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A
Rookies Journey
December 27, 2005
The big news this week is the Sheep Mountain
150. It was an interesting race and I am still trying to sort out
some of the things that happened. When I was up training early the
week of the race we ran the entire race route. Even though I ran the
same trail last year it was the first time I had seen the loop out
of Eureka Lodge in the daylight. The entire trail was in great shape.
By the time we got back to Sheep Mountain Lodge last Friday it had
rained at the lower elevations and the parking lot resembled a skating
rink. In places you could not even stand, let alone walk. I worried
about the trail, but Zack assured me that they had gone over it and
it was in good shape (it was).
The bib numbers were in the order of
signup for the race. I was number 37 with only three mushers going
out after me. That suited me fine. I planned to start slow and it
is demoralizing to the dogs to be passed by all of the other teams.
By going out in the back of the pack the dogs would be able to chase
the teams in front of them and that makes for happier dogs. Besides
I’d rather chase teams than be chased. Sure enough all three
teams passed us with in the first 6 miles of the race and we just
relaxed and had fun. My thoughts were that we would pass some teams
in the last 50 miles that had gone out to fast in the first 50.
The trail starts in the ditch along side
the Glenn Highway (see photo), and after a mile or so swings left
and picks up the old Glenn Highway. It is a gentle climb to just before
the Gunsight Mountain rest area and then into the hills and over the
shoulder of the mountain. The climb up over the shoulder is steady,
but not remarkable, but the downhill run on the other side is a real
thrill. Then the trail goes back to the new Glenn Highway to Gunsight
lodge, behind the lodge to Martin Road and up the road to Squaw Creek.
This is old mining country and we are frequently on old cat trails.
From squaw creek we proceed clockwise around Syncline Mountain doing
a steady climb, with some climbs and descents to keep things interesting,
from the back side of the loop to the top of Belanger Pass, then a
sharp descent down the pass until we level out and proceed to Eureka
lodge. Leg three is this same trail in the opposite direction.
I had Bass and Platinum in lead for the first 50 miles and the dogs
were just full of themselves. In training we had done the longer loop
back to Sheep Mountain Lodge in 7 hours and I was expecting to run
the first loop in 6 hours or so. But the dogs were running steady
and eating the hills. This was the team I’d been getting glimpses
of in training and it sure was fun to drive. We passed Tim Forbus
on the back side of Syncline Mountain and ran strong into Eureka lodge
in 5 ½ hours. I was very pleased with the team. Checking the
standings the race was more competitive than I had thought this year
and my 5 ½ hour time left me about 4 mushers off last place,
but I still expected to move up in the final 50 miles. The kitchen
in the lodge was open until 9 PM and beer battered halibut fish and
chips have never tasted better.
We left Eureka lodge just before midnight
on the second 50 mile leg. The weather was interesting, varying from
low clouds to light snow to ice fog. For the second 50 miles I ran
Platinum and Dash in lead. The trail here starts along the road, then
veers North and within the first three miles there is a substantial
climb to the top of the ridge. You stay high in the open (exposed
to the weather) with some nice climbs and descents for the next 20
miles or so. If it is clear there are great views from on top, with
the snow and fog there were many places you couldn’t see your
leaders. There were about 4 of us running at approximately the same
pace and we kept passing each other. I would be in the lead and stop
to snack my dogs or talk to my leaders and before I knew it someone
would pass me – then two more teams in quick succession. I’d
pull the snow hook and the dogs would chase them until the next musher
stopped for some reason then we would pass and gradually move back
to the lead until I stopped again. This is the first time I ran with
teams of about the same speed and could try to actually race –
I thoroughly enjoyed it. We arrived in Eureka after another 5 ½
hour run (we had done that in 6 hours in training) and I was very
pleased.
After our second 5 hour rest in Eureka I was pretty tired. Bonnie
said my eyes were red and I hadn’t slept. I gave the dogs some
broth, put booties on their feet and left Eureka. For this last leg
I was running Bass and Lycos in lead. Within the first mile I could
see something was wrong, Lycos was holding back on the neckline connecting
him to Bass. I thought he might be intimidated next to Bass, although
that hadn’t happened before, and moved him back to team. Lined
out tight and looked happy, but as soon as I pulled the hook he was
back on his neckline. I did an orthopedic exam looking for problems,
but couldn’t find any so I moved him just in front of wheel
where I could watch him closely. As soon as we start Lycos was back
on the neckline. The poor guy could hardly walk let alone run, something
was badly wrong. No question I needed to go back to the checkpoint
and drop him with the vets. We lost 30 minutes doing that, but more
important Lycos has become my second best leader and I was counting
on him for this leg.
I moved Bass up with Platinum and we left the checkpoint again, 30
minutes later, and just behind Karen Ramstead in last place. I wasn’t
too worried and still expected to catch some of the slower teams on
the last leg. We caught Karen after a couple of miles and the pass
was a thing of beauty. After about 10 miles we hit Belanger Pass and
that quick downhill run became a slow grueling uphill climb. We had
done this in practice and done well, but the team we rested then and
was getting tired now. Karen’s team re-passed climbing the hill
at a strong steady pace that I could only envy. I had to get off the
sled and walk up the hill and when I ran out of breath we’d
stop and rest. Bass began having diarrhea problems, which is a sure
sign that he is getting stressed. I stopped and moved him out of lead
and moved Dash up with Platinum. I hadn’t intended to do that
because Dash is only one year old, but with Lycos out and Bass stressed
I was running out of options. After 40 minutes we crested the pass
and started a long downhill run. I kept the team slow to because a
tired team is more likely to get hurt. We had a smooth, but slow run
around Syncline mountain with me still helping substantially (sometimes
walking beside the sled) up all the hills. As we came down Martin
road heading for the trail over the shoulder of Gunsight Mountain
we passed Mike Suprenant on the side of the road fixing his dogs a
hot meal. He said they ran out of gas and needed to refuel. Handing
the red lantern to Mike we started up the shoulder of Gunsight Mountain.
That thrilling downhill run became
a slow trudge to the top with a very tired musher walking beside an
even more tired dog team. Dash finally had enough (she had done far
more than I expected) and I moved Picard into lead with Platinum.
Picard isn’t really a leader, but will lead and is very devoted
to me. While we were changing leaders Mike re-passed us leaving me
in undisputed possession of the red lantern. We made it up the hill
and down into a small drainage, but as we started to climb out Picard
said he really didn’t want to do this either. So I swapped Sisco,
a slower but very steady leader in training into lead with Platinum
and off we went again.
This was the last climb of the race and as we leveled out the team
picked up speed. I held the speed down until we got back on the old
Glenn Hwy to reduce injuries. At that point they picked up into a
fast trot for the final few miles to the finish line. Bonnie met me
at the finish (the banquet was just ending and everyone else was leaving)
and said the team looked real good coming in. I was pretty beat and
had expected to do better than last place.
The trail that took us 5 ½ hours
going out took 8 hours coming back. Even with losing ½ hour
to drop Lycos that was much slower than I had anticipated. I am still
trying to figure out exactly what I did wrong. The consensus is that
the dogs were physically tired, but the real problem was mental. I
failed to make it fun and didn’t give them an appreciation for
the hard job they had done for me. The dogs generally don’t
know if they have done well or not and depend on us to tell them.
If they had physically hit the wall I don’t think they would
have finished the long gentle downhill run to the finish looking so
well (they would have walked slowly, not trotted with style –
heads and tails up). Things looked much better after a good nights
sleep and we drove back to Eagle River the next day. Looking back
at the race, Platinum did yeoman’s duty running lead for all
three legs of the race and the only dog I didn’t swap out during
the last 50 miles. Platinum has always been a good leader for me,
but this is the first time I absolutely needed him and he came through
for me. I’ve been telling him all week how much I appreciated
that.
After we got home Dash came down with a nasty stomach bug, running
at both ends. It has since spread to Mocha, Dukat, Dijon, Java, and
Belle. Dash is better, but it took her almost a week to really get
over it. Hopefully the rest of the dogs have had a minor version and
it won’t go through the entire kennel.
The vet said that Lycos had soft tissue damage in the left rear leg.
She thought he might have slipped and fallen. I don’t remember
that, but it could easily have happened while visibility was down
and I didn’t see it.
On a fun note, I’ve been trying to get a handle on Jewels since
I bought him last spring. He has a smooth gait and works hard but
just didn’t seem happy. He is the only dog on the team to have
run Iditarod before and I hoped he would lead for me so I’ve
been running him in the front of the team. Two weeks ago I needed
a wheel dog and almost more from exasperation than anything else moved
him back. Bingo, he is a happy dog! Silly boy evidentially doesn’t
like other dogs running behind him. I he quickly becoming happy in
the dog lot and much more self assured in the team. In fact if the
dog ahead of him backs off to stool, Jewels barks at him and tries
to speed up and nip the other dog in the behind. So now Jewels runs
in wheel or just in front of wheel (wheel is the most physically demanding
position on the team and everyone needs a break once in a while).
Dogs are such interesting critters.
Before I forget Jon Little, who writes for Cabelas, ran the Sheep
Mountain Lodge 150 and posted his version of the race at http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2006/cov06_dec20_01.html
. Jim Foster took many more nice pictures of the race and they are
posted at http://www.dogsled.com/events/sm150/pix2005.html
.
The next race on the schedule (snow permitting) is the Knik 200 at
http://www.knik200.com/
. I mailed in my entry form Friday 12/23, just ahead of the 12/25
deadline.
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
© 2005 All rights reserved
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Have
you ever wanted to be part of the Iditarod adventure
but didn't
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by joining the
2008-2009 season Rogers Rangers. Just $30 buys you
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