by Kate
3/31/2010 6:33:00 AM
Good Morning folks,
No, it did not take us all this time to drive back from Alaska. We had an uneventful drive back, good weather and the obligatory stop to soak at the Liard Hot Springs. We got back late on Saturday the 21st and happily put all the dogs back in the dog yard and snuggled into our own bed. Warren and I then decided that since we already had our great kennel sitter all arranged and the boys were with their Grandmother at her sunny house in Antigua, that we could and would get away for a few days. So after some time searching for good deals online, we chose to go to Las Vegas for 4 days. Warren had never been and I had not been for many years. It is quite far from the dog mushing scene in Alaska and it was a great place for us to go to think about other things. We saw some good shows, ate lots of food, and did lots of people watching. It was a good getaway.
We flew back from Vegas on Friday. I came back home via Prince George and Warren remained in Vancouver on Friday night visiting with family. On Saturday he flew to Toronto to meet the kids on their flight from Antigua and then the four of them flew home on Sunday. It is really good to have everyone back home safely together. The kids had a phenomenal trip with Warren's Mum and loved the warm waters of the Caribbean. It has been a bit of a shock to them to be back home. Warren and I feel it is nice and warm and springlike here but they are still hoping for the warm Antiguan weather. All the snow is gone and the river is flowing wide and fast and the grass is even beginning to show green. Spring is in the air!
We are still evaluating how the season went and what the future has in store for us. We have been going hard for years now and are thinking of slowing things down abit and maybe doing some different types of racing. We are selling quite a few dogs so if you are looking for some great dogs to help build your team this will be a good time. If we weren't taking a hiatus from distance racing, we would not be selling these dogs. As many of you already know, I am very particular where the dogs go so if we don't find good places, they will stay here with us. I also have a few dogs that I am looking for retirement homes for so if you are interested or know anyone who may be please send them our way.
I hope things are good in your lives. Have a great day.
Kate
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by Kate
3/18/2010 11:39:00 AM
Greetings everyone - It's Karen posting from the Anchorage Airport. Well, our time in Alaska has come to a close and I am heading back to California while Kate and Warren hit the road for Quesnel, I expect they should be home some time late Saturday or Sunday. While things might not have been what we expected this year it is always extraordinary to have the opportunity to spend quality time in Alaska with Kate and those exceptional dogs - how lucky am I to know them and help care for them. And of course, a special thanks to John, Mari and Kate for their hospitality, help and company, it is always such fun to stay with them. Well, not much time for more as we are about to board the plane, Spring here I come!
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by Kate
3/16/2010 10:11:00 AM
Good morning,
Just a brief report to let you all know that Warren and the team have made it safely back to Willow. They flew in on what they call a caravan which is a small plane loaded to the hilt with as much as can fit in it, they are the lifeblood for the smaller communities here in ALaska. Warren and the team were loaded up with Ryan Redington and Judy Currier's dogs as well. Quite a sight to see so many dogs sitting relaxed in a plane. They are all on short leashes attached to the floor of the plane and were all quite relaxed when they arrived. Karen and I went in in John's dog truck, much more manouverable than our trailer,"the beast", which was a wise move as they have the dog trucks pull up on the trarmac next to the plane to get the dogs offloaded. Apparently they used to have the dogs walked from the tarmac to the trucks until a dog got loose and was running around the airport for two days. Happily the dog, Memphis, owned by our friends Magali and Jaques Philip was ok. I doubt she ever wanted to get on a plane again though! None of our dogs got loose though Mogur did get passed out of the plane without his collar on. Luckily he was so happy to see me he just kept licking my face while I found something else to use as a collar until it was found on the floor of the plane.
I was sure happy to have Warren and the team back safely. He is in good spirits overall. I am sure he will write to you all at some point in the near future. He is just beginning to read through all of your great emails and the blogs. He got a good night sleep last night - and of course the first post race shower is always very appreciated, by himself as well as those of us around him!
The dogs were super happy to be back on their dog truck. There are a few who are having some kind of a bug going through them but they already are better today and everyone ate well this morning. Karen and I are showering them with TLC so that always is good for their spirits. Warren took excellent care of them on the trail so they all have a good weight on them and their feet look great.
We are not quite sure of our gameplan at the moment so keep posted to see what happens next.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Kate
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by Kate
3/14/2010 12:39:00 PM
I heard from Warren just a bit ago and it looks like he and the dogs will be coming back to Anchorage tomorrow sometime. There will be a caravan to bring the teams back in from Galena, there will be three teams coming back he thinks though one is not yet listed on the website. He was able to get a little bit of sleep last night and is feeling ok. Dogs are eating well and resting.
Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement in a tough time. It is greatly appreciated.
Kate
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by Kate
3/14/2010 2:00:00 AM
March 13, 2010
I am not sure what to write to you all to be able to explain how difficult a decision it is to scratch from the Iditarod. It is a decision that Warren made earlier this evening. He had called me a little after six tonight to discuss it. It is definitely not a decision that he made lightly. To be totally honest, I am not sure when he called if he was looking for a pep talk or for support, maybe just a friend to talk to. I tried to offer him all of those. Because I know him, he is not a quitter at anything he sets his mind to, I wanted to be sure that this is not a decision that will come to haunt him. I don’t feel that this will be the case. He has made the decision in the best interest of the future of our dog team.
In talking with him he was really weighing all the options and all the scenarios that could play out for the rest of the race. Warren has completed this epic race three times and running it now is not just about completing it, it is about having a competitive dog team. The team this year was quite a young one. Many of those young ones are still out there with him. But he would have been leaving Galena with only 9 dogs. Not ideal, doable yes, but with such young dogs, would it really be worth it? He has decided not and I fully support his decision. He was concerned with disappointing all of you wonderful folks who support him and our kennel. I reminded him that many of you support us so much because you know that for us the dogs come first and that no one will fault him for making his decision in the best interest of the team, this years and the future teams that they will be a part of.
When he had called me from his 24 in McGrath, he was a bit bummed with how the race had changed for him in just one run. Loading three of our biggest dogs on the run to Nikolai, such an already challenging trail, was not an easy task and it slowed him considerably. Then to end up 24ing in McGrath where most mushers there were struggling with their own issues with their teams was not a great place to be. But he regrouped and did some good runs into Ophir. He already knew he had fallen behind the top of the pack but had decided to get back in the game with a lot of miles to go. I applaud him for that.
I also am so proud of that young team of dogs. They are all superstars to me and will be treated accordingly when they return to our dog truck as will Warren.
I don’t know any specifics yet as to when he will be returning with the team but will keep you all posted.
Thank you for all your support.
K
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by Kate
3/13/2010 3:59:00 PM
Thanks to our friend Kit Harland we have a great clip of the restart in Willow on Sunday. Enjoy watching! Thanks Kit. Here is the link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Teqs6MFqM
We were playing the clip here at John and Mari's and John was taking a nap on the couch and arose as he thought there was a commotion in his dog yard...just our rowdy bunch and he went back to his nap!
Looks like Warren is still resting in Galena. He is mostly back on his original run/ rest schedule now even though the 24 was in a different spot than planned. I did get and email update from a friend that saw him in Ruby that said he sent his hellos and all was going great. Always good news to hear.
Karen and I enjoyed a cold sunny day here taking care of dogs and begining the cleanup of the trailer and camper. Aaron Peck came by and we had an extended coffee visit with him. Craig has headed into town to pick up Tom and the rest of his team and hopefully our awol canine friend- who I still don't know who it is.
All for now, Kate
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by Kate
3/12/2010 11:45:00 PM
Good Morning all,
Sorry for no updates earlier today. The computer was in use most of the morning here and then I was running around all afternoon taking dogs to the vets for another musher, dropping Ken's dogs off with fellow musher Kelly Griffith who will take care of them now until after the race, and having my first prison experience to pick up dropped dogs. Dropped dogs that cannot be picked up immediatley upon arrival at the Millenium are taken to a women's prison in Eagle River where the inmates are trained to take care of the dogs. They have a very nice set up for the dogs and all the dogs looked happy when I arrived. It has been a very successful program for both the Prisoners and the Iditarod. Then it was back to the Millenium to await the next group of dogs which always seems to take awhile. Each dog must be microchipped and identified first and then the vets check over each dog and then they are fed and then the handlers are allowed to take the dogs with them. When 100 dogs arrive all at once, the process can take quite awhile. It did give some time for the first real meal of the day which I enjoyed with Karen, Kay and Marilyn.
So, while I was doing all that Warren and the team were running to Ruby. Though the website has not been good at updating information today,the gps tracker is our friend today as it has been allaying my fears as to where Warren is and why he is staying so long in Cripple... he wasn't in Cripple as long as we thought from the website. And now the tracker has him parked in Ruby next to Michelle Phillips, though the website has him not there yet. I have some friends who have been volunteering in the phone /communication room at the Millenium and they said that Ruby has not had internet access so times/dog numbers are really slow getting to them so don't worry if the website doesn't change much for awhile. I am also not sure about his number of dogs. I did find one surprise at the dog drop area at the Millenium this evening when we were looking for Tom's three dropped dogs - my Caper was there. It appears he dropped her at Cripple, but no one else was there so not sure about that since they are showing him leaving with only ten dogs? She has a sore wrist but was very happy to see me in Anchorage and even happier to see her dog truck. She is also in heat so the boys on the truck were especially excited to see her.
We were hoping not to have to go into Anchorage again tomorrow and to have some time to set up the dog yard in the trees and clean out the trailer and comper some , but we may have to head to Anchorage if someone else from the team comes in. I can say we again as my wonderful friend Karen has now arrived to help with the dogs and accompany me up to Nome this year.It is great to have her here! Frank was especially glad to see her. We just got back here to Willow from picking up dogs after midnight and Karen has already headed to bed and I am soon to follow. I know Warren is planning to take his mandatory 8 hours in Ruby so we figure there won't be any movement from the team until early in the morning. Our firend Tom Thurston scratched today, his dogs were sick I believe so we expect him back sometime tomorrow. He and his handler are staying here at the Woods as well. Hopefully we will hear some trail stories soon, so may have some interesting things to share with you all in the near future. We are sending our support out to you Tom. It is not an easy thing to have to scratch after putting so much into the preparations for this race and never easy to see your dogs not well.
More later in the morning. Sweet dreams to you all. Kate
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by Warren
3/11/2010 11:33:00 AM
Warren and crew posted a great time from McGrath to Takotna - 1h45. He has dropped one dog there, don't know who yet. I'll keep you posted. My guess would be Black Dog but one of the things I have learned from past races ios that my guesses are often wrong so I won't bet any money on them. As well, it looks like he did a good time from Takotna to Ophir - 2h28. He looks like he stayed long enough to pick up supplies so he can camp on the trail on the way to Cripple. His original A plan had been to get to Ophir, rest 8 then do one long 10 hour run to Cripple. My guess is that he will run a longish run maybe 7-8 hours and then camp and go through Cripple, stopping for supplies and then run long again and then possibly camp somewhere between Cripple and Ruby, but it all depends how the dogs are looking. He may run striaght from the rest to Ruby if the dogs are ready for it. He plans to take his 8 hour mandatory in Ruby. The tracker right now shows him at mile 332 at 6.6 mph. Weather is in the low -20s celcius a good temp for the dogs, doable easily for the humans.
My three here are all resting and eating well enjoying the TLC time with Mom for sure. For the next few days I will leave those three dogs on the dog truck so they get a good rest and I get some weight back on them. Then I will work on setting up our tetmporary dog yard in the trees here so they can enjoy the Alaskan sunshine which is trying to peek through the clouds as I write.
All for now. I am off to grab lunch.K
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by Kate
3/11/2010 7:16:00 AM
Good morning to you all,
Warren left Mcgrath at 635 this morning. He did not stay one minute over his scheduled layover time so that is a good indication to me that he is racing again. I was able to talk to Warren late last night ( thanks to Aaron for the cell phone!) from McGrath. While he is abit bummed that he has fallen back some, he was regrouping and ready to go out and make some moves. As we talked about, there are still alot of miles to go and alot of racing to go. His main troubles came between Rohn and Nikolai as he had to load at various points three of our larger dogs , the three he dropped at Nikolai whom I was able to get back late last night - Frank, Redneck and Hazer. Redneck has a sore wrist and shoulder but is happy and ate well. Frank has a slightly sore shoulder and Hazer was just tired but is in good spirits now. By the descriptions of that portion of the trail we have all been hearing, I can't imagine doing that while having dog(s)s in the basket. Rookie Scott White gives a very good description of that portion of the trail on an insider video of him from yesterday.So, Warren obviously dropped those three dogs in Nikolai, took a rest and continued on. He then had to load Black Dog periodically on the trail from Nikolai to Mcgrath - not sure what is bothering him but he is not his usual crazy self. I see that Warren left with all 13 from McGrath so he must have rebounded from the 24 hour layover. It is only a short run into Takotna so he will be able to check any of the" ify" dogs out and drop them if needed in Takotna. The dogs that they showed in the video of him talking about 24 hour strategy all looked good so that what a really good thing for me to see. By the end of our conversation he seems more focused on the race again and more positive. Words from home can go a long way when on the trail. Keep your eye on him, he may have some surprises yet for us all!
Both Warren and Aaron said the energy in McGrath is abit subdued. Most of the mushers that took their 24 there did not plan to - not the A Plan as W was talking about in the video, so many are abit discouraged and some are talking about scratching - not Warren though not to worry.
All for now as I am off to feed my returnees and others. I also have two of Ken Andersons dogs here who were quite cute when they got to our dog trailer early this morning, Frank, Hazer and Redneck were so excited to be home that Ken's dogs got excited to be here! I had a great almost midnight visit with John Stewarts parents in the Chugiak post officeparking lot ( at -24below celcius) when I delivered Monty into their care. They are one of not many kennels in Scotland with their kennel celebrating the history of Scotty Allen. Nice folks I am glad to know now. Jody if your reading this we made the connection and they are so glad you are at the kennel.
More later. Enjoy your day!K
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by Kate
3/11/2010 12:30:00 AM
24 in McGrath
Well it appears that Warren has chosen to do his 24 in McGrath, not the original plan but from what I hear about his video on the insider he seems to be in good spirits. Although I have spent the afternoon at the hotel that is the headquarters for the race, they do not have wireless internet so I have not been able to check much more than the stats board they have here in the lobby. I have been helping out with the dropped dogs here as I have been awaiting our three to come in. With the weather out on the trail, the pilots have been unable to fly out of many of the checkpoints so when it cleared up today, there were over 100 dogs in about a two hour period. It was so busy that I did not notice the time go from 3-8 pm as if it was just an hour. I think it was good that I was busy so I wasn’t worried about why Warren wasn’t moving.
Kirk and his dogs all came in and I got those all taken care of for him as he flew in on a later flight. I got to hear about his trip down the trail over dinner. This was his second running and he did not find the trail as fast had he had expected, nor as miserable as he expected in many spots but he also only went to Rainy Pass. He felt that many of his dogs could have continued on and made it to Nome but some of his key players had been injured during some awkward passing moments on the trail so it would not have been fair to the remaining dogs to continue.
I now have word that our three dropped dogs are on the last plane of the evening due in here around 9pm. So, I will await here for them and after they are all checked out with the vets I will head back to Willow with them. I already have on the truck John Stewart’s dog Monty and two of Ken Anderson’s dogs. That makes me a pretty full truck. At least I won’t be lonely on the drive home. I will send this off to you all after I feed and care for the dropped dogs.
Until later, K
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