Here is the quick and dirty history of our winter to get you all caught up to where Team Squid is.
Due to a lack of snow in the Fairbanks Area we moved the whole family to Eureka, AK to train out of Brent Sass's camp. Here we were able to do longer runs on good snow. Including runs to the local villages of Rampart and Manley Hot Springs. The photo to left is Paige's team on the trail to Rampart. Thanks to Brent for allowing us and our 32 dogs to crash his party.
We came back to Fairbanks on Christmas day to pack and head out for the Gin Gin 200 Sled Dog Race. This was our first distance race and we entered 2 teams in the race. Brent supplied a few extra dogs to fill out our teams.. Thanks Again Brent! The pic to the left is Paige hooking her team up for the womens division mass start. Stout and Lucy are in lead and the whole team is fired up and excited. The video below is the mens mass start and shows how exciting it is.. Cody started late because he was trying to catch it on film!
The race started at the Wolverene Lodge on Lake Louise and then the trail went 109 miles across lakes and rivers to the Maclaren Lodge in the Alaska Range. We camped halfway for a few hours to rest and then got back on the trail which included some open water sections with crazy little ice bridges. The dogs did great and we pulled into Maclaren around 6 am for our 8 hour mandatory layover.
The picture to the left is Cody's team camped at Maclaren and enjoying their rest at sunrise.. 10 am. the photo below is the view of all the teams camped out at the checkpoint.
At Maclaren we decided that Paige's leader Stout's shoulder was sore and so he got a doggie limousine ride on the snowmachine sled back to our truck at the start. seen at left. We don't want to run our dogs when they are hurting so they get "dropped" from the race meaning that they get to rest and heal and we have to carry on with less dogs.
The race then returns from Maclaren on the same path, 109 miles. We pulled out of Maclaren that afternoon around 3 and had a good run back to the halfway point. There we camped the dogs for a few hours and had a fire with fellow mushers Caleb Hathaway, Peter Fleck, and Terry Williams. A great little party on the Susitna River. about 3 am we packed our sleds, pulled our hooks and headed back to Wolverene Lodge. Finishing the race around mid morning. We were met at the finish line by Mike Ellis and Brent Sass who were holding beers for us... it was definitely time for a cold one after 220 miles in about 48 hours. The dogs did awesome and it was a great Time....
So that brings us to the here and now. We are home training on local trails and getting Paige all set for her next race, the Yukon Quest 300 which starts on February 6th. Check back for more details on that race.
Cheers for now,
Team Squid
During the drop bag preparation the dogs still have to be run to keep physically fit. we run the dogs to Minto Flats and Nenana area from our house. Sometimes we set up our wall tent and get warm while resting the dogs on these runs. Paige is seen warming by the woodstove below.
