The start photos, and a quick update.

Well we are waiting for Dan to come into the Carmacks checkpoint…

Which gives me a bit of time to give a y’all an update on what we have been up to, and share some of the photos I took at the start. So far things are going smoothly. Well as smoothly as can be expected when a traveling roadshow of handlers, vets, officials, and fans are all moving from small town to small town, fueled by coffee, and on a time schedule dictated by the mushers they are following. And trust me when I say racing mushers have crazy schedules. The weather has been pleasant for us as we stand outside waiting for mushers to arrive, warmer then we have had in years past for the Quest.

There is an array of vehicles ranging from the reliable or newer trucks with fancy dog boxes, rigs with dog trailers, and a few that have certainly seen some miles. Mechanical difficulties are usually one of the interesting side stories of any Quest. And that is to be expected, considering the rigs will drive like 3000 miles to keep up with the mushers on a 1000 mile race. We are very lucky to be driving a very well maintained truck but were not immune from a little automotive drama. The night before the start one of our dogs managed to nibble on some trailer light wires, leaving us with only one sides worth of lights. Now when Dan built the trailer he tucked the wiring way up in the underside in an attempt to make it dog proof. And up till now it has been. But all good things come to an end… and the same tightly tucked wiring that until now had saved us from chewed wires now made it extra (hmmm how should I say this?) fun (yeah fun, that will work) to try and get in there are rewire it. Joel spent a good part of this afternoon at Braeburn dealing with the trailer lights. And because of his diligence we now have working tail lights again.

Check out this photo of Joel at work. Here’s another.

Now you may have seen that Dan dropped a dog in Braeburn. Dog are dropped for a variety of reasons. Usually something small, but something that a musher feels would make it in the dogs best interest to no longer continue down the trail. In Bluebarb’s case, she had a sore bicep that was slightly swollen. An injury like this will heal easily as long as the dog is given rest and TLC. And that is exactly what she is getting right now. She is resting comfortably in the dog box, and is getting massage and regular long walks to stretch out.

The start of the Quest went smoothly this year, so much so I was able to relax and take a few photos (even in the start chute).  So here is some of what I saw while getting Dan out on the trail.

Dan packing his sled before the race.

Kelley Griffin was parked next to us in the starting area.

The Yukon Quest Bootie fundraiser, fans bought booties and wrote messages to mushers on them. These were the ones given to Dan to wear for the start.

Lead dog Boss Man sporting his booties from the fundraiser.

Beautiful sculpture on a building near where we started.

Sporting my official handler armband.

Dan’s sled and gear for the race.

Ed Abrahamson and his wife Becky before the race.

Josh (Brent’s handler) getting Brent Sass’s sled off the truck.

Dawson Dolly ~

A view of the staging area.

Cody Strathe’s sled, he is a sled maker and owner of Dogpaddle Design.

Aliy Zirkle helping with Allen Moore’s pre-race vet check.

Kelley Griffin getting geared up to go.

Ed Abrahamson packing his sled.

A good luck hug for Abbie West.

Ed Hopkins waiting to take his team to the start chute.

Michelle Phillips with husband Ed Hopkins lead dogs. Michelle helped Ed, and then got ready herself as she is running the YQ 300.

Dogs getting harnessed and ready. We use Manmat harnesses for our team.

Dan putting booties on the team.

Orchid and Freezer ready to go.

Little time to love the leaders before they go.

Team is lined out and ready to go tot he start chute.

Teams start under the Yukon Quest banner.

Dan at the start waiting to move up to the banner for his turn to go.

Crowds line the chute where the mushers take off. This is the start of a 1000 mile journey.