Urchin, the Amazing Yearling

    When Leila came on a training run with me, I was discussed my leader problems with her and she suggested that I try Urchin, one of Scott's yearlings, in single lead - since I don't have a really good adult dog to run with him to train him. We tried it for a few miles, but since it was hot and we were going on a 40 mile run, I moved Tyler up for the remainder of the run. However, today I decided to put Urchin in single lead from the beginning...
    From the first, you could see the smile on his face! Urchin took charge of the team and took EVERY command (Gee/Haw) - which he's never done before. I was so proud of him. In the middle of the run, when they were hot and settled down, I went up and praised him a lot and he jumped up (all the dogs lay down when we stop now - they are figuring out to rest when they can!) and started singing to go - as only he can, because he has a really high pitched voice...
    I realized that his confidence was really boosted by the responsibility of running single lead...he enjoyed taking command of the team and charging down the trail. I don't know why I haven't tried this with my dogs at home - I guess I'll start when I get back! In the past I've been afraid of burning out leaders and that fear has caused me to rotate leaders every run. This, in turn, has caused the dogs not to take to the leader's position and "make it their own." The only way a dog will become a good, reliable leader is by running up front, after all!

    Here's some pictures from today's run:

 On the 18 mile loop. I have cell service and texted a picture to my brother after missing his phone call (Hey, it's hard to get the phone when it's buried inside my jacket!). I hope there's no Alaskan law against mushing and texting (or talking on the phone, for that matter!).

 Urchin cooling off during a well-deserved rest stop.

 Urchin on the Goldstream River.

 In the short patch of woods...soooo nice for a change! No wind here...

 The dogs get excited about going through the woods and pick up the pace.

 Urchin taking us around the turn.

 I really liked the order I used today - the dogs did well together.

 Dropping off a bank.

 Around the turn we go!

Almost lost my mittens that I'd set in my sled as I took this picture - the turn was bumpy!



Life of ease...

    Now, despite the strenuous work of caring for nearly sixty dogs, there is still quite a bit of down time - especially when the race teams are gone...and now that the Iditarod food drops are done. Of course, I'll only be getting busier for the next few weeks because once Scott and Aaron get back from the Norton Sound Race I desperately need to do some camping with the yearlings to get ready for our 200 mile race, which is the second weekend in March.
     So, what do I do with my spare time? At first it was kind of hard, since at home there's always something to work on. But here there's no work or school. Since I'm not someone who gets bored easily/stays bored for long, I've been able to spend quite a bit of time amusing myself as I work on various writing projects for competitions and publication. At the moment I have taken a break from editing my book and have been writing some short stories. I've also found some great writing resources online, that have helped me learn about submitting stories or articles and even a list of magazines that accept unsolicited manuscripts...but enough of that hobby for now!
    Then there's this blog and facebook. Funny enough, I never did like the idea of getting facebook until coming up here. It is good to be able to keep up on what is happening back home.
    And then, there's reading. Somehow I managed to read at least two 800 page books this winter, and several shorter ones. I'm currently reading Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - it is an abridged version (unfortunately, because I like to read originals), but still very interesting...I find a lot of parallels between ancient Rome and America - as Henry Hazlitt says, "Those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it."
    When it's warm enough (10 below or warmer), I've also been running. It's going to be extremely hard to go back to running on our mountains at home, but without the daunting prospect of jogging up our driveway, I can run much farther...Of course, I really should run it - I make my dogs do it!
    Well, that about sums up my, "Life of ease and luxury." I wonder if it will be hard to go home and get used to "normal" life again?
   
   

The Yukon Quest Start

    To begin with, I wasn't sure if I'd actually be able to go to the start because Aaron and Scott were so busy getting ready to leave on Monday (the Quest started on Saturday, Feb 4th). I was really glad when I learned I could ride in with Al, a neighbor from down the road, and his fiance Mary, who came up to see the start as well. Al ran the Iditarod back in the 1980's and Mary is a homeschool mom who has a lot of similar interests as my mom (and myself...) - history/philosophy, a Christian, raises dairy goats, into natural health, lives on solar, etc - so we had a good time talking.

    We thought we might have trouble getting in to see the teams, because of a new rule about keeping public out of the holding/staging area, but Mary's neighbor is Jake Berkowitz and we got through...

    I met Jake and his fiance, Robyn and then, saw that Lance Mackey's truck was parked beside them...of course, I resolved to meet this amazing and accomplished musher. It so happens that Mary is a good friend of Lance's mom and she introduced me. I can now say I got to shake Lance Mackey's hand! (For non-mushers, Lance has won the Iditarod four consecutive times, twice in the same year after winning the Yukon Quest - which he has also won four times.)

    I did get some pictures, but not as many as I'd have liked because it was -10 on the river (where the race starts) and I tried to keep my phone warm and take pictures with gloves on...so, I just got pictures of a few of the teams I knew or had an interest in.

    After the official start, Al drove to a spot about 15 miles into the race where we got to see the teams settled down and in action as they went by. I forgot to take pictures here, much to my dismay, but it was cool to see the teams so close!

Looking down at the start line in downtown Fairbanks on the Chena River.

A view from the back of the start line.

A Russian Musher (he used a different harness set up and his dogs looked more like greenland dogs) - the last to leave the start line.

A view of the start line from the trail. Abbie West is in the chute.

 Abbie West, leaving the starting chute. The dogs on her team are from Jay Cadzow and are related to Scott's six puppies!

 Abbie West's team.

 Hugh Neff going to the starting line. I met Hugh two or three years ago at the Race to the Sky Symposium where he was a guest speaker.

 Hugh Neff

 Jake Berkowitz has a really nice, uniform team.

 The black "leggings" on Jake Berkowitz' dogs are "chicken-feet" protectors - the dogs sometimes lose the hair on their pasterns which exposes the skin to frostbite.

 Lance Mackey's leaders.

 Lance Mackey's wheel dogs.

 Lance Mackey at the starting line.

 Sonny Lindner - an older musher who has won the Quest in the past.

Sonny Lindner's nice team - all coated and ready to go!

I'm back!

    Praise the Lord! I now have my computer back up and running...a big thanks to my parents for finding a cord and sending it to me way up here in the north!
   
    Quite a bit has happened since my last post - when it was still freezing cold! I saw the Yukon Quest Start (I'll get into that in the next post), we finished Iditarod food drops and, thankfully, it has warmed up to the thirties and forties (above zero!). That, combined with the sunshine makes it feel like spring. Leila and I agree that we wouldn't mind if it stayed this warm until the end of March...
    The one disadvantage of having this warm weather is that the Iditarod food drops for Aaron were thawing (in Alaska, the dog meat and everything is just left out to stay frozen - which works pretty well for pallets of meat but not for the smaller bags for food drops). So this morning, Mandy and I loaded all the drop bags into the back of the truck and hauled them into Fairbanks to an air cargo place where they have a big freezer. On Monday we'll have to go into town again and take the drop bags from the air cargo place to the Iditarod food drop pick up.
    Scott and Aaron are headed towards Nome in the Norton Sound 450, at the moment they are at the checkpoint of Koyuk, following the Iditarod trail. The warm temperatures made the first two legs of the race punchy and slow, but now they are picking up speed. This is the final race before the Iditarod and I think it will be hard for Aaron to choose sixteen of the twenty four dogs they are racing for the Iditarod!
    We've had our own adventures since they left. Yesterday, on the way to the post office, Mandy got her truck stuck in a snow drift on the driveway and, although we shoveled and shoveled, we couldn't get it un-stuck. Scott's truck is here, so we brought it out, but couldn't do anything because we couldn't find a chain or tow strap. Fortunately, the neightbor Jason (a californian to the rescue!), came by to help and after a little more shoveling we pulled the truck free.

    With this nice weather, I've been able to do some jogging myself, taking along Rocky (who follows without needing a leash!) and Scott's golden retriever, Ozzie. I'm watching Ozzie while he's gone at for the Norton sound race and, boy, does this dog have a LOT of energy! Fortunately, he's well-mannered, obedient and stays out of trouble...except when he *almost* got into my jerky supply! I think he would've been banished outside if he had eaten any...
    Of course, I've also been running my team. I now have Tyler back and have been working him in lead again. I was very impressed by Urchin yesterday - he ran several miles in single lead! If we weren't going so far and it wasn't so warm, I'd have left him up alone for the whole run. It was nice to get a second opinion on my team from Leila, who double-sledded with me on our second 40 mile run (our first forty-miler was over a month ago). Even with the warm weather, its still been hard to get mileage because of the wind, blowing in the trails. A huge thank you to Al, another neighboring musher, who put in the beautiful 40 mile trail because on Wednesday I did a 30 mile run and I had to go out and come back to the kennel, give a quick snack, and then go out again. Very boring, but to my surprise the dogs averaged 10mph - pretty fast for a distance team in warm weather!
    Here's some pictures from the last couple runs:



1/30/2012

Well, I have bad news...it may be a while before I can post again, my laptop cord broke and I'll have to find a new one. Will post again when I can!