The Finish Line Isn't Always Where You Think It Is

"I am a big believer in overcoming and achieving and doing things and not feeling sorry for yourself," 

-Drew Carey

This Copper Basin 300 was one for the books in many ways. We entered 2 teams into the race, thus having every single dog in the kennel racing this past weekend.

We have 6 yearlings in the kennel this year. The goal with our racing schedule was to expose the yearlings to as much as we could, and to also make every experience as positive as possible. Our first race of the season was the Solstice 100 in Two Rivers, just outside of Fairbanks. We had 2 teams in this race. Both teams finished and every dog looked great the the finish line.

The next race was the Copper Basin 300, which occurred over this past weekend. Once again we had both teams entered. Joel finish with 9 dogs and I "finished" 40 miles short of the official finish line with 12 dogs with me. 

Joel and I at the food drops for the Copper Basin. Each bag contains everything that we will need for both the dogs and ourselves. Each bag is delivered to the checkpoint for us to nab when we pull in with our teams.

Giving the team one last head rub before taking off at the start chute.

Getting ready to run a 1000 mile race is no easy task. Every misstep a dog makes, every split on a foot, every choice we make as musher impacts, in the long run, the dogs when it comes to picking dogs for the 1000 mile team. Who is going to go?

Entering mid-distance races is one way to help decide who is going to go and who is not. What we see in a dog out on the trail in a racing situation is different than what we see in training. Racing situations cannot be replicated in training. Numerous other teams, cheering crowds, road crossings with flashing lights and cones, getting up off straw and going for another run on new trail time and time again, and so much more.

When Darrin and I sat down and came up with the race schedule for this year, it was all about the yearlings and getting them ready to run Iditarod. Maybe only 1 would make it, maybe all 6. Each race was a build up to the next race and to the next race leading up to Iditarod as the Grand Finale.

Two teams were made. One for Joel and one for me. This would be the first time ever, that someone outside of Darrin, The Kid and I, that would be racing our dogs. A very big deal. Joel's team consisted of the old veteran dogs, dogs that had run the 2013 Yukon Quest with Darrin, 3 yearlings and one other dog that had done some racing with me last year.  My crew was mainly the young guns that had raced with me last year. and also 3 yearlings. The yearling division was: Jumbo, Herc and Mega with Joel; Norbert, Mammoth and Titan with me.

Zoee and Boo zoom out of the chute. Just look at the smiles on those faces!

I had come up with a plan on how I wanted to run the CB300 this year. We were not in it to race, but to expose the yearlings to a new experience and see how the chips fell at the end.

I had a great bib number (10) that allowed me to make it down the trail in pretty good time to Chistochina, the first checkpoint. The plan was to rest 3 hours in Chisto then take a 20 minute break at the tent camp, another 20 minute break up at Excelsior Creek and then another 20 minute break once we got up and over the AT&T tower hill.

Here we are approaching our friend SDS who was out on the trail behind her place in Gakona.

The trail conditions were great from Glennallen into Chisto. The trail along the power line was one that we had run a couple weeks ago, so the dogs knew where they were and where we were going.

It was here that we ran into our friend SDS. What a great time for a snack break. I tossed the dogs some beef, fixed some booties, rubbed some bellies and had a nice chat with SDS.

Along this section of trail there are always groups of people gathered around bon fires, cooking hot dogs, sipping hot chocolate and cheering on the mushers as they pass.

Snack time is over, time to get going!

SDS never disappoints with her signs along the trail.

We arrived in Chisto in fine form, just as the sun was setting and the snow was picking up. Big wet flakes, loftily floating down, cloaking the world in a fresh blanket of white.

It is a trip to arrive home via dog team on the race. Big smiles from the road crossing guards, and cheers from the checkers as I throw my hooks in the ground for a gear check and sign in.

Once parked, I made short order of chores and got the dogs bedded down as quickly as possibly. With a 3 hour break, there is no time to waste. The dogs were very professional and laid down to rest right away.

The checkpoint was a bustling place with kids running around playing in the snow, teams pulling in, headlamps cutting through the sheets of falling snow like light sabers and mushers busily tending to teams, trudging through the soft sugary snow with buckets and pail to fetch cold water. The flames of dog cookers cast eery shadows on the snow at hot water was being made for meals.

At one point, a dog in the way of distance threw their head back and let out the happiest of howls. Soon there after, all of the other 500+ dogs joined in. This was not a rare occurrence and seemed to happen at every checkpoint.

Chistochina Checkpoint. Lit up by headlamps and cabin lights.

Boris and Scooter getting some shut eye in Chisto before hitting the trail again.

My checkout time was quickly approaching so I booted up the dogs, hooked up the tugs and went to the checker's station. At my checkout time, I signed the sheet, walked briskly back to my sled, pulled hooks and took off down the bike path and up the Chisto Trail. I was the first team to leave the checkpoint, and Paige was hot on my heels as her checkout time was 4 minutes or so after mine.

The snow was coming down pretty heavy now. There was a couple inches of new snow on the trail, slowing us down, which was fine by me.

My plan was to stay 3 hours in Chisto then take several 20 minute breaks on the trail to Meier's. My first stop was up at the tent camp. We pulled in there and had a nice 20 minute break. Dogs snapped up their snacks, I snapped up my snack and drank some tea. After 20 minutes, we got back on the trail.

I could see by the runner marks that a couple teams had passed by during our break. This was perfect, as they were breaking the trail our for us as the snow was still coming down pretty good.

20 minute break up at the tent camp.

Father and Son duo, Kayak and Norbert in swing acting all professional on our first 20 minute break.

It was snowy and ice fog all the way to Excelsior and beyond. Our next break was up at Excelsior Valley. Again we pulled off the trail and hung out for 20 minutes. Dogs gulped down their snacks again. I also took a snack and a drink. As we hung out, waiting for the food to digest in our bellies, I could see a couple headlamps snaking their way up through the valley. I waited for them to pass and make their way up the next climb before taking off again.

Next came the climb over the Hump. he snow had pretty much diminished and the ice fog was thick and heavy, coating the handle bow with a ice, as well as the dogs and myself.

We made it up and over without any incident. We followed the trail down beside the Gakona River and crossed the river...we crossed it without getting wet. Well, there was this one spot...I had Nix and Glacier in lead when we came upon some shallow open water. Nix and Glacier headed right for it. In and out we went, with each dog gulping down some water as they passed through. Nix LOVES him some water. I think he is more water dog than sled dog sometimes.

Off the river and onto the pipeline we cruised. The blinking red light of the AP&T tower told me that we were quickly approaching the "AP&T Hill." This is a very steep up and down hill. One we got up and over we stopped again for our third 20 minute snack break. I knew we were about 20 miles out from Meier's Lake.

Up and down the rolling hills along the pipeline until we got to the turnoff to head over to Meier's. The team cruised across the road no problem them parked like pros. Once again I got to going on my checkpoint routine as efficiently as possibly. I was taking my 6 hour mandatory plus time differential at Meier's. A boon was that there are rooms for rent so I had a comfy bed waiting for me once I got the dogs fed, and bedded down.

My total rest time was about 7 hours and 30 minutes here. I was able to feed the dogs twice and get about 3 hours of sleep here. I welcomed break in the race.

Once again I booted up the dogs, checked out and hit the trail. We were now on our way to Sourdough. This is the shortest, most fun run on the race. The trail is hilly right away out of the checkpoint. Climbing up and up and up. It would have been a beautiful sight, were it not for the thick ice fog that shrouded the beauty of the country, keeping it hidden from view. With the low snow, the sharp twists and turns were even more of a challenge to drive 12 dogs through. Somehow, nothing short of a miracle, I managed to make it through without crashing, hitting or nicking a single tree. What a work out that was!

Back on the pipeline for some easy pulling and fast trotting into the Sourdough Checkpoint.

Zooming into the Sourdough Checkpoint.

Darrin was back at Meier's Lake with Joel, as he was also taking his mandatory 6 there as well. Darrin had arranged for Bob and Jolene to meet me at the Checker Station and for Nick to meet me down on the boat ramp (about half a mile away) and help me park as needed. It was awesome to be greeted by friends who were ready to help do anything.

After checking in, we zipped down the road to the boat ramp, grabbed my straw and drip bags and parked. We stayed for 4 hours here, as planned.

Sourdough is a remote style checkpoint. There is no water available, therefore mushers must melt snow. I had sent a bag of ice cubes to melt to speed up the water making process. The next run was an 85 miler. I needed to make enough water to make a meal at Sourdough as well as enough water to carry to make a meal for my planned camp half way to Mendeltna.

Dogs chores done, cooker still making hot water, I took a seat and munched down my personal food and visited with Bob, Jolene and some other folks who were around. Darrin showed up and we chatted some. He took the opportunity to catch some well deserved, and needed, sleep. One guy handling for 2 teams is no easy task. One guy handling for one team on this race is challenge enough.

Each checkpoint is set up differently. This is pretty important when it comes to checking out, knowing where the water is (if there is any), where the food drops are located, vets, resting place for the mushers etc. At this particular checkpoint, the checkers were located about half a mile away from where the dog team parking was located. Due to this, mushers were allowed to "check out" an hour prior to their actual departure time. This allows the mushers time to walk up, check out, walk back to the team, boot, hook up and go. There were race officials located by the teams. As we left, we checked out with them as well. We are big on the honor system, and this checking out routine worked pretty good at this checkpoint.

Once I checked out, we took off down the river then up the bank and on our way to Mendeltna. 

Our camp spot half way to Mendeltna. The poly bag I used to carry straw then became my bed for a nice 45 minute sleep with my man Boris.

The run to Mendeltna is 85 miles. The focus of every run and every rest, every feeding and snack was all about the yearlings. I had decided to camp half way to Mendeltna. I have run the trails in the Cross Wind area lots, and am very familiar with them. I ran to a spot where we would be off the trail and camped for two hours.

The extra hot water I had made back at Sourdough I carried with me. About 3 hours out, I stopped, added meat and kibble to the hot water. Now at the checkpoint I had a meal that was ready to serve. After removing any booties that were on the dogs feet, I grabbed the food bucket and bowls and fed the team. After they ate, I tossed them a small piece of fat, laid out some straw, repacked the sled bag, set my alarm for 45 minutes, then I curled up with my man Boris and took a nice nap.

While I was curled up, I heard some teams go by. A couple made comments like, "That's what I need to do," and, "That looks like I good idea." After some rest, up we got and cruised down the trail.

I should probably mention that Norbert was in lead at this point. I put him in lead about 2 miles or so outside of Sourdough and he ran up front all the way to the camp site. I was going to take him out of lead, but when I started to get up and hook up the team, that boy stood up (along with every other dog in the team) and started butt-bumping Glacier and barking. Well, it looked like that boy was staying up front.

We blew out of that camp spot like we were on fire! I was shocked! I knew that a camp would do them well, but man, this was something awesome. The team was such a cohesive, unified unit as we moved down the trail. And Norbert was in LEAD...and loving it!

The trail zipped this way and that and soon we were up near the road. I knew how far away we were from the Mendeltna Lodge. Wanting Norbert to have nothing but a positive experience, I took him out of lead before reaching the checkpoint. We came into the checkpoint and parked without incident.

Darrin met us as we arrived. We chatted about the trail conditions coming into the lodge. The final 20+ miles were sugar snow and moguls. It was like watching dogs run in sand on the beach. I kept a foot on the drag to keep the speed down as to not injure any dogs.   

Red waiting for seconds, or maybe it was thirds or fourths at Mendeltna Lodge.

Zoee, Boo, Kayak and Nix all cuddled up...well except for Nix.

Nix. This dog never seems to tire. Ever.

Like all of the other checkpoints, dogs were fed, taken care of, bedded down and left alone to sleep. At this point I had 5 hours of rest left. Dogs got good rest, I got good rest and we all ate very well.

I have passed Mendeltna Lodge many times on my way to and from Anchorage. This was the first time I had ever been inside. The hospitality was amazing, and the lodge itself was wonderful. I drank myself silly with OJ and bananas. I then curled up on a couch and slept. 

I woke up a couple hours later and drank some more. After gathering up my gear, changing my socks and batteries in my headlamp, I grabbed some bottles of water and out the door I went. Time to start prepping to leave for the final run in to the finish.

Father Son duo, Kayak and Norbert all booted and waiting for the cues to hit the trail.

Mammoth taking a selfie with her favorite musher...kinda.

As I was booting and hooking up the team, preparing for the final run in, all the dogs sat up, looked around, telling me they were ready to hit the trail again. As I checked out for the final time in the race, I was full raw emotions that were amplified with the thought of finishing the CB300 with all 12 dogs. Watching the yearlings stand and look down the trail brought tears to my eyes.

I gave the command and off we went. We made a couple pit stops before we got rolling down the trail, allowing the dogs to get all their potties out.

Super Yearling Duo Mammoth and Norbert anxious to get going.

The view from the sled as the team is waiting on their meal at Mendeltna Lodge

After booting the team, I like to kick the straw out of the way. When taking off from a checkpoint, straw gets all stuffed up in the drag and under the sled, making it difficult to brake and control the team.

The trail along side the road in the ditch was in pretty good shape. We were able to carry good speed and move well. There were some steep up and down hills as well as some sidehilling. It was on one of these down hills that I noticed that Red was looking a little off. Up and down we went. Up and down...Red all of a sudden seemed to have tighten up and wasn't able to go down the hill at the same speed as the rest of the team. He got on his neckline as he tried his hardest to keep up with the team.

Taking a quick potty, belly rubbing break on the way to the finish line.

Once I got to a level spot on the trail, I stopped and loaded Red up in the sled. Red was a great passenger and gave me no grief about being in the bag. Red is a big dog. I knew that having him in the sled would slow us down, but I was well prepared with a sled full of snacks and food for a long 60 mile run to the finish.

With Red in the bag, the team actually seemed to move better down the trail. As we moved down the trail, I noticed that Zane was looking a little less than awesome. He'd have a tight tug, then a slack tug, tight then slack. Tail would go up at times, which usually means he needed to poop. I waited him out some to see if he did his business. Nope. No poop. I stopped and made some adjustments to Zane, wondering if it would help him.

We went down the trail some more. Tight, slack, tight, slack..hmmm...my mind starting to ponder all of the options coming up. Zane was looking more like Red, and I realized he was tightening up as well. 2 dogs in the bag. A little more than 40 miles left to the finish. Soft, sugar snow with moguls for miles. That could bum this team out real quick.

What was the goal of running this race? The goals were to get as many dogs through as we could. Provide a positive experience for the yearlings. Keep the team healthy and happy. The team in front of me was happy, healthy and had nothing but positive experiences.

Then there's Iditarod. The Ultimate Goal.

Loading 2 dogs in the bag and possibly bumming out the team was not an option. It was then that I decided to pull the plug and scratch from the race.

Darrin met me at the Tolsona Lake Road. Together we ran the team to the truck. Tails wagging, faces smiling. This was their finish line. To celebrate their victory, big pieces of fat were handed out like candy and snapped up without a second thought.

This has been, by far, the toughest decision I have had to make in any dog race. There were so many emotions swirling around inside of me. Most prominent was the thought that I had let down the team. Was there something that I had missed? Could I have prevented this? If so, how? I had let the team down by not getting them to the finish line. A victory that they had earned and deserved. I had let everyone down that had been following us along on the race. Friends, family, fans, sponsors...

As all of these thoughts were swirling around in my head as I was loading dogs into their boxes, a friend came over to me and reminded me that the finish line isn't always where you think it is. The dogs didn't know that they had not finished the final 40 miles. They were at the truck and that was their finish line.

We went home, put the dogs away, and Darrin took off, headed back to Mendeltna Lodge to be there for Joel and his finish.

I slept, fed dogs, had dogs in the house, gave rubs downs to everyone...repeat.

Trucking up the long hill out of Mendeltna

Meanwhile, Joel had come into the final checkpoint. Darrin arrived while Joel was taking a much needed nap before making the final push to the finish line.

Joel was in high spirits as he took off, headed for Glennallen with his kick ass 9 dog team. It was quite a finish for him and the team. A story with twists and turns. One that is not mine to tell. So, if you see Joel, be sure to ask him.

Joel all smiles as he approaches the finish line.

Joel and his kick ass team cruising along side the road as he approaches the finish line in Glennallen.

I am forever grateful to Joel for being part of our Iditarod goal for a short time. For helping to train my team, and for caring for his 12 dogs like they were his very own. There will never be words that can express how thankful I am for both he and Darrin's support.

Fozzie at the finish line This stud ran the entire race in lead and was ready for more. Fozzie finished in lead with his sister Kermit. 

Stopping...camping...habits. Getting yearlings ready to race.

How fast time flies. Seems like last week I was sending in my entry form for Iditarod, and now we are under 60 days from the start! Yikes!!

The racing season is in full swing with the first race of the season occurring January 3rd. We entered two teams in the Solstice 100 which took place in Two Rivers. This was a big deal as it was the first race for the 6 yearlings in the kennel. To keep the goofiness factor to a minimum, the yearlings were divided equally between the two teams.

All of the training we had been doing up to this point would hopefully pay off, and it did.

The yearlings (and the rest of the dogs) were extremely well behaved and everyone acted like professionals. Phew...one race down. 3 more to go. But more on those later.

How did we get here with these young dogs? How did they learn how to act like the big dogs?

When the Chistochina River is frozen up and safe to travel on, we put in a 10+ mile trail that allows us to expose dogs to river running in a safe manner that is close to home should anything happen. In this picture you can see a dark line in the middle. That is the main channel of the river that is still wide open.

One thing that we do a lot of is camping. We camp A LOT. And we camp for different lengths of time after different lengths of runs during different times of the day. I wrote earlier about teaching the yearlings how to camp. After they learn the basics, we go out and practice it on the line, meaning no snub line to put them on.

Just like I do in school, a yearling is next to an older dog who will help keep the young one in line. The yearling also looks for guidance from the veterans. The veteran dogs also "get after" the yearlings when they dork off. A quick snap or a low, rumbling growl lets them know they better knock it off.

Camping at sunset in the Excelsior Creek valley.

Camping with one team is a lot different than camping with two teams. With one team, the dogs are just cuing off you, their musher, and the other dogs. With two teams, the dogs start looking at each other and cuing off them. This can be an issue at checkpoints, especially early on in races. This is one of the more difficult things to train for us.

Darrin and I rarely run teams together, at the same time. My work schedule, being a teacher my days are long, doesn't allow for long runs after school. Having only 24 dogs in the kennel this  year, a team gets run everyday. Taking two teams out on the weekend each day would throw this off. Plus it allows Darrin to do stuff around the house and allows me to have the trial system to myself, which is very nice indeed.

The yearlings learn how to camp around the second team.

On the Solstice 100, both of our teams ended up being side by side. We hadn't really thought about that happening. There were some minor issues due to "sugar snow" which made it very difficult to set the leader hooks. Once the dogs received their straw, they all took the cue and laid down.

The older dogs wasted no time cleaning their feet and curling up for a 4 hour nap. This is something that has been a real focus in training this year with the yearlings....sleep, even if you're not tired. Don't play with your neighbor, chase your tail, or chew on anything. Again the yearlings looked at the experienced dogs around them and followed their lead. All of the dogs know the routine when we camp. Doing the same thing every single time, in the same order, lets them know what is going on and what is expected of them. You get food, you eat. You get straw, you sleep. Booties off means we are staying a while. Getting booties back on means we will be leaving soon. The biggest cue of all is the donning of the parka. These guys know that it is go time when we put our parka on.

At a checkpoint there are all sorts of goings on that can easily distract the young dog. This is especially true when teams start leaving the checkpoint.

Thankfully, our teams stayed calm and kept sleeping, lifting their heads now and again to watch a team leave or to check out what all the excitement was about. About an hour out from my departure time, I started my "leaving routine." Slowly I started to boot the dogs, and hooking up their tugs. Casually, I removed the leader hook. About 5 minutes out, I went back to the sled and stood on a hook and the bar brake. Some of the dogs were standing patiently, others sitting, and Kayak, well Kayak was laying down like he does. He is Captain Conserve My Energy. The checker gave me the 5 second countdown, I gave the command and off we went like a shot!

I cannot possibly express how exciting it was to see the team act so professionally! And those yearlings! You couldn't tell them apart from the veteran dogs. All of that training and hard work had paid off.

Yearlings camping at night at a remote camping location.

Cooker (left) and food bucket (wrapped in insulation) behind the sled. A cooker is used to make water that is then used for the dog food. Hot water "cooks" the frozen meat and makes a nice warm meal for the dogs.

Camping in the high country.

In training we try to expose all the dogs to situations in which we might encounter in a race. This includes breaking trail, taking short breaks on the trail, snowshoeing in front of the team, passing from behind, head-on passing, running on rivers, glare ice and through open water and overflow, just to name a few. Of course, there is no way that anyone can train for everything. (Here is a link to explain more about what overflow is)

Below are some pictures that show some of the experiences we have with the dogs in getting the yearlings ready to race.

No trail? No problem.

In open areas we have around here, like on Sinona Lake, we take the opportunity to call the dogs off the trail and run where there has never been a trail. Sometimes, in both training and in racing, you will come across a situation where you need the team to leave the marked trail to go around either a hazard or some sort of obstacle. For example, overflow, or teams that you need to pass etc.

Cruising along the edge of Sinona Lake

Trail and snow conditions are not always the same. Sometimes the trail is hard packed, drifted, soft, covered in inches, or feet, of newly fallen snow, sugar snow, mashed potatoes....you get the idea. We keep our trails open using the dogs. At times we haul pallets behind the team as they break out the trail. Other times they are up to their knees and elbows in crusty drift snow, breaking out the trail.

The first time the yearlings encountered punchy trail, they were unsure of their footing. They wanted to keep pulling hard but would punch through the trail. Kind of like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time. After a few miles, they all figured it out.

Camping on the trail.

Dogs love straw. Lots and lots of straw. In racing situations, especially out on the trail, lots of straw isn't always an option. Mushers carry straw with them, but typically not an entire bail all the time. So dogs need to learn to sleep on the straw that they are given, In come cases spruce boughs are also used and provide just as awesome bedding for the dogs.

Fozzie and Norbert in lead, holding out the team for a short break on the trail.

Not all stops on the trail are long, or short, or involve straw. Mixing it up keeps dogs from thinking it's always going to be the same, and makes them tune into the musher and the cues given. In the picture above, we stopped for about 20 minutes. I tossed everyone a snack, changed out some booties and had a little snack myself. You can see in the picture some of the dogs are laying down. The first one is Titan and the one behind him is Kayak, his uncle.

Two teams camped out in the high country

Red the super goof

If you look at the picture of Red, you will notice he only has booties on his back feet. Sometimes we boot all the feet, sometimes none of the feet, other times back feet or feet of dogs who needs booties. There are lots of variable that goes into booting dogs such as temperatures, snow conditions, trail conditions, are we going to cross water soon and so on. 

Glacier and Scooter...happy girls.

Oh Nix

Later in that same run, the conditions changed and they dogs started to snowball. So we stopped and booted all the feet. (As seen above).

Team crossing an ice bridge on the Chisto River.

We live right on the Chistochina River. This allows us to expose the dogs to river conditions that they will likely encounter on races. Rivers change daily with the given daily conditions. These changes keeps us all on our toes as we kinda know what to expect, but not exactly.

We have about a 10 mile trail out on the river that we took small teams out on. We kept their booties off to allow the dogs to get traction on the ice. If they had boots on, they would all look like Bambi on ice out there, slip sliding every which way.

On this little loop there was overflow on top of glare ice, glare ice, snowy patches, ice bridges over the man channel, and open water. I posted some videos of the dogs crossing water on the KMA Kennel Facebook page. Click here to watch.

This weekend as we head down the Copper Basin 300 trail, all the training and preparation will, hopefully, come together and lead the dogs to a successful race. This race is another piece to the training program as we get ready for the ultimate goal of the season, Iditarod. Our goal is always to have as much fun as we can, and keep it fun for the dogs.

Glare ice with pock marked snowy patches.

Jumbo (on the right in wheel) leans against his girl Hopper to help keep upright on the slippery glare ice.

The trail was drifted in in spots. You can see the water seeping in from the right. Later this froze and created some super smooth, slickery ice to cross.