Musher Online

Yup, it is me. Technology is a wonderful thing and Takotna actually has limited internet access for mushers! Cool!! But this will be my only post, as there is alot of things (like sleeping) I need to do before I leave.

The dog dropped in McGrath was Gus. He had been off coming into Nikolai, but the vets could only find a sore paw. Within 5 miles of leaving, I knew it was something else and with about 15 miles left in the trip I had to give him a ride. He was quite the character and literally lounged in the sun as he rode along. A couple days rest and he will be back to his wonderful self, I'm sure.

Everyone else is doing very well. Snickers is nursing a sore shoulder and Hector a sore wrist, but with 24 hours to rest I would expect that all 15 dogs will leave here with me. A few dogs have diarrea, which is unusual for my team, but I'm thinking I either overdosed them on fat in Nikolai or they ate some meat that was off. Nothing to really worry about though...

Grover and Kara have been doing most of the leading, but just about everyone has been up front at one time or another. Denali did a super job with Grover leading through the Buffalo Tunnels and the Burn.

My 'stars' so far this trip are Herman, Crunchie, Sprite, and Odie. Awesome dogs.

The trail has been tough. Lots of snow and horribly warm temps are about the worst for my team, but we are hanging in best we can. (Doug Swingley just walked through the room looking for information on his wife - neat to be 24'ing with the top mushers).

My eyeballs are getting heavy again. I got 6 1/2 hours sleep last night - upping my total race sleep time to 10 hours. I was up at 4 am, fed dogs, massage a few, had breakfast and am heading back to my sleeping bag. I'll probably be up in another 4 or 5 hours to work on a few more chores - like repacking my sled bag. I changed sleds in McGrath and just tossed everything from one bag into the other. Anyway - sleepy and starting to lose my train of thought....

I've got some good stories for you all when I get home...

Karen