My first theory was that there are just temperature variations, and this is certainly a factor. Due to different elevations and other factors, it is common to see 10 degree differences or larger among weather reporting stations just a few miles apart. I saw that a number of personal stations reporting to Weather Underground were around -40, then a number of other stations (including the official NOAA and FAA stations) were substantially colder.

The real answer is that our weather station stops registering temps colder than -40, plus or minus one degree. I checked the manual to verify this, and asked some of my professional weather pals (in the National Weather Service) and other weather geeks. It looks like lots of people in Fairbanks have the same unit, including at least one that is operated by the University. The Weather Service did an experiment a few years ago, and found that the same Davis units would get very flaky below -50 or -60, yielding sporadic results. A firmware upgrade, which was applied to later units like the one I bought, limited the lower range to -40F.

The moral of the story is that if it’s colder than -40F, trust to the stations that are reporting lower temps (or, consult your analog thermometer!), rather than the large group clustered right around -40. Free advice to Davis Instruments: rather than reporting a number at the bottom of a range, a message like “out of range” would be more useful.

When we first brought Maude into the house we put her in a crate. One day, Greg let her out and forgot to put her back into the crate, and she immediately made herself comfy on some of the blankets on the floor, and soon after, migrated to the couch! She learned how to use the dog door in two days. She’s extremely smart. Right now she has a cast on and needs to stay inside for the next ten days. I’m not sure if she’ll return to the dog yard!

• Zipper on snowsuit broke.
• Lost team.
• Scratched. Ran 100 of the 213 mile course.
• Frostbite on six fingertips.

The Team

• Chevy & Nikki (Lead)
• Maude & Zeus (Point)
• Snowball & Moe (Team)
• Ahab & Shrek (Team)
• Spike & Luke (Team)
• Capella & Phanty (Wheel)

The Story

The race began with a mass start for the women’s division at 11am and men’s at 11:30am, December 28, 2011.  I was one of the last women’s team to leave the Meiers Roadhouse parking lot. As soon as we got onto Paxson lake (around 1 minute after starting) Phanty’s collar fell off and I needed to stop the team to re-collar him. Stopping the team immediately after starting is a difficult thing to do. My hooks wouldn’t hold the team, but somehow, after several tries I was able to stop long enough to run up to wheel position and put on Phanty’s collar and untangle the rope from his hind legs.

Around 5 miles into the race the wind started blowing and we hit deep snow. Two teams were ahead of me stuck in the snow and I was behind another team that was waiting. It seemed like we waited quite a long time for the teams stuck in the snow to take off. Once they took off they got stuck again. The women were polite, and waited for each other. There really wasn’t anywhere to go because the snow on each side of the trail was deep.  Soon the men caught up to us and they weren’t so polite. They plowed passed us, making more tangles between the teams that were stopped.  I noticed one of my leaders run away. We were stopped for so long that Maude, positioned in point, chewed the lines. Since I was already stopped with no where to go, so I left my sled to run after Chevy. He came to me when I called and I put a new line on for him. Then Nikki, my other leader ran free. I ran after her, caught her and put on a new line. The men kept passing. Finally the women in front of me got unstuck and mushed on.

Once we got off of Paxson Lake, we were on a nice little up/down section that went through spruce. Shrek vomited. Then he vomited again, fell down, twitched his feet and stood up. I had already experienced this with him and had brought him to the vet.  The conclusion was that perhaps he was working too hard and when he vomited he had some kind of vagus nerve response. I decided not to drop him at Paxson Lodge (18 miles into the run). If Greg had been there, I would have dropped him, but I didn’t see Greg and figured that Shrek would be okay. It was hot out and the dogs were working hard mushing through deep snow.

We turned onto the Denali Highway and all was well– for a little while. I’m using a tail dragger on my sled— it’s a device that hooks onto the back runners so that you can store gear on top. Some how when we stopped for a 30 second break, I pinned my right foot under the tail dragger and couldn’t get my foot out. I was worried if the dogs took off I’d break my foot. I spent between 10-20 minutes trying to unpin my foot and finally freed it. We started going and the wind picked up. I felt a draft and went to zip up my zipper and noticed that my zipper on my Apocalypse Design snow suit was broken. F#$%^&K! I had an extra parka packed away– if I didn’t have that with me I’d have to scratch right then and there.

We mushed along for several hours and came across a team in the ditch. Some snow machiners were helping her out. Right when I came up behind her she was out of the ditch and took off (this was Lance Mackey’s handler’s puppy team– and man those pups were fast!)  I snacked the dogs a couple of times and was counting miles to the hospitality stop, looked at my watch and was pretty well on target. The hospitality stop was at 42 mile Denali Highway. I went into the ditch at around 36 mile. I tried and tried to push the sled out of the ditch, but it was too heavy. I took everything out of my sled, pushed the sled onto the road, and repacked. Off we went, only again to go into the ditch. This time I wasn’t so lucky. I tried getting unstuck without taking everything out, but it didn’t work. Once again I took everything out of my sled. I was on the downslope side pushing the sled out of the ditch and the sled freed itself and the dogs took off– without me.  All I could do was walk after them and hope they got hung up somewhere. I was very worried. I walked around 1/2-3/4 a mile when I found them waiting for me. I turned them around, untangled everyone and mushed back to our gear. I turned them around again, untangled everyone and souped them– they were very hungry, and repacked the sled. Then we mushed on to the 42 mile hospitality stop. I arrived at around 10:30pm.

I was surprised to see so many teams there since I wasted two hours getting stuck. I tended to the dogs (took off booties, put down straw, started to boil some water– I spilled heet on my fingers). When I walked into the hospitality cabin my fingers tingled. This is normal for me, so I didn’t think much of it.  A couple of mushers told me that “everyone was still hanging around because there isn’t a trail.” Then I heard from some other musher that “it took Brent Sass five hours to mush twenty miles because there wasn’t a trail.”  I did the rest of my dog chores, ate some junk that was in the hospitality cabin and went into a cabin where mushers were sleeping. They weren’t sleeping though, they were talking about the trail that wasn’t there. A couple of mushers who had previously run the trail decided to go forward. Lance Mackey’s handler said she was headed back to Paxson. That left Simon and myself. He was planning on turning around and I was still undecided. I walked over to the lodge to see if I could get details from anyone, but nobody was awake– it was around 4:30am. I decided that for the safety of myself and team, I’d scratch. Since there wasn’t a sweep, and the last teams that took off for Apline lodge left hours ago, I’d be way behind everyone. I just didn’t feel safe thinking there was no trail, no markers, and possibly going into water if I couldn’t see where the trail was.

Simon and I mushed back to Paxson. I’m not sure what time we left, maybe around 8:30am.  I arrived a little after 1pm. Greg was waiting for us! We were very happy to see him.  That’s when I noticed my fingertips were not only very numb, but also gray. On each hand, my thumb, pointer, and index fingers had frostbite. Greg packed everyone and everything up and I warmed up inside Paxson Lodge, and then we headed back to Fairbanks.

It’s a good thing that I scratched because I wouldn’t have realized I had frostbite.

Overall we had a good time and learned a lot.

Frostbite

Ilana & Dog, Paxson, AK

• Chevy & Nikki (lead)
• Ahab & Shrek (point)
• Maudie & Zeus (team)
• Capella & Phanty (team)
• Moe & Sno (team)
• Spike & Luke (wheel)

By time we saddled up and left the parking lot it was 2:15pm. Chevy and Nikki were great leaders. We were there a previous year, so they knew the trail. I missed the turn I was supposed to take and Chevy lead me to a cabin we’ve stayed at before…Cache Mountain cabin. I decided to soup them at the cabin (a bit early…but twenty miles) and they were all great eaters! I was ready to head back to the truck if I missed the turn again on the way back, but Chevy listened to my “Gee” (turn right) and off we went. The trail was fine. A couple of icy areas and the rangers re-routed the route around McCay creek– so it was sort of funky with log bridges and turns. The long stretches of hill tired out the gang and I knew we wouldn’t make it to 55 miles in 6 hours, so I decided to stay at Moose Creek Cabin, which made it a 40 mile run (one way). I melted snow, souped the dogs, took a 4 hour rest, and off we went. At around 60 miles into the run Ahab looked bewildered and stopped pulling, so I put him in the sled for around 10 miles. When we fell over, I decided to try to put him in the team again and he did fine. I was a pleasant 80 miles mush and we were all so proud of ourselves, and tired.

Back at the truck, I put the dogs away and emptied my sled and tried to put the sled on top of the truck. I tried and tried and tried, but couldn’t lift that sucker high enough :(  It was 5:45am and there was no one on the secluded road to ask for help. I tried lifting, tugging, pulling, pushing for around 45 minutes and gave up! I decided to leave the sled there and go back with Greg later. Greg had to go to work though….so when I got home we chatted a bit, and then he made the three our drive (round trip), to rescue my sled and then went to work. Thanks honey!!!!!

My (Greg’s) main activities outside are mushing (which is mostly standing on the back of a sled, occasionally helping the dogs) and dog care (includes wandering around the dog yard with a shovel, going for walks with pet dogs, etc.). I also often need to do outdoor maintenance, such as fixing fences and dog boxes, some truck care, etc.

We don’t really have brand loyalty, instead choosing what seems to work best. That said, Patagonia makes some excellent fleece products, including glove liners, pants, shirts, and light outer wear. Ilana has a great parka, and also our -40F sleeping bag, from Wiggy’s. We’ve bought many, many items from the Fairbanks-based Apocalypse Design, including jackets, mitts, hats and other items.

Layers: you probably already know about this. Different layers help trap heat, and allow for adjustment of different clothing types. I like to make sure I can open or close the neck of whatever I am wearing, which is my main temperature adjustment for working or mushing.

Materials: We avoid animal products, including wool & leather. Unfortunately, all the good socks we have found include wool. Otherwise, most gear is some sort of man-made fiber: polyester (or similar) fleece, nylon (or similar) outer shells. This is light-weight, dries quickly, and retains heat even when wet. In the base layer (the layer next to your body), it is excellent for wicking moisture away.

No sweat: If I am starting to sweat, due to exertion or being too warmly dressed, it’s important to immediately make adjustments. Usually this is a simple matter of unzipping my jacket or lifting the slide slaps on my hat. Doing larger adjustments (like removing an outer jacket) can be tough when standing on the back of a sled, so it’s better to have a simple system of adding ventilation.

Headgear: I seem to wear a hat year-round at the StinkyPup Kennel. Summer time it’s a cap, sometimes a mosquito net, to keep the bugs out. In the shoulder seasons (which don’t last long!), I have some light fleece caps, including one with a windproof liner. For winter, I almost always have TWO layers on my head. The outer layer is from Apocalypse. It’s a hat with an outer shell, velcro flaps to join under my chin (and completely cover my ears), a small brim, and a fleece liner. I have three hats, one that fits over a single layer, another for a bare head, and a third (for mushing at below -20 or so) that is big enough to accommodate 2 inner layers. These inner layers vary quite a bit, and I have several different ones I use. The main one for mushing is a face mask (integrated head; nose/mouth covering) from Turtle Fur. I sewed a fleece neck gator to the bottom, and also sewed a button snap to allow closing the gap over the bridge of my nose. This is a great setup, and works well for mushing. For set up, or walking around, I leave the nose snap open, and can even pull the mask down to expose my face. Layering the head is great for those cold days!

Hands: In early season, we have some fleece and cotton work gloves. For the winter, my choice is based on temperature. Below around 0F, I wear glove liners with an outer mitten. At warmer temps, glove liners with an outer fleece glove (from Apocalypse. My two favorite glove liners are either the wool liners from military surplus stores (thick, with a relatively open weave, and quite inexpensive), and a Patagonia brand. I can pull off the outer mitt/glove when needed, such as for putting booties on dogs. While mushing, we often use a chemical hand warmer inside our gloves, which helps keep them toasty.

Also, we have hand shells attached to our sled (and ATV) to keep the wind off of our hands. These are also seen on bicycles. Basically, they go around your handlebar, and reach a foot or so up your sleeve. Reach in to grasp the handlebar, and your hands & lower arms are protected.
Interestingly, I’ve found that my tolerance (or recovery time) for very cold hands has greatly increased since living in Alaska. My hands sometimes get too cold (such as, when holding a shovel for 1/2 hour without sufficient hand layers), but then quickly warm up when inside, or by making a fist inside of my glove, or a similar strategy. It used to be I’d get pins and needles, and hand pain, when recovering from a “too cold” experience. I’m not sure what’s changed, whether it’s psychology, physiology, philosophy, or simply having better gear to aid in re-warming.

Some mushers wear musher mitts, and these are used by snow machiners, too. These are big oversized mitts, with gauntlet sleeves. I have a pair, but find my system is sufficient for my expeditions. Musher mitts make it challenging to hold onto the sled handlebar, since they’re so thick and stiff.
Neck: As mentioned, I usually have a neck gator of some sort. This is just a band of fleece that goes around the neck (it can be raised up to cover the mouth, or even used as a makeshift hat, too). I don’t ever wear a scarf, instead I layer up with a high collar shirt (below), face protection, and some sort of zip-down outer layer. I wore a scarf in the past, and it was more hassle than these other options.

Torso: For everyday events, I have a cotton t-shirt with some sort of layer over it. For bigger exertions, I wear a breathable nylon shirt, short or long sleeved depending on anticipated temperatures and exertion levels. This is the same type of shirt I wear for jogging, and I have several variations. Basically, it’s a sports base layer.

The next layer could be a cotton sweat shirt for light exertion, but is more often a sweater or fleece layer. I have several different ones, depending on temperatures outside. Currently, I have a favorite long-sleeved fleece shirt from Patagonia, which has a zip-up turtle neck. This is ideal for temperature adjustment, and lets me create a complete seal against winds — and to let some air in, if needed, by zipping down.

I have a very heavy-duty Sherpa sweater that also has a zip-up collar. This one is too heavy to wear indoors.

For very cold mushes (-25F or colder) I add more, including a polyester fleece or other items as seem appropriate. Mushing at -35 or so is an exercise in layers, combining multiple items. At that temperature, I’ll often have a base layer of lightweight polypropylene long underwear, fleece pants, heavy sweater, vest, double-layered face protection (the inner fleece mentioned above, and an outer layer that is basically a nylon shell over fleece insulation), an outer hat … you get the idea.

Legs: Expedition weight fleece pants are a mainstay. Several vendors sell these, and mine are from Apocalypse. With my outer one-piece (below), these are all I need in most circumstances. For warmer weather, I have some regular sweat pants. For colder weather, I can layer a lightweight polypropylene underwear, as needed. I usually have cotton underwear briefs, but for bigger exertion or longer outings instead wear some polyester running shorts.
Outer shell: Ilana and I have made-to-order body suits from Apocalypse. These are amazing pieces of gear, and basically integrate a bib (which is the lower half, sort of like ski pants) with a heavy jacket. Lots of pockets. Reflector tape. Hood. Ilana got from fun-fur (non-animal fur-like material) to make a ruff on her hood. My hood is, unfortunately, too tight to wear over other layers. If I ever do a big expedition, I will need to get a good hood. All the mushers, seemingly, swear by them.
My one-piece uses double fleece layers, the same as the -50F jackets from Apocalypse. Ilana has a single fleece layer, which is consistent with their -20F jackets. This item is the one I always wear if it’s 10-15F or colder. For shoulder seasons, I have an insulated Carhart one-piece, which is surprisingly good. Some people wear those throughout the winter, with appropriate layers under & over.

Footwear: Many mushers recommend bunny boots, which are military surplus items with great features. They are usually white, they are sealed rubber around insulation. This keeps water out, meaning that if you get them wet it doesn’t impact their insulating quality. The two drawbacks of bunny boots (which I have, but only wear occasionally) are that they are very hard (so, rough for long standing and walking), and they tend to keep your foot moisture inside. This later point means that a long day’s exertion, even with good wicking socks or sock layers, is likely to end with damp feet.
Instead, I wear what are known as pack boots. I need to replace these every year or so, as the outer shell tends to get quite damaged through wear (for example, I often drag my boots to slow the sled. For example, accidentally stomping on the sled brake and piercing my other boot, instead). They have an outer shell with several layers of nylon and insulation. The inner liner is removable, conforms to the size of your foot, and can be replaced separately. The sole is very thick, with inner insulation and a reflective inner liner. My last three pairs have been from Baffin Technologies, and are rated to -100F. For mushing, get the coldest-rated boot available!

How long does stuff last? Glove liners get damaged easily by clips and other sharp objects in the dog yard. Even if they last without major holes, they wear thin fairly quickly. Plus, they are thin enough material that they are hard to sew (at least for me). Otherwise, there would be a great potential for taking damaged fingers from one glove, and replacing them with intact fingers from another older glove. Barring that, glove liners don’t last more than a few months. So, we go through 4-6 pairs per season. Outer fleece gloves, similarly, last well under a year. Thick fleece mitts tend to last several years, and usually die an ignoble death by being eaten by dogs (they seem to think big fleece mitts are related to bunny rabbits).

Boots last a season or so, maybe a little longer.

Jackets, hats, etc. with an outer shell (like the Apocalypse gear) lasts for many years. Holes can be patched (with sew-on patches, not iron-on), and duct tape works as an interim patch. Eventually, sun and other elements, and occasionally washing (we usually wash these a few times per year) start to wear the outer layer thin, and makes it harder to patch holes.

Fleece pants don’t last as long as I’d like, usually around 2 years before they have holes and thin spots.
Other fleece layers (gators, underwear, etc.) last many years.
Bottom line is, for our (rather extreme) weather situations and outdoor exertions, we need to continually re-invest in new and replacement outdoor gear.

I hope this is helpful to readers! There are many places to find advice on winter gear, and so I wanted to share some of my own experiences. The most important item I have to share is: until you try something, in the outdoors, under extreme cold conditions, for many hours of exertion, you will not know whether it is sufficient for your needs. Even the best gear might not fit you well enough to keep the cold out. And even the best brands, and most expensive items, are no guarantee of outstanding performance.

The race started at Pleasant Valley Store in the Two Rivers area of Fairbanks, around mile 23 of Chena Hot Springs Road. The trail started towards the west, and did a loop around Jenny M. mountain. Then, it turned east along the RatStack trail, headed across the Mullen Slew, onto the Baseline trail, and eventually crossed CHSR at mile 27. From there, the trail approximately parallels the road, to Angel Creek Lodge. At the Lodge, there was a required 4-hour break, then the trail returned in reverse (other than taking the loop the same way around Jenny M. as in the start of the race. But otherwise, a reverse trail). Total mileage was 50 miles each leg, for 100 miles.

I drew #7, so started at 11:10 (there was no #6, and start intervals were 2 minutes). Within 90 minutes, all but one of the other teams passed me. But even so, I was happy with my time and team. I arrived at the Lodge at 5:26 pm, for a run time of 6:16, average speed of 8 miles per hour. On the return leg, the average was around 7 miles per hour: I departed at 9:26 pm (after the 10 minute time adjustment for my start time), and got to Pleasant Valley Store around 5:15 am – just under 7 hours. Two other teams had decided to stop along the trail to rest, so I did not end up being the last finisher.

The starting team was:

• Chevy and Nicki in lead
• Ahab and Shrek in point
• Wayne and Capella
• Maude and Zeus
• Moe and Snowball
• Spike and Phanty

I made a few small changes to the team ordering along the way. The biggest was shortly before the road crossing, after 22 miles or so: Wayne had stopped pulling, and stumbled a few times. We just got him from another owner, and since then he collapsed or nearly collapsed on two prior runs, after 24 and 40 miles (despite having been trained for those and longer distances all season!). So, I put him in the sled after he stumbled several times and got dragged a bit (he also had some extensive diarrhea). He was content to stay there for a couple of hours, then managed to jump out of the sled. I tried him again in the team, and he only went a few more miles before starting to stumble again. So, he rode in the sled the rest of the way to the Lodge, and didn’t accompany the team on the return leg.

While getting ready for the return trip, Phanty yelped and had sensitivity in his front left wrist. It seemed like a sprain, so we pulled him from the team too, and returned with 10 dogs. In the last 25 miles or so, Nicky was getting overheated and tired, and kept diving into the snow at the side of the trails (which is not very good lead dog behavior!). Eventually, I moved her back in the team, where she pulled somewhat but not that well, and moved other new dog Maude to the front. This was maybe Maude’s first lead dog experience. It took her a little while to figure things out, but eventually she ran fine. It was clear that Chevy was, and is, our strongest leader. He led for the whole 100 miles.

Dogs were strong throughout. They settled into a steady pace, and just kept going. I’m proud of the gang, and think they are Super Dogs. When Ilana or I run a marathon, we’re pooped and ready to take the rest of the day (or two). On December 17, the StinkyDogs ran nearly 4 marathons, in back-to-back pairs. Amazing!