Spring Fling Pooper Scoop

What a treat to zip out on a trail as smooth as silk! Thanks so much Klondike Snowmobile Association for the magnificent grooming job - even carved a pull out in the desert snow at the Pyramids.

Crispin Studer hooked up his ghost team and vanished down the trail to come in ahead of the Snowpigs. Emma and Assman, below, practiced their cover photo pose for the Percy DeWolfe. Good show league leader Jonathan Lucas.
Teams found their pace this month and ran in packs around the back end. Two, three teams at a time sliced into the crust on the way to the Drop Kick Corner and every group met traffic in the Stone Chute. Have I been spelling this wrong all season - should it really be Stone Shoot?

IMPORTANT LESSON FROM THE TRAIL: via Fabian Schmitz - sometimes the dogs just run into the volunteers. "Only at the corners where there was a person, my team went straight for them. At the empty corners, they took my commands like normal."

Below, Laura Lucas relaxes after Team Pom Pom's hour on the trail. Is this the unknown weathergirl unmasked in her own snowbank? See for yourselves, and compare.
5 km Kids' Race
Kids on Skids this month included Erin Spicer, Thea Carey and her brother Seth who banked out of the start, below,




and Keegan Hopkins who walked home. Even though he wasn't happy with what happened, he came in under his own steam, and in the money for the league.



But running away with the purse was Jeff Diment, below, who capped his Kids' League career with the season's top prize. Get ready to move up to the Twister next year.

















Pet Dog 5 km
Below, Heather Demarais and Akeno cani-crossed the finish for the red lantern. Jonathan Lucas, ousted by Rachel Wider and Claudia Wickert, finished third.


And that's the last sniff of the season. All the dogs have marked their parking spots for next year. Thanks to our great sponsors and supporters, Icy Waters, Dazhaw Du Chiropractic Clinic, Midnight Sun Alpaca, Aurora Booties, Klondike Snowmobile Association, C&D Feeds, First Mate Feeds and league backers Yukon Brewing. They've staked $1600 for the 2010 Twister, bringing their total investment in local dog sports to over $6000. You have our mutual support - by the bottle and the jug.

Keep your tails up and noses to the ground for the Hot Hounds season opener at Drag-n-Fly Kennels in July.

Photos: Stefan Wackerhagen
Text: Jessica Simon
posted by yukonwriter

Up Mt Mac and Back

Is there such a thing as the Church of Dog? 'Cause whenever Cool Dogs meet on Sunday the weather is perfect. The dogs loved it. We Reached for the Sky in a snappy minus thirty; no wind, golden sunshine, crisp air, fresh snow - every day should be like this.

At the entrance to Jackson Lake Peace Camp sunshine hiked down the hillside and turned the black spruce yellow. Thank you so much Kwanlin Dun for allowing us to enjoy our race on your land.

Quiet cut by the slice of sled runners, a snatch of verse, the occasional whistle warned of teams approaching Jackson Lake Road. Grinding gravel told of their departure. From Brian McDonald's more than one musher yelled out "whoa! WHOA!"

And because running times meant nothing mushers stopped on the trail to chat. Harvey van Patten packed carved ornaments up the trail for all the checkers and stopped to try on his Yukon Brewing tshirt at the top of Mt MacIntyre.

In fact, he pulled right off the trail and let a half dozen teams pass him. But the sun was out and the day would be short enough anyway. There was no rush. Harvey liked the fit of his shirt and picked up another to wear on the way. "I don't need any help with the team," was the last thing he told Mike before the six dog string shot off back way they came with Harvey and his sled on its side. Whoa, WHOA!

Crispin Studer ran dogs from each of his three lines - the goth dogs Banshee, Witch and Ghost, the bike line of Giant, Klein and Kona, and Becks from the beer line. Both he and Ed Hopkins blew past the checkpoint so fast I have no photos and by the time I got back to the finish line, they were already in.

Fred and Debby Last were packing up the freight pull as well. Five dogs competed in one minute heats. When Jonathan Lucas' Asha timed out against Debbie Last's dog, it looked like the Rendezvous veteran Sherpa would take it. But, in the final heat Asha pulled, to the last second, to shift the weight and squeak past Sherpa.

Behind the finish line Harvey introduced his six-dog team. They've chewed up so much trail their teeth are flat, but they danced through the trees like teenagers. "These dogs really know. They've pulled me out of whiteouts before." When they aren't pulling tricks at the checkpoints.

Our success belongs to the support of our sponsors Yukon Brewing, First Mate, and Air North, the Yukon's Airline. Join us for Oscar's Electric Race Day at 9:30 this Sunday, December 21 at Icy Waters.
posted by Jessica Simon

Growler 2-dog 2-Mile Pictures

Dino and Little Otis team up for Jocelyn


Crispin and his magic team - Banshee and Witch

Stefan Wackerhagen photos