On another topic, each year we retire several of our great past Iditarod dogs and would like to offer them to any good home as their reward for years of great running in the team. Contact us if you’d like to adopt a dog you can really brag about. They can turn in to great couch potatoes, pets, and companions.

I did manage to take one roll of film on the race trail and will try to post a few as soon as we can.

With the help of Dan MacEachen, who lets us try a couple of his best dogs,(Dan has a tour kennel business and raises top quality, Iditarod type dogs; 100+ to choose from.) we’ll be able to start training next fall with atleast 30 serious contenders for the team.

Let us know if you’d like to help us run Iditarod 2011. Thanks,  Lach and Linda

Run to Finger Lake was ok but Geyser was not feeling that sharp; took 5 1/2 hours ( ‘08 took 4:30), picked up straw and went another 2:45 to the cabin at Fin Bear Lake. Led this run with Walter and Johny. The trail to Finger was soft and trenchy due to the recent snow and the IronDog race washboarding the base. It’s not on the checkpoint map for Iditarod but is nice as it splits the first 3 runs evenly to 3-65 mile runs with good rests in between.

Good run from Fin Bear to Rohn; went through Rainy Pass without a stop except to put my wind anorak on as the checker at Rainy said said, “it’s getting windy on top of the pass.”Led this run with Thelma and Johny as it required  good intuitive leaders to keep finding the trail and staying on it when possible. Spent the next 2 1/2 hours going from marker to marker as it was almost a total whiteout/ ground blizzard. Quinn Iten came up behind so we went down the gorge together. It’s the best trip  I’ve had down the Dazell, conditions almost perfect. The creek was frozen so we didn’t have to get dogs through open water, which it usually is. It was already starting to get colder but veery manageable.

Good run from Rohn to Nikolai with the exception that due to no snow in some sections, the exposed tussocks were tough on the musher, although the dogs seem to cruise through them like that karioki drill we used to do in football camp. Took a 2 hr. rest at Buffalo Camp (splits the run in to 2-40s’) A snow bridge was out between Buffalo and Nikolai and  the 4 teams there all helped each other out. (cindy Gallea, Judy Currier, Alan Moore, myself.)

2 dogs, Screamer and Loader appeared to be dealing with injuries so I dropped them and went on to McGrath. My apologies for oversleeping in Nikolai, I need to learn how to rest better myself at checkpoints/rest spots as it caught up with me at Nikolai; that was a 4 hr. mistake right there. Had great run to McGrath with Louise and Taj leading. Anvik was having a challenge with diahrea and wasn’t eating or drinking much.  I decided to take Anvik in the sled bag( he’s our fastest leader and a 110% on the tug.) the next 18 miles to Takotna and hope he’d be able to recover.

Had a good 24 hr. rest in Takotna but Anvik was not looking good. Johnny had post-holed coming down in to Takotna and seemed a bit sore up front.  Took all the dogs on a walk during their 24 and was able to get a showere at the Washateria.

On the run from Takotna to Ophir Johnny still wasn’t traveling right so I dropped him at Ophir as I had a 100+  mile stretch ahead of me and the team and it was 30 below by now. Went 6 hrs. out and ended up resting with Kristy Berington in a wide-open burn area with very little firewood available. should have gone another 20-30 minutes and would have had better wind-break and firewood.( should have remebered from past experience.) Kept a fire going the whole 4-hr. rest, having to re-stoke it every 15 minutes as the wood in the interior is all stunted from being in a permafrost-swamp. All dogs were jacketed at this point. Estimated temp. was 45-50 below; fortunately no wind.

Sunny and cold going in to Cripple, the checkpoint you love to leave; this year the big surprise was hot water available. Usually, you have to melt snow at Cripple which is a time-consuming pain in the rear-end!

Went about 4 hrs. out of Cripple and rested 2hrs; another fire and plenty of heat pack handwarmers in the boots and in my mitts. I got this pair of Beaver/moosehide 5 yrs. ago and they have saved my fingers many times; still beat anything synthetic I’ve tried.

At Ruby it was starting to get more human; the temp warming to 15 below. A few sore feet from letting them run too long before replacing booties that came off during the run. Have to  keep a better eye on booties; snow is really abrasive at these temps.

Usually you get a tailwind from Ruby to Kaltag, but now it was in the face all the way to Galena. Probably 10-15mph. dogs seemed to really slow down, i think the cold in the interior might have zapped a bit of their power. Was an hour slower to Galena than other racers I was comparable to earlier in the race.

At Galena had to drop Honda with a sore foot. Felt like we crawled to Nulato; barely 6 mph; that was preying on my mind but I tried to not let the dogs know how I felt. Did a lot of polling and kicking to help the dogs out. Passed an ultrasport competitor and was very grateful to not be him.

The run from Nulato to Kaltag started slowly but they seemed to rebound a bit toward the end ; a lot more polling/kicking to help the cause.

The trail out of Kaltag was hideous for the first 15-20 miles as the washboard formed by the Irondog race was so short and steep that it about stopped your sled by the time you’d reach the peaks. Took a 4hr. break at Old woman Cabin, leaving just 38 downhill miles in to Unalakleet. Thelma single-led this run and may have saved me having to scratch as leaving Old Woman we were at a snail’s pace for some reason until I put Thelma up by herself.

Called Linda at Unalakleet as I wasn’t sure about the dogs ability to carry on. Finally left Unk. after 10+ hr. rest and moved quite well until we hit the blueberry hills. Felt like I ran every one of those hills; was soaked with sweat at the top and froze solid during the short, 10 minute run back down to the sea ice.  Fortunately at Shaktoolik I was able to hang and dry most of the layers that had gotten wet.

Another crawl out of Shak. to Koyuk but the last 1/2 of the run they were moving much better. Passed another ultrsporter on the trail and again was very happy to not be him.

Things were starting to pick up again as we made the run to Elim at 8 mph.; which about right for this time in the race. AT Unk. I had put Walter back in the lead to help support Thelma and he performed admirably leading the rest of the way to Nome just about.

Had another good run from Elim to white Mt. considering all the ridges to clime, including the last ridge nicknamed, “Little McKinley”, before a luge run down on to Golovin Bay, through Golovin and across 15 miles of sea ice to the nirvana called White Mt., the last checkpoint before Nome. By now I knew we could finish strongly despite the let-down earlier which cost a lot of time that just couldn’t be made up. I can’t even describe the feeling of scratching, so I felt so blessed that the team had come back this late in the race.

The final run started a little wobbly as they sometimes do but, eventually we got rolling and even picked up significantly when we passed a moose about fifty yards off the trail to my right. I ran the base portions of all the Topkok hills and snacked the dogs with a soaked kibble feed before heading down to the beach and the infamous Solomon Blowhole. The temp was rising and must have been in the upper 30s’-low 40s’ as we cruised along the beach with out a breath of wind. Safety was a welcome sight but i was really intent on not stoppi ng any longer than to sign the checkers form. Thelma was acting as if she’d like to find some straw so I put ollie up with her and climbed up over Cape Nome and towards the city of Nome. On the way down the other side Ellie began to show signs of an injury so I bagged her and went on in to Nome.

The feeling of coming up Front Street after the challenges we had on the trail was indescribrible! Linda and a close friend Alison Peticolas wee there to greet us under the Arch. Linda had trained 1/2 of the team and Alison had put in some training miles as well; so I know they had as much a stake in finishing as I did.

Hope this ok for most; call, e-mail, or write if you want more detail; I still have enough stories to fill a few books. Thanks to all of those who supported our run this year whether emotionally or financially. Can’t thank tom Denison and Active Ion enough for allowing us to run Iditarod this year. If it works out, We loved to run again next yaer and try to attain that goal of under 11 days; which would probably also put us in the top 30; I beleive we have the team that can do it and have some great new young dogs that will be ready to run next year when they’re the right age for Iditarod.

The stars would have to be Thelma, Ollie, Walter, and Starbuck, who completed this Iditarod as a yearling.

Sorry it has been so long since we updated our website - we don’t have internet at the cabin in Montana and get into town occasionally.  Things are going well in Montana, with 2 races behind us in prep for the Iditarod.  Getting here is another story, with the the back tires of the dually coming off on the ranch driveway, and delaying us by a day.  We rolled  into Seeley Lake 12 hours before we were to be in Whitefish for our 100 mile race and with the temp being 22 below zero.  We unburied the dog houses, unloaded the dogs and went in the house to get some sleep, only to find the house covered in dead bees!  They must have gotten in during the summer, and died when it got cold - there were millions of them!  We vacuumed them up and got a few hours of sleep.  Occasionally we will have a live bee in the house buzzing around!  We drove to Whitefish for the 100 mile raced, which consisted of two 50 mile runs , and had a great time with fun trails and finishing respectfully, with Lach in 8th place and myself in 10th.   Our next race, the Seeley 200, was the following week.  The race started with warm temps in the high 40’s and at the warmest part of  the day, 3:00 p.m.  We both ran the same schedule, however, Lach’s team wa about 30 minutes  faster getting into the checkpoints.  We didn’t run together, but saw each other at  the checkpoints.  We both ran an Iditarod schedule, which means we rested the dogs for as long as the run took.   We ran 50 miles at a time before resting.  It took about 5 hours to run 50 miles, so we camped and rested the team for about 5 hours.  The trails were hard and icy, as it started raining.  It rained from Saturday morning until late Saturday night, and was so miserable for the dogs and mushers alike.  Thank goodness for rubber raincoats, because that is the only thing that would keep you dry.  It rained like it was April!  The dogs handled it well, even though I know they could not get comfortable on the wet beds of straw.  The last 50 mile run was worth all the unpleasantness of the rain, as it had snowed higher in the mountains, and the last run is up and over a pass called Huckleberry Pass, which is very well known to mushers as it is very hard on dog teams that are do not have enough training miles on them, and has been know to be a place where dogs decide to take a break on their own!  I am so proud of our dogs, as they motored up the pass without even looking back, and I passed 3 teams and left them behind.   There was a about 4 inches of fresh snow, the sky was clear and the stars were incredible, with Ryan’s Belt always just over the next ridge.  Lachlan finished the race at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and I finished at 4:00 a.m.  It was fun watching the dogs work, and being on the trail with them camping, exploring and seeing what great athletes they are.  Each one bringing something special to the team-whether it was the leaders never missing a command, Cash taking naps when I stopped to pet them,  Geyser loping with a huge grin on her face, Travis kissing the dog next to  him in sheer joy of running, or sleeping with Ollie curled up with me while camping.  Our next race is the Race to the Sky, which Lach will do with 12 dogs.  It is a 350 mile race, and I will handle for him.  Alison Peticolas will come to Montana, and with Amy and Stephanie, our handlers, will run the dogs left behind.  Dave Wurtz, a very close friend and musher is in Montana (I am in Colo. for a week to catch up on work) helping Lach run dogs.  They are heading out for a camping trip, as soon as they can get the trail made with snowmachines.  We have been doing 20 - 70 mile training runs,  with both of us running 14 dogs.  I always said I would never run more than a 12 dog team, and somehow I am now running 14 dogs - alot of POWER!   I will update again as soon as I get back to Montana and keep you posted on our training and the race.  Thanks for being a part of Team Clarke and reading our website!

Linda

More to come after the weekend. Merry Christmas to all our friends following our log. Thanks for keeping up on Team Clarke

1/8-1/9 2010- Flatheadsleddogdays.com- 2 back to back 50 milers; a great way to start. We’ll have 2- 12 dog teams running.

1/15- 1/17 2010-Seeleylakedograces.com- a nice 200 miler for any new dogs to learn how to camp and rest. 2-12 dog teams running.

2/12-2/17 2010- Racetothesky.org- The final pre/slection race for Iditarod team.300 miles: 1 team entered. May run other dogs in the shorter race if they decide to run a 100 or 200 miler in conjunction with the main race.

3/6-3/20 2010- Iditarod.com. May have tracking devices on each sled so watching may be more fun this year.

All dogs(36) continue to train and run well but the 8 yearlings will go to Krabloonik in Snowmass to run tours their first running year; as much as we’d love to run them in Iditarod they’re too young for 1000 miles.

The dog yard before we snowshoed in trails.

The dog yard after 2 hours of snowshoeing in trails!

We were up this morning at 4:30 a.m. for a 14 mile run. Sunday 5 dogs went to Krabloonik for the season; so grateful that Dan MacEachen allows us to try out some of his best atheletes. Brought 2 back to try out for the team: Linda and Alison run a 16-dog team;  myself , Steph,Cam or, whoever else I can get to help me run a 20-dog team; the downside to training 36 dogs for an Iditarod team. within the next week or so we should have photos and/or video of some of the runs. This a.m. we went out to hook up dogs it was snowing hard but only about 1-2 inches of snow on the ground; by the time we finished the run there were 8-10 inches and it continues to build! For once this storm was not overrated. Came up the driveway, the last 2 miles or so at just 5 mph., pretty tame for 20 dogs pulling about 850 lbs. Shell and Walter were superb, slugging a way when it was tough but up to 12-13 mph. when conditions permitted. Linda had Ellie and Screamer up front doing great work in tough conditions. The yearlings we’ve raised are amazing! all super enthusiastic even in deep snow. - Lach

Linda - We had a great run this morning, as Lach described the conditions above.  Alison and I took our 16 dogs out and decided to start out with an easy loop around our South Woods area.  It was snowing so hard we couldn’t see the turns, and could see the  reflectors for the turns as we were passing them.  Ellie and Screamer were our leaders and were fantastic, seeming to know that we were having problems seeing.  They put up with me saying straight ahead, even though I wasn’t sure if a turn was coming up,  but knowing it was there somewhere.   At the end of our run we were on a trail that winds through a heavily forested area, and there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground.  The dogs had to break trail, the only problem was that the trail winds through trees and things look a whole lot different covered in snow - to us anyway.   We were looking for the turn that would lead us out of the woods and not really paying attention to the lead dogs,  and  noticed that  they were looking around and a bit confused.  Before we could do anything they turned left into the woods looking for the trail and we were  heading in the wrong direction, and not on the trail.  The woods are pretty dense at this point and you can’t just weave a 16 dog team around in the woods  and turn them around wherever  you want, especailly on a 4-wheeler.  I jumped of f  the 4-wheeler and undid some of the dogs tugs,  as they were all pretty excited about this new “trail” we took and wanted to just keep going and exploring!  We couldn’t go further as the trees were too close together, so we turned them to the right.  I was running in front of  the team (I’m glad I had an adrenlin rush, because it was hard work) and Alison was driving the 4 wheeler.   We found an area that we could safely turn them in a big arc, and get back to the trail we just made.  All went well, with the leaders understanding that they had to follow, however slowly, to get out of our situation.    I was so grateful that Alison was with me, and that our dogs were  calm and knew they had to be obediant and follow me.   Most of our runs are smooth with no problems, but sometimes we get into situations which are less than ideal.  There are times when you have time to think and process the situation, as we did, and there are times when you have to make an instant decision and think fast.   A great book to read is Gary Paulson’s book” Winter Dance”, which is a true story of  Gary’s training for his first Iditarod.  It is very funny, and every musher can honestly say t hat their story is similar to Gary’s in some way!  Have a great day - it’s time to put the snowshoes on and go stomp down the snow in the dog yard.   - Linda