The Stinkers have been continuing their training for the upcoming Yukon Quest 100 and it’s been slow going.
Last week, the temperature dropped below -42F for several days, so we decided not to run. Then it snowed, which fills in our lovely trails and makes for a slow going run.
This has been the pattern this season– cold temps, snow, cold temps, snow, etc. Then, there is the wind which blows in the trails. Greg had opened up the trail that goes along a section line and crosses the creek– but this trail is now blown in. Greg is training for the Yukon Montane Ultra 100 race– so he doesn’t have a lot of extra time to maintain trails for me. And I’m unable to start our snowmachine (it’s a pull start)– so haven’t been out to maintain trails for myself. Then there is the fact that I have never even driven a snow machine :0
Basically we have a 1 mile field with several off-shoots, which can get me to about 30ish miles. The dogs and I are bored of running loops on the field, especially since the trail is windblown and extremely slow going!
Ah– I should not complain because this is so much better than living in Bancroft– where the season was very short and the winters were warm.
Stinker Health Update
- We found out that the reason Haines‘ toenails are falling off is that she has Symmetrical Lupoid Onychodystrophy (SLO). It’s likely that her mushing career is completely over. Right now she has one nail on each paw that is missing. It’s a bummer for Haines because she really wants to run and a bummer for me because she’s a strong sled dog.
- Cozzy is down to 1 prednisone per day and is doing well!
- Axel, Allie, Chaos, Yukon, Timber, Geri, Kia, Amy-Sue, Justice, and Snowflake all received their required vaccines for the Yukon Quest. It’s likely that I will not take Chaos because he doesn’t seem very enthusiastic about running long distance– but it could be he’s just bored running the same loop over and over and over again. I decided that Jack wouldn’t make the cut– he’s a strong dog, but only when he wants to be and he doesn’t like running on narrow trails.