The Yukon Quest

  
  I think the Alaskan in me is reasserting itself. I have been thinking about a dog race almost constantly for a few days straight. Most of you are probably completely unaware that the first finishers of the Yukon Quest made it into Fairbanks last night. You may even be trying to remember what exactly the Yukon Quest is. But let me just say, that is the kind of sporting even that has some real drama, even without the stagey music they use for professional sports games on TV. I'll admit that when the Quest started this year, I wasn't following it too closely. How many Quests and Iditarods have I read about and followed in my life? I just didn't feel so invested. Especially when Hugh Neff kept increasing his commanding league. It seemed like there wasn't much of a race going on, just a bunch of guys (and a few women) mushing through the wilderness. But then the mushers crossed the border from Canada into Alaska, and things got much more exciting! Hans Gatt, a former Quest champion who was running in 2nd place, couldn't get his team over American Summit in the severe cold and high winds.  The next musher, Brent Sass, came upon him and hooked his team up to his and made sure he made it over and into the next checkpoint. The next day, Hans Gatt continued on and was crossing the Yukon in the middle of the night when his entire team and himself fell through a patch of overflow up to his neck. Overflow happens when water pushes itself over river ice, and then can refreeze a thin layer over the top, making it almost impossible to differentiate from the solid river ice. He said when he broke through he couldn't feel the bottom, and thought he may have broken through to the actual river until he was able to find some footing. Once again, another musher, Sebastian Schnuelle, came upon him and pulled him and his team out the water. Not only had Gatt been drenched in ice cold water, the outside temperature was around -50 that night and he ended up with severe frostbite on both hands that forced him to scratch at the next checkpoint. Then Hugh Neff,  who had been leading by 10-12 hours over any of the other mushers, attempted to make it over Eagle Summit, the next stage in the race. He too had fallen through overflow on the river, though not nearly as deep as Hans Gatt. He spent 12+ hours trying to make it over the summit with his dogs in the wind and cold, and could not get his team over. He ended up being withdrawn from the race, leaving a race that I had thought was locked up and not particularly exciting, wide open. Last night, Dallas Seavey, a 23 year old rookie, crossd the finish line first just after 11:00 pm, making him the youngest person to ever win the quest. Brigg went to see his first finish of a "big" Alaska dog race, although he had to wait a little longer than anticipated.... after 1,000 miles of rough terrain and terrible weather, the dogs on the leading teams really slowed down the last few miles. Just 1/2 hour later, Sebastian Schnuelle came in second, making it by all accounts a close race. 30 minutes might not sound like a nailbiter, but when you're talking about a 1,000 mile, 10 + day race, that's pretty impressive to be that close at the end.
       None of this has anything to do with our family.  I just felt like some of the stories from this year's Quest were too good not to share. You should really read the stories from the trail. These stories are better than a movie! I think the best part is listening to the mushers who went through these dramatic experiences talking about them- they act like it was no big deal, just another day on the trail, of course they helped their fellow musher. They are so matter of fact about all of it. The even more remarkable thing is that many of the mushers who have just finished, or are still finishing the Quest, will turn around with their dogs and run the Iditarod in 10 days from now. That should make marathoners feel a little wimpy!