Well, Yukon Quest was not quite that long this year due to a smaller stretch that required transport due to lack of snow north of the starting point, Whitehorse in Canada. But nevertheless very impressive. By luck the winner, Brent Sass (of Eureka, north of Fairbanks) arrived in Fairbanks here in Alaska at noon a little over a week ago, after spending a slightly more than 9 days on the trails. Thanks to the tracker that was available from the main page (
https://www.yukonquest.com/), it was easy to figure out mushers location and when to show up. I also had a special motivation for showing up this time (in all closer to a 30km bike trip for me back and forth and around in the finish area), which I will not reveal yet, but you should be able to figure it out
. The capture was also a bit more interesting when mushers show the wear of the trail, although the light was a bit flat. Bear with me, this is going to be image heavy!
The ice on Chena River was posted not to be safe, but some brave souls ignored it to cheer Brent Sass in. I stayed safe up on the bridge for an overview:
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Finally there, meeting all the publicity.
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Helping personell care for dogs, so they stay on track and do not get distracted.
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..and dogs get some really nice rewards.
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Brent Sass arrived with all 14 dogs (out of 14 allowed max), and they were in fantastic shape, which is quite a feat. It is common that mushers drop off weaker dogs as the race goes on. The chief veterinarian whom I happen to know was really impressed by how the dogs looked. Also most of the team was new dogs, never participated in the race before which makes it really interesting - congratulations in place!
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Then the winner is sort of whisked to the side for interviews while the dog handlers take care of the dogs for a little while. I was later able to chat with him and he told me that he had basically not slept in 9 days, just 1/2 hour naps on a very few occasions. The dogs get their needed rest and there is also mandatory lay-overs (last one 8 hours at last check point), but he spent all the time taking care of the dogs. This race is to a much higher degree self-supported, carrying all supplies, than the other big race, the Iditarod.
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During the interview, when talking about how the dogs performed , and in particular one called Jeep, he got very emotional - he was given that dog from his mentor Joe Reddington who had passed away fairly recently.
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But it is not all done yet, the sled has to be rigged down and the dogs fed and taken care of. This is where it is chance to meet the musher and their dogs. Here is a big and small sled.
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I wonder if this was the dog Jeep, it was supposed to be a leader initially thought to be a short distance dog - one of the leaders were black.
Edit: This is confirmed, I found an image of Jeep regarding the Golden Harness Award on the Yukon Quest Twitter page,
https://twitter.com/theyukonquest, direct link to image:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dzl6gu3W0AAaYhf.jpg#12
Finally home in the dog truck, fed and ready to sleep soon.
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Next team to arrive and take the 2nd place finish was that of Hans Gatt. There was just enough time to do some scouting for a location by bike and foot, to find a place on the river that looked fairly safe.
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I was too far away to get the finish line, but touched up with him at his dog truck.
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Back at the finish line I was able to get the third place winner, Allen More. As only key personell and official media were allowed insider the fences, I had so try shoot over the heads of the receiving crowd.
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Full activity at the finish line - Registration - veterinary checks and dogs to have teir rewards. Musher Aliy Zirkle who I photographed previously is petting the dog to the right.
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Identity check of a dog
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And the reward, apparently a nice piece of halibut.
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3rd place interview of Allen More.
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Again, not done yet, but many helping handlers small and big to rig down and take care of the dogs.
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Fed and ready to sleep at home in the dog truck.
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Now it was just time to catch the 4th place finish Michelle Phillips up at the bridge again. The river looks really treacherous. After 5th or 6th place they had to cut the finish short and move the finish line up to where they entered the Chena River. It has not been cold enough this winter - most of the cold went to the lower 48.
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Stil a good crowd to cheer Michelle Phillips in.
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Just finishing this race is really impressive, so she has all reason to be happy at the interview.
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It was starting to get dark, and I did not stay for more. The rest of the teams kept coming in over the rest of the week (this was Monday) and by Friday the red lantern price could be handed to over to rookie Hendrik Stachnau of Hamburg, Germany. But we are not done yet, next up the public and the helpers.
