A Few Special Highlights of the Trip

Before I go into a fairly technical and detailed discussion of the harness and gear used for sled dogs, I will just take a little track back and cover a few of the highlights of my trip. There are a number of things that will stick in my memory as long as I have most of my wits about me!

I'll start with the first night, chasing around on several intersecting roads around the Fairbanks club, almost an institution, Ivory Jack's, which is at a crossroads where various routes lead on to where a number of mushers live up in the hills NW of town. On weekend nights the area is jumping and a black dog loose in the traffic was a tragedy waiting to happen. Kyia was not about to let that befall. As a passenger I had to go along, but went without protest. When we finally had the wet, scared standard poodle in the truck with us, I tried to sooth her and feel for any injuries before the woman who had bumped her came up and asked to take the dog to the vet in Fairbanks just to be sure. Turned out she was okay and did get safely home. That was a special introduction!

Then there was the night we saw a few flickers of green aurora above the hill to the north so we got on Kyia's big ATV and went chasing around on trails used to drive the dogs and by other ATVers to find the best views. Josh, the young man who was her summer help, and I perched on the back fenders and rack, hanging on for dear life. We did get some good views--brilliant ribbons of silver-green light twisting and twining in the dark sky until close to half the dark dome overhead was illuminated with them. We spent a couple of hours bouncing and bucking over the hills and holes and it was almost like the kid days of joy riding at night with KOMA blasting on the radio except there was no music--just that light show overhead. That was about the closest I came to being cold--it really wasn't but with a clear sky the temps did fall down into the 20s and going maybe 15-20 mph the breeze had a nip. What a blast!

Of course it was a thrill to go around the hill to Lance Mackey's place. Anyone who is a real fan and follower of the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest knows that name. He lives no more than a half mile from Kyia. and has cleared off about ten acres--to help keep down fire danger for his home and kennel--and besides the dogs has an amazing array of vehicles in various states of repair and demolition and all sorts of "stuff" He is definitely into "trading and trafficking" as an old horse trader friend of mine from long ago described it--swapping is a fine art and a sport to those who do this! He is getting into some drag racing and stock car type auto stuff now.

Lance is a throwback "hippie" of a guy--a small, compact man about 5'8" (guessing) with his brown hair streaked with gray in a single braid behind like Willie Nelson. He has a droll way of talking and a dry sense of humor, a bit crazy but then most neat people are! He's had an amazing career with the dogs but due to cancer treatments some years ago is growing unable to handle the cold and some of the rigors of the races. He had signed up for the 2017 Iditarod but withdrew while I was up there and many people wept for that. He's struggled so hard and done so much. He is the only person to win both the big races the same year--twice! He still will have dogs though and I got to see the three litters of 2016 pups ranging from the fat fuzzy little cuties to some lanky 'teenage' looking kiddos about six months old. Most of them will probably be sold but he will keep quite a few dogs to give rides and demonstrate for fans and tourists, at least. And I guess never say never, as he has come back before. A lot of wannabe racers want to have a Lance Mackey dog or two in their teams, anyway.

Of course the first time I helped harness up a team and then scrambled onto the ATV as we blasted off from the homestead was a thrill I will always cherish. Cowboy and Piper in the lead and the others lining out and running up a fairly steep hill, across the one paved road and out on some of those trails. Ears perked and listening to the instructions of 'gee' and 'ha' to take the turn they were not expecting--sometimes it took a slow down and  insistence!--but they went. Often Kyia would shut off the motor on the ATV and let the dogs handle it--which they did easily. I would think the machine and the two of us on it totaled 500 pounds or more but for a couple of hours that is almost nothing. The dogs did not get extra food but did get water when we got back.

Then the morning flying out of Fairbanks heading home and looking down as the first rose rays touched the mountains--range after range of crags and peaks and fierce, daunting mountains that dwarf the Sierra Nevada and make the US Rockies look paltry--the ethereal colors and delicate light and the contrast of those mountains which form barriers that would challenge even the most hardy souls...there is a poem there but I have not yet found the words.  In time I will. Right now my eyes mist just remembering. What a farewell...

I do not have photos of any of this, and I do regret that, but most of it was impossible to capture. Either my camera was not that capable--the aurora and sunrise were far too delicate and subtle and running the dogs, one is too busy to remember the camera half the time. And I flat forgot to take it over to Lance's for which I kick myself still! But then maybe some things are just to be remembered and cherished in the mind's eyes alone.  They are etched into my spirit for the rest of my days.  I may still be a cheechako for I did not make it through the winter but I feel much more a part of Alaska now.  And I promise again that I will be back. So I will just share an Alaskan dandelion and the state flower, Forget-Me-Not which were still blooming through several good frosts--Alaska has hardy flowers, too!