how to run free and return safely. We have had some teen below zero temps and are now headed for a warm up to the 30's.

Brrrr, warm up for seniors

We've had a cold snap (not Fairbanks style) but zero and below zero (9 below yesterday) for a few days now.

Bet dogs don't think they're senior citizens anymore than humans do, but these seniors appreciated coming in to warm up/staying in.

Left to right: Sierra, Skinny (background) and Timber (foreground).

Veterinarian Visit

Our veterinarian visited today to assist with 53 vaccines: 17 rabies updates; 23 distempter/parvo/lepto combos and 13 bordetellas. She also gave health checks to each dog.

One of the veterinary technicians came along for a visit/assistance as well.

All went smoothly. We had packed the deep snow quite well with machines to make for easier walking/ kennel access. The temps were a bit chilly but we accomplished all. There is one more kennel call in January. We did check the tumors on dogs and found two new ones. As our kennel dogs age, we have the usual problems of aging. Unfortunately, cancer is one of those.

A big hurrah for the dogs who cooperated so well and for such a great vet. Sleds came out today , too.

Marshmallow World

Looked like a heavy coating of marshmallow fluff, everywhere, yesterday. It snowed and snowed and snowed for 24 hours. Not sure how deep, maybe 12 inches.

First priority, of course, was to feed all of the dogs. Fortunately we had the machines going the day before so I could flatten trails for a more walkable approaches to the pens.

It started to sleet a bit last night as the temps went up, so hopefully the trails we ran yesterday will be well set for sleds (which are still in the basement). Many of the dogs ran laps, effortlessly, around and around, outside the pens. They do love snow!

The deer were in many times for food. It's very windy this morning so blowing snow will be today's challenge. All of the houses had new straw before the storm, but we'll need to check that today. It is winter.

Let it Snow

Pretty quiet here , snow was beautiful yesterday, and more is falling this a.m. Dogs are restless.

Deer are hiding. A bit slippery out there.

Today's work: Feed all dogs, clean the pens, haul water; haul the waste (without Martin as too near property line with hunters); unload dog food from truck; load truck with garbage and haul, pick up Chena's Rimadyl; pick up Eagle Ultra for soup in afternoons (fifty mile round trip); unload truck; feed the deer and birds; give the dogs late day soup. Busy day before Thanksgiving. Hoping the hunters are taking a day off nearby.

Copper's Family

Just reading the paperwork on Copper, in full. Our original Scuba, matriarch of our kennel, was out of Lacanin's line. Copper's 2 great grandfathers are Lacanin and Granite, most impressive bloodlines. It's wonderful to have another Scuba relative here.

But, further, Copper's grandmother (Huslia) is out of Sven, our LilleN's father. And Copper's great great grandmother is our Sulatna's grandmother, more incredible dogs.

Copper continues to be very well mannered and very sweet. His pals love his company in their pen (Kiddo continues to be in charge).

Sloppy, but hunters busy

In the morning the pens were icy and slippery; it was foggy and generally dicey , a day for Sorels and Yaktrax. But, there were close rifle shots at 7AM, setting the tone for a restrictive day. The house dogs went out with me to feed the deer and I took a trail walk with one dog on lead (Timber). There were coyote and fox prints on the trail, very few deer prints. The trail camera has a new nice fox photo.

But, later in the day the doe with two fawns finally did come in. The little buck and little doe fawns enjoyed the apples and corn. I hadn't seen them for a bit so was glad to see they are making it.

This season is long for dogs, but they're being very good, enjoying a few extra treats along the way.

Opening Day

Loud rifle shots disturbed the dogs a bit yesterday. The deer moved in close to the house and dog pens; one doe with her two fawns who are regulars and at one time, six deer were huddling nearby. One neighbor asked permission to track a wounded buck onto my land, which , of course we allowed, but it did bring the noise very close.

Dogs in Blaze Orange

Copper settles in, off tether, with the three girls in his pen, Zoom (in photo), Kiddo and Sherpa.

He loves the free running in the pen, but we haven't tried him , off tether, outside the pens.

Firearm deer season

Michigan's firearm deer season opened yesterday with loud shots just across the river and deer running through. We did take a trail walk but Sulatna spooked and ran straight home.

Wisonsin's season opens tomorrow so today is a hustling one, to get the dogs settled. Most will be tethered for the opening hours. We will take one last trail walk, but even the house dogs have to go out on a tether as we are in the heart of hunting country.

Photo: Buck on a friend's field camera. He's a beauty.

A "Do it All" Day

We started at 6AM and finished just now, at 5PM.

First, of course, all dogs had soup, as we planned to run. I didn't really plan the teams ahead of time and that was obvious in the first hook up. No helpers were here today, so I first hooked up Buffy , Ruthie, Medio, Herman and Rosie. The theory is that they (except Ruthie) live together so they should be pretty calm in hook up.

Well, Herman, the steady reliable guy, ate his harness and tried to eat the gangline. I moved him to lead to take his mind off of waiting and Rosie went to wheel (tiny Rosie). She ate the tug off her harness. We took off, Buffy pulled out of harness; Herman pulled out of harness and all was a mess. Without a helper , of course, I used the brake, reharnessed as best I could the leaping leaders and took off again. I'll bet we stopped ten times. Poor little Rosie, ran extremely well but she was tired after all of the goofing around. She is the smallest dog and she ran in wheel.... what was I thinking? I was thinking, let's just GO!

Stars that they are, Medio and Ruthie just kept their heads down and did nothing but run like troopers. Buffy definitely did not like Herman in lead.

NEXT: I decided to run the Kiddo 'family'. The hookup took 11 minutes and that was with only two harnessed. But the takeoff and run were picture perfect, no problems at all, 2.5 miles. They missed one command. If I had had a helper, I would have stopped but it would have been an assured tangle to do it.

After that run, I free ran 25 dogs, all in different combos. Then I took six dogs on a trail walk. We picked up the cameras and found a great photo of a coyote, just 20 minutes ahead of our first team run this morning. Maybe the scent made that first team wilder.

After cleaning all the pens and watering all, we fed hamburger soup, fed the deer and it was getting dark, so that was it. Copper did extremely well today with his new penmates. He was off of his tether all day and had a ball, running and playing and digging.

Better view of Copper (in wheel)

This is a better look at Copper and today's small team. He's a striking dog, nice fur, beautiful eyes, and similar in coloration to the Liller/Skinny family. In fact, when running I kept forgetting that he was not Kiddo, who often runs in wheel. The girls on his team today are four and five years old.

Tomorrow we will introduce him into the pen of Kiddo, Sherpa and Zoom, to see if they'll accept him as a pen mate. He's been very well mannered with all introductions . Sulatna plays with him/flirts with him when she's outside.

Copper's First Run

Photo: Reaching the top of a long uphill climb, Copper is in wheel and doing fine.

Because we know Copper, our new dog, is excitable in the hookup , we started him alone, in wheel, with calm Kiddo, alone, ahead of him, and Buffy and Matilda in lead.

We ran two miles without a hitch. Copper is a great cheerleader along the way . If you slow down, he yodels to 'go'! He is very strong and muscled. He was also very sweet to handle. He had no trouble with the uphill and the speeds (9 to 13 mph). He eats well and drinks well.

In the return he lined out just perfectly as we unhooked. Tomorrow we hope to run him in an 8 or 10 dog team, weather permitting. The high was fifty two degrees today, November 11th :(

We have only 3 days until Michigan firearm deer season , just one mile from Michigan border; Wisconsin season starts on the 17th. Blaze orange is everywhere and our dogs are now getting their blaze streamers.

The saga of transporting dogs

Copper has finally arrived after five attempts to fly from his former home. I'm sure he thinks running Iditarod was MUCH easier than trying to fly here from Utah! (First attempt; dog care backed out here; second attempt, Salt Lake airport said he was too late to board; third attempt, a blizzard in Marquette; fourth attempt, mechanical failure in Utah plane: fifth attempt, rerouted to Detroit, for an overnight, but finally arrived, Marquette, MI).

After his fifth attempt, a two day saga, we were VERY happy to leash him carefully and take him for a walk in the snow in Marquette yesterday. He settled in right away with fresh chicken soup .

Once back at the kennel, we went about our usual chores, free running dogs, etc (all visiting him at his pen), so that he could see that life is good here.

Today we hope to run him in a small team, since with firearm deer season coming up, he'll have to be tethered for two weeks.

The Marquette airport gets special praise for their kindness, as always. The pilot had radioed ahead that Copper was onboard (probably howling as Stella did, entertaining the passengers).
The agents all gathered around to meet him and one agent carried his crate to my truck. They walked outside with us showing us the best area for him to relieve himself. His crate was bone dry/clean. He had a great welcome there.

Fox

This nice fox was hiding behind a tree, ready to pounce at something when I noticed it first yesterday. This is the same one (black markings distinct) that came up toward the house a few weeks ago. It seems that there is a family of them as others I've seen do not have this distinct black marking. S/he is very confident and regularly travels the trails. It's rather large so perhaps it is a male.

Sixes

Finally, we're running six mile runs! Not soon enough, though, as deer rifle season begins next week, shutting us down. The railroad grade was not dusty because of the recent snow melt. We started with booties on some, but they didn't want them on.

It was a good day for the six miles, about twenty degrees and cloudy . Hopefully, we'll get some eights into Michigan before Nov 17th.

Buffy and Matilda ran lead; Ruthie and Sherpa ran in swing; Herman and Kiddo ran in wheel.

It was a well matched team and everyone was great. Kiddo could shed a few more summer pounds, but did very well. Matilda is really shaping up to take leader commands well. Nice to have another leader in training.

In Like a Lion

Photo: Sulatna, age 13. Her return tumor continues to grow, but her spirits are high. She does get chilled easily, thus the coat.

Our first snow came in with gusto! One neighboring town had 50 mph winds knocking out power lines. Ours weren't quite so dramatic, but it was windy and we had our first snow.

Nice to see the different wildlife tracks for a change.

We had to cancel a trip to pick up a dog as there was more snow/wind trouble up that way.

But, it doesn't look as though this bit of snow will stick, just a day to practice wearing boots, toboggan hauling, hauling straw, repairing dog house leaks, etc. The hoses finally had to be dragged way so watering is with buckets. The old reliable 96 ATV died on me, so the big one will be used for all work and running dogs.

And we cooked meat soup for late day hydration. The weather energized ALL of the dogs, all were wild to run . In all, 24 dogs had free runs in the fresh snow, even aging Balto.

Windy

Another 60 degree day, so just the usual 'stuff' around here. More straw, more dog food, more winter prep (doors on houses, extra roofing, fixing, adding chains, etc.) All dogs are tethered during deer hunting season, so each pen needs enough tie outs for each dog.

Today will be windy so it will be a good day to take the shade tarps down, prior to them getting covered with heavy ice/snow. More windfall branches than usual this year.

I dragged the upper trail to remove some of the maple leaves, but still have to go back and drag it again. The little old Polaris ATV was chugging, smoking after that.

Winter Blog

We're back to our winter blog, having moved from: http://spkjulie.blogspot.com/, our summer blog.

It will be 60 + degrees today so we're working on getting all settled for winter. Today I'll pick up more straw and more dog food.

Thanks for watching Iditarod with us!

We've moved back to our kennel journal blog for now. Thanks for watching with us!

Winning Ice Sculpture, Alaska

http://www.icealaska.com/06/06mb/06mbimages/06mb-day7/06mb09-7lg.jpg

They have some pretty terrific ice sculptures at this competition. We visited in 2003.
This one is pretty amazing with even the ganglines in ice.

Mike's view

While we are very much back in the groove here, shoveling/chopping/breakup of ice/snow, I am still viewing Mike's photos from AK... When I had wireless in Anchorage they were fast to upload, but , here, on dialup, can only do one at a time...

but photo credit to Mike Cade , in Finger Lake AK

Susan Butcher's family into Nome

This is an article by Jon Little about David Monson and 11 year old daughter , Tekla, reaching Nome. I was once at Susan's kennel in predawn hours , riding on an ATV , watching dogs with leader potential. (the day we took Liller home). She told me how Tekla, then age six, would come home from school and hook up a team and run for fun. This trip with her father is a great tribute to her mother.

Allen into Nome!

Hooray, Allen, he's into Nome! We were gone yesterday so didn't get to watch it, but he finished with 11 dogs, including Mouse. And Bullet finished with Aliy so both of Frita's pups finished. It was a long journey, but both teams made it... great job and congratulations to both teams!

Aliy is into Nome! and Allen is out of Elim!

Congratulations to two hard working teams, Aliy and dogs and Allen and dogs. This was a TOUGH year and you both proved yourselves champions.

We are glad to see Iditarod coming to an end, too.... The Iditarod is about tough sledding, but this one took the prize for toughest, we think!

Best to all of the mushers and dogs of Iditarod 35, 2007!

Back to Kennel Life

As we're watching the finishers get into Nome, we are back in Wisconsin with our version of Spring breakup. It's been 60 to 65 degrees here, melting the 14 inches of snow into lakes/ponds/ rivers, mud.
Reality is chopping trenches for drainage and keeping the dogs' feet dry. They are in especially good spirits.
Today it will be colder, so add in slippery ice as we walk from pen to pen.

We're wishing all the Iditarod finishers well, and big cheers for Aliy, Allen and their great dogs.
What a race this was! Aliy should be into Nome later today... will post when she gets in.

Lance Mackey enroute to Nome

Here is the webcam for Nome , http://www.guilliam.com/alaska.htm

Lance Mackey looks to be able to arrive about 6:30 PM Nome time ( 9:30 PM Central Time).
Paul Gebhardt is 2nd to be out of White Mountain where they have completed their mandatory final 8 hour rests.

Susan Butcher's family goes to Nome

An article on David Monson and Tekla making the trip to Nome.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17572101/#storyContinued

Cabela's update

Aliy is running with 8 dogs and Allen with 15; what a trail, looking at the photos on Cabela's site.
http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2007/cov07_mar11_03.html

Also interesting are Roxy Wright's updates at : www.ramybrooks.com.

I had a chance to meet and visit with Roxy (Ramy's famous musher mother) in Anchorage but didn't think to take a photo of her. Also, I had a nice visit with Ramy at the Banquet. His dogs looked very strong out of the restart chute. I think I posted a photo earlier.

And , interestingly, out of the restart chute, Paul Gebhardt was running one dog in single lead... it pulled the team over by the fence and momentarily looked distracted... maybe saw someone s/he knew, but then they flew by fast. I don't have a photo of either Jeff King's team or Martin Buser's... just a photo of Martin putting his coat on at the Restart :) We do have Lance's team, however.

Dogs at Home

Nothing like my good dogs to keep me reality based. We're in a meltdown in the pens and I'm busy chopping trenches to get the water moving out of pens. Yesterday in the 40's, today 50. Such a contrast to freezing at Finger Lake . And throw in the time differential, with an added loss of hour today, I'm still jet lagged. Good to have this exercise and the happy leaping dogs.

Speeds; Number of Dogs

See the main Iditarod results page to make sense out of speeds , www.iditarod.com,
but just for a look; speed of team does not mean placing of the team in the rankings, but gives a look at who is keeping up/could move out faster.

Into Kaltag: Gebhardt ran at 8:38mph; King (in 1st place), ran at 8:27 mph; Buser, (in 2nd), ran at 7:57 mph, and Mackey ran at 8:37.

Into Eagle Island: Baker ran at 7:23 (9th place); Steer (6th place) , ran at 7:10, Monson ran at 7:07; rookie, Sigrid Ekran ran at 6:88. Aliy with only 9 dogs ran in at 6:61 mph (currently in 16th place).

Speeds are an indicator , but since mushers stop along the trail to camp/rest/snack dogs, trail condtions vary,it is not always the straight ahead speed. However, since most mushers do some of the above ,the speeds are a helpful indicator.

Also, of course, number of dogs in a team can make a difference in speed. Aliy has the lowest number of dogs (9) in the top 20 right now and she is not pushing them. Her dogs , as have many dogs, had some muscle injuries on the tough trails. Allen is into Shageluk with 15 dogs with a speed of 6.82 mph... he's doing great with the 2 year olds. He dropped Peterbuilt early on.

Checkpoint rests allow the mushers to treat the muscle injuries with oils/massage/wraps , etc. Dogs are not allowed medications to mask their injuries. As a musher might take an Advil, this is not allowed for the dogs.

Baker and Barron have ten dogs out, right now. Mackey shows 14.

Re: Buser's dogs fighting and having to drop one, we noticed in Finger Lake that a number of teams had females in season... that can create tension in teams that does not always exist.

Like Magic

Like magic: we commented on whereabouts of Aliy and Allen, and, voila!, there they are on the stats report. Aliy is out of Grayling and Allen is in Shageluk. Good job, Stats!

Check in, check out

Checkin, checkout:

Mushers must check in at checkpoints; (but not check out) except at mandatory rests they must check in/check out. So, Allen is probably not in Iditarod per the stats and Aliy is possibly not in Grayling per the stats... so we won't know, possibly, until the next checkin.I knew that last year, I just forgot :(... not the fault of the stats reporting :) So I think Jon Little is right; Aliy left Grayling with nine dogs.

Stats, late or wrong or what?

Well, more than once we've been frustrated with the stats reporting... last year they lost Aliy for 2 days and she showed up way up front; today Jon Little for Cabela's reports that Aliy is out of Grayling with nine dogs; it seems credible since Kaz also said she'd probably be leaving with 9 dogs; but the stats say she is still sitting there.

Little also refers to Burmeister being in there at 9AM, but my stats show that he is still in Anvik!

What's the real deal?

Stats

Well, more than once we've been frustrated with the stats reporting... last year they lost Aliy for 2 days and she showed up way up front; today Jon Little for Cabela's reports that Aliy is out Grayling with nine dogs; it seems credible since Kaz also said she'd probably be leaving with 9 dogs; but the stats say she is still sitting there. What's the real deal?

Anchorage Daily News article re: the chase

This is an ADN article on the current race chase.

http://www.adn.com/iditarod/race_2007/race/story/8696899p-8596210c.html

Aliy into Grayling, what does this mean?

OUT of Grayling are, Position 1, Buser, 21:06, King, 22:32, Mackey, 23:56, Genhardt, 3:42 and Iten, 5:23.

IN Grayling, Steer 22:45 (needs his 8 hour ); Seavery, 00:31 (needs his 8 hour), Sorlie, 6:28,
Baker , 6:47 (needs his 8 hour),
and ALIY, 6:56 .

With Steer, Seavey and Baker needing (and possibly taking now) their 8 hour, Aliy is in the top ten hunt. She's dropped to ten dogs, don't know who she dropped.

Pretty exciting! Go Aliy!

Aliy's moving

It's hard to read these positions, but it looks like Aliy is running in 7th even though it says 16th as she's out of Shageluk with both her 8 and 24 . They all need to take another 8 hour rest at White Mtn.
Mike has posted his good photos and I'll try to share a few here later.
Keep an eye on Aliy! :)

I'm a bit jet lagged, up for 36 hours and then slept for 10 :) . Not even close to what the mushers do :)

Long way home

This is the year of long runs. I arrived home today after having been going since 5AM on Thursday. The overnight flight was long but uneventful. Back here in Wisconsin the meltdown has started. The dogs all look great, thanks to two good helpers. I certainly am glad to see them. My 36 hour foray was nothing in comparison to the mushers' travels , on sleds , in frigid conditions. It's hard to know much right now as the leap frog continues.

Anchorage Zoo

Click on this photo to enlarge and see his beautiful straight in the eye stare.

We always visit the Anchorage Zoo when we're here for Iditarod.

Today the tigers who are 17 were in their cave, and the brown bears were hibernating, or at least not in view. Nanuk, the larger polar bear female, was visible but the new male, Louie,

was not out.

The wolves were the highlight for me today. They are yearlings from the same pack and are obviously curious . I sat down and the big male ran over to look at me. The gray male came to see me and the small female checked it out while he stood still. They're very beautiful.

Bennie Stamm scratched

Bennie Stamm from Wisconsin , scratched in Nikolai. The press release says he had a knee injury and made the decision for the welfare of his team.

Photo of Bennie Stamm's team from the Restart in Willow.

The Sandy Post (Oregon), story by Mike

Here's the link to Mike's 'postcard' from Iditarod to his paper in Sandy, OR (Portland).
Fun to see it through your eyes, Mike! Neat glimpse of the ongoing sometimes chaos!

http://www.sandypost.com/sports/story.php?story_id=117338946701415200

Analysis by Jon Little

http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2007/cov07_mar08_02.html

He's always right in the action and it's very helpful to read his articles. There is also a Talk Forum on left side of Cabela's site that has very interesting chat/info.

Aliy into and out of Ophir

Thank you, Linda, for telling us she left Takotna at 4:48, and now she's into and out of Ophir :)

Allen has arrived in Takotna

Allen arrives Takotna before Aliy departs... yea! And,Baker arrived Ophir with his 24 Swenson has his 24 and is moving up out of McGrath.

24s

We wake up to the mushers still 24ing and some blowing into Iditarod (half way point).
Each musher has to also adjust during their 24 for their bib number. Since Aliy was Bib 16 her stay will be longer than 24 (but I don't have exact figure). Allen's bib is 71 so his adjustment will be far shorter. Once they're equalized on bibs and 24's , then there are the two mandatory 8 hours still to come.
Some of the back of the pack mushers show checks in their 24 columns. Now is the time when we check the far right columns in the postings so see who is really on 1st. But, as yet, we can't tell. But Lance Mackey collected his gold nuggets in Iditarod... took him 17 hours to get there....wow!
So that trail (unless they get some great snow) is what is ahead for all the rest.

Allen out of Nikolai

Allen's moving again. While it took him over 11 hours to get in there, he rested just a little over six. Probably he rested (hopefully) enroute to Nikolai as well, but from the sounds of the trail conditions, maybe not. Anyway he still has 15 dogs as he heads for McGrath!

As in Nome, filling time

In Nome, when you're waiting for mushers to come in, you look for things to fill the wait time.

We spent some time visiting various museums. Today I went with Gwen and pals from CA to the Native Medical Center where they have outstanding native art. I did buy a book about the King Island natives

The painting is surely what the trail out of Nickolai was like.

The artwork is amazingly complex, the weavings tight and small.

The photo of the team on the river shows how minute a team of sixteen dogs and a musher are in the Alaskan wilderness. You might have to click on it to enlarge it to find the team in the left river section.

ADN on 24 hour rests

This is the Anchorage Daily News article on looking at the strategy of 24 hour rests.

http://www.adn.com/iditarod/race_2007/features/story/8690605p-8588772c.html

24's and Jon Little "Who's on First?"

http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2007/cov07_mar07_02.html

This article by Jon Little is helpful to read to understand what's going on on the leader board.
Aliy's timing looks great for her 24, being able then to take off with fully rested dogs to make the next long push, while others are either moving with more tired dogs or stopping to rest theirs.

It certainly is an interesting field of top notch and hard driven competitors.

We are basically "24'ing" here too. Had breakfast with some friends and tagged along on their visit to the Native Hospital to see the wonderful art work. Some photos later , possibly.

Photo of Paul Gebhardts dogs at Restart

Looks like Paul Gebhardt's team is looking strong. They looked great at the Restart.

He and Lance Mackey are out of Ophir, Lance in 1 and Paul in 2.

Looks like some 24 ing at Takotna and McGrath.

Anchorage is getting some nice snow today... still in the nice and not too much category.

Mandatory Rests

Will be interesting to see who declares 24's at Takotna, or if this is the year the lead teams will all push forward as Sorlie , Gebhardt and others have in the past, taking much later 24's than are the "norm". All mushers must take a mandatory 24 hour rest, an 8 hour rest along the Yukon or Shageluk and a mandatory 8 hour in White Mtn.

Aliy thru McGrath, into Takotna

Aliy has 14 dogs into Takotna at 2:34. Zack Steer was in lead position into Ophir. Aliy is in position 7 at the moment. Mackey rested 5 hours + in Takotna.

Takotna is a popular place for teams to take their 24's (mandatory 24 hour rest stop). There is a small lodge that serves great food for the mushers , checkers, pilots , spectators... great moose stew, as I recall. There are some nice quiet places to bed down dogs and the mushers can sleep on the floor of the church.

School children are given the day off and villagers keep a huge boiling pot of water for the mushers, making it a bit easier on all.

Update

Not much news... Aliy still up front in top five, out of Nickolai. She's dropped Skittles and Venus.
Allen is still in Rainy Pass? and has dropped Peterbuilt. Some of the mushers took a wrong turn when strong winds downed the trail markers and they followed the Iron Dog (snowmachine) trail.
Nine scratches in the race so far. Many saying the worst trail ever... Burn was also frozen dirt, tussocks and ice. Kaz said Aliy said she was lucky enough to bounce the right ways thru there

Aliy out of Rohn: Dee Dee photos prior to her scratch

Aliy is out of Rohn, in position 6 right now, ahead of the weather? We'll see how the Burn is, sounds not so great. Go Aliy!

Dee Dee scratched in Rainy Pass. Here are a couple of photos from Finger Lake of her team.

Dog Drop Care

Dogs that are dropped in a checkpoint for being tired or injuries receive loving care. The vets check each one carefully, tag them for the level of care required and loving volunteers tend them as they await their charter flights home.

This is a photo of the kind volunteers who ride the toboggan behind the snowmachine , cradling individual dogs enroute to their flights home. These volunteers are probably geared up with the warmest clothing as that ride out to the airstrip has some great windchills. The walk out there (as we did ) is just a bit chilly as well. It's icy and in the wind I was knocked over several times .

Amenities and Checkpoints

Well, the best part about the checkpoints is surely the amenities for the dogs... warm straw, warm food, lots of rest, TLC time with the mushers , etc. Nice tents for the vets and mushers :)

The visitors are a little more challenged, but Finger Lake is really a great place to go. You just have to listen to your guides . I wore a pair of OR overboots (knee high) yesterday (over my Stegers) that I praised all day long. Got them last minute in sale bin at REI, an afterthought.

I overheard one older British man say, "They just drop you off and they don't tell you there is only one loo!" True, only one loo, and no one seems to use the bushes, quite formal for a grouping of wilderness persons :)

And Mike, a big guy, was moved to 3 planes, before he could take off. On landing, he was a bit surprised, as a first timer, to be asked to deliver the mail to the lodge (not visible from the landing strip". So he did :)

Our pilots were great and I'd highly recommend them. One time however my pilot left me at a checkpoint. Nice thing is that all people are helpful out there and on recommendation of another pilot, I ran across the river, waving my arms in the air, to a plane with its prop turning. "Could I have a ride?" "Oh sure, hop in! " Casual as that.

Karens North Wapiti Siberians

Every team has fans, but some draw more than others. Karen's North Wapiti pure bred Siberians always draw the photographers, not the least of which is me.

Karen said, "Take a photo of Charge and send it to June, with the tag: "Mark! Charge IS being QUIET! "

So here it is (and I'll send it separately to you, June and Donna :)

SPK dog views

Some shots of the SPK Finger Lake Fan Group with Allen's dogs (SPK is Skunks' Place Kennel in Two Rivers, Aliy Zirkle/Allen Moore)





Aliy's uncles, Bob and Toebe, were with Mike and me in Finger Lake.



First two are of the team getting settled.


Last photo is with the volunteer checking urine samples on the dogs, but it's a photo!

Aliy in Rohn

ALIY IS IN ROHN!

As soon as I post this, she'll move I imagine, but nice to see her in 4th position right now, in Rohn, past Rainy Pass and the high winds. We hear there is no snow on the Burn... anyone know for sure?

Aliy already into Finger Lake

Aliy got to Finger Lake at 4:25 AM, fast trails! Buser was in at 4:30 out at 4:35; looks like Aliy and Mackey and Brooks are sticking around a bit, but think we'll miss her as she probably won't rest more than 5 hours (if that).

It was Mackey , into Finger at 3:30 AM; Brooks into Finger at 4:25; Aliy, 4:25 ; Buser at 4:30.

Few more restart photos

A few more photos around Aliy's truck at Restart. I got a photo of Allen's dogs but lighting wasn't great.

Out of Skwentna

Checking out of Skwentna (some of them): Sorlie was out at 21.53; Aliy was 5th , out at 23:04 and looks to have rested enroute (guessing from her speed); Lance out at 23:55. Aaron B was 1st out.
We're leaving for Finger Lake at 8AM (weather permitting). Not sure with these speeds if we'll get to see her, trail is fast.

Check: www.cabelas.com often for their updates. Also, www.iditarod.com and www.dogsled.com.

Finally on their way

Just looking at the Yentna postings, looks like the trail was very fast into Yentna, some 14 + mph runs; the Start chute was a little punchy,, but not too bad and as one can see in these photos, the teams are 'booking" to get out there. Aliy's team has Bullet (brown) and looks like ? Pingo in lead.