Hello all.
I guess you all already know I scratched in Circle yesterday afternoon. I can’t tell you how hard it was to have to do, but I know without any hesitation that it was the correct thing to do. That brings little comfort to me right now though. We have worked to prepare a competitive team for this race for many years and poured our hearts, souls, and many other things we did and didn’t have to make it happen. To see it end 250 miles from the finish is absolutely heartbreaking for us.

I can’t begin to tell the whole story just now, but the dogs will all be fine in a short time and hopefully time will make my heart will feel better, too. The long miles of rough trail out of Eagle took a toll on the team. Before we even got to Glen Creek cabin, between Trout Creek and Slaven’s on the Yukon, Trip, Lotus, and Gila were all being treated at every stop for some minor injuries to their wrists and feet. Sometimes little injuries can be worked through and improve on the trail with care. Trip had hurt her shoulder and that is more serious than the wrists Gila and Lotus were dealing with. When Trip finally had to go in the sled bag 45 miles before Slaven’s, the snowball started rolling. She is such a beautiful animal and her dark, piercing eyes stared at me as we bounced down the river trail. She was obviously thankful. Already dropped at Slaven’s, Trip stayed with the team through my six-plus hour stay until it was time to leave and head for Circle, another long run away. With just 8 dogs left on the line and two of them nursing injuries that were slowly getting worse as the miles added up, I made numerous stops to rub Gila and Lotus and keep the team cheerful despite our slow pace and tough trail. At one particularly difficult river crossing with some wind, lots of glare ice, and worst of all, deep cracks where the ice had buckled, Ambler’s leg slipped into a crack in the ice, wrenching his shoulder. I knew immediately that he was hurt but could not stop for another half mile until we got to place I could set the hook and check him out. He got a rub with the emu linament that was staying warm in my pocket for the frequent use on the girls. He wagged his tail and bounced in his harness. We carried on. After another few miles, I saw the first changes in his gait as the stiffness began to set in and a limp became obvious. My heart sank. The writing was on the wall. I was down to 5 healthy dogs, still had a long way to go just to get to Circle and then another 250 miles to Fairbanks from there with the two roughest mountains to get over. For a few hours, I tried to stay positive about carrying on past Circle and mull my options. The more I thought and watched the dogs, the more it became clear, I was out of options. Ambler’s injury was clearly not something that would heal in a day or two and not something he could continue to run with. Lotus and Gila had been getting slightly worse for the last 150 miles despite my best efforts to do all I could for them with rubs with linament every time the sled was stopped. Their tugs showed slack more and more as they were becoming unable to overcome the discomfort of worsening injuries. They both still had the drive to go and Ambler still was very enthusiastic to get down the trail. My job is to make the decisions for the dogs’ best interest though and their enthusiasm couldn’t outweigh their safety and best care. I stopped the team in a beautiful spot on the river about 15 miles from Circle and went to each dog, spending significant time with the three injured dogs. Lotus needed to be done. Gila melted in my arms as I rubbed her down, enjoying the break and attention, but was tender in her wrists and right shoulder, worse than before. Ambler acted as if nothing was wrong at the stop, but was unable to stretch his leg forward even after considerable massage. Knowing that in no other circumstances would I run these dogs, I knew our race was over and I cried, sitting with the dogs in the middle of the Yukon River for a long time before pulling myself together to get to Circle. When I could finally see the buildings of town on the river bank, I pulled out a bag of smoked salmon strips that I eat on the trail and gave each of the dogs one, and I ate one too, sharing a last meal on the trail with my wonderful team of my best friends. Even through their discomfort, my 8 dogs pulled me in to town with smiles on their faces and tails held high and wagging once we stopped. Without options that would not compromise the continued trust I have with my team, and after talking at length with Sue and the excellent vet staff, I filled out the scratch form and ended our Quest. I am so very sorry to all of you that have pulled for us so hard and feel like I’ve let you all down. In the end I know I’ve made the correct choices for my dogs and hope you can understand. I can’t account for the bad luck and mis-steps that cost the team it’s normal good health this year. Our disappointment is overwhelming and there is nothing I can do but go see my dogs to feel better…
Take care and thank you.

PS – Just back in from the dog yard where our decisions seem to be the correct ones. Trip, Gila, Lotus, and Ambler are all still not ready to be in harness. They are happy and eating well, but showing stiffness and they don’t have the sparkle back in their eyes yet. Stump, Eliza, Merlin, Hood and Logan are bouncing around like they didn’t just come 750 miles across the great white north. I think they all would be happy to still be on the trail. Stump shows no signs of being bothered at all to have just led 700 miles. As Sue and I worked through all the dogs, she confirmed that each of the dropped dogs was off for a day or two or three before returning to normal, confirming my decisions at the time I dropped them, were correct. All of those dropped dogs will go out in harness as soon as we can get organized enough to run dogs again, either tomorrow or the next day. Anyway, the dogs are very happy to be “home” and we’re happy they’re happy. More soon. We’re off to be fans of the race for a bit…