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I hope all is well since I last wrote. After Mike left
Circle for the second time, we slept a few hours in the
truck. We drove back to Central for some food before
drive all day to get to Tok, where we spent the night.
Wilson and Hawkeye were still a bit stiff but overall
very happy. Before day light we got back on the road
and drove to Whitehorse. Moe was waiting for us as she
was going to come for the rest of the race. She is an
incredible dog person and I am extremely pleased that
she could join us as a handler for the rest of the
race. Scott and I cleaned out the truck (too well since
we took out the extra runner plastic Mike needed at
Dawson and also the ski poles he wanted) and packed the
necessary things for Dawson layover. Since Moe was
fresh and well rested she volunteered to drive the
truck. From what I was told since I slept most of the
way, the drive was tough with whiteout conditions for
part of the drive.
We finally got to Dawson about 3am and attempted to
wake up Gerry so he could help us unload. Unfortunately
no one was answering the phone at the front desk, so no
help from Gerry and no place to rest.
We drove over the ice bridge to the camp ground. With
a late bid draw number the camp site was about 1/2 mile
down into the campground. We have walked many miles
back and forth over the last few days. Moe, Scott and I
unloaded the truck and started to set up camp. After
the dog tarp and tent were set up we headed to
the checkpoint building. At this point we were all
ready to fall over and slept a few hours on the cold
floor in a corner of the checkpoint building. We woke
to find Gerry, Tom (my Dad) and Linda walking
around town. Over breakfast we talked about everyone's
role on Team Tsuga. Moe or I would always be at dog camp when the
team was here,
Scott would run the poop shovel and help with the care
of the dogs on
the truck, Gerry would tend the fires and take care of
laundry, Tom
and Linda would take care of Mike over the 36 hour
layover. With the
team knowing their roles, we finished setting up camp
and waited for
Mike. The checkpoint had a computer and we were able to
keep track
of where Mike was and estimated when he would arrive.
Mike had a
good run time from Forty-Mile (which is actually 50
miles away) and
he crossed the ice bridge in front of the dog truck as I
drove back
to the check point after leaving Moe, Scott and Gerry
there to wait
for the team. Boy was it close but I was able to make
in just in
time, before Mike crossed the banner. That how a
handler can get in
big trouble. Mike was very tired, sick and a tad bit
grumpy... We
parked the team and immediately went to dog chores.
After the dogs
were bedded down, Tom and Linda came over to pick up
Mike, feed him
and to show him where the room was. He didn't eat very
well at
dinner since he was still ill and he slept for many
hours in a row.
The dogs had a few issues that we had 36 hours to work
on. We had a
planned schedule and every 6-8 hours the dogs were
walked, fed, feet
rubbed with liniment, wrists wrapped, shoulders rubbed,
changed into
dry dog coats, and then put back to bed. Gerry and I
spent the first
night at the camp in the tent and Scott and Moe took
Mike's sled and
gear into town. After dragging the sled around town,
they found out
that the RCMP building was "outside" of town and they
loaded the sled
onto the truck. The trail did some damage to the sled
and having a
warm place for Mike to fix it was great. We brought our
Walkie-
Talkies with us and this was a great way to communicate
with camp and
make plans or get necessary thing for town or camp. I
was able to
spend some time with Mike over breakfast. We talked
about each dog
and their specific needs. A few dogs are getting thin,
Mugs had sore
wrists, Eliza had some sore shoulders, Jim has a split
on his front
pad and sore front end, Stump had a limp and very sore
pee-pee (frost
bite on the tip), extra care to everyone's feet and
wrist, etc.. Mike
came over to camp after breakfast to check on the dogs,
and then to
go work on the sled. Moe and Scott stayed at camp and
monitored the
dogs and prepared the meals. With the sled fixed and
a mandatory
meeting, Mike went to do his things and I went back to
camp to feed,
rub, wrap and love the dogs. I made many trips back and
forth from
town to camp over the past few days and after the dog
chores were
done I went to have dinner with Mike. We talked about
what still
needed to get done and started to make plans for the
team to leave.
Get the sled back to camp, check all the mandatory gear,
move the
gear back to camp, where do we find runner plastic
(Thank you Tonya
Mackey and Dad for having/getting some!) and who has a
ski pole
(thank you Uncle Bobby!) I left Mike as he packed his
stuff and got
to bed around 8pm, still feeling ill and running a
fever.
Moe and I did dog chores around midnight with plans to wake again
at 4am to
fed, rub, wrap again before Mike left at 7:28am, well
it was not
good when Mike knocked on the tent at 5:30 and we were
still
sleeping, Scott, Moe and I spent the night in the 2
person tent, and
after many days without proper sleep, things happen.
Even though we
were not awake and ready for Mike, the dogs looked great
after a
longer rest and we were able to get Mike out on time. I
hope he
forgives us:) The dogs were very eager to continue with
the race and
let out a group howl before dropping on to the river.
The layover
did them well. After breakfast, we all showered and
took naps, Moe
Scott and Gerry are still sleeping and I got 2 hours of
sleep, but
wanted to share what was happening up to this point. We
will head
back to camp later to clean up and are spending the
night here in
Dawson before heading to Pelly to see the team again.
Whitehorse
here we come. Later for now.
Sue, Handler Scott, Handler Moe, Handler Gerry, Tom,
Linda, Uncle Bobby (Team Tsuga in Dawson)
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