February 27, 2006

This just in...

...here at Toad River they told me it was -32º C (-26º F) a little while ago, the coldest temperature of the trip. Glad my car's plugged in! Now it's gone up to a comparatively balmy -28º C (-18º F). T-shirt weather!

Breakfast in Toad River















February 27, 2006

It's a little bit lighter out but still gray and cold. Looks like a good day for drifing, though. I think we're going to try for Prince George, BC tonight. But who knows. The dogs are in the room having their breakfast and I'm in here having a delicious bowl of oatmeal! We hope to be on the road in an hour or so. Well, goodbye until our next post. It may be a more interesting post (or maybe not) but the place sure won't have a more interesting name! Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 26, 2006

Coming to you from Toad River Lodge…


February 26, 2006

Toad River, British Columbia. Seriously. Pulled in here around 8:00 PM Pacific time after leaving Whitehorse around 10:00 AM. Mileage when we left Whitehorse was 117,185 and it was around 483 to get here. Not sure what tomorrow’s goal is – perhaps Prince George, BC. This connection says 100 Mbps; I’m skeptical.

So, quick post with quick picture. It’s way too dark here right now to get a picture outside and besides, it’s -7º F and not getting warmer. I’m plugging my car in tonight for the first time! These buffalo… or bison, or whatever – were standing in the road in two different places on the trip down here and believe me, you go around corners very gingerly. The camera’s “auto-fix” brightened up the image a lot too – it was really dark and at first you just saw lots of eyes glowing in the headlights.

Don’t know where or when my next post will be from. And I’ve got a lot of cool images left from Whitehorse; I’ll put them up when I have a faster connection. Anyway, until then,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

PS We're at: N 58º 50'49.9" x W125º 13' 55.0", elevation 2,312'.

If I had to drive 5,000 miles…


February 25, 2006

…just to see a chef serve steak on a silver platter to two dogs in the ballroom of a fancy hotel, the trip was worth it just for that. That’s Lance Mackey, winner of the 2006 Yukon Quest looking on as the chef of the High Country Inn in Whitehorse serves steak to his two lead dogs Larry and Hobo, recipients of the 2006 Golden Harness Award. A city where one of the nicest hotels in town serves steak to dogs on a silver platter, right in their ballroom – does it get any better than that?

February 25, 2006

I’m not sure it’s even LEGAL…













February 25, 2006

…for one person to have this much fun. Besides being the weekend of the Quest banquet, this is the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous festival. They had several streets closed off. One of the events was a single dog sled pull. We got there just at the end of the middle weight class – and they were pulling – with one dog – 544 pounds! This monster standing behind Ivory was in the heavy weight class, since he weighed over 100 pounds. He was half St. Bernard and half Bernese mountain dog. We didn’t stay around for his pull. He was a real sweetie, though.

I had to include Nicky with this little kid; Nicky was being a perfect gentleman, the kid was kissing him, he was the perfect dog. I was so impressed. Nicky was just loving every minute of it.

The third picture is one of probably thirty or forty incredible pieces of snow sculpture. I got a big kick out of the clever name.

All that stuff – and there were at least four F-18’s doing takeoffs and landings out of the airport and practicing maneuvers right overhead and right over the river. It was just too much fun. They were difficult to photograph – as soon as you’d hear them and look up, they were gone.

Anyway, maybe another post after the Quest banquet – we’ll see. Except for the food, I’m normally not that fond of banquets. But the lead dogs of the winning team get the "Golden Harness Award" which includes a steak dinner at the banquet. So that will be worth seeing, if nothing else.

Anyway, maybe more later or maybe more next time we get on the net – outside of the Yukon :(

Until then, have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

Last full day in Whitehorse!










February 25, 2006

Last night I went to the "Meet the Mushers" get-together at the Westmark Hotel, just up the street from where I’m staying. I didn’t take any pictures because it was relatively non descript. Just a bunch of people hanging around and shooting the breeze. But what it lacked in flash and appearance it made up for a hundred times in personality and character. This mushing culture is absolutely different from anything I’ve ever experienced. Each person involved is entirely unique – they’re like no one I’ve ever met. I’ll tell you one thing – if you want to talk about dogs, go to one of these things. That’s all people talk about. They don’t talk about the weather, the sleds, the cold, the prizes, the snow, the people – they talk about dogs. And they just never get tired of it. I don’t either, so it’s perfect.

It’s going to be strange that this is our last night in Whitehorse. I’ve felt very, very at home here. But I’m eager to travel again and I think once I get back to warm weather, or at least warmer than this, it’s going to be pleasant. Also, no telling when will be the next time I get to post a blog entry. Sunday night I’m staying at the Toad River Lodge in Toad River, British Columbia. Where internet access may be limited. But you never know up here; I’ve found internet access in some very peculiar places. But if I don’t put up a post for a couple of days, it’s because I’m out in the woods somewhere.

By the way, if you want to read about the Toad River Lodge I’m pretty certain their internet address is:

www.toadriverlodge.com

Anyway, believe it or not today is colder than yesterday, or at least it was when we got out for our walk at 9:45. We started out at -22º F (-30º C). And it didn’t warm up much while we were walking. It was funny, I noticed this yesterday too – it was -20º F when we went outside early in the morning but after we had breakfast and got ready for our walk it had gone down to -22º. But it was a gorgeous day and the snow was crunchy and it was great for our last long walk in the Yukon.

The first picture is of the frost building up on the trees where the steam blows off the river. At first it looks like snow but it’s on the bottom of the branches too.

The second picture is of the entrance to Bert Law Park, which is where I took the picture of the sign that says if we told you where the good berry patches are, we’d have to kill you. In the background to the right you can see the little footbridge that leads out to the island. It was from that footbridge, looking left, that I took the picture of that huge lump of blue ice the other day.

The third picture is of the SS Klondike, a Canadian National Historical Site. In the lower right you can see Ivory and Nicky running down the path, headed for a bridge. We walk under that bridge and then it’s about ten more minutes walk up to the hotel. When we start our walk in the morning, we walk under it (coming the other way) then up steps onto the bridge. There’s a sidewalk with a guardrail on the side and that’s how we cross the river up at this end. Then it’s a mile or so down the river to a footbridge that crosses to the other side.

Anyway, I’m going to begin packing up and generally organizing things. Then I go to the post-race banquet here in town tonight, then tomorrow morning we’re off for Toad River and points south!

Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 24, 2006

Coldest day so far…










February 24, 2006

When we got up to go outside this AM the temperature was -30º C (-22º F) and that was around 8:00. So we came back in and got cleaned up and the dogs had breakfast and I had breakfast and the sun was coming out – sunrise was around 8:15 – and about 10:00 I decided it was time for our walk. And the temperature hadn’t gone up even one degree! So we waited around the hotel for about an hour and organized things around here and by 11:00 it was only -28º C (-18º F)! But it was still and it was sunny and the temperature was rising slowly so we decided to head out anyway. Nicky had his booties on and neither he or Ivory had any problem at all.

After we’d only been walking for five or ten minutes I heard an enormous roaring sound, by far the loudest thing I’ve heard in around two weeks and I looked up on the plateau and a Canadian Air Force F-18 was taking off from Whitehorse Airport! And before he’d even leveled off another one took off behind him. They flew north for fifteen or twenty seconds then did a hard bank to the right and headed back downstream over the river. Then they banked right again and touched down on the runway and took off again, same loop. Only this time, a third F-18 comes streaking down from the north and gets in behind them and all three of them headed south. It was kind of a startling thing to watch after being so immersed in dogs and running around in the woods for two weeks.

Dogs, snow, a big river, a great park and now F-18’s – this place has everything! The cold’s been fun, though – I’m glad we had a chance to experience a very cold day. Of course it gets a lot colder up here, but I was satisfied with that little taste. The pictures weren’t very fascinating today; I just took a couple of the river steaming in the cold. It’s amazing when you’re walking out of the hotel and down toward the river. You look up in the sky and it’s crystal blue with not a cloud to be seen, but down where the ice is broken on the river there are great clouds of steam billowing off the water. Then we walk down there and the steam is blowing right across the path, coating the leaves with frost. Figure the water is around 35º or 40º F or something like that and when it hits that -22º F air it just fogs right up. It’s amazing.

Later today we were taking a quick walk in town. It had warmed up to around -17º C, or around 1º F and it actually felt comfortable. Anyway, this couple was walking their baby in a stroller and of course Ivory had to go up and say hello and the whole family was loving it so I asked them to take a picture of us. We certainly have been depending on the kindness of strangers!

Tonight I’m going to a "Meet the Mushers" dinner at a hotel right up the street from here – it should be fascinating. Also, I’ve made reservations for Sunday night at the Toad River Lodge in Toad River, BC. According to one of my maps it’s around 58º 50’ north and around 125º 13’ west, so we’ll be driving pretty far. According to my GPS it’s a little over 475 miles to get there and it will take around eight and a half hours driving time. If we get on the road by 10:00 on Sunday morning and don’t make a ton of stops, we should arrive at a reasonable hour on Sunday evening. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Anyway, have a great day,

Jay, Nicky and Ivory

PS In that picture I’m wearing the new parka I got for becoming a member of the Yukon Quest 1,000 mile club. It works great at -22º F but it may be a little too warm for Virginia!

February 23, 2006

Road trip reading, and more










Remember, if you want to see a larger image - i.e., to read the "fine print" - click on the picture.

February 23, 2006

When you’re on a journey like this, great reading is essential. Especially when you’re way up north here and it’s night for a really long time. One book I chose is an old favorite and I’ve read it many times. It’s called The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen and it was first published in 1978. It’s introspective and thoughtful and it’s about a long journey in a cold climate – perfect reading for an adventure like this.

I also brought along a book about sled dog driving that I’d never read before. I’ve read a whole, whole lot of books about sled dog driving, both about the Quest and about the Iditarod and just general books about being around sled dogs. But this one was written in 1990 by a Scottish guy named Alastair Scott. The title is Tracks Across Alaska: A dog sled journey and it’s been a real treat. He’s taking a long trip up to Alaska, similar to mine but about ten times longer and he’s getting a dog team together and mushing them eight hundred miles in thirty days or so. Early in the book someone is asking him why he’s taking this trip, a question I ran into a lot before I left – even while I’ve been on the trip. He says "I found it hard to reply because it seemed that anyone who had to ask the question probably wouldn’t understand the answer." Which is exactly the response I think is appropriate.

He has one quotation in Chapter 20 – actually the quotation is Chapter 20. I am particularly fond if it. It’s credited to Henrik Ibsen, "(Quoted in Sir Vivian Fuchs, Of Ice and Men)." Anyway, this is the quote: "There is always a certain risk in being alive, and if you are more alive there is more risk." Absolutely perfect.

Also, when I was driving up to Pelly the other day, I stopped in a little village called Carmacks to top up my gas tank. I went in the general store to pay for it and they had a little bookshelf and I found a little copy of The Call of the Wild and Selected Stories by Jack London. I could hardly pass that up on an adventure like this. I took it home and immediately read To Build a Fire and The Call of the Wild. To Build a Fire will make you a little bit nervous even on a comparatively tame expedition like this one. The book had an introduction by Alex Kershaw, a biographer of Jack London. In the introduction Kershaw quotes London as saying "It was in the Klondike that I found myself. There, nobody talks. Everybody thinks. You get your perspective. I got mine." I’ve definitely been getting a lot of perspective while I’ve been here.

When I was over at Muktuk earlier this week I picked up another book. It’s called Treat People Like Dogs! Six tasks for passionate leaders and the author is Robert Norton. He’s a management consultant and he was so impressed with the organization and functioning of Frank Turner and Muktuk Kennels that he used it as a model for working with people. It’s a pretty fascinating book.
This morning we took our long walk down the river (what a surprise). There was a group from Switzerland pretty close to the hotel and they were all taking pictures of each other so I asked if they’d take one of my group – and that’s this picture. I have no idea what Nicky is doing in this picture; we had just gotten outside and he was wildly excited. He loves these long walks. About a second before that he had been over there leaning against the people who were standing there, schmoozing and begging for attention. Perhaps his antics were a further ploy for attention.

Anyway, we headed down the river and this time I took my GPS with me so I could figure out how far the walk was. We added the walk around the little park on the island again today and it came out to almost precisely 4.5 miles. This unusual looking blue thing was lying on the same frozen riverbed I posted a picture of yesterday. It was lying in a large expanse of unbroken snow so there was nothing to use for perspective but it was around the size of an attaché case. It was just a big giant block of ice that had been broken out of the river somehow. I thought it looked pretty amazing. It’s a little bit grainy because I used the zoom lens to bring it in a little bit closer.

The little park on the island is called "Bert Law Park" and yesterday I mentioned a sign on the island. The big sign says "Temptation Island – the berries of Bert Law Park" and it talks about the ones that are okay to eat and the ones that are poisonous. The little saying at the bottom just cracked me up. Here I am in the frozen north, deep in the Yukon and I find the origin of the phrase "If I told you, I’d have to kill you." Who knew?

When we were walking back up the river – that’s north – I felt compelled to cover my face for the first time on this trip. When we walked out of the hotel it was -4º F (-20º C) and the wind was blowing out of the north around 4 mph (6 kph). When we were walking downstream it was at our backs and I didn’t even notice it, and when we were walking around Bert Law Park we were in the woods so we didn’t feel it. But when we got out of the park and started heading back up that river with the wind right in our faces, I definitely began to notice it then. My coat and hat and jeans and gloves were plenty comfortable but at -4º F, even a 4 mph wind turns your face to a block of ice in pretty short order. You definitely see why lots of guys wear beards up here. Also, I was gratified to see for the first time that many locals were wearing face masks today.
Anyway, another fun walk. This afternoon I’m going to the Yukon Visitor Reception Centre to watch a movie about the Quest called "The Lone Trail."

Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 22, 2006

dogbooties.mom










February 22, 2006

When I first started learning about mushing several years ago I learned that many of the dogs wore "booties" to protect their feet during long distance racing. So I thought I’d see if I could get my hands on a few pair for Ivory and Nicky before our Great Adventure. Since I google everything, I found a web site, believe it or not, called "dogbooties.com" and that’s what they sell. So I bought several pair and played around with them with Ivory and Nicky. I ran them around with booties on at Pony Pasture on the very rare occasions it snowed in Richmond. I gave a couple to my Mom once when she was down for a visit and she took them home and sat down at her sewing machine and made several sets for Ivory and Nicky. The whole time we’ve been here the only snow has been packed down and solid and hasn’t bothered their feet. But it snowed several inches the other night and when I took Ivory and Nicky for a walk down the Yukon in the AM, Nicky got ice balls stuck between his toes. They’re about the size of marbles and they make him limp like crazy and he constantly stops to pick them out with his teeth. Ivory doesn’t get them at all but Nicky gets them constantly. So last night we experimented a little bit with his custom made dog booties and they were perfect. This morning I put them on before our walk and we went for a really, really long hike, maybe our longest walk in the Yukon and he was perfect the whole time. Here’s a picture of him grinning from ear to ear after we’ve been walking for a while.

We also went into a new area along the river this morning, a little park on a small island near the side of the river. Their was a sign on the island I thought was humorous; I may put in a picture of it tomorrow. I’m attaching a picture of Ivory and Nicky hiking on the island today. The island was very secluded and the paths were narrow and there was just snow everywhere. It’s only around six or seven inches deep but it’s so cold out here the snow is just the lightest and fluffiest powder you can imagine. And I was juggling leashes at one point this morning and I dropped one and it just disappeared – completely. You could see a little disturbance in the snow but the leash was entirely out of sight.
Just before we walked out the door this morning I looked at the weather for Whitehorse and it said the temperature was -4º F. I know that sounds cold – or anyway, it sounds cold to me. But I was dressed warmly and the sun was shining and the wind wasn’t blowing and you’ll just have to take my word for it – it’s really not that cold. That’s incorrect; -4º F is cold. But it wasn’t at all uncomfortable. We walked for two solid hours and it was never even mildly uncomfortable.

I’m putting in one other picture of a wide, flat area of snow with trees on both sides. That’s just a frozen stretch of river with snow on top of it. So you can see how they used the rivers as "highways" for dog teams in the old days. And that’s what they spend a lot of time racing on too. Unfortunately for the dogs and the mushers there are a lot of hills between the rivers, but the fast parts are all frozen river beds.

Sorry if you’re getting tired of pictures of dogs and snow – but that’s what I’m spending a lot of time with on this trip. And it hasn’t gotten boring yet! Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 21, 2006

Flurries, Yukon Style










February 21, 2006

Hopefully everyone’s not getting bored with yet another picture of my car. But I thought this one was particularly telling. According to the weather here we had "flurries" last night. In Virginia after flurries perhaps there’s a flake here or there or maybe a little bit of snow on some leaves. Cars don’t look like that after a "flurry."

I took Ivory and Nicky for our wonderful river walk after we had breakfast. I may have already mentioned this, but the park where we walk is very similar to Pony Pasture, only probably twenty times larger and at least right now it’s solid snow. Plus the park is on both sides of the river (the Yukon) and there is one car bridge (with sidewalks on both sides of the road) and then around 1.5 miles downstream a beautiful foot bridge called the Centennial Bridge. And like Pony Pasture, tons and tons of people are always walking their dogs there, and you even get to know the "regulars," just like at Pony Pasture.

I took one picture of Ivory and Nicky on the path right beside the river and another of them both on the trail. I liked the one on the trail because they had run off into the woods chasing after something and Nicky was covered with snow. We walked for nearly an hour after that happened and the snow was still on his back when we got back to the hotel. Ivory had snow on his back too but it doesn’t show up like it does on Nicky.

At the moment I’m writing this it’s around 3:00 PM Pacific Standard Time and the Quest mushers are going to be finishing soon – even though it’s in Dawson and not down here as originally anticipated. So I think I’ll head over to the Quest office.

Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 20, 2006

Describing the "indescribable."









February 20, 2006

If I say something is "indescribable," that’s what it means. It’s like being pregnant or dead – either you are or you aren’t, and if something is indescribable, it can’t be described. That doesn’t stop people from trying to describe things like the Grand Canyon and the Northern Lights and some of those descriptions are fantastic. And some of the photographs and videos you see really give you a very close approximation. Then you see the real thing and you say – "Oh – so that’s what that looks like."

I was around seventeen years old when I first stepped to the rim of the Grand Canyon and in seventeen years I had seen dozens of pictures in books and magazines and National Geographic and so forth. And I’d seen it on plenty of movies and documentaries and television shows. So as I stepped toward the rim of the Grand Canyon I was quite certain I knew precisely what I was about to see. And when I looked out over it I just sort of said to myself "Oh… " It was as if I’d never even been aware of it before that moment.

This morning around 6:30 Pacific time I was finally outside when the Northern Lights were in their full display. I’m forty four years old and I’ve seen every possible representation of the Northern Lights, even in an IMAX dome theater. And I’ve heard people rhapsodize about the way they look for my entire life so obviously they would come as no surprise when I finally did see them. In one sense, the Northern Lights and the Grand Canyon came as no surprise – the second I laid eyes on them I knew precisely what I was looking at. But still after all those years I didn’t know they would look like that.

My experience with watching an elite dog team head out of a checkpoint under full steam was similar. I haven’t had a lifetime of watching sled dog racing like I have of the Grand Canyon and the Northern Lights but I’m relatively familiar with the sport. I’ve spent a lot of years around a lot of dogs and I’ve seen some fast ones. But I stood there and waited for that team to start, stood there watching them twitch and hop and get ready to take off and then Lance Mackey gave whatever command makes those dogs go. I just had no idea that something that was that large and powered entirely by animals could move like that. He had twelve dogs left at that point, six pairs of two plus his sled, so I guess the whole thing was forty feet long, or in that neighborhood. As long as a semi. I was about fifty feet away so maybe there was a noise but I did not hear one thing – not a click or a jingle or a yip or a scrape – silence. And that forty foot long monster was standing still then it was gone – like that. I will never, ever forget that.

It’s been fun writing this and maybe you’ve enjoyed a sentence here or a paragraph there. But if you’ve never seen the Grand Canyon or the Northern Lights or a fast dog team, the only way you’re really going to know what it looks like is to see for yourself.

As for these two photos, nothing too exciting. Just as we were leaving Pelly, two more teams had arrived – Gerry Willomeitzer and David Dalton. And Sebastian Schnuelle was on his way in but we were on our way out. The picture with the fence in the background is Willomeitzer and Dalton’s dogs bedding down for a brief rest. See the snow shoes packed on the side of the sled? They’re part of the mandatory equipment that every musher has to have. The other picture is of Ivory and Nicky getting out of the car for a minute against the backdrop of a landscape that I can only describe as forbidding. Their water bowl is on the ground beside them but they’re ready to get back in the car.

Anyway, have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

Got to see a team in daylight!











This team came in around 10:15 AM local time; my car thermometer still says 1º F (around -17º C). This is Gerry Willomitzer. His dogs looked great and looked like they were having fun. I think it's a little bit disorienting for them to come off the trail and in here with all these people and cars and buildings. If I were them I think I'd like to be back out on the trail - nice and quiet and relaxing. Who can say. I've been meeting tons of nice people. I think we're heading back to Whitehorse soon. Anyway, more soon,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

PS One picture is his two leaders, or at least the leaders he was using coming into Pelly. The other picture is his dogs over by the holding area. Last night, Lance Mackey only stayed here long enough to scarf down some food and snack his dogs. William Kleedehn and Hans Gatt stayed for six hours or so. I'm not sure how long Gerry Willomitze will stay.

Heading back to Whitehorse

Gas stations don't open up here until 10:00 so I couldn't leave right away and it's another three hours to Dawson. And Nicky's not enjoying himself as much as I want him to and I don't want to get up to Dawson and find no place for him to sleep. Three or four more teams are supposed to arrive here within an hour or so, so I'll actually get to see teams pulling in daylight. After that I think we'll head back down to Whitehorse. I'll get some daylight pictures of some teams put up before we leave. Until then,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

Early AM in the Yukon











It's a couple of minutes before 7:00 AM as I write this; the sun doesn't come up until around 9:00 AM so it's nearly pitch black outside - nearly except the Northern Lights are winding and blazing and shimmering in giant green ribbons up and down the sky. That was a real treat - it's the first time I've seen them. Most people are still asleep but a few are beginning to stir and a few stayed up all night to watch for mushers coming in. None have come in so far other than the first three - and they're already gone.

I would have slept later but I felt bad having Ivory and Nicky out in the car so I wanted to go out and hang out with them for a little while. When I started the car, the thermometer said 1º F - probably something like -18º C. I tried one picture of the northern lights but it didn't turn out very well. I'm going to go out and try a few more. After I get the dogs fed and watered I'll probably head up to Dawson. But if I can't find a place for them to sleep indoors tonight we're going to just head back to Whitehorse.

I'm just putting up two pictures at the moment. I'll go out and try another one of the northern lights but they're difficult (for me) to take pictures of so don't hold your breath. But I am adding a picture of the news conference with the second and third mushers to come in; they arrived together. The guy with the blue baseball cap on is William Kleedehn of Limp-a-long Kennels; I'm pretty certain he's only got one leg. For someone who's been out running dogs for so long in those conditions, his sense of humor was amazing. The guy putting food in his mouth (mushers spend a whole lot of time doing that) is Hans Gatt. I think Gatt has won the Quest several times, and perhaps Kleedehn has as well. They're both serious mushers.

People are starting to stir around here; I'm going to head back outside.

Oh yeah, the other picture is of this evening's luxurious lodgings on the floor of a really nice big gym here. It was nice when they finally turned the lights out. Anyway, more later,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

Making it up as we go along...












February 19, 2006

I've decided to spend the night here in Pelly. The car gas situation is iffy and it's nearly 11:00 PM on a Sunday and believe me when I tell you there are no gas stations near here. Anywhere. At least none that are open at this hour on Sunday. So we'll get up tomorrow and head up to Dawson, around a three hour drive. I'll probably sleep on the floor in the gym here but unfortunately the dogs can't come in. I'll walk them in a while and get them something to eat and plenty to drink and apologize to them. I'll buy them a steak tomorrow or something.

I was here when the first musher, Lance Mackey, arrived at 9:41 PM. He ate - fast - and left at 10:32. Someone said "you're a fast eater" and he said "I'm learning from my dogs." He seemed like a very nice guy and I was impressed to see him chatting up the people who were running the concession, and leave them a generous tip. He seems like a good guy.

I'm putting up three more pictures - it's always difficult to tell in what order they'll turn out on the blog. Anyway, one picture is of Lance Mackey scarfing down some serious calories at a very high speed. I was especially impressed with that. There's also a picture of two of his leaders, whose names I didn't catch. And a third picture is of a race veterinarian checking over Lance's dogs. One of the race vets was named Dr. Phillips! No relation, according to him.

It's around 11:15 PM here and it's probably going to be a long night. I've heard there are more teams coming in soon. So I may be putting up more posts or I may try to get some sleep. At the moment I'm having way too much fun to sleep but maybe soon. We'll see. Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 19, 2006

Even I think this is amazing











February 19, 2006

The dogs and I are at the Pelly Crossing checkpoint for the Quest, N62º49’32.6” x W136º34’25.3”, elevation 1,562’. The car’s mileage is 116,946 and it’s 8:45 PM PST local. Anyway, I’m headed back out to watch the first team come in. Probably head up to Dawson soon. Until then,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

PS Two quick pictures – the checkpoint sign, and Ivory and Nicky sniffing butts with real live sled dogs.

Road trip within a road trip

I was just at the Quest HQ here in Whitehorse and they need some stuff taken to Pelly Crossing very soon, so I'm leaving here for Pelly in a few minutes then heading up to Dawson and may not be back until Tues or Wed. I'll try to do some posts before then, but maybe not. Until our next post,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

Sunday in Whitehorse…












February 19, 2006

Got up this morning and had a nice breakfast then took Ivory and Nicky for a leisurely walk down the river. It’s been a pleasant, low-key morning and I’ve taken the time to reorganize a few things. I’m putting up four pictures today, but only one that I actually took today.

I’m putting up one picture of the ice on the Takhini River that I took when I was walking the puppies the day before yesterday. It doesn’t give you a perfect idea of what it looks like, but try clicking on the picture and viewing it larger. You can get a little bit of a feel for the astonishing thickness and clarity of it. It’s really an amazing experience in itself to walk on ice like that. There were places where you could see the rocks on the bottom of the river just like you were looking through two feet of glass. It was hard to look away from the puppies, but it was fascinating when I did.

I’ve also included a picture of the puppies when we were back in the field, heading up to the kennel. When I first looked at the picture it had my thumb or a piece of my sleeve in one corner and it wasn’t a real great look but I trimmed it out and you get a pretty decent idea of what those puppies look like. There’s a song by U2 called Some Days and Bono talks about some days being better than others. At one point he says "some days are slippery, some days are sloppy, some days you can’t stand the sight of a puppy." What a nightmare. Can you imagine? February 17, 2006 was most definitely not one of those days for me.

I’m also putting in two pictures of the snow sculpture construction in front of the race headquarters. The first one I took on February 15 and the second one I took this morning. See the "RV ROUTE" sign on the left in both pictures? The images aren’t fantastic but the sculpture certainly is impressive.

Anyway, have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 18, 2006

Whitehorse suburbs – who knew?









February 18, 2006

Yesterday’s jaunt with the puppies on the Takhini River was hard to top and we took it a little bit easy today. We helped out at the Quest office a little bit and went around delivering some packages to the homes and businesses of a few Quest supporters in downtown Whitehorse and in a few neighborhoods in the area. The one we spent the most time in, Riverdale, looked amazingly similar to a lot of neighborhoods around Richmond, VA, only a little bit smaller and a lot snowier. And every car had a plug coming out of the grill to plug block heaters into. And there were always great views of the mountains in the background, as you can see a little bit in these pictures.

I don’t know if the weather forecast is accurate, but temperatures next week are predicted to go down to -13º F (-25º C). I’ve seen temperatures here down to 4º F (-16º C) and I’ve spent several hours outdoors at 9º F (-13º C). It’s always been sunny and if you’re active and it’s not breezy, it honestly doesn’t feel at all uncomfortable. But it’s a long, long way from 9º F to -13º F. I’ll let you know how it feels! It would be a shame to get out of here without experiencing a really deep freeze anyway. Just as an aside, even the Canadians I’ve talked with think -13º F is cold. Anyway, have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 17, 2006

If the reward for virtuous living…










February 17, 2006

…means spending Eternity walking four puppies on a frozen river, I’ve committed my last sin. It was the most joyful thing I've ever experienced.

The dogs and I got up at 6:00 this morning because our schedule is busy today. The sun doesn’t come up here until after 8:30 so it’s very dark at 6:00. The dogs had breakfast and I had breakfast and we went out for a long walk down the Yukon. At least here in Whitehorse, the Yukon isn’t frozen all the way across, so you walk on the banks – not on the actual river itself. I was going to be leaving the dogs in the hotel for a couple of hours so I wanted to get them good and tired and we walked out of the hotel at 8:00 and took a fast paced walk for over an hour. When we got outside it was still pretty dark and it was 7º F or -14ºC. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and that was the first time we’ve gotten to watch the sun come up. They had a great workout and I left them at the hotel while I headed back up to Muktuk.

Yesterday while I was up there they told me that if I came back today at 11:00 I could "walk the puppies" and it was an offer I wasn’t about to refuse. You only live once. The pace is slow at Muktuk right now because a lot of the people are up at Dawson helping out and enjoying the Quest’s mandatory 36 hour layover there. But the puppies need walking every day and they let me take out four great little pups who were born on September 1. They gave me a handful of snacks and told me to be careful of my gloves and so forth – puppies are puppies and they like to play and it was easy to imagine loose articles of clothing ending up being hidden in the woods somewhere. They just told me to head down to the river (the Takhini River surrounds Muktuk on three sides) and walk them for an hour or so. One of the guides told me if we weren’t back in an hour and a half they’d figure the puppies had probably eaten me and they’d send out a snow machine to find my remains.

So the puppies and I get down on the river and it’s 9º F (-13º C) and it’s absolutely the most spectacular day you can even imagine. I’m not very good at estimating distances but I would imagine the river is around a quarter of a mile from bank to bank in that area. We started out in the shade and there’s some snow on the surface and that gives you some decent footing but when we come out into the sun, the snow’s all blown off. And you’re more or less walking on a giant skating rink, but they’ve driven a snow machine up and down it and that’s where they mush the dogs so you have some traction there. Of course, the puppies don’t much care about that and they run all over the river, up and down the banks, back and forth across the surface of the river and they’re just so, so, so incredibly alive it absolutely takes your breath away. One of them will find a stick or something interesting frozen into the surface of the ice and stop and start wagging his tail and the others will race toward him to see what it is and go sliding by, backpedaling and trying to keep their feet. Some places the ice is frozen so hard and thick that you can look down thin cracks in it and it must be eighteen inches thick or more – you can even see the rocks on the bottom of the river.

I figured I could walk them for thirty five minutes or so before I had to turn back so that we’d make it in time. And when I looked at my watch and it was time to head back I just hated to go. I could have spent the entire day out there. I wished I’d brought Ivory and Nicky with me – I know they would have enjoyed it too, although not quite as wildly as those puppies. If Nicky really decided to take off and go for a run on the groomed part of that ice, it would have been fun to watch those puppies try to keep up with him.

I took over fifty pictures today and it was really difficult to decide which three to put in this post. I regret to say that I was never really successful getting all four puppies to "pose" together. If you’ve ever had any success getting four exuberant puppies to stand still at the same time outdoors on a beautiful day, please don’t hesitate to send me a few pointers.

I put one picture of the four of them just running around on the ice with the sun behind them – I thought it was a nice picture. Another image is kind of a long view of them, looking back up the river with the mountains rising in the background – another image I enjoyed. A third picture is the closest thing I had to a "close-up" of the four of them – the only other time they all got near me at once was when I would pull treats out of my pocket and they’d all be going crazy on the ice right at my feet for as long as it took them to scarf down a few snacks, then they would bolt back out across the ice in search of more adventure.

Anyway, just another day of fun in the Great White North.

Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

February 16, 2006

Getting to know the dogs a little better…













February 16, 2006
We got up today and had a bite to eat then left here and headed up to Takhini Hot Springs. It was a nice place and we hiked around the trails there for a half hour or so but headed back over to Muktuk before very long. It wasn’t nearly as crazy as yesterday so we got to hang out some more with the people who live and work there, and I got to meet a few more of the dogs. I took a lot of pictures of dogs; I particularly enjoyed the attitude of this one standing on top of her box, enjoying herself. All the dogs at Muktuk appear to enjoy themselves most of the time.
Ivory and Nicky and I went on a very brief hike behind the main lodge; the Takhini River runs back there and the Quest will be coming down it a day or two before the finish. This is a picture of Nicky running around out on the frozen river; that’s the kind of surface some parts of the race are run on.
When the dogs and I got back to the hotel around 4:00 PM they still hadn’t gotten to go for a long walk today, so we took off down the river for a little bit over an hour. The third picture is taken looking across the Yukon River, about ten minutes walk from our hotel room. That’s why they call this the "River View Hotel." Although I suppose they could as easily call it the "Mountain View Hotel." Either way, it’s a nice view just about any time.

Have a great day,

Jay, Nicky and Ivory

February 15, 2006

If you’re “doggy,” this is the place…














February 15, 2006

This afternoon, Ivory and Nicky and I drove about fifteen miles out of town to “Muktuk Kennels,” a.k.a. “a place for people who love dogs.” As a long time dog lover, it was like coming home. Of course it didn’t bear any physical resemblance to anyplace I’ve ever lived but from the moment I stepped out of the car I just felt as comfortable and relaxed and happy and peaceful as I’ve ever felt in my life. They have a hundred fifteen dogs on the place, more or less, and I guess something like seventy or eighty of them were around when I got there. Probably a dozen or so run loose and the others are tied out on stakes. Ivory and Nicky and I were there for around two or three hours and of the eighty or so dogs that were there, I probably visited personally with fifty or sixty of them. And every dog – every single dog – that I visited with was, without fail, enthusiastic, happy, outgoing, friendly, healthy and exuberant. I’ve absolutely never seen anything like it. From the perspective of around fifteen years of hanging around with people and dogs I can tell you in no uncertain terms that the only way to get dogs with those qualities is to treat them that way. If you’re enthusiastic, happy, outgoing, friendly, healthy and exuberant around your dogs, that’s the way they become. The people who are working with these dogs are clearly doing an excellent, excellent job. I just could not have been any more impressed. Of course these guys (and girls) are bred to pull, not to hang around in hospitals but I’m completely certain I could have taken any dog out of that place and kept it for a week or so and it would be a perfect therapy dog. Because with that eagerness to be alive and to spend time around people invariably comes an eagerness to learn and an eagerness to please that, in my mind, are the only two basic qualities it takes to make an outstanding therapy dog.

I took almost fifty pictures there today; it was difficult to cull them down to just three to put up on this site. The one with the dog standing on the box with the house in the background was the first sight that met me when I arrived there today. That was before I’d even touched a single dog but you could just feel the joy from all of them; it was palpable. If you have to ask me what I mean by that, then I can’t explain it to you. But if you hang around dogs, or if you’ve ever felt joy without really being able to explain why, then you’ll understand perfectly.

There’s another one of a dog lying on top of her box looking at me, with her forelegs hanging over. I just liked her gaze; she was very peaceful and looked especially thoughtful and considerate. I regret that I didn’t get her name; perhaps I’ll get it when I return tomorrow. You can see my car in the background, a little bit to her left. It’s slowly beginning to blend in with the color of the soil!

The last picture is of a recreational team just getting ready to take a sled out for a little spin. That’s a four dog team; Quest teams start out with fourteen dogs per sled. You get the impression that pulling a tree stump out of the ground wouldn’t be asking too much for one of those big teams.

I’ll tell you one thing – it’s absolutely unmistakable the way those dogs love to pull. When the guys are hooking up one team, every single other dog on that place wishes they were the ones getting to go – they’re very clear about that. It’s very, very energetic and very, very fun.

Anyway, more tomorrow. Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky

A couple of things from yesterday...











Here are a few shots I took yesterday that I forgot to put up. One is Yukon Harley Davidson, which I just enjoyed looking at. The other is the Whitehorse Star newspaper - as I mentioned yesterday, I like their slogan. I talked with some people inside who were very nice, too.

Wednesday in Whitehorse…












February 15, 2006

We’re in our usual Whitehorse routine now, i.e. get up, take a shower, walk the dogs, feed the dogs, eat a big breakfast (oatmeal, of course!) then take a long walk down the river. Since the sun doesn’t come up until 8:45, you can get up at a reasonable hour and take your time getting ready and still be in plenty of time to walk during the long, slow sunrise. One thing that really reminds me of how far north we are – when we’re out walking around lunch time I’ll look at my watch from time to time and take notice of when it’s 12:00 – when the sun is at its highest point for the day. And at 12:00, my shadow is something like eighteen feet long. Even at noon, when the sun has risen as high as it’s going to rise all day, it just doesn’t get very far above the horizon. And the shortest day of the year was nearly two months ago! Incredible.

Yesterday I wanted to warm my car up and drive it around some after it’s been sitting here in the cold without running for several days. But we didn’t get started until late and we headed out of town toward Lake Labarge, made famous in the Robert Service poem The Cremation of Sam Magee. But we ran out of daylight before we got there. And it was frigid! We’re going to start out a little bit earlier today. And we’re also going to visit Muktuk Kennels, home of Frank Turner and a whole, whole lot of sled dogs. This is the first year that Frank hasn’t done the Quest; he did every single one of the first twenty two Quests, and he also holds the record for the fastest Quest, which I think is something like ten days, sixteen hours.

I’ll probably do another post later after we’ve gone up there. In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from our morning walk. One is of a “shelf” of ice I took down near the foot bridge this AM. I wish the picture had come out a little bit better; the edge of the ice that’s sticking out above the water is around 8” or 10” thick and it’s just the most clear, frigid blue you’ve ever laid eyes on.

Another picture is of a sign on the trail that I found humorous. I liked that it said “ICY PATCHES,” which would seem to imply the existence of some other type of patch. Believe me, if you’re outside near the river up here at this temperature, every step you take is just one big “icy patch.”

The third picture was taken by a nice woman whose name I didn’t get, just before we got back to the hotel. In my usual fashion, I got her dog’s name, although I’m not certain I spelled it right – she was a sweet little six month old mixed breed named “Nika.” If you read this post, send me the correct spelling and I’ll put it up. And thanks for taking the picture! Surprisingly, Nicky cooperated more than Ivory. Ivory had found some sort of bone to chew on and he was more interested in that than in achieving blog-immortality. As usual, he was about to waste away to nothing and he needed to get every possible calorie that was available.

Anyway, more later. Have a great day,

Jay, Ivory and Nicky