2005 Sheep Mountain 150

Well, I know the first question many of you will have was "Who was on the team?" (I thought of all you playing our little Mile Pool 'game' this year - and figured not knowing was killing you!). 

Well, because we delayed our departure for Alaska by a few days and we just stopped at Sheep Mountain to race on the drive up (rather then having a chance to get settled prior to heading back to Sheep Mountain, as was the original plan), I hadn't had an opportunity to run the dogs on a sled at all yet this winter, so I figured it was only fair to use the race as an opportunity to get some miles and work on the veteran dogs. 

So, the make up of the team at the starting line was:

| Skor | Surge | Hector | Moses | Odie | Herman |
| Crunchie | Kara | Hilda | Olena | Dasher | Snickers |

As it turns out Surge didn't want to set the same kind of pace Kara was (I should have known, Surge always puts in his best work after miles and miles of 'warm-up'), so I stopped pretty early to throw Crunchie in lead with her instead. That worked great and those two drove the team up and over the SERIOUS climb over Gun Sight Mountain in fine style.

Surge

Kara

Crunchie

I'm not sure what exactly I expected from the Sheep Mountain Race Trails, but I know it wasn't anywhere close to reality. It quickly becomes apparent why the 40 limited spots on this race fill up so quickly every year.

Hugh Neff told me at the musher's meeting that I would like this race because it a 'mini Quest'. Well, all I can say is that if this is what Quest is going to be like - BRING IT ON!!

I cannot remember a trail that I've enjoyed running more.

2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start - Kara & Surge in lead
(Photo by James Foster)

After the climb over Gun Sight, the trail drops and winds through a pretty, forested area; a quick a little jaunt down a road that leads to some cabins and you drop onto a trail that rolls over gentle hills, across little streams and ponds (with a little bit of glaciated trails and overflow to keep a musher on their toes) for the next few hours.

As one team passed me, Crunchie's tug line somehow came undone and Crunch headed off down the trail hot on their heels. Not good, but all that off leash work I do with the team paid off big here. It took 3 calls, but on the third one Crunch heard me turned around and SPRINTED back.

The trail makes a quick little climb onto what seems like a bit of a plateau and then works it's way along some meadows before winding through a forest and making a fast, hard drop into a wonderful little creek bed. At the beginning of this stretch the creek is narrow and you are sandwiched in between steep, snowy, rocky cliffs.

The dogs and I both loved this section and they moved strong and steady through it. I stopped and moved little Dasher up front with her Mom, Kara.

Dasher

This stretch and the one after it reminded me very, very much of the Dalzell Gorge on Iditarod - except most of the deadly components of the Gorge were scaled down.

Kara and Dasher negotiated a few spots where the creek had pushed it's way through the snow and ice. Rushing water has always been a big challenge for my team, so I was very pleased at how they handled it.

A local miner waved out his window as we passed by. Although he lives really in the middle of nowhere - a mailbox sat hopefully outside his building. 

I dug out my iPod and headlamp as dusk started to close in.

The trail left Caribou creek and started to climb. There were some tough dips and climbs here, but the dogs handled everything admirably. Eventually, the downs were gone and we were just working our way up to the top of a mountain. There were two teams ahead of me in the dusk. Occasionally they would flick on their headlamps bathing their teams in light and making for fantastic pictures - although sadly, these are only recorded in my mind. My iPod seemed to sense the appropriate mood - or I just tuned in to the appropriate music and tuned out the rest when it came on - but I prefer the first explanation. Magic, rather then logic suited the experience and moment much better.

If right before we die, our minds do actually flash back through a 'highlight reel' of our lives - it is very probable that this evening will be included in mine. Gorgeous weather, a beautiful trail in a beautiful location, and a dog team I love and admire - I simply could not stop smiling. It is these moments that I think mushers are addicted to. Those days.hours.minutes.or even seconds of time that are so perfect, so magical, so spiritual that we simple MUST continue to hit the trails looking for more of them.

Once at the top of the mountain, the bright night gave up a fantastic view. It was very reminiscent to me of the Race to the Sky trail in Montana where it climbs up over Huckleberry Pass. The remaining 10 miles or so into Eureka Lodge was almost all downhill. I kept my dogs' speed down, as without any sled miles on them this winter, they just weren't ready to really rock on a long downhill like that without injury.

The team bounced into Eureka with wagging tails and huge grins. They trotted obediently behind Markus and a race volunteer to get to our parking spot and parked themselves flawlessly.

They ate as if they had never seen food before and then attempted to see what they could scrounge from the teams around them. Foiled from that plan by some strategically placed snow hooks, they eventually plopped down on the straw and slept.

2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start
(Photo by James Foster)

Dasher, along with her Mom, Kara, was definitely the star leader of this race. In fact, Dasher's performance was darn near flawless - except for her over exuberance in checkpoints. She bounced, she scrounged, and she talked back to me - generally just had a fine time. An hour or so before I was ready to leave on the second leg I caught her amusing herself by tormenting a dog on the next team. She discovered that if she took two steps off her straw one of the dogs in the team next to us would bark at her. As soon as it barked, she bounced back into 'the safe zone', grinned and stepped over again. The dog barked, she bounced and did it again.and again.and again.. I suggested she find another hobby and she reluctantly quit her game - but only after giving me a stern canine lecture for my lack of a sense of humor. Quite the character.

Snickers was the only dog that didn't look 100% in the checkpoint, so I called one of the Race vets over to look at her. Snickers acted like a major spoiled BRAT for her exam, so when Denny pronounced her completely sound - just spoiled - I moved her into lead and gave Kara a break back in the team.

Snickers

Our second leg was mostly shrouded in fog and snow, but after the first climb out of the checkpoint, we did get a cool vision of about 10 headlamps out on the trail winding through different parts of the valley. The trail didn't have as many serious ups and downs as the last leg, but it was still challenging. I did end up getting lost for a couple miles in the night. Turned out the musher ahead of us went the wrong way and my leaders just followed her trail. When I caught up, passed her and realized there were no other dog tracks in front of me. I turned around and backtracked the few miles back to the last trail marker, sorted out my mistake and (along with the other musher) got headed in the right direction again.

The dogs loped the last few miles back into Eureka Lodge, but did seem more tired and not quite as spunky as after the first leg. I got them fed, bedded down and left them to sleep.

Several hours later, as I was heading back down to my team to water them and start to get ready to go, I got a few reports that they were causing some trouble down in the parking area. Sure enough, Dasher and Snicks were rested up enough to go shopping in the straw of the teams next to them. "Good thing they are so cute and it's hard to stay mad at them", one race official commented. With me back down to keep an eye on them, they reverted back to 'perfect' little angels.

2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start
(Photo by James Foster)

I must admit, I was perturbed to be leaving Eureka last. I have not 'won' a Red Lantern since my '01 Iditarod and I was NOT in a hurry to add to my collection - but I did have to keep in mind that with no sled miles this year, this team was not prepared to 'race' this race. I was doing what was best for the team, even if my ego took a blow in the process.

We didn't leave Eureka particularly well. I fiddled with leaders, eventually settling on Odie and Snickers and I resigned myself to that last place finish. Imagine my shock when about 3 miles out we caught and passed Eric Rogers' team on that big climb out over the mountain we had come down on Saturday night. My dogs marched up that hill without complaint or even a glance over their shoulders - something they actually repeated on every single hill on the way to the finish line - overtaking 2 more teams in the process (although one team overtook us again about 10 miles from the finish and ended up beating us by 3 minutes).

I firmly feel their last leg of the three was their strongest, with them actually getting stronger and faster as each mile clicked by. Kara and Dasher loped the team hard the last 4 miles into the finish and proceeded to storm over the checkers and volunteers at the finish line in an effort to get back to their dog truck. They all ate and drank exceedingly well at the finish line.

All and all, I couldn't be any happier with what they team did for me at this point in the season. I am now very excited about their prospects for the rest of the winter. Great job!! Officially we came in 26th out of 36 teams that started. 28 teams finished. Complete results can be found at http://www.dogsled.com/SheepMountain150.html

A couple notes of thanks - first off to Zack Steer and all the rest of the folks involved with the Sheep Mountain Race. As Jon Little said to me Monday morning, "Everything is just done right.". This is a race by mushers, for mushers. The emphasis is put on things that really matter to mushers - like a good trail. Truly a quality event!

BTW - Zack's Sheep Mountain Lodge is a fabulous place to stay - and not just for musher types. They have year round activities, great food, gorgeous cabins and a location to die for. Check them out! My in laws, Harvey and Sylvia, (Mark's parents) stayed there a few summers back and raved about it then. We should have listened and beat a path to the lodge long before now!

2005 Sheep Mountain 150 Start
(Photo by James Foster)

Also, big thanks to Markus for all his help. He turned out to be a fantastic handler - as good as any I've ever worked with. When I pulled into the parking lot on Sunday night, kibble was already measured out for the dogs in their bowls, chains hanging around the truck for them and soup sitting ready. I would have expected no less from Mark - but he's been doing this for years - this was really Markus's first time at a race like this. He's a bright boy with a good head on his shoulders (although contrary to what he thinks - he isn't right about everything) and I was glad to have him along.

Karen

Karen & Markus at the Iditarod 2005 Ceremonial Start