On the trail - Braeburn - Whitehorse
After
dinner I checked back on the dogs, specailly Marmot, and massaged
his sore wrist. Piano`s sores on his feet were getting better, so
did Libby`s cut, amazing with all that running. Tang was starting
to worry me, she lost quite a bit of weight. I decided to give her
a running partner in lead with good old Chevy. I slept for 4 hrs
in Steve`s bunkhouse, real bed…. Nice! About an hour before
leaving I gave the dogs a watery meal. I walked Marmot and decided
to take him. Now I might as well finish will all 11 of them. The
upcoming stretch would be a challenge. After only 2 miles we would
have to make a left turn instead of going right with leads home
to the cabin. After annother 20 and 30 miles respetive we would
have to pass our walltents for the tours. Annother 20 miles down
the trail we would come by a junction leading home to the main yard,
4 distractions. I trained this run from Braeburn to Whitehorse in
January, hoping the dogs would remember that, and not only having
going home on their mind.
Michelle
left 30 minutes ahead of me. When it got time to hook up, the team
was almost going nuts and barking to go. Not because they looked
forward to annother 100 miles, but to go just 2 miles home. This
shows how much is psychologal with them. Physically there are able
to do this easily, but the trick is to keep them mentally happy.
Much to my delight Marmot pulled right from the start. The turn
after 2 miles proved to be of no worry, Tang and Chevy easly swung
the team south and we picked up great speed, I had to ride the brake
again. I defenitely did not expect that. I waited fot Thomas to
catch up and we ran within sight. It felt very strange to be on
the trail where I know almost every inch. At mile 23 we passed the
walltent at Kynocks and the dogs went by o.k., but our speed dropped
drastically. I let Thomas go by, hoping my dogs would chase. They
did till we hit the trail to 57 Mile Lake , there it took me a lot
of convincing and cooning to get them by, we were going at a crawl,
Thomas with his 7 dogs easily pulling away on my 11 dog team. Again,
it all playes in their heads. I think we were down to running about
6 miles per hour, the slowest for the whole race. The snow got very
skimpy and after travelling in winter wonderland I really asked
myself once more why I have chose Whitehorse as a home. Not without
a reason the locals call it Banana Belt. I think after 7years living
here, I got the point.
I snacked short before the turnoff to the kennel, hoping to perk
up the dogs. Right at the turn we came to a grinding halt and the
whole team swung west, home….., Tang and Chevy would listen
to go left, but the rest of the team refused. I wish I would have
barricaded this turn. I tried sweet talking them to go towards Whitehorse,
but their minds were made up. I started walking right with Tang
and Chevy down the trail. Micky, Marmot and Libby really not wanting
to go. I thought fine, and put them all in the sled, as it had lots
of room and still 8 pulling. Driving a bus eh? I kept on jogging
with Tang and Chevy for about 4 miles till we came over a little
hill and it went downhill from there. I put Libby, Marmot and Micky
back out. But Micky started limping immediately, checking him he
had a sore shoulder which I must have totally missed with focusing
all my concentration on those turns. I felt sorry for him and put
him back in the basket, I really wanted this young guy to finish
happily. This whole episode did cost me a lot of time, Thomas for
sure was long gone. And it was getting hot, very hot, but I opeted
to keep on running to the finish.
Instead
of running on a high, being very close to finish what I have dreamt
about for a long long time, my mood was running on a deep low. I
questioned, if it was right to push the dogs annother 40 miles to
Whitehorse instead just going home. I for sure put my ego over that
of my dogs with making that decision. We had a painstakingly slow
run on the Takhini and the fact that I had to pass numerous of Franks
tourist teams did not help the matter. Why can he not leave them
off the trail why the Quest is going on, but maybe with him just
getting home hinself he did not even know that they were there.
I had to struggle to keep Mickey in the bag when he heared all those
barking dogs. Some of the tourist teams where quite out of control
and I was very glad I could haw Tang off the trail and bypass the
whole group in some distance. Next we ran by Franks kennel, without
trouble, but just to run into annother of his groups. That made
me mad and I feel there is no excuse to having all your groups right
on the Questtrail at a time when you know there are teams nearing
the finish, specially having plenty of groups out myself during
that time.There are other trails to mush on. Hitting the Yukon River
I knew it would only be a matter of 1.5 hrs till we finish. It was
a strange feeling, I tried to think about the past 12 days and wondered
what would wait for me once getting home. It defenitely was very
nice to get my mind of the business really forget about it. On the
other hand, did the Quest fulfil my dreams? I wasn`t too sure, but
that mostly due to the rugh last miles I was currently experiecing.
At the finish there was a huge crowd waiting, I defenitely did not
expect that, but there were 3 Yukon Teams finishing within one hour.
I put Mickey back in line and trotted with all 11 dogs towards the
banner. There were a lot of familiar faces in the crowed and a pretty
emotinonal moment for me. I was glad to see Jocelyne who waited
to give me a big hug. I thanked my dogs, specially Tang, who ran
each meter in lead, never once missing a step. I have always had
a very strong bond to her, even stronger now. She was a gift from
Cowboy Larry Smith from Dawson, some fine dogs he used to raise.
I did not prepare myself for having to say a few words in a microphone
and felt pretty stupid trying to come up with senseful answers.
We fed the dogs and put them back in their boxes, the Yukon Quest
came to an end for me. Within a few minutes I was sitting in my
office and catching up on e-mails and other business stuff.
Looking
back at the whole thing, now a few months later, sitting at our
kitchen table middle of May, my perception is a lot different from
right after the race. When questioned there, if I would run again,
my answer was quick to come: No I have had my fill. Now with some
time to myself and refelect I am sure I will go again,just not sure
when. Looking at my running times, I feel I ran a nice race till
Stepping Stone, than after loosing Brownie things fell somewhat
apart, but mostly in my head, I should have been prepared for moments
like that. Over all it ran a lot smoother than I anticipated, the
trail was a highway this year, we were very lucky. Also the weather
was nice, just being cold for 2 days at the beginning, but not once
I had some real bad weather, no wind, no whiteouts.
The dogs surprised me, I for sure did not expect Chevy to finish
as he loped most of the way. Also Mickey with being so young. The
finishers were: Tang, Chevy, Wondar, Piano, Paws, Libby, Coon, Marmot,
Herring, Otto, Micky. Skipper I had to drop in Angel Creek due to
an injury from before the race, I should have taken my “ spare
dog Ginger “ instead. Eman hit the wall after 300 miles in
Slavens, working too hard. Brownie I dropped in Scroggy after some
misunderstanding. It is defenitely true, that the dogs who make
the 300 mile mark are most likely to finish. They get stronger and
stronger during the run and used to the schedule. As for myself
I was happy with my choice of Bunny Boots, my Snow Mantra Parka
and ski pants. I was not happy with being in not much of a good
physical shape before the race. I learned a lot about dogcare, which
is a fact I like a lot about racing, so many knowledgable people
to learn from. I really liked my Gatt Sled but have to learn to
be less of a pack rat, it was good to travel with Thomas to see
with how little he traveles. A special thanks to all the volunteers
and vets on the race. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this
journey possible, see you down the trail.
