Doggin' it in Northern Maine!

You know what it’s like in the Yukon wild when it’s sixty-nine below;

When the ice-worms wriggle their purple heads through the crust of the pale blue snow;

When the pine-trees crack like little guns in the silence of the wood,

And the icicles hang down like tusks under the parka hood;

When the stove-pipe smoke breaks sudden off, and the sky is weirdly lit,

And the careless feel of a bit of steel burns like a red-hot spit;

       Excerpt from Ballad of Blasphemous Bill by Robert Service

We had a blast volunteering at the Can Am Dogsled races in northern Maine. 3 races in one event (30, 100, and 250 mile distances), the race is the largest sled race in North America west of the Mississippi, attracting teams from throughout Canada and the US. The long race is a qualifier for the Alaskan Iditarod and the Yukon Quest long distance races.

The start was great! The town of Ft. Kent closes off the main street and brings in truckloads of snow to pack their trail through town. 

The temp at the start was around 0 degrees (F), which made for happy dogs and a fast morning run, before the afternoon sun made surface conditions a bit slushy.  The dogs, especially the Siberian huskies with their double coats, overheat easily in the sun.

As they waited to start (starts were all at two minute intervals), the dogs were barking and howling, eager to get going.  Great excitement as they were off!  But they almost instantly quieted down and got on with the serious business of pulling hard down the trail.  This is clearly what they love to do!  And the crowds of spectators loved it as well!!!

Andre Longchamps, 4th place finisher in the 100

Kieth Ailti, 2nd place finisher in the 250

Katherine Lainglais is off, winner of the 250 mile course!!!

After the start, we were stationed at the first checkpoint of the 250 mile race, in the town hall of the tiny town of Portage.  

Trailer of food bags for each team was delivered to each checkpoint in advance.

Food and hay loaded on sleds for each team

The place was packed with dog handlers, veterinarians, EMT's, volunteers, and visitors.  Our first team, that of musher Katherine Langlais, a vet tech from New Brunswick, arrived at 17:43, shortly after dark.  Several more followed in quick succession, and we stayed awake as they departed throughout the night. 

Leader Katherine Langlais on the trail outside the town of Portage, nearing the first checkpoint

Upon arrival, the dogs were fed and watered, checked by a team of vets, then bedded down on hay put out on the snow.  The mushers can either sleep in a tent alongside their dogs, or head upstairs in our building to take a nap.  Then after around 4 hours, they were up to feed the dogs again, another vet check, and they were off into the night, heading for the next checkpoint around 50 miles down the trail.

One of the dropped dogs became a favorite of all the vets!

This was a large, extremely well organized event.  Communications were via ham radio, (Adam's checkpoint job), with a central net control constantly tracking times and locations of all teams, vets, EMT's, and SAR (Search and Rescue) personnel.  All dogs are accounted for at all times, as dogs may be "dropped" at any of the 4 checkpoints.  (all of the 250 mile teams dropped at least one dog.  Most started with 12 dogs, and each team is required to finish with a minimum of 8)  

Mushers were from all over eastern Canada and the US, and all on the long 250 mile race were well experienced.  They had their team of dog handlers on hand, and their food bags had been driven by snow mobile to the various checkpoints in advance of the start.  The team of 30 veterinarians were an elite group of orthopedic vets, who compete to be selected from applicants ranging from all over North America.  The entire 250 mile trail had been broken by snow mobile in the days before the race, and with a full moon, the night mushing was beautiful, cold, and fast.  

As far as dogs go, there were a total of 15 teams on the 250, 23 on the 100, and 21 teams on the 30, for a total of 59 teams at the start.  With an average of 11-12 dogs per team, that's nearly 700 dogs and 59 mushers starting!

At the end of the weekend, after all results were tallied, women had won all three races!!!  They were all Canadians.  The winner of the 250 mile course was the same woman who had pulled into our checkpoint in the lead, as she kept her lead throughout the checkpoints and intermediate safety stops.  Great effort, Katherine!!!

And a great job by all of the mushers, the race committee, and all volunteers for putting on such a successful event.  It is a huge physical and logistic effort, and all came off without a hitch!  If we winter over in Maine in the future, we'd jump at the chance to return for another Can Am!!!  

In the meantime, spring must be getting close!!!