Dog days

It's the season for sled dogs in Alaska. The annual 1,000 mile race of dog teams between Fairbanks, AK, US and Whitehorse, YT, Canada began Sunday, 13 Feb 2005. This is the Yukon Quest, one of the big two races in Alaska. (The other is the Iditarod from Anchorage to Nome.) The Quest starts one year in Whitehorse, the next in Fairbanks, alternating direction each year. It begins in Canada on the Yukon River. It will end this year, and start next year on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks.

Owning and using dog teams is traditional in the north and continues as a means of transportation in rural areas, although the snow machine, nicknamed the "Iron Dog" is replacing them to a large extent. As a sport, however, mushing remains popular, both in the long distance format and in shorter races from sprints to about 300 miles. It pits a team of human and dogs against northern winters. Both person and dogs must be in good physical shape and well trained. The dogs are lean, well fed atheletes, subjected to rigorous examination by veterenarians before and after each race and, in the longer races, at checkpoints during the event. They probably get more attention than the mushers.

I used to have the impression, from childhood impressions of a radio program, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, with his sled dog, King, that mushing was a noisy affair, what will all the dogs barking. It turns out that it is very quiet. The only sound one hears is that of sled runners hissing across the snow. The dogs, sensible creatures, don't waste their breath on barking. But on radio, barks are the only way to tell that there are dogs around -- so the sled dogs barked.

It's a pity that watching these races isn't much of a spectator sport. One stands in the cold -- most noticeable since one is just standing around. Then, "Here comes a team." Whoosh. "There goes the team." That's it. The dogs are pretty when they run, but only for a momentary glimpse, especially since, on the trail, they often run at night. Our summer long distance outboard races are at least held during the daytime, perhaps because there IS no night at that time of year. This year, however, the weather is mild and sunny, unlike some years when the mushers face 50 below temperatures. The dogs will be out, running in their booties, maybe with coats on, hauling sleds and musher across a varied terrain of largely unsettled Alaska and Canada in one of the big annual events around here.