Kara & Olena in the Lead

It's noon in Alaska, and I just got off the phone with Karen...again. She managed four hours of sleep last night, and was in a very good mood. Both her and the dogs are eating well. The Takotna check point is famous for their great food. Karen says that the rookies on the team have figured out the sound of the cooler being pulled from the sled bag and bounce up barking in anticipation for their impending meal.

She's been using Kara and Olena in lead for most of the trip, only using Grover and Moses in strategic places. She said that Kara is turning out to be her little super star. Her stop in McGrath was just long enough for her to grab her sled seat, ski poles and a food bag out of the second sled, not even looking at the dropped bags that we spent so much time planning and packing. She did run over that dead moose that everyone has been talking about on the trail. It didn't phase the dogs in the slightest. We do most of our training through the ditches of a very busy highway in Alberta, road kill is something that we see on a regular bases.

Karen's been traveling a lot with Doug Grillot, a friend from Willow that she trained a little with before I showed up. She says that the teams travel well together and that she enjoys the company. If you want to learn more about Doug, check out his Bio.

Karen said that she was buzzed by a plane several times yesterday and interviewed by the Anchorage Daily Newspaper, so maybe there will be some pictures in the paper tomorrow. Karen was off to go have lunch and let the dogs work on their tans.

Later
Mark