Undaunted by the Truck Track Terror created by a nameless ninny, 16 teams lined up for March's Monster Truck Dog Mush. Snow grains gave way to sunny skies for the 11 a.m. start that saw more skijourers than ever join Cynthia Corriveau, left, to compete against the four-dog teams, like Lee Kirkpatrick's Drag-n-Flies below:
With the trail carved to the axles of a 4x4, teams had no choice but to hobble over 3-4 k of ruts. For Lee the run was more like bobsledding than dogsledding. "My dogs chose to run right in the deepest ruts. It was awful."
Smoking Paws skijorer Darryl Sheepway bounced from ski to ski to navigate. "It wasn't my best time, but it was a really good run," he said. The only hiccup came at the Pyramids when I sent Alexandra Rochet's team ahead - straight into Darryl's leader, Polar. IMPORTANT LESSON FROM THE TRAIL: Before waving on a team, look up to see if the way is clear.
Three dog skijorer Adrian Laydevant had other concerns. "I have a really big strong girl out front!" he hollered at the Pyramids, with his skis horizontal and hauling on his mainline with all his might.
On advice of veteran Twisters, the Kids 5 k was drastically altered to avoid the carvings. Five teams set out for the quarry where they circled back for a short turn. Although Erin Spicer, below, came in faster than a speeding snowmobile
to take second......Jeff Diment's team, below, shot out of the start chute to bring home the win. Red Lantern winner Larissa Rueckenbach and fourth place finisher Seth Carey tangled in the turnaround, giving Thea Carey third.
Finally, pet dog owners, like Fabian Schmitz,
below, ensured Asha and Jonathan Lucas had competition for the Pet Dog 5 k. Destined to finish second in every class this month, the Grizzly Snowpigs gave up first by 37 seconds to Rachel Wider. Congratulations Rachel and Tundra on a great run.Thanks to the Chocolate Claim for sponsoring the day, and all our generous sponsors; First Mate who donated dog food won by Lucky 13th finisher Debbie Last, C&D Feeds, Yukon Brewing, Dazhaw Du Chiropractic Clinic, host Icy Waters, and Aurora Booties.
Be at Icy Waters, Mile 4 Fish Lake Road, at 10 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, for the Twister season finale. And when you send your letter to Doug Hnatiuk supporting gates on the Haul Road, make it public - send it to the papers, too.
Text and Kids photos: Jessica Simon
Twister and Pet Dog photos: Stefan Wackerhagen
posted by yukonwriter
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