February 13, 2005
Sled dogs wait on their lines at the start of the Yukon Quest 2005 in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.
Photos by Nancy Olson
| Logbook for Feb. 12th, Day 470. | ||
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Start: Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Time: 4:12 p.m. N: 60* 43.123 W: 135* 03.423 |
Finish: Watson Lake, Yukon Territory Time: 10:28 p.m. N: 60* 03.678 W: 128* 42.248 | Mileage: 275 |
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Notes: Well, the Yukon Quest start was awesome! The weather cleared up, and today’s sky was as blue as can be. Not a cloud in the sky Of course, clear skies meant frigid temps, and we were FREEZING today at the races! BRRRR! Even the dogs were cold. They were excited, though, because they knew it was race day. Come to think of it, maybe they were shivering from the excitement, not the cold. It was hard to really see everything that was going on, because of the crowd, but we saw enough. The dogs were THE show, of course, and they were just so cool. They were so eager to go that the handlers and mushers had trouble keeping them from leaping before the starter’s pistol fired. They took off one at a time, in five-minute increments. So, every five minutes, we got to watch a handful of handlers attempt to bring the dogs up to the line and halt them before they crossed it. It was pretty funny to see everybody struggle to keep the pooches at bay. I wonder if they’ll still be that excited a few hundred miles into this 1000-mile race… And as I sit here in my warm, cozy hotel room, I am imagining how cold those guys, gals, and dogs must be out there in the wilderness! YUCK! No thanks! It’s zero degrees here. I’ve no idea how cold it is wherever the dog teams are.
Since we’re going to be traveling down the scenic Stewart-Cassiar Highway, I highly doubt we’ll have e-mail access for a couple of days. So, since we can’t e-mail you or chat with you online, we’d like to send you our very best now (no cell coverage, either). Happy Valentine’s day, ya’ll. Have a good one. We’ll be thinking about you. | ||
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