Mush!

Today was the start of the Yukon Quest, the 1,000-mile dog sled race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. It starts here every other year, and I try not to miss it. It's always great fun, even when it's bitter cold. Today was relatively warm - my car thermometer said 5 degrees at the river. Compared to yesterday's near 20 below, it was great. I will admit, though, that my feet and hands got a little chilled. (I forgot my gloves.) Fortunately, the arthritis in my back didn't bother me at all and I was able to stand on the river for the entire race.

The race starts on the Chena River downtown, to North Pole, then heads out to Chena Hot Springs, Circle, Eagle and down the Yukon River to Dawson City and Whitehorse. It will take about 10 days for the leaders to make the finish line. See the route at http://www.yukonquest.com/site/yukon-quest-trail-map/.

I love talking with people while we wait for the teams and struck up a conversation with a gentleman who was also taking photos. A man standing nearby introduced himself to the gentleman, as they used to work together. It turned out I also knew the man. He and his family and my husband, daughter and I visited each other frequently years ago. I haven't seen him or his wife since my 1994 divorce. We chatted a few minutes, caught up on our families and promised to meet again. I love living in Fairbanks, where you can meet up with old friends and be up-to-date on everything in just minutes.

The sky to the east was beautiful as I was waiting for the race to start, so I had to take a couple of photos.

 It was pink and blue with just enough gray to make it interesting. As I watched the race, however, the blue disappeared and the sky was totally gray by the time I headed home.





My favorite part of the race, of course, is watching the dogs. These little guys are just trotting along, looking for all the world like there's nowhere else they'd rather be. Now and then one or two showed some interest in the crowd, though.

Check out the one on the right checking out the crowd of spectators.

Sam Deltour heads for a chat with his lead dogs while a spectator holds his sled. The dogs veered off the trail and were not heeding his calls of "gee" (meaning, "go left"). After a few minutes and some help from bystanders, he got going again. I'm hopeful he won't have any more problems on his run.

Brent Sass waves to the crowd. He stopped last year to help someone on Eagle Summit and ended up losing several places in the standing. These guys all have a great sportsmanlike attitude that sometimes overcomes the competitive spirit. He got a lot of cheers as he came through.

Lance Mackey is a local favorite. He's a 4-time Quest champion and 3-time Iditarod champion - and the only person to win both in the same year.

This one was originally an oops, but I decided this is partly what the race is all about - the dogs and their love of running. It's also about the spirit of the North, the ruggedness of the land and of the men and women who live here.




After a while on the river a woman came down and started talking with my gentleman friend and me. She is a great Brent Sass fan and wanted photos of him and of Lance Mackey. We both took some photos for her and got her e-mail address. She left, then returned with a 16-oz. mug of steaming hot chocolate. The mug warmed my hands and the chocolate (made with milk, not water!) warmed my insides.

I left the river with two new friends and reconnects with two old friends. What a great town this is.