The race is definitely on, with four mushers having passed through the Eagle checkpoint overnight. As I write, Allen Moore has a slim lead over Brent Sass for first and second place. Michelle Phillips is traveling in 3th place with Hans Gatt in fourth. Matt Hall arrived in Eagle about 10 minutes ago (05:45 AST) and is resting his team at his home-town checkpoint.
Jimmy Lebling finally made his way to Dawson City yesterday, and immediately scratched "for the well being of his team." Having completed her 36 hour layover, Olivia Webster (Hugh Neff's wife) turned around, returned to town and also scratched. Lisbet Norris finally made her way into town at about 10:40 last night.
As of this morning there are still 28 teams competing.
Friday, February 8, 2019
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Yukon Quest - Day 4
Coming off their 36 hour layover in Dawson City, the frontrunners in the Yukon Quest are wasting little time in route to the Canada- Alaska border. At 5:00 AM AST Brent Sass is less than a mile from Clinton Creek, where the trail leaves the Yukon River and tracks up the Fortymile. Hans Gatt and Michelle Phillips, traveling close together, are only 5 miles behind the leader and in fourth place, Allen Moore is about 5 miles back from them. Paige Drobny, Denis Tremblay and Matt Hall have all left Dawson City for their run to Alaska and Ryne Olson will be free to leave in less than half an hour.
Two mushers, Lisbet Norris and Jimmy Lebling seem to be struggling, still about 50 miles from the famous gold-rush town and moving at only 4 miles per hour. I would not be surprised if they were to either scratch or be withdrawn from the race when they eventually do make it to Dawson City. It's pretty apparent their teams are unable to maintain a racing pace.
Chase Tingle had an interesting wildlife encounter and a new story to add to his collection while en route to Dawson City. Apparently his team attracted the attention of a lonely gray wolf who more or less casually chased them down the trail for several miles. The story is well told in a Fairbanks New-Miner article. Reading it in Chase's own words is well worth clicking on the link.
Two mushers, Lisbet Norris and Jimmy Lebling seem to be struggling, still about 50 miles from the famous gold-rush town and moving at only 4 miles per hour. I would not be surprised if they were to either scratch or be withdrawn from the race when they eventually do make it to Dawson City. It's pretty apparent their teams are unable to maintain a racing pace.
Chase Tingle had an interesting wildlife encounter and a new story to add to his collection while en route to Dawson City. Apparently his team attracted the attention of a lonely gray wolf who more or less casually chased them down the trail for several miles. The story is well told in a Fairbanks New-Miner article. Reading it in Chase's own words is well worth clicking on the link.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
February 5th Evening Report
Dawson City, Yukon Territory hasn't seen this much excitement since 1898. Well, except for the annual rush of mushers, dog handlers, race officials and race fans that are inundating the small city tonight. As I write (18:43 AST), 8 Yukon Quest competitors have driven their dogs to the checkpoint, and of course others are not far behind.
Brent Sass won today's Dash for Cash, arriving first into Dawson City at about 11:24 PST this morning, earning a poke with 2 ounces of placer gold assuming he finishes the race. Brent was followed into Dawson City in short order by Michelle Phillips, Hans Gatt and Allen Moore.
All of the Yukon Quest mushers are required to take a 36 hour mandatory layover in Dawson City. During the layover their handlers can assist in dog care, mushers can repair sleds, sleep in real beds, enjoy hot showers and all that other civilized sort of stuff. Writing as the Armchair Musher on the Yukon Quest website (under the News tab in the navigation menu), Jodi Bailey did a very nice job describing typical activities occuring during the long mandatory stop.
Typically any musher who arrives within 8 hours of the leader is considered to be in good position to ultimately win the race. Up until now the mushers have been clocking miles, getting themselves and their teams settled into the routine of the trail, their own run and rest schedules, and kind of casually setting themselves up in good position. The "real" race is said to start at Dawson City as mushers take a considerably more competitive approach to the race. When they leave Dawson City the next checkpoint will be Matt Hall's home town of Eagle, Alaska. The trail takes a bit of a roundabout way of getting there, forcing the mushers to traverse the historical gold mining region along the Fortymile River before turning north on Alaska's Taylor Highway, going over Eagle Summit (notoriously nasty during bad weather conditions) before reaching Eagle. In total it's about 150 miles of cold, dark and lonely country.
More ARF Deceitful B.S.
This screen shot taken from the Humane Mushing FaceBook group demonstrates one of the reasons I really dislike animal rights organizations and the fanatics who support them. While the statement made at the top of post is technically true, it doesn't even begin to explain what really happened. The implication, of course, is that race veterinarians cleared a dog that knew had cancer to run the race. In fact, there was no reason to believe or even suspect the poor dog had issues until symptoms developed. The veterinary team did everything in their power to help the dog, the musher and the musher's crew.
Here is the original FaceBook post that Humane Mushing "shared", telling the whole story.
"Smokin' Ace Sled Dog Kennels
Pelly Crossing Update:
Sorry for the silence, but we had pressing matters on hand. Matt arrived in Pelly at 7:55 pm last night and requested veterinary assistance to drop a dog, Salcha. Matt talked extensively with head vet Nina about his concerns before we headed inside for a thorough examination. It was decided that she needed X-rays to accurately diagnose her symptoms. So with the unwavering support of the vet crew, we were lent the veterinarian's spare vehicle and headed to Whitehorse in search of emergency care. Josh, a senior vet student, graciously offered to be our driver and veterinary consultant. We were relieved to have his knowledge by our sides.
After hours of diagnostics (radiographs, ultrasounds & a full blood panel) Salcha was diagnosed with cancer. Salcha and I are currently eating dinner in bed and cuddling in a down comforter in a hotel in Whitehorse. Matt, who had intended on only staying 4-hrs in Pelly, sat by anxiously, checking in every 20 minutes & pushing off his departure time to await news of her health. Choking back tears, it was decided that Matt should continue on down the trail and we told each other that Salcha would see him in Dawson.
Salcha was sent home with special meds plus a special kibble to keep our little Miss Piggy plump, just the way we like her. Of course, she doesn't let anything get in the way of her appetite and as soon I converted the soap dish into her doggy bowl, she was chomping away on her 3 am snack.
Salcha is one of Matt's first dogs whom he loves dearly and he proudly claims as his daddy's girl. She's feisty, smart and unfalteringly loyal. Salcha is hands down one of our toughest girls in the dog yard and has proved this fact a million times over across every inch of the Yukon Quest trail. After spending thousands of trail miles together, tackling obstacles, overcoming weather and claiming the teams first victories, she has a special place in Matt's heart. The trust that is built over the years of running together is everlasting.
So tomorrow, after a quick cat nap, we will make our way to Dawson. Josh, our compassionate vet turned gracious chauffeur, will do the driving while Salcha sleeps on a nice warm pile of parkas. We can't thank the vet staff enough for their help."
This is just one of many examples of animal rights fanatics (ARFs) twisting reality to further their own propagandist agenda.
Update, Wednesday 6 February. More of the Story.
Matt Hall arrived at the Dawson City checkpoint at 5:43 yesterday evening. After going through the necessary mandatory rigamarole (dog count, gear check and sign-in). In a FaceBook post the Smokin' Ace Kennels team of handlers described what happened next.Once Matt signed in and went through the mandatory gear check, we parked him next to the truck to load the dogs and get to camp. The first thing out of his mouth was, "How is Salcha?" We told him he could see for himself! A look of pure joy rushed over his face as he opened the door to see his sassy girl sitting there wagging her tail. He said she was on his mind the entire time. They're currently cuddled up on the bed with full bellies, happy & content.
They even posted photographic evidence.
Thank you for reading the rest of the story.
YQ Morning Report, Tue Feb 5.
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| GPS tracking devices on each musher's sled provides a near real-time overview of the race |
I won't be able to watch the race and closely as I'd prefer today. Life happens, and in my case that includes a drive to town for a physical therapy session and some much needed grocery shopping. I'll look forward to catching up once I return to home.
Monday, February 4, 2019
YQ Evening Update, February 4
Teams competing in the Yukon Quest continue to cover miles and miles of trail, and they've continued swapping the lead position most of the day. Each time I've looked at the Live Tracker it seems a different musher is up front. Over the past few hours Hans Gatt, Allen Moore, Brent Sass and Michelle Phillips have all broken trail. As I write, Hans and Allen both appear to be resting at Scroggie Creek while Brent and Michelle are marching on. Meanwhile Paige Drobny, Matt Hall and Ryne Olson are mushing closely together, making good time about an hour or so out of Scroggie Creek.
There is about 95 miles of trail between Scroggie Creek and the next checkpoint at Dawson City. Once the mushers reach Dawson City they are required by race rules to take a mandatory 36 hour stop. There is a prize ofgold waiting for the first musher to arrive in Dawson City, and with mushers knowing they can give their teams a good long rest, I would not be surprised to see up to six or seven mushers competing in a headlong "dash for the cash" by tomorrow evening. If so it will certainly be exciting to watch.
I'm a bit surprised to see Lisbet Norris still in the Pelly Crossing checkpoint. Perhaps her Spot Tracker isn't working? I'm sure her Anadyr Siberian Huskies are capable of faster performance than they've shown thus far. Rob Cooke's team of Siberian Huskies are certainly holding their own in the middle of the pack.
In the back of the pack, 5 teams, including Chase Tingle, are resting at Stepping Stone.
There is about 95 miles of trail between Scroggie Creek and the next checkpoint at Dawson City. Once the mushers reach Dawson City they are required by race rules to take a mandatory 36 hour stop. There is a prize ofgold waiting for the first musher to arrive in Dawson City, and with mushers knowing they can give their teams a good long rest, I would not be surprised to see up to six or seven mushers competing in a headlong "dash for the cash" by tomorrow evening. If so it will certainly be exciting to watch.
I'm a bit surprised to see Lisbet Norris still in the Pelly Crossing checkpoint. Perhaps her Spot Tracker isn't working? I'm sure her Anadyr Siberian Huskies are capable of faster performance than they've shown thus far. Rob Cooke's team of Siberian Huskies are certainly holding their own in the middle of the pack.
In the back of the pack, 5 teams, including Chase Tingle, are resting at Stepping Stone.
2019 Yukon Quest Update
It's still very early in the Yukon Quest, much too early to start picking front-runners. Hans Gatt and Allen Moore have been trading places for first and second place a bit on the trail which I find rather interesting. I look for Allen to surge forward once they reach the more mountainous terrain near Dawson. Allen believes his dogs work best in steep terrain and has noted that on hill climbs his smaller dogs readily pass slower teams while on flat terrain he is more often the one being passed.
Meanwhile, Aliy Zirkle won the greatly shortened YQ-300 (this year only 200) very handily. According to news media she plans to run her team for another 60 or 70 miles in the local area. I'd suspect she is looking them over before selecting candidates for her 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race team.
Meanwhile, Jodi Bailey is doing a great job in the role of "Armchair Musher" on the Yukon Quest website. Just click on the "News" tab in the menu to read her commentary.
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