After almost two weeks of sled dog travel over 1,000 miles of rugged, arctic terrain, Katie Davis finished her first Yukon Quest last Friday.
Davis started the race with 14 dogs and dropped only two during her travels. She finished 20th out of 24 mushers who started the race. It took Davis about 13 days to finish the 1,000 miles.
Davis speaks of seeing the northern lights and the overall beauty of the trail between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, Canada and the maturing of her dogs during the race. She also talks about the improvement in the temperature from negative 30s to negative five degrees just prior to the start.
This was Davis first major race with her own dogs that she trained. She finished the Iditarod in 2006. Davis grew up in Tryon, but now lives in Onley, Mt, where he raises sled dogs at her Evening Star Kennel.
Davis took pictures on the trail. Her trail team helpers, Anita Williamson of Polk County, and Brooke Bohannon of Montana, kept a blog recording Davis’ travels. Williamson and Bohannon met Davis at stops along the trail to help care for the dogs. Williamson and Bohannon at one point trucked over 1,000 miles to meet Davis.
Davis mom, Beverly, joined her at the start of the race and her dad, John, met her at the finish last Friday.
The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race gets its name from the “highway of the north,” the Yukon River, and historic winter land routes followed by prospectors, adventurers and later mail and supply carriers traveling between the gold fields of the Klondike and those in the Alaska interior.
Following are a few excerpts from Davis blog at www.eveningstarkennel.blogspot.com where Williamson and Bohannon provided updates of Davis race:
Saturday, Feb. 6:
Brooke and I dropped dogs this morning (took them out of their boxes on the truck) and prepared their breakfast, according to Katies schedule for the day. Some of the dogs were playful and bouncy, others just ready to eat… Sneezy was quiet and watchful. Not so unusual maybe but then he started growling and staring across the hotel parking lot. After a moment a MOOSE strolled into view! It moseyed around the building across the way and then came toward the team! Fortunately it was not at all interested in sixteen barking dogs. It just browsed on a tree nearby and then cruised on along behind the local Dennys restaurant. Just like “Northern Exposure”! Hopefully this will be the only moose encounter Katie and the team will have on their journey…
Katies team looked so good! Bright and alert and pounding the harness ready to go at her word…then the countdown and they were off! I can only imagine how it must feel for Katie to realize the payoff for all her hard work and preparation the payoff is the time on the trail…the beautiful scenery, the connection to the team…the quiet after the hullabaloo…the total dependency between musher and dogs…the total independence of the team…musher and dogs! Amazing.
Monday, February 8
Circle City – fourth checkpoint
Katie surprised us and arrived a few minutes after 3 p.m. (Monday). She said the trail from Central to Circle was “boring.” This is a good thing. It means that the trail was smooth going and the team was traveling well. She decided not to stop and rest on the trail but rather keep moving and take one longer rest here in Circle City. She is currently sleeping after eating a large plate of Turkey dinner, chocolate cake and three chocolate chip cookies. She is a good sled dog eating, drinking and sleeping as much as she can. The mushers provide better care for the dog such as nice shoulder, wrist and foot massages and lots of hands on contact. If only the dogs could give Katie the same treatments. However, Katie knows that if she takes the best possible care of the dogs they will in turn take care of her on the trail. She will have to wait till she gets home to get a massage. Maybe she will get one in Dawson.
Handler update – Clear skies, temperatures dropping to around -15F tonight. Once Katie leaves Circle City, ETD 11:30 p.m. Monday, Anita and I will curl up in the truck and sleep till morning (5ish) and clean up Katies parking area. This includes racking up the straw the dogs were bedded down on and hauling it away. We also collect any extra supplies she left behind. Then we will be heading back to Fairbanks to pick up the trailer. Fuel up and head out for Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. From Circle City (for the record this is not a city rather a very small town) to Dawson City it is about 1,100 miles of driving. It looks like we will be traveling with a few other handlers.
Thurs., Feb. 11
Friday, Feb. 12- Just before 5 p.m. I can see a little spot on the white ice field. Just near the spruce grove that goes right down to the river’s edge – and yes! It is moving! Its the TEAM. Finally. Brooke is so prepared. She had me drop her off at the camp around 4 p.m. to get the water heating so the dogs can have warm soaked kibble on arrival…
Sunday, Feb. 14: Happy Valentines day from Dawson City, YK
Once Katie and the team arrived it was on! With half of the race complete there are a lot of used and used up supplies to manage. Not to mention some tired and travel-weary dogs and a very tired musher. This mandatory 36-hour lay-over is for the dogs, for sure. Because while Katie was able to make a small dent in her sleep deficit, she still had to unpack her sled assess its condition make the necessary repairs dry the sled bag and other drenched equipment account for supplies (remember the stolen drop bag?!) go over and over and over her lists and plan her next leg of the journey. There is also a great need for food. She freezes a lot of vacuum sealed meals for the trail but the requirements are quite high to make up for the caloric drain the race demands.
We didnt finish the preparations for Katies departure this morning until well after midnight last night. Then the alarm goes off at 3 a.m. and back to camp we go to get ready to send the team on their way. Katie had hoped to finish the race with the 14 dogs from the start. She made the decision to leave two of them with us Boggle and Miss Cleo. Thats okay. It is hard for the mushers to drop dogs but they do it for the benefit of the individuals as well as the rest of the team. It sometimes has an adverse effect on the others when one dog cannot perform optimally. If the musher has any question, it is better to make the decision at the checkpoint rather than out on the trail before the question becomes a problem.
We stood on the ice bridge where the trail crossed and watched them glide on their way down river. It is surreal. The Northern Lights were glowing overhead and across the tops of the mountains and the team is so smooth. There is a hush and you can hear them puffing and Katie calling out directions. Then we follow the glow of the head lamp until it is out of sight.
Five hundred miles down (+ or -) five hundred to go!
Tuesday, Feb. 16:
Oh and by the way the race was won yesterday! Broke all kinds of records this year. This is the first year ever that all teams have checked in to Dawson City with no scratches. More teams are finishing with less dogs dropped. This is really a science.
Katie reports that the Northern Lights were so impressive last night that she felt like a tourist! She had her eyes to the sky one of the rewards for being on the trail in the middle of the night going over the river and through the bush!
Friday, February 19:
The Team has Crossed the Finish Line
It has been such an adventure! All the superlatives you can think of will apply… It has been a bonding experience as well, kind of an exclusive club. They are not ROOKIES anymore! We are so grateful for the friends we have made on this trip. It is heartwarming to see you all show up at the finish line after midnight when you could have been enjoying a nice warm bed after all those miles. We are also happy to see that Katies father, John, made the trip up to see the finish. Katie was pleasantly surprised she didnt expect so many at that late hour. It really meant a lot to her.
From Katie on Sunday, Feb. 21- Bittersweet End to the Adventure
I find myself at a loss for words to describe the experience of the last two weeks, two months and year. We made it to the finish line and now all that I have worked so hard for and planned for is done. I thought perhaps this trip would shed some light on what happens next. But I find that instead of finding clarity of thought, everything has become more blurred. Maybe that is just the sleep deprivation.
The dogs did an incredible job and there is something changed in them now, especially the younger dogs. They know they have done something. They arent just your average dogs anymore (if they ever were). They are Quest veterans and have traveled 1,000 miles over rugged terrain. 12 of 14 starting dogs finished the whole race. Boggle was dropped in Dawson as he just wasnt having fun anymore. Miss Cleo stayed there as well. The whole team had had a bit of an intestinal bug that Cleo just couldnt seem to shake. Brooke and Anita took great care of her and she was back to herself in 24 hours.
We saw some beautiful scenery but spent a lot of time in the dark wishing for a full moon. The Northern Lights were spectacular and at times seemingly touchable. I traveled a lot of the first half with Bart De Marie and Peter Fleck. We had a lot of fun on the trail and in checkpoints. Going out of Eagle toward Dawson City, we got spread out and I traveled most of the second half by myself just seeing the boys and Jennifer Raffaeli at the occasional checkpoint.
Thank you to all you sponsors, supporters, followers, friends, family, Brooke and Anita for believing in me and offering your support in so many ways.
To see Davis full blog, visit. www.eveningstarkennel.blogspot.comThere is a condition out on the ice referred to as overflow. I have only learned about it on this trip and Katies dogs have learned about it on this trip as well. It is where water comes over the ice and may be deep or may be shallow but sometimes it is standing water. The first encounter was just outside of Two Rivers… the very first checkpoint of the race. Another musher that ended up in it, Kelly Griffin, described it as “an Olympic sized swimming pool…” Bear in mind that they are travelling in the dark. They do have very bright head lamps that shine ahead but the team is on a line stretching more than 30 feet ahead of them. – The Alcan highway lives up to its reputation. It was quite a haul from Circle around to Destruction Bay (first leg) and then on Wednesday we arrived here in Dawson about 7:30 p.m. Brooke has done most of the driving… I may have lost points on my driving abilities because of a minor mishap on the Alcan… I lost the right hand trailer tire. Completely. Flattened the rim. We pulled into the closed gas station/hotel parking lot and assessed the situation suddenly two other dog trucks whipped in… three wonderful men jumped out, finished jacking the trailer, changed the tire (laughed a lot) dropped the trailer off the jack like a NASCAR pit crew! Then they were gone trucking on down the highway! Bonus! Thanks Clinton and friends!: Well, today was the big day…the one Katie has been planning for since last year. Its really hard to fathom the logistics to pull it all together. And so rewarding to see it come to fruition.