Heading toward Eagle Island checkpoint . . .

Angie and the dogs are now on their way to Eagle Island, the halfway point along the Yukon River.  She checked out of Grayling at 6:14 pm.  According to reports from the trail, it looks like the mushers and their dogs are facing rain, deep wet snow, overflow and winds around Eagle Island.  Please keep Angie and the other mushers and their dogs in your thoughts and prayers for safe traveling.  ONWARD TO NOME!!!!

On her way to the checkpoint of Iditarod . . .

Angie called us from McGrath yesterday!!!  It was so wonderful to hear her voice!!!  She sounded good and said she was doing well.  She said the Burn has been the toughest part of the trail for her thus far.  So far she's only dropped one dog, Carmack, due to overheating and exhaustion (Carmack is one of her older dogs).  Angie says "HI" to everyone and is thankful for your thoughts and prayers.
    Angie took her 24-hour layover in McGrath and is through Takotna and Ophir and on her way to Iditarod, the half-way point in the race.  Right now the temperature on this leg of the race is 48 degrees, extremely warm for mushing!!!!    

Almost to McGrath!

Good evening!  Angie has now traveled approximately 289 miles along the Iditarod trail and is currently heading toward McGrath (only 12 more miles to go until that checkpoint).  At this time she is traveling about 7.2 miles per hour so she should be arriving in McGrath within the next couple of hours. 

Angie and her dogs are mushing on . . .

It's now almost 10 PM on Tuesday, March 5th, and Angie is on her way to Nikolai.  This is one of the toughest parts of the trail - a lot of glare ice.  Once she arrives in Nikolai, she'll have only 16 more checkpoints (McGrath, Takotna, Ophir, Iditarod, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling, Eagle Island, Kaltag, Unalakleet, Shaktoolik, Koyuk, Elim, Golovin, White Mountain, and Safety) to visit before arriving in Nome.

Angie is on her way!

Cheered on by her family and many of her friends, Angie left Willow at 3:20 PM on Sunday, March 3rd.  As of this evening (9:45 PM Monday) she has already passed through the check-points of Yentna, Skwentna, and Finger Lake and is now heading toward Rainy Pass.  MUSH ON, Angie and pups!!!!!

Leaving #40 tomorrow!

I drew bib #40 Thursday night at the Iditarod Drawing Banquet!  So on Saturday I will be leaving the chute at 11:16 am.  On Sunday I will be leaving from will around 3:16pm.  Thanks for all your support and prayers!!  Mushing down the Trail . . .

1400# of Meat Ready for Food Drops!

I have chicken, beef fat, a mixed beef, and turkey skins cut (Soo Yummy!) and ready to be bagged up this weekend by my wonderful friends!  Cannot wait till food drops are over ~ Feb. 13th!

Chop, Merv, Hershey, Scully ~ Athletes of the Week February 10th-16th

"Chop"
Age: 5 years (F)
Team Position: Leader/Team Dog
Chop Sponsored By:  Lynn Penoyer

"Merv"
Age: 9 years
Team Position: Team Dog
Merv Sponsored By: Claudia Knauss
 

"Hershey"
Age: 8 years (F) - Sister to Scully and Keebler
Team Position: Team Dog
Hershey Sponsored By:  Ms. Therriault's Awesome 5th Grade Class!
 










"Scully"
Age: 8 years (F) - Sister to Hershey and Keebler
Team Position: Team Dog

Athletes of the Week January 27th - February 2nd

Bristol is a funny dog. She loves people so much and is always wanting loves from them. She is 4 years old and full of life. She is my most affectionate pup that I have! She runs the best next to her teammate Jeff.  Another funny thing about Bristol is she likes to dig on top of her metal bowl and she howls like a squealer monkey when food is being served!!  Bristol is Riot's sister . . .
Riot is one of the hardest workers on the team!  He has floppy ears and a crooked smile.  He loves attention like his sister Bristol.  I am excited to see how well he does in Iditarod this year!
Rainy has come a long way as a leader!  She is a sister to McGrath. Rainy is small in stature, but she makes up for it when pulling with the team. She loves to be cuddled and shown attention. I enjoy her laid-back attitude and sweet temperament. What Musher from Ketchikan wouldn't have a dog in their team named Rainy? LOL!



McGrath is opposite of her sister Rainy in stature . . . she has long legs and is very shy.  She runs well with all dogs on the team and I can always depend on her to be my biggest cheerleader in the team!

13th place finish in the Northern Lights 300!

 The team getting settled in at our first checkpoint Yentna Station!

 Beautiful full moon runs both nights, the northern lights also swirled green and light pink overhead as we traveled . . . very mystical and breathtaking!!

 First Checkpoint Yentna Station, teams all lined up taking their mandatory 4 hours and time differential!

 

 Starting to frost up . . . Friday the day of the start the temperature was 25+ ending the race on Sunday it plummeted to -40.  Amazing change in temperatures!

 Running towards Mt. Foraker!  What a gorgeous day to be racing!!

Pierce looking back to check on me as we run towards the Alaska Range!

Northern Lights 300 Sled Dog Race

Here is the website for the race that I will be starting tomorrow morning:
www.northernlights300.org
The race should be completed by Sunday January 27th!

Carmack, Pierce, Win, and Pepe' ~ Athletes of the Week Jan. 20th- 26th

Carmack is one of my main leaders. He is 9 years old and one of my larger males in my team. He is very sweet, gentle, and very furry. He gets along with everyone on the team and he loves to run. He enjoys scratches behind his ears and along his sides.

Pierce loves to snuggle into people. He always seems to have a smile on his face. He is a hard worker in the team and he pulls hard in the wheel position. He works well with other dogs and he enjoys running and pulling hard.  He is the only dog that I have to watch while hooking up the team because he like to chew his neckline and his friends that is running along side him!!

Win is a smaller dog on my team. She loves to lead the team down the trail. Sometimes she has a hard time listening to commands that are given to her, but overall she works really hard. She loves people to scratch her belly and behind her ears.  She has a lot of attitude for such a small dog!!


Pepe' is one shy guy, but a heck of a leader. Once he gets to know you he loves to be scratched behind his ears and loved on.  Pepe' has a very soft coat of fur that will keep him nice and warm in the sub-zero temperatures that we will encounter this winter. I am really excited to see how well Pepe' does in our race January 25th (Northern Lights 300)!
Go PePe' Go!!!
 

"Bee", "Willow", "Chip" and "Dale" Athletes of the Week

"Athletes of the Week January 13th-19th"

Bee is a 6 year old female who will is one of the leaders on my team. She is a very sweet and loving dog. She is the mother to Willow! I enjoy running her in the team because she is hard worker and she gets along with all of her teammates. She has electric blue eyes and a tender smile . . . I am very glad that she is a part of the team!

Willow is learning the ropes this year with her momma and her other teammates.  She has ran in lead and the team.  She is a very smart dog and picks up things very quickly.  She may be too young to run in Iditarod this year, but who knows only a few more weeks will tell!!

Chip and Dale are brothers . . . they are the sweetest boys and they look so cute running side by side in the team. They run in the team or wheel position. They both are hard workers. They both have very high metabolisms so it is a challenge to keep weight on them. They both love having their bodies rubbed all over and will snuggle right in to your arms. I just love these boys!!

"Jeff" - New Member to Our Team

Meet "Jeff"  he is such a handsome and sweet dog!  He is the largest on my team weighing in at around 60+ pounds!  He is a great team and wheel dog always getting along with everyone who runs with him!!

Over Night Camp Out with the Dogs . . .

 Riot and Hershey cuddled up!  I snuggled with them for an hour . . .

 Chop, Bee, Merv and Win relaxing before our next run of 48 miles!

 Jeff and Bristol chillin out, Bristol loves her tummy rubbed!!

 Sled parked for 4 hours of rest in between runs.  First run we went 42 miles and the second run was 48.  90 miles not too bad for the hard packed trails and warmer weather!

Scully and Willow bedded down!

Night Run!!

Cruising on down the trail last night!  The temps were in the teens and the dogs were firing on all 4-cylinders!!  It was a wonderful night for a run!!

Ready to Run!!

Getting ready to run with the dogs, all set up and ready to harness!

Hurley Drives the Team!

Hurley got a bit of a sore hip while running so she got to ride in style behind her teammates!  She liked it for awhile and then she really wanted to get back into the team!!

New Logo for AK AIR!

Well, here is my best attempt at trying to change the Alaska Airlines logo on the back of their planes to my sunshiney face!! LOL Was a gorgeous and cool day for a run!!

Cutting up Snacks!

 Cutting meat snacks is cold on the fingers!!  Keeping your fingers out of the blade can sometimes be a challenge!!