I am glad I decided to check the race website before hitting the hay here. I can give some team rosters on both teams from the pictures that are in the Day 5 image Gallery - thanks to Chris Havener for doing these pics. For Sam who is in picture #21 and #22 as you scroll down through the pics I can tell you that his team today was Caper and Earl in lead followed by Gonzo, Cleo,Vesta, Venus, Hurricane, Gaia, Redneck, Hulk and Gremlin and Torres in wheel. For Warren's team, pictures #31 and 36 he has Black Dog and Yang in lead, followed by Oyster, Widgi, Silva, Pique, Mogur, Cyclone, Hula, Jabber, Auke and Jake. Unfortunately in my post earlier tonight I said I hoped all the dogs made it trhough ok...well Auke is in the team in pic 31, but in the sled bag in pic 36 so let's all hope for the best for her. Hope to have more details for you all tomorrow. Good Night. Kate

Good evening all, I was hoping to be able to speak to Warren tonight to get some details to post but I have discovered from reading some other blogs written by the spouses lucky enough to be down in Wyoming that apparently there were some wrong turns taken on the way to Evanston. I hope they arrived in time for at least some of the banquet. Each community of this race does a fantastic job with a banquet every evening that really allows visitors to their towns to get a feel for the area and the people. The hospitality and food are always fantastic. Last night Warren and the gang got to stay with our longtime host family and friends Beau and Brenda Williams in Alpine and I know everyone was looking forward to that, and to their hot tub for soaking sore muscles, and no I don't think any of the four legged team members were allowed in there. But- it does make one wonder if we could invent a smaller version for that purpose? No wait, there are already enough side projects going on at the kennel and property but if anyone else wants to make one we will offer our dogs as guinea pigs! A huge thanks goes out to Brenda and Beau who are instrumental in the Alpine leg of the race as well as taking such great care of our crew. So, apparently the trail today, 54 miles, had lots of moose holes and it sounds like a fair number of dogs were hurt from stepping in them. Don't know if any of ours were - have to hope for the best until I hear otherwise. The dogs seem to be picking up a bit from the times, but still not running at their usual speeds. It is disappointing to us all but War is still staying positive and will push on. Sam is having a fantastic time and working hard running up all the hills to help out the dogs - ah... to be 18 and in great shape again. We are really proud of how his race is going and what a great young man he is. And super glad he is enjoying his time down there. Kate

Hi all, There is a great picture of Warren and the team on the Wyoming website www.wyomingstagestop.org. Go to the image Gallery, photos for Day 3. It is the 17th picture down. I must admit I recognized the dogs before Warren. He has Hazer with his dramatic blue eyes and Widgi in lead. Looks like they are traveling through some ice fog. It is quite a magical picture. Enjoy. Kate

Though the weather has been nice here - well, no major snowstorms or blizzards - the internet has been sketchy at best the last 24 hours so apologies for no updates. It appears to be working well at the moment so wanted to share what I know. ...Yesterday was not the run we had all expected. Reasons?? Unfortunately one of the vagaries of working with the dogs is that it is not like working with the variables in a math equation, there are no definite reasons for things. Warren said both his and Sam's team were just "flat",not their usual energetic selves. Was it the warmer temperatures? Likely, we had been in the -30s last week here and now they are in plus teens( all temps celcius). Was it the stress of a big race? Possible, but not likely, as most of the dogs have been in big race situations. The reality is we will not know. Post race everyone ate and drank well and were hyper last night. Which of course bodes wel for the rest of the race. One of the unique features of this race is its longer format. There are still alot of days of racing to go. And today's results showed alot - obviously a rise in both Warren and Sam's rankings but also quite a few changes in the way the teams finished yesterday versus today. There is a historical precedent for many teams in this race to run too hard in the beginning and have trouble later on in the race. Only time will tell. As for out teams, so far there are no injuries and all are eating well and happy. What more could a Mama want? I just wish I was there to give them their post race massages. One thing we use alot of here at NorthernStar Kennels is as much preventative medicine as we can and massage is one of the easiest and the best. Often a small knot in a muscle not found and not treated can lead to a more major problem, but if found and worked out it is no big deal. I am glad Karen is there to check on everyone for me. For those of you on facebook, the site for the race, the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, has some good info. Also Mushing World ( also on Facebook and hosted by our friend and fellow Wyoming competitor John Stewart) has good info. The main website for the race is www.wyomingstagestop.org has great info and they get the results up quickly each day. There is GREAT picture of Sam from yesterday's start on the image gallery on the website for Day 2 pictures. Big thanks to Chris Havener for providing his photos to those of us not able to be there - it is much appreciated. So, spoke to Warren here just abit ago and his spirits are good. Dogs still eating well and energetic. A bit bummed that the mileage for tomorrow has been shortened - our dogs do better on the longer versions but so be it. The route is only about 38 miles I believe, versus the 54miles planned for in training so that will be a change - definitely an advantage for those teams that train more for sprint races but again, we will all have to see what happens. Snow conditions as far as I can tell are good. Today was a tougher punchy trail. The kind of trail dogs can get injured on so thankfully our guys and girls did fine. I am hoping to have some rosters for you all to post for tomorrow. I do know that yesterday Warren used Black Dog and Yang in lead and Sam used Earl and Blueberry. I know that Warren used Hazer and Widgi in lead today but not sure of Sam's leaders. That's about all I have to report from Quesnel. Cheers and happy trails! Kate

Good Morning all, Both Warren and Sam are out on the trail in Sinks Canyon, Lander, Wyoming as I write to you. I am in the process of getting our new website up and running but as the main computer folks for our house are on the trail, I am a bit slower than they would like so decided to write a quick note for now. We are hoping once I get the new site going, Karen will be able to blog from Wyoming which will be more interesting for us all as she is there and I am back at home inBC. With my not being able to go down south, we are lucky to have the help of two great friends, Karen Charney who you will remember has come to ALaska numerous times with us and traveled the entire Yukon Quest with me in the beast, and our friend Doug Aichele who has journeyed from Oklahoma to help the guys out. An international team behind NorthernStar Kennels this year in Jackson! Spirits are good in both mushers and dog teams down south. Both War and Sam had a fun run through downtown Jackson on Friday night. Warren used Black Dog and Yang in lead and Sam used Earl and Blueberry. Weather was nice and the crowds were enthusiastic. Yesterday was a travel day to Lander and lots of last minuite race preparations such as waxing sleds and massaging dogs. I hope to have some trail stories to share with you later today. For now I am off to do my dog chores here. I have over 30 dogs here, just put the puppies out in the yard and we receieved about a foot and half of snow yesterday so today will be a fair amount of shoveling around here. K

Late this afternoon Warren, Sam and all the dogs came home safely. Everyone human and dog alike ate well and are going to sleep well tonight. Here are the final times from the race: Musher Day 1 Day 2 Total 1 Martin Koenig 2:55:07 2:53:02 5:48:09 2 Waren Palfrey 2:57:48 2:55:33 5:53:21 3 Dave Turner 2:56:01 2:58:59 5:55:00 4 Sam Palfrey 2:57:07 3:06:08 6:03:15 5 Doug Swingley 3:11:06 3:20:09 6:31:15 6 Steve Riggs 3:15:36 3:23:46 6:39:22 7 Nicole Lombardi 4:07:40 3:28:59 7:36:39 8 Gerry Allen 4:59:03 5:37:10 10:36:13 9 Morgan Buckingham 5:22:37 5:15:22 10:37:59 Next thing on our agenda - the 20th Mail Run here in Quesnel. This year's race has the traditional participation fun run with all mushers carrying the mail around this beautiful backyard of ours and this year will have a competetive stage race as well. The trails are looking good - YES WE HAVE SNOW HERE!! So anyone looking for a great event for Jan20-22nd check out the website at www.dogsledmailrun.ca. Hope to see you here. Kate

I do not yet have the exact times but I was able to talk to War before he and Sam started the drive north. Warren finished in 2nd place overall( with oh 5 minutes difference with 1st place) Live and learn with that mistake. Sam came in 4th overall and had a really good run today. All the dogs are well as far as I know and that is the best news. I imagine that later today the final results will be on the website. As with last year, Warren was impressed with the folks that put on the race and all of their volunteers - thanks to you all for what you do! Kate

Well, This is a first. I just got a cell phone call from Warren from the trail - I don't even get to talk to him on the trail when I am in the same location! He is about 21 miles into the trail, has finished most of the uphill climbs and is on the downhill side now. The dogs were looking great loping up the hills. He has had to load Brutus as he is really tight but War didn't sound too concerned as it is not a major injury and the dogs don't seem to be struggling with his weight in the sled. It is better to load him than to slow down the other dogs or to have to worry that Brutus could injure himself more. Widgi is doing great up in lead. So far, Warren hasn't seen anyone else out there for quite awhile. Now that he is on the correct trail today he thinks that the way he went yesterday was a bit longer, same distance but a different elevation gain/loss from today's current trail. More news to come as I get it. Kate

Warren 's team members are Black Dog, Brutus, Widgi, Jasper, Ozzy, Oyster, Jackal, Jabber, Pique, Sliva, Mogur and Jake. Sam's team members are Cleo, Caper, Gonzo, Auke, Cyclone, Yang, Hazer, Torres, Galway, Hurricane, Hulk, and Monsoon. Onyx went down as our alternate and I forgot to ask Warren if either of them used him instead but I am guessing not as he said all the dogs were doing great.

Good Morning All, Well I received a pleasant surprise this morning. Warren was able to have cell service at the trailhead for the race so I was able to start my day with talking to him! He and Sam and the dogs and the Beast( the nickname given to our truck and 5th wheel trailer that houses us and the dogs during the Quest) went up on Friday night to the trail start and are camping there for the weekend. We often do this to allow the mushers more rest during a race. So, Warren did come in first yesterday but unfortunately he had a race experience not uncommon to frontrunners- he went the wrong way on the turnaround loop and consequesntly was given a five minute penalty. In some races, five minutes may not seem like a lot of time but if you look at the results from the run yesterday, it changed the positioning of the frontrunners. So rather than being chased today War will be doing some chasing. Martin Koenig 2:55:07 2 Dave Turner 2:56:01 3 Sam Palfrey 2:57:07 4 Warren Palfrey 2:57:48 5 Doug Swingley 3:11:06 6 Steve Riggs 3:15:36 7 Nicole Lombardi 4:07:40 8 Gerry Allen 4:59:03 9 Morgan Buckingham 5:22:37 Sam had a good run yesterday. We expect his time to be faster today as he said he was keeping them slow. He will use the same positioning of the dogs with Caper and Cleo in lead. Warren just got Widgi back from Tom Thurston who had been training him for his Iditarod team. We feel Tom made a mistake by deciding to not keep Widgi in his team( he felt he was the most unknown variable and was not able to know he could totally depend on him - I think we and Lance know this to be different) In any case, it is good for us as now Widgi is back for us for Flathead and for Stage Stop at the end of the month. War said he took a few miles to adjust to the faster pace of the race yesterday but came through with flying colors and his typical great attitude. Warren will be using Widgi and Black Dog in lead today, moving Brutus back to point. All the young dogs are doing really well with this their first race experience. All eating and drinking well and no injuries. Trail was apparently quite icy the first mile or so but as they gained in elevation the trail was nice. Temps look today to be overcast and about zero degrees. War is going to try and see if he can get cell service on the trail, he thinks maybe up on the higher elevations so there just may be a mid race trail report coming to you all soon. Provided of course that I can hear my phone ring while I am in the dog yard. We have above zero temperatures here today after about six hours of consistent snow yesterday and it is expected to get up to plus 9 today. Not ideal for sure except that is does make it a lot easier to change the straw in all the dog houses and that is one of the main jobs for Peter, Jesse, and I today. WIth that said, I am off tot he dog yard for chores. Happy Sunday to you all. Kate