Cross-cut Saw Competition at the Willow Carnival

My friend Sarah and I took time out of running dogs to compete in the woman's cross-cut saw competition at the Willow Carnival. We had a lot of fun and took home the GOLD!

Don Bowers Sled Dog Race . . . 110 Miles Later

Me 20 hours into my 24 hour race . . .

Sleeping with the team (Bee & Pepe')

Early morning run on the day I completed the race 1/29/11 - 12:10pm

Completed the 110 miles of the Don Bowers Race. Had a great time - my feet are a bit sore, but besides that I feel great. The dogs came back with no injuries and happy. I am so glad that the race was a success for us all! I am beginning to narrow down my team that I will take on Iditarod.

Next task at hand is to keep training dogs and getting drop bags ready to deliver to Iditarod on the 17th. The drop bags are the bags that have everything that we will need out on the trail.

Finish Line!!!

Angie and her team crossed the finish line at 12:13 PM!! WAY TO GO, TEAM TAGGART!! We're so proud of you and the dogs!

Almost There!!!

Angie just called to let us know that she's almost to the finish line!! GO, TEAM, GO!!!

Heading for the Finish Line!!!

Angie and her team left Morgan Cabin at 3:51 AM with 13 dogs. She arrived at (and left) Nowhere at 8:49 AM and is now on the homeward stretch (24 miles from Nowhere to the finish line in Eaglequest). GO, ANGIE & DOGS, GO!!!!

Time for a Rest . . .

Angie and her 14 dogs arrived at Morgan Cabin at 9:20 PM on Friday and are now taking their mandatory 6-hour layover. Hopefully, they're all having a good rest before they're on their way again. If you'd like to follow the progress of the race, check out http://www.donbowersmemorialrace.org/
YOU AND THE DOGS ARE IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, ANGIE!!

Don Bowers 200 miler changed to a 110 miler

Tomorrow I will be starting the Don Bowers Sled Dog Race at 12:08pm. I am going out 4th in a field of 13.

Sponsor Sign for the Back of my Dog Truck

I just got done working with Trevor from Signpro creating this beautiful piece of art for my sponsors. It will be on the back of my dog truck for all to see - I think it really ROCKS!!!

Copper Basin 300 Finish

Copper Basin 300

Start of the race out of Paxson running along the pipeline

Preparing to cook food for dogs in the first checkpoint of Chistochina.
Bristol and Bee relaxing in the Glennallen checkpoint.
Getting dogs ready to leave from the Glennallen checkpoint.
Somewhere along the checkpoint running at night. Most of my runs were during the night.

Hills heading toward the checkpoint of Meier’s Lake Lodge.

Stovepipe at the finish line with his Red Dog jacket on . . .

Copper Basin 300 Finish 2:59 pm (1-11-11)
Raver and Wicked led the whole race and did a fantastic job!

FINISH LINE REACHED!!!

I don't have any of the details, but it looks like Angie has finished the race!!!! WAY TO GO, TEAM TAGGART!!!!!!

Correction of the last posting . . .

Angie just called and gave me an update on her travels. Unfortunately, the information I posted this morning was wrong. The Copper Basin Race Updates had posted that she left Merier's Lake at 6:10 AM when, in reality, she left Sourdough (the checkpoint before Merier's Lake ) at that time. The actual time she left Merier's Lake is just a few minutes ago. So . . . she's now on the trail to Paxon (the finish line) with 9 dogs and has about 15 miles to go in the race. She was able to get a few hours of sleep last night so she's feeling fairly rested. GO TEAM TAGGART!!!!

ALMOST TO THE FINISH LINE!!!

Angie and her team are on the home stretch!!! They left Merier's Lake at 6:10 this morning and should be arriving in Paxson (the finish line) anytime soon!!!!! GO, ANGIE & TEAM, GO!!!

Back on the trail again!!!

Greetings from the trail (via phone call to Mom!)!!! Angie just called again about 20 minutes ago. She's now left Wolverine Lodge and she and the dogs are mushing along toward Sourdough. The reason it took her so long (longer than many of the other mushers) to get from Tolsona Lodge to Wolverine Lodge is that, by the time she travelled over the trail, there was a large section of watery slush that she had to go through. She said she was up to her knees in water and heavy slush. By the time she got through that area, her boots were full of water and her outer garments (and the dogs) were soaked!!! Fortunately, items in the sled were packed in a water-proof bag so she was able to change into dry socks and boots and a dry outer suit and get dry booties on all of the dogs (THANK YOU, GOD!)!!! Please pray that she doesn't encounter any more wet areas and that she and the dogs have safe travels from here on out.

Angie arrived at Wolverine Lodge!

According to the Copper Basin Stats, Angie arrived at Wolverine Lodge at 3:26 this morning. Hopefully, she and the dogs will have a good rest there before heading along the trail to Sourdough.
**Note: Unfortunately, her tracking device doesn't seem to be working since it still has her listed as being in Glennallen. So . . . please don't depend on the tracking device to follow her progress.**

Back on the trail again!!!

Angie arrived at Tolsona Lodge at 8:51 P.M., spent 28 minutes there, and is now back on the trail heading toward Wolverine Lodge with her team of 11 dogs. May you and your team have a safe trip, Angie!!!

Angie just called!!!

What a joy to receive a phone call from Angie!! She's currently on the trail - about ten miles from Tolsona Lodge. She says that up until this point the trail has been extremely difficult - lots of steep hills both up and down - very scary in spots!!! The trail she's on now is fairly level, but rough, because it's mostly just gravel!!! We could hear her voice bouncing along as she spoke on the phone! She had to leave one dog, Bristol, behind in Glennallen (due to sore feet and wrists) so she's now running with 11 dogs. She sends greetings to everyone who's following her race. Please keep her and her team in your thoughts and prayers. We Love You, Angie!!!

Angie arrived in Chistochina!!!

According to the Copper Basin 300 Race Stats, Angie arrived at Chistochina at 8:08 P.M. this evening (about 1.5 hours earlier than anticipated by her GPS tracker). According to my calculations, her average rate of travel was approximately 8.8 mph. WAY TO GO, ANGIE!!!

Almost to Chistochina . . .

I just checked Angie's tracker and received the report that she and the dogs should be arriving at the first waypoint (Chistochina) in about 2 hours (approx. 9:42 P.M. this evening). She's currently traveling at a rate of about 6.7 mph! Way to go, Angie and Team Taggart!!!!

Angie is on her way!!!

Go, Angie, go!!!

Angie is ready!!

Hi! I just spoke with Angie via phone and she let me know that she's ready for the Copper Basin 300! I'll be posting updates of her progress in the race. Please keep her and the dogs in your thoughts and prayers. Charlene (Angie's Mom)

Leaving #17 for Copper Basin on Saturday 1/8/11

My starting position for tomorrows race is #17. This means I will be leaving around 1:34pm. Follow me on www.cb300.com.

Copper Basin 300

Tomorrow, Friday January 7th I will be driving to Glennallen to check-in for the Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race (My first race of the season). The race is to begin at 1pm on Saturday the 8th. Right now there are 44 people signed up. We will know our starting position after the banquet on Firday.
This will be my first time competing in this race. I am really excited to the see the area and to see how my dogs and I will do. The temperature is around -15.
Please go to the Copper Basin website to follow my progress: http://www.cb300.com/ They will have a Spot GPS tracker on me so you can watch from a far! Prayers for safety for the dogs and myself would be much appreciated!! Let's see what these dogs can do!

Making Wrist and Neck Warmers

The past two nights my friend Jan Steves and I worked on making wrist warmers (you are able to put a hand-warmer in your palm to help keep your exposed fingers warm. It easier to boot a dog without fingers on your gloves) and neck warmers. We had a lot of laughs!!!

New Year . . . 2011!

This linocut was created by my friend and neighbor Evon Zerbetz. There are a few obvious reasons why I love this print but, another reason why I love it is because of the ravens in the tree. On almost every run that the dogs and I do we have a raven or raven follow us. It is very magical . . . I really like ravens a lot and feel like we have a cheering section with them following along and klawocking. They will fly ahead of us and then as we pass by they will take off to the next set of trees ahead.