Mid-Winter in the Yukon – Yukon Quest excitement!
The past few days have been crazy-busy, with both an exciting event and a great deal of snow clearing at our home and our cabin.
The 1,000-mile Yukon Quest started in Whitehorse at 11:00 am Saturday morning, and Cathy and I were there about half an hour early to see the dogs and the mushers getting ready.
It was great to see a toddler meeting probably her first professional athlete.
People start picking the best spot for viewing – for many, that’s the start line. Years ago, there were speakers set up for a couple of blocks down the trail, but this year you had to be at the starting line to hear the commentary.
To impress Yukoners, having “Official Finisher” patches for both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod put you off to a very good start. Sebastian Schnuelle, the one smiling, won the 2009 Quest but is working as a race marshall this year.
I never did figure out what these toy huskies were waiting for.
It was great to see long-time Yukon Quest supporters (and friends of mine) Jerry Van Dyke Travel from Ontario back with 16 people to follow the Quest to Dawson City and experience other aspects of a Yukon winter.
At 10:51, Brian Wilmshurst from Dawson City gets ready to start the race.
Mushers leave the start line 3 minutes apart – this is Markus Ingebretsen from Norway, heading for Fairbanks in his first Yukon Quest.
It’s also the first Yukon Quest for Rob Cooke from New Brunswick, with a particularly fine-looking team.
Hugh Neff from Tok, Alaska, knows how to stand out in a crowd đŸ™‚ Hugh won last year’s race – his race resume is lengthy, to say the least.
This is Kelley Griffin, from Wasilla, Alaska. This is her 9th Yukon Quest since 2002! I never get tired of watching the excitement of the dogs, doing what they love to do.
Allen Moore, from Two Rivers, Alaska – another race veteran.
This is the first Yukon Quest for Matthew Failor, from Big Lake, Alaska.
Scott Smith, from Willow, Alaska, is almost hidden by Quest fans as he heads towards the frozen Yukon River.
The final musher, Crispin Studer, from Carcross, gets some help to get to the starting line.
The ability to see where every musher is on the trail in real time is cool from a technology perspective, but has eliminated some of the “Magic & Mystery” that used to be part of the race – knowing that they were just out there somewhere in the frozen wilderness. At the moment, Hugh Neff has a 2-hour lead, and won 4 ounces of gold for being the first musher into Dawson City.
After goofing off on Saturday, it was back to work on Sunday. That’s the next post…
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