The Scoop

Ryan, Eric, the dogs, and I landed in Dillingham yesterday afternoon. Ryan and Eric loaded up the stuff in Bethel then flew to Tuluksak where we threw on the sled and remaining dogs and then went straight to Dillingham.

I scratched from the race in Tuluksak 50 miles from the finish line. It was a long difficult 250 miles and probably easiest to describe in parts. Below is an account of our Kusko 300 run.

Bethel to Tuluksak: The first 50 miles was uneventful. The starting line was a zoo. Folks in Bethel really turn out to support the mushers. After some passing and being passed in the early miles of the race, we settled in and cruised to Tuluksak. There was some wind and soft trails, but everything was well marked. Temps were right around freezing. I pulled into Tuluksak with 10 dogs, ran up to my drop bag to grab a bag of booties, and left with all 10 dogs still pulling well in harness.

Tuluksak to Bogus Creek: I was the last musher to Bogus Creek. Most mushers went from Bethel through Tuluksak to Kalskag, but Paul Gephardt, Sabastian S., Mellissa Owens, and myself stopped at Bogus Creek for a rest. Bogus Creek is just that, a small creek. There were people there for the Bogus Creek 150 race that runs from Bethel to Bogus Creek and back. We got into Bogus Creek, the dogs ate and slept for a while. Everything still looked good.

Bogus Creek to Kalskag: Oh how the wind did blow. Shortly after Bogus Creek, the trail drops back onto the Kuskokwim River. The wind was howling and snow blowing. The trail was mostly blown over, but the stakes were still up and could be followed. The dogs required a lot of directions to stay on the trail. In sections we fought through small ground blizzards.

Kalskag to Aniak: I checked into Kalskag and the headed for Aniak, the front runners were coming off their 6 hour rest and many passed me along the way. Again we fought through the wind. At one point a gust hit us broodside and shoved us all right off the trail. Never had that happen to me before. It really started getting warm during this run. Not exactly sure what the temps were, but it had to be in the high 30's or low 40's. Sled dogs are not made to run in above freezing temperatures. It's very taxing on them. Along the way, Felix began having difficulty keeping up. At one point I loaded him in the sled. It was my first lesson in the dangers of loading one of my 70 pound huskies in the sled. It makes a lot more work for the others. We did make it to Aniak where the dogs rested and ate. We took our mandatory 6 hour rest.

Aniak to Pike Lake and back to Aniak: Bernard had a very sore wrist so was dropped in Aniak. It seemed that all Felix needed was some rest so I took him along to Pike Lake with the others. The trail to Pike Lake takes you across the Kuskokwim River, up a mountain, then gradually down the mountain to some lowlands and then to Pike Lake which is just a tundra lake. I passed Paul Gephardt on the way out where he told me, "There's a lot of water up there." He didn't know the half of it. We made it through all the creeks and such in pretty good shape. The deepest water was about 6 inches, with most around 3 or 4 inches. My dogs usually don't like water, but they did well the whole way out. We got to Pike Lake where some volunteers had been seeing mushers go by. I asked them if they had been on the trail recently. Told them it was getting wet and turned to head back to Aniak. As I was headed back I began hearing snowmachines being started. Before long about a dozen snowmachines of all shapes and sizes went roaring past me. My heart sank. I knew the trail home would not be an easy one after those snowmachines went on it. In their defense, they probably didn't want to get stuck out there. The holes that were 6 inches were now a foot in a half. Instead of the dogs wading through water up to their ankles it was up to their bellies and even chests. When not in the water, the formerly nice trail looked like it had been shredded by a one ton cheese grater. To make things worse Felix stopped pulling again and seemed to be cramping up in his back legs. So we marched the 24 miles from Pike Lake to Aniak through deep water, over bare ground and torn up trail with 70 pound Felix in the basket. The dogs were tired when we got to Aniak. We stopped for a rest. I thought something near 4 hours would be fine, but we should have stayed longer. The guy behind me rested his dogs longer as I should have. He had been on the same difficult trail from Pike Lake. Felix was dropped in Aniak.

Aniak to Kalskag: By now it was really warm, the windy river trail I had traveled the day before was mostly slush and water. We made it into Kalskag with little trouble, but the dogs were tired. I rested them there for a while. David Tresino came in behind me and we decided to rest the dogs and travel on together. The rest of the pack had left us behind. I dropped Phoebe and Charlie in Kalskag. In retrospect, I should have kept them with the team. They have helped in the next run.

Kalskag to Tuluksak: It seemed that David and I had finally caught a break. Things had cooled down and the trail set-up pretty well. We were moving nicely and I was feeling good about things again. Just then I noticed Hagar beginning to limp. The limp got worse and worse. He had to be put in the basket. We still had at least 40 miles left to go with 5 dogs still in harness and 70 pound Hagar, my old dependable leader, in the basket. The 5 dogs in front were doing well as David and I traveled down the river, but those 5 dogs did get tired. We crashed. The dogs just got too tired and wanted to rest. We took an hour break and then tried to get going again. David got his team moving, but my poor dogs would not follow. They were just too tired. I tried everything I could think of and finally had to lead them myself. I walked in front of them and they followed. They would follow me, then pull themselves for a short distance, then I would walk in front of them again. We finally made it the 5 remaining miles to Tuluksak. The dogs ran the final distance as they saw the village and heard the dogs. That would be the end of our race.

In Tuluksak: The plan was to just give the dogs a bunch of rest and then finish the race. David and I would miss the banquet, but we'd make it in just the same. Before long we began hearing the stories from the finish line. In the last 10 miles of the race mushers were falling into holes up to their knees, waist, and even shoulders. Dogs were left swimming for dry land. Even with a fresh team this would have been difficult traveling. We opted to stay in Tuluksak and see what the weather did. As it turned out, things began cooling Monday night and continued to cool Tuesday. This made things even more dangerous. Now instead of a river with water and dry sections, it was all ice, some very thin. A musher would not be able to differentiate between good trail and dangerous holes. At that point I decided we had gone far enough. The dogs had been resting for over 24 hours and could have ran into Bethel, but the race was over and it was time to go home. I flew out of Tuluksak yesterday morning. David did make it to Bethel claiming 16th place. I enjoyed getting to know him and was glad to see him finish. As for me, I was happy to be home. Our Kusko adventure had come to an end.

Looking back, no one thing prevented us from finishing the race in a respectable time. It was a combination of weather and injuries, Mother Nature and bad luck. No one was to blame. It's just the way it happened. I could have mushed into Bethel with David yesterday, but it was time to come home. Another weather system was heading for Southwest Alaska and I didn't want to get stuck in Bethel for another day or two after finishing. Johanna is headed for Anchorage Saturday and I wanted to spend some time with her before she left. Lots of things are more important then dog races, none more so then family.

So what now? It will be a while before we enter another distance dog sled race. I wanted to learn what it took to prepare for and run a distance race. Just so happens I picked the toughest Kusko 300 in history to learn. That's not all bad. If I had coasted along a well packed trail and finished the race grinning ear to ear, I would not have learned as much I did. I learned a ton about distance sled dog racing. This knowledge will help me in the future no matter what I do. Johanna and I talked last night. We both thought that in 5 years when Alethia is 10, Jake 7, and the other kid 5 we may try it again. Until then I'm planning to find homes for a few dogs and breed my best ones. We've got plenty of property and food is easy to come by out here. I'll be breeding, raising, and training dogs for a while, the rest we'll decide as we go.

This does not mean we are getting out of racing however. I have purchased some sprint dogs and am planning to train up a team and win the local sprint races. We've got a yellow male named Jerry, a female named Minnie who should be having a litter of pups any day now, and another pup to arrive shortly that I will let Alethia name. Ryan plans to stay with me and run the sprint dogs. He is an incredible athlete. We are both excited. I get to raise and train dogs and Ryan can mush them across the tundra at break-neck speeds. Should be fun.

Eric also plans to stay on and help with the dogs. Hopefully he can help with the working dogs. I'm looking to have a litter of pups every year for a few years and will need help getting miles on them. The young dogs will learn to haul loads and travel over rough trails, even breaking trail when need be. This is something my dogs did do well. As long as they had their energy, they worked hard and were able to handle the difficult trails.

I'd like to thank all the sponsors who helped me out these last few months. The support we received was tremendous. Although we didn't finish the race, we learned and grew together. I am 10 times the musher I was 4 months ago. You're support allowed me to live a dream. I'll never forget it.

I also understand that a number of folks have found this blog and enjoyed following it. Although our distance racing has come to an end for now, there is still plenty more to come. We'll be training pups and living the life we love so well. The blog's title, "The comings and goings of a Rural Alaskan family and their team of working sled dogs" is no small thing. Our life in this little corner of the world is rich and well lived. Drop in from time to time and see what we're up to. Things rarely get boring around here.

Of all the closing statements that come to mind, I think it best to let Thoreau end this post.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, to discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

Walden or Life in the Woods
- Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)