It was a hassle getting out of the house with the dogs this morning but we were, eventually, handsomely rewarded and we had a great time. We had a fun road trip up to Knik too.
On the way up, we saw a familiar dog truck on the road. It belonged to none other then fellow Kenai Peninsula Musher, Paul Gebhardt of Morning View Kennel. We sped up to go by him, and in typical mushing fashion, called trail. We made a sign and hung it in the window as we went by.
Paul got a good chuckle.
Races are great like that. It’s a good excuse for us all to come together, hang out, and spend some time together. For us, The Knik 200 Musher meeting was a great chance to catch up with old friends, talk dogs, and win some awesome gear!
Musher Meetings are generally “spiced up” by having some free give aways and we were lucky enough to take home some of the booty. Justin and Travis both took home 100 free dog booties from a drawing at the musher’s meeting. We are so excited! Dog booties are one of the most expensive costs in our sport outside of dog food. Thank you to Kipmik Products for donating the booties!
2015 Knik 200 Race Format
The Knik 200 has changed it’s route from previous years due to snow conditions. This year, the race starts at Deshka Landing in Willow and will consist of two loops starting from Deshka Landing going to Yentna Station and then back to Deshka. There is only one mandatory layover of six hours of rest to be taken at Deshka Landing before the start of the second loop. It should be a race that allows for lots of passing and will have lots of river miles.
We drew our starting positions. Travis drew 10th, meaning he will leave at 1:10 pm tomorrow. He is required to stay the mandatory 6 hours at his layover plus an additional 40 minutes to make up his start differential.
Travis’ Team
Zema – Gremlin
Fidget – Krum
Handsome – Wrangler
Cuervo – Willie
Drum – Teddy
Jimbo – Droopy
Ironically, Paul Gebhardt drew 11th place. Paul promptly asked Travis if he could borrow the “trail” sign he had made.
Travis isn’t sure how he will be treating this race yet. While the team is strong, he may decide to camp and use this race as more of a training run. He hasn’t made any decisions. He has two dogs in the team who are slightly behind in miles and will be judging how he runs based on their performance early on in the race. Regardless, it’s great experience.
Justin leaves 14th. Justin will leave the 2015 Knik 200 starting chute at 1:26pm. He is required to stay the mandatory 6 hours at his layover plus an additional 32 minutes to make up his start differential. Justin’s team has a a few of our race dogs (Weiser & Madori) as well as a number of up and coming puppies.
Justin’s Team
Weiser – Madori
Flo – Fergie
Shark – Star
Hank – Thor
Bruce – Aldawin
Wyatt leaves 19th. Wyatt will leave the 2015 Knik 200 starting chute at 1:36pm. He is required to stay the mandatory 6 hours at his layover plus an additional 22 minutes to make up his start differential. Wyatt has a number of veterans on his team, including Tamere, Kermit, Ginzu, Ray, Monroe, and Thunder
Wyatt’s Team
Bonnie – Tamere
Granger – Pinky
Kermit – Ginzu
Ray – Monroe
Thunder – Mongoose
Justin and Wyatt will both camp at Yentna station on both the first and second loop of the race so don’t be surprised to see their trackers stop. They are running a lot of young dogs and it’s important this experience be positive for the dogs and for the mushers. Yentna is a great place to camp. They have rented a warm cabin for the mushers and traditionally on race days, Yentna serves up some terrific pasta. They’re in for a real treat!
