Posts from — February 2013

There is some bad news from the race: General, a member of Jake Berkowitz’s team, has died while being taken to Whitehorse by a race veterinarian. He had been dropped from the team at Dawson, and was being evacuated to a more advanced facility in Whitehorse for care. A necropsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Update: Results of the necropsy indicate that General died of “a condition called intestinal volvulus with bowel infarction”. That’s an obstructed bowel in layman’s terms. Large dogs don’t chew their food and may swallow pieces too large to pass through their system. The system clogs causing a build up of gas and fluid that distends or expands the stomach to the point that it turns and twists the intestine, making things worse. Death is usually caused by shock. There is no ‘first aid’ for the problem. It normally requires surgery to correct.

Christina Traverse (12), a rookie from Fort McMurray, Alberta, has been withdrawn by race officials. There is no official word as to why, but withdrawal is generally the result of officials determining that a team is not capable of continuing but the musher won’t scratch on their own.

Update: Christina hit the ‘panic button’ on her GPS tracker to request assistance, so it was her decision to leave the race.

The normal 36 hour mandatory stop at Dawson was increased to 40 hours. I haven’t personally seen the reason stated, but I would assume it was to give the trail breakers more time to mark the new trail between Dawson and Eagle caused by the terrible conditions on American Summit.

The Standings at 11:30PM CST (9:30PM PST):

Beyond Eagle
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Brent Sass (18)
5 Scott Smith (23)^R
At Eagle
6 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
7 Susan Rogan (10)^R
8 Abbie West (17)
Beyond Dawson
9 Normand Casavant (7)
10 Dan Kaduce (15)
11 David Dalton (21)
12 Ed Hopkins (25)
13 Crispin Studer (26)
14 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
15 Cody Strathe (5)^R
16 Darrin Lee (24)^R
17 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
18 Rob Cooke (3)^R
At Dawson
19 Matthew Failor (14)^R
20 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
21 Dyan Bergen (19)^R
22 Misha Pedersen (16)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Light

Ahhh…..

[Editor: An Excise re-run because you know where I was most of the day, and there were rain squalls all morning, so the cats were out of sight.]

Friday Ark

This is where I was working for too long today. The white pipe is the drain for the bathtub in one of the bathrooms. It is of ‘singular’ construction, and not particularly apt for moving water out as it has almost no drop due to length of the down pipe. The execution of the P-trap displays a lack of measurement that is common when you are installing something under the house.

I have a picture because I took my camera to the site in hopes of a cat picture [no luck], and got tired of describing things to the two guys who didn’t want to crawl under to see the situation for themselves.

We haven’t quite figured out what all of the blocks are supposed to be supporting, It would make more sense to put them under the joists if the floor is sagging. With this house, who knows…

Hugh headed out this morning in light snow and single digit temperatures. Above the clouds is a waning crescent moon, so his headlamp is all the light he has. The normal run to Eagle is 150 miles over the American Summit where you cross the border into Alaska. Because of impassable trail conditions on the mountain, thus time it will be about 100 miles on the river. Allen headed out two hours later, and three more teams will get to leave Dawson today.

Update: As expected, Lance Mackey (6) scratched as soon as he arrived at Dawson. His puppies were just not happy on the trail for this Quest. He will be attempting to figure out what’s not working before the start of the Iditarod.

Hugh and Allen should be in Eagle around midnight.

The Standings at 10PM CST (8PM PST):

Beyond Dawson
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Brent Sass (18)
5 Scott Smith (23)^R
At Dawson
6 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
7 Abbie West (17)
8 Susan Rogan (10)^R
9 Normand Casavant (7)
10 Dan Kaduce (15)
11 David Dalton (21)
12 Ed Hopkins (25)
13 Crispin Studer (26)
14 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
15 Cody Strathe (5)^R
15 Darrin Lee (24)^R
17 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
18 Rob Cooke (3)^R
19 Matthew Failor (14)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
20 Misha Pedersen (16)
21 Dyan Bergen (19)^R
22 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
23 Christina Traverse (12)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Today was a matter of waiting for people to file into Dawson for the 36 40 hour mandatory rest stop. They get to sleep, eat, and fix their sleds before heading out to take on the worst part of the trail.

It isn’t very likely that Lance Mackey will be joining them as he is down to 7 dogs. He is hanging in to make Dawson, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to attempt to climb Eagle Summit with a team of 7 dogs.

If he makes it to Fairbanks, Hugh Neff will receive four ounces of gold as the first into Dawson, but the prize stipulates that you have to complete the race to receive it. He now has a $6,500 reason not to scratch.

Update: Kelley Griffin (8) scratched after reaching Dawson. She spent minutes short of an entire day to get from Scroggie Creek, so the team was having some problems.

Update: Scott Smith is a Quest rookie with 4 Iditarod’s on his CV. He is talking about the heat being a major factor for a lot of people. It is colder now, but the early part of the race was like a marathon at 85° for the puppies.

The Standings at 9:30PM CST (7:30PM PST):

At Dawson
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Brent Sass (18)
5 Scott Smith (23)^R
6 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
7 Abbie West (17)
8 Susan Rogan (10)^R
9 Normand Casavant (7)
10 Dan Kaduce (15)
11 David Dalton (21)
12 Ed Hopkins (25)
13 Crispin Studer (26)
14 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
15 Cody Strathe (5)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
16 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
17 Lance Mackey (6)
18 Misha Pedersen (16)
19 Matthew Failor (14)^R
20 Rob Cooke (3)^R
21 Darrin Lee (24)^R
22 Dyan Bergen (19)^R
23 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
24 Christina Traverse (12)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Michelle and Aliy (+ 8 seconds) made it to the finish line 2 days, 7 hours, and 20 minutes after the race started. It took Colin 3 days, 14 hours, and 15 minutes to cross the line with the Red Lantern. The first 7 teams finished in under 3 days.

Five of the original 18 teams dropped out along the way. At the end it was the mushers who had to quit because they weren’t ready for the exhaustion that comes from staying awake for days at a time with only brief naps.

The final standings:

1 Michelle Phillips (58)
2 Aliy Zirkle (56)
3 Jerry Joinson (55)
4 Olaf Thurau (59)
5 Yuka Honda (53)
6 Marcelle Fressineau (54)
7 Tamra Reynolds (51)
8 Ryne Olson (65)
9 John King (57)
10 Gaetan Pierrard (60)
11 Jennifer Levy (63)
12 Jonathan Lucas (62)
13 Colin Morrison (52)

I’m not sitting at the computer watching the sled dogs race in the Yukon. I check in throughout the day to see what is going on, but I’m still working on the rehab.

Lately I’ve been cleaning the stove and refrigerator while I’m waiting for people to finish their work. I need to shut off the water for an extended period, and the guys really get upset when I do that. They don’t understand how to use a bucket to flush a toilet, so they don’t think they can use it.

The problem with working with guys who don’t have a lot of experience as bachelors is that they don’t seem to know how to clean anything. Cleaning seriously dirty appliances is not a job for wimps as the chemicals involved are not kind to the human body or clothing. They thought the nitrile gauntlets were overkill until I chased them out of the area with the smell of the stuff I was using to ensure there would be no mold in the refrigerator and no grease on the stove. I think I made believers out of them when I told them what would happen if they mixed the stuff I was using together – there’s something about poison gas that gets attention.

Hopefully today I can finally shut off the water long enough to pull out the stems for the shower and bathtub to take with me to get new ones. Someone did some freestyle plumbing and now it has to be fixed.

Michelle won the sprint by 8 seconds to win the 2013 Yukon Quest 300 last night at 10:20:02PM PST. She and Aliy have been minutes apart, swapping the lead since Carmacks, but Michelle obviously timed her final sprint correctly.

Update: Debbie Knight (61) has scratched at the McCabe Creek Dog Drop.

Update: Lucy Tyrrell (68) followed Debbie’s example and also scratched at McCabe Creek.

The Standings as of 11PM CST:

Finished
1 Michelle Phillips (58)
2 Aliy Zirkle (56)
3 Jerry Joinson (55)
4 Olaf Thurau (59)
5 Yuka Honda (53)
6 Marcelle Fressineau (54)
7 Tamra Reynolds (51)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
8 Jonathan Lucas (62)
9 Gaetan Pierrard (60)
10 John King (57)
11 Ryne Olson (65)
12 Colin Morrison (52)
13 Jennifer Levy (63)

Allen passed Hugh at the Scoggie Creek Dog Drop to take the lead. Unfortunately his GPS unit is down so the Live Tracking isn’t working at the moment.

Ed Abrahamson (22) become the first team to scratch at Carmacks. He wasn’t making any time and the trail conditions aren’t what you want for a come back. There is a lot of speculation that Lance may scratch at Dawson because he has had to drop 5 dogs already, and he isn’t happy with the condition of his team. He has been rebuilding as the teams that won multiple Quests and Iditarods have retired from competition.

Standings at 11PM CST:

At Dawson
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
4 Kelley Griffin (8)
5 Brent Sass (18)
6 Susan Rogan (10)^R
7 Abbie West (17)
8 Normand Casavant (7)
9 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
10 David Dalton (21)
11 Ed Hopkins (25)
12 Dan Kaduce (15)
13 Crispin Studer (26)
14 Cody Strathe (5)^R
15 Scott Smith (23)^R
16 Lance Mackey (6)
17 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
18 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
19 Darrin Lee (24)^R
20 Matthew Failor (14)^R
21 Rob Cooke (3)^R
22 Misha Pedersen (16)
23 Dyan Bergen (19)^R
24 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
25 Christina Traverse (12)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

The field has decreased again this morning with Paige Drobny (65) scratching at Carmacks, while her husband, Cody Strathe, made his big move in the standings for the 1000. Paige was running fourth when she made the decision. Meanwhile Aliy and her husband, Allen Moore, as sitting in second in the two races, and Michelle’s husband, Ed Hopkins, is having trouble reaching his stride.

Update: Aliy and Michelle are sprinting on the ‘loop’, the stretch of trail beyond Pelly where you go out and come back to finish at Pelly Crossing checkpoint. The finish will probably show seconds between them when they cross the line.

Standings at 10:30PM CST:

Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Aliy Zirkle (56)
2 Michelle Phillips (58)
At Pelly Crossing
3 Jerry Joinson (55)
4 Marcelle Fressineau (54)
5 Yuka Honda (53)
Beyond Carmacks
6 Gaetan Pierrard (60)
7 Tamra Reynolds (51)
8 Olaf Thurau (59)
9 John King (57)
10 Jennifer Levy (63)
11 Ryne Olson (65)
12 Jonathan Lucas (62)
13 Colin Morrison (52)
At Carmacks
14 Debbie Knight (61)
Beyond Braeburn
15 Lucy Tyrrell (68)

Hugh is at the Stepping Stones Hospitality Stop on his way to Dawson. This leg is over 200 miles, so changes at the front will have to depend on Live Tracking. Satellites are the most reliable mode of communications in the area. The only ‘grid’ in this area is on maps.

At the temperatures now on the trail, the more teams that run over any section of trail, the worse it becomes. The teams at the back are fighting ruts dug by the runners of the teams ahead of them. If the ruts are deep enough the sled will bottom out.

The Standings at 11PM CST (9PM PST):
Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Brent Sass (18)
5 Scott Smith (23)^R
6 Kelley Griffin (8)
7 David Dalton (21)
8 Normand Casavant (7)
9 Lance Mackey (6)
10 Susan Rogan (10)^R
11 Abbie West (17)
12 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
13 Cody Strathe (5)^R
14 Ed Hopkins (25)
15 Crispin Studer (26)
At Pelly Crossing
16 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
17 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
18 Dan Kaduce (15)
Beyond Carmacks
19 Darrin Lee (24)^R
20 Rob Cooke (3)^R
21 Matthew Failor (14)^R
22 Misha Pedersen (16)
23 Dyan Bergen (19)^R
At Carmacks
24 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
25 Christina Traverse (12)^R
26 Ed Abrahamson (22)

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

The YQ 300 field is in or beyond Braeburn and has fallen to 16 teams. Kyia Bouchard (67) made the decision to scratch after reaching Braeburn

Standings as of 10PM CST:

At Carmacks
1 Michelle Phillips (58)
2 Aliy Zirkle (56)
Beyond Braeburn
3 Jerry Joinson (55)
4 Paige Drobny (65)
5 Marcelle Fressineau (54)
6 John King (57)
7 Gaetan Pierrard (60)
8 Yuka Honda (53)
9 Tamra Reynolds (51)
10 Olaf Thurau (59)
11 Jonathan Lucas (62)
12 Jennifer Levy (63)
13 Ryne Olson (65)
14 Colin Morrison (52)
15 Debbie Knight (61)
16 Lucy Tyrrell (68)

Allen Moore was the first team into Braeburn, followed by Lance Mackey. Hugh, Susan, and Brent decided to take their mandatory 4-hour stop at Carmacks and blew through, putting them in the lead temporarily.

The numbers for Lance aren’t adding up. To fulfill the requirements for the mandatory stop, he should have been at Braeburn for 5 hours, the 4-hour stop plus the 60 minute start differential, but he was only there for 4 hours and 25 minutes. Either he is pulling a head fake on the field and will make a 5 hour stop at Carmacks, or the numbers were entered wrong. [Update: Lance is playing with Allen Moore’s head and will take the stop at Carmacks.]

Note that after Carmacks the standings are the overall standings in the race. At the moment Allen Moore has a small lead when you adjust for the start time advantage. After Carmacks the start time is equalized and the positions are real.

The Standings at 11PM CST (9PM PST):

Beyond Carmacks
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Scott Smith (23)^R
5 Brent Sass (18)
At Carmacks
6 David Dalton (21)
7 Susan Rogan (10)^R
8 Lance Mackey (6)
9 Normand Casavant (7)
10 Abbie West (17)
Beyond Braeburn
11 Kelley Griffin (8)
12 Cody Strathe (5)^R
13 Markus Ingebretsen (2)^R
14 Crispin Studer (26)
15 Dan Kaduce (15)
16 Denis Tremblay (13)^R
17 Ed Hopkins (25)
18 Matthew Failor (14)^R
19 Darrin Lee (24)^R
20 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
21 Rob Cooke (3)^R
22 Misha Pedersen (16)
23 Ed Abrahamson (22)
24 Christina Traverse (12)^R
25 Randy MacKenzie (9)^R
26 Dyan Bergen (19)^R

These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.

The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a rookie.

Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.

All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

A while ago the decision was made to replace all of the CFCs that were used in spray cans with another propellant because the chlorofluorocarbon gases were destroying the ozone layers. This was a good and necessary thing, but some people didn’t really think through what they were using as replacements which has resulted in some problems.

The ABC reported on one of the problems: Bathroom explosion as woman kills spider.

This isn’t the only time this has happened. A lot of the insecticides use propane as the propellant. Propane or bottled gas is heavier than air and is generally ignited by pilot lights in water heaters or ovens, but as owners of gas grills are aware, a spark is enough to light it.

I set insect bombs off in the places I’m going to rehab. I do it while the power and gas are shut off, and I don’t go in for a day afterwards. Lately I have found some foggers that don’t use flammables as propellants, and when I know they are effective I’ll mention names, but you should read the labels.