Simon and team have hit the trail! As I write this, they’re currently moving along at mile 25, so just 15 more to go! You can follow his tracker here:
http://trackleaders.com/yukonquest22
We had quite the start handling crew. Not only were Tucker, Mandy, and I there, but Jess and Drew joined us as well!
Sherlock, Mario, Mandy, and Bowser getting ready!
The sled is loaded on the truck. The drop bags are tied up and in the truck. The dogs enjoyed their final training run. It’s time for the Quest 200!
Simon’s team is a mixture of trail-hardened veterans and race rookies. For some, it will be a proving ground to see if they’re ready for the Iditarod team. And for others, it’ll just be a fun adventure. So WHO is on the team? Watch Simon’s video to find out!
We’ll be doing our best to post updates throughout the race, but service is spotty/nonexistent after Two Rivers. Mandy and I (Ryne) will be driving the truck and handling for Simon. Tucker will help out at the start, then loop around back home to care for the dogs left at the kennel. Derek and Kalyn will be at the Chena Outdoor Collective yurt, checking in guests, giving reindeer tours, and cheering for mushers as they go by!
A big thank you to all the individual dog sponsors, AlaSkins Pet Treats, Two Rivers Outpost, Bema Electronics, Chena Valley Development, Talespin Media, Orion’s Belt, and Big Dan’s Trucking for helping us get to the first race of the season!
Starting on SATURDAY is the Quest 200 and Quest 350! Simon will be competing in the Quest 200 with a twelve-dog team of RK rookies and veterans. I’ll be trying out a new role as handler of an RK team along with Mandy. There have been several changes over the last week to the Quest race schedule (start location and date among other things), but we are THRILLED that the race is happening and want to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who put so many hours into making the race possible. Mother Nature hasn’t been too helpful this season as far as trails go (including drifting in our reindeer racing trail, so that race has been postponed until probably next season). The current Quest 200 race route is Fairbanks to Two Rivers to Mile 101 to Central, where the mushers will do a 70 mile out and back to return to a finish in Central. The Quest 350 mushers will run all the way back to Fairbanks. Stay tuned for more RK updates including the race roster!
In preparation for the race, Simon, Tucker, and I took 29 dogs to the White Mountains for a camping trip. This was the first multi-day trip for the yearlings, and they crushed it! Beesly even ran in lead the second day through strong winds with Wombat! Originally we planned on the yearlings doing different training runs than the adults, but they were doing so well that they ended up doing the same mileage as the race dogs. During our trip we were treated to spectacular views, aurora, drifts, howling wind, stunning hoarfrost, caribou carcasses left by the resident wolf pack, fresh wolf sign, marten, frozen overflow, and so much more. The trail was oftentimes drifted and slow going, making for a 7-hr, 40 mile run; however, it’s trips like this that you realize just how capable and talented sled dogs can be. And also how physical inferior humans are in comparison. I feel so lucky the dogs drug us along for the ride.
Hoarfrost covered trees on the first day.
Dracula and Bowser in lead for Simon. Louie and Elmer in swing.
Sun beaming down on the teams. Etta and Thresher followed by Tobin and Mario, Yoshi and Faff.
Trucking across the frozen overflow with Lefty loose out front.
Windy trails.
Recently we’ve been running dogs, prepping for races, giving tours, did our first “campout”, and training the reindeer for our first reindeer race! I had intended to write a nice long blog, but I keep putting it off. I figured in the meantime, I’d post recent photos and videos and tackle the writing part at another time.
Photo credit- Kalyn Holl Photography
Pilot and Sailor will be competing in their first every reindeer race! To be held at Copper Kettle Reindeer Farm (next door neighbors), the race will be between Pilot, Sailor, and two of Melissa Rouge’s reindeer. Recently we went to the track to practice.
The yearlings have gradually been increasing in miles.
Lefty, Wombat, Cooke, Muenster, Fox, Havarti, Mozzie, and Fly. Thanks for the photo Simon!
We camped the dogs in the yard between runs, during which time Tucker returned from a reindeer tour. We joked it’s good practice in case the caribou disrupt a camp out!
Tucker’s pup Charlotte is using Boone as her car seat.
Moose, moose, and more moose. Due to the deep snow, the moose are using the roads and trails more than ever before. We carry flare guns or firearms to protect the dogs. Luckily, all the moose we’ve seen (including Mandy’s nine today), chose to leave the trail rather than confront the dogs.
Cute little dog butts
Rose ran in her first ever race with our friend Rachel and came in SECOND PLACE! Rose might have found her calling with 1.8 miles.
The aurora came out during a recent training run. Thanks for the photo Simon!
When someone asks if I have a favorite dog, I always respond- no way! You can’t have a favorite child, so it’s not possible to have a favorite dog. And I stand by that statement. But there’s something about the older dogs. The ones who you’ve shared intimate moments of your life with on the race trail, whether it be the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, that no other human was a part of. Sure while preparing for the race and in checkpoints, there’s a dedicated human team who we couldn’t race without. But on the trail, it’s just you and the dogs. And there are moments of overwhelming joy or immense relief or even gut-wrenching anxiety that you only shared with your canine family. So for those dogs with whom you’ve crossed thousands of miles of arctic wilderness, I won’t say they’re my favorite, but there is definitely a special bond that develops after sharing such powerful moments. And for Goblin, well, we’ve got six years of those.
Goblin and I have shared SIX years of 1000-mile races together, not to mention countless mid-distance races and training adventures in between. From 2016 through 2021, Goblin was a key player in every 1000-mile race. That’s almost every 1000-mile race Ryno Kennel has competed in. The only one he didn’t race was our first Yukon Quest in 2015. This year, even though Goblin is nine, I still had hope that he’d join me on the 2022 Iditarod. He was such a key member last year, running the majority of the race in lead, that I thought just maybe he could do it. While mentally Goblin was ready for the 2022 Iditarod, his body said no. On a training run earlier this year, Goblin tore his CCL (essentially the equivalent of a human ACL). Yesterday, Goblin had a successful surgery with Dr. Cole at Aurora Animal Clinic and is expected to make a full recovery! A big thank you to Dr. Cole! While the surgery was successful, it does mean that his racing days are behind him. While I’m obviously sad (and a little nervous) to hit the Iditarod trail without him, I feel so lucky that I was able to share the trail with such an amazing dog for so many years. Here’s to more adventures in your retirement! You’re a special pup Gobbles.
2016 Iditarod
2018 Yukon Quest
2017 Yukon Quest
2019 Yukon Quest
2020 Yukon Quest
2021 Iditarod
Goblin and his new iron knee
Rain on the window
Wooeeee! We’ve had quite the series of storms as of late. On December 26th, Fairbanks set a record for not only the wettest December day on record, but the THIRD WETTEST DAY ON RECORD ANY TIME OF THE YEAR. That’s right. We received more rain on December 26th than we ever did last summer (or most summers for that matter). The rain was sandwiched between two snow storms (one of which we’re currently in the middle), so the last several days we have been focused on digging out the roads, dog yard, reindeer pens, shoveling roofs, and unearthing items that were buried under snow then ice then more snow. Needless to say, our plow truck is earning its keep.
Just this morning, before I had my morning coffee, the cook stove ran out of propane. No big deal. I’ll step outside and grab a propane tank….hm…. I think this is the general area. Next thing I know, I’m digging through the snow bank in the dark in my long johns looking for a propane tank like some less than fun Easter egg hunt. I found four empty bottles before I manged to find a full bottle under the few feet of snow. Of course the full bottle was frozen to the ground by a layer of ice. After using up my patience and a few select words to express my frustration at the stubborn propane bottle, I woke Derek up complaining that I couldn’t get the propane to make us coffee and when did Mother Nature start raining in December in Alaska? He chivalrously popped on some bunny boots, grabbed a piece of firewood and a splitting maul, placed the firewood next to the propane bottle and smacked the firewood a few times, jolting the bottle from it’s frozen, iced puddle. It was during this crazy time that the majority of Two Rivers was without electricity and cell service, not to mention that the roads were unplowed and coated in a sheet of ice. For many homes, they had no electricity for upwards of thirty hours! A perk of living off grid is that while we did lose cell service, we still had electricity and water.
Ice skating anyone?
Since the above photo was taken, we’ve received about ten inches of snow with upwards of four more inches on the way. Perk- the snow will cover the ice. Challenge- where to put the extra snow. And it’s not even January!
Honestly, the times that I get most stressed are when I try to continue my normal routine (train dogs, give tours, etc) when the weather gets extreme. People use to live with the weather. Hunker down when it was cold or too snowy. Move about when the weather was mild. These days, our society doesn’t really work like that. We’re expected to continue life as normal regardless of the weather. Keep going to your job. Don’t miss a 50-mile training run regardless of conditions. In response to us canceling tours during the heart of the storm one guest emailed “super bummed, especially with the late notice. We made it in a Chevy Malibu. I would have thought Alaskans were hardier.” I had lots of snide and sarcastic comments I wanted to respond with, but in the end I just ignored it. We’re not supposed to live that way. Yes, we should work hard, but sometimes it’s better to listen to Mother Nature. Which I know is ironic for me to say seeing as I’m a musher, and most mushers like to laugh in the face of storms or deep cold. Some of my proudest moments are traveling through blizzards or extreme situations with a dog team. But also, I don’t want that to be the norm. The dogs don’t want that to be the norm. Anyways, this all just goes to say, we’re a little behind on normal things (training dogs, tours etc) but we’re trying our best to listen to Mother Nature. This has been one of the most challenging winters (weather wise) that I can recall in my 10 years in Two Rivers, but we’ll do the best we can. The dogs are happy. The deer are happy. I think the humans are happy. And that’s a win for the day.
Well, I meant to do a Winter Solstice post but am a couple days behind. Not to worry though, we’ve only gained 50 seconds of daylight, so it’s close enough right?
Here in Alaska, Winter Solstice is a very exciting time. It’s like we’ve rounded a corner. We still have a couple months of short days and cold temperatures, but those small increases in daylight each day, while not noticeable on a day-to-day basis, make big differences week-to-week. And for those of you who follow the social media pages, I talked about how many people say they couldn’t live in Alaska due to the winter darkness. While I do find myself wanting to hibernate in winter, I love the extremes of Alaska. Before we know it, the spring equinox will arrive, followed closely by summer’s midnight sun, during which time I’ll be craving darkness and the smell of the woodstove. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side, but in Alaska, it feels like we get to sprint through all the lawns.
So what did we do on the Winter Solstice? The adults and I went for a long run, taking advantage of the almost full moon. Kalyn, Simon, and Mandy had a packed day of tours. Fairbanks has been a hot spot for guests this holiday season, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Tucker took the yearlings for an overnight camp-out at a nearby cabin. More to come on their adventure. And Derek continued digging us out from the huge snowstorm that recently blanketed the area. And there’s more snow in the forecast!
The reindeer have also started losing their antlers! Well, just Pilot thus far. As Kalyn and Mandy were leading Pilot out of the trailer, his antler just….plop! Fell right off. Silly guy looks a little lopsided now with just one antler.
Shedding antlers is a natural process that occurs once every year. The timing of when they shed their antlers depends on the age and sex of the reindeer (or caribou). Typically mature bulls shed their antlers in November/December. Cows shed their antlers in the spring after they calve. And steers (castrated bulls) shed their antlers sometime in between. And of course, these are just generalities. There are always exceptions.
Pilot looking at his antler realizing he won’t get to be on Santa’s team this year.
Here are a few magical photos taken by one of the guests (Lindsay Saunders with Forest and Field Photography) from Chena Outdoor Collective. Who knew we could visit Narnia from Two Rivers?
I’ve recently been teased for not having a concrete schedule. Oftentimes, when we finish evening chores and have a brief team meeting, I’ll list out tasks for the next day with the best of intentions, but then Mother Nature throws a cold snap or the snowmachine needs a part or a big tour group books last minute, and next thing you know, we’re making spur of the moment adjustments and throwing the initial plan out the window. I’d like to think that for the most part, we’re pretty good at getting all the pieces to fit nicely. They block together and vanish just like checking things off a to-do list. But every now and then, you get thrown a weird shape or the shapes just fall too fast. Like this current -40F cold snap that supposed to last five days and arrived a day early. I don’t like to run the dogs in these temps, whether it be for training or tours, so training runs go out the window. In their place, I’m frantically thinking of other tasks- collect firewood, work on my sled with Allen, write a blog post, catch up on computer work. And those shapes start to click together and we gradually catch back up and start beating the game again.
Ironically before this -40F stretch, it was a heat wave at 20F. Since it was warmer out, I was able to take some video of overflow we encountered.
Running up the Chena River
Maple looking cute
I apologize for the tardiness, but the sponsorship packets are in the mail! A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has sponsored the kennel, their favorite canine athlete, or their favorite reindeer this year. It’s support like yours that makes this entire endeavor possible.
Whitney with Whitney McLaren Photography came out to the kennel a few days ago and snapped some photos on a run. My favorite is the one below on the left. Lefty and Wombat smiling for the camera, not surprised to come across Whitney hiding alongside the trail. Then Beesly and Fly wondering what on earth is that terrifying shape? And Rose not sure, but pretty confident that the shape is there just to see her!
Here’s a photo of the plane during a particularly phenomenal light show earlier this winter. This photo was taken by Mandy! Thanks Mandy!
It’s that time of year when the dogs really start to burn some calories. We’re hitting -20F tonight, and the colder temperatures combined with longer runs equals FOOD, FOOD, FOOD (and lots of poop). During a race, the dogs burn anywhere from ten to twelve thousand calories a day, which is like consuming 20 Big Macs in a 24 hour period. I weigh three times as much as these dogs, and I can’t imagine eating that much food. Yet they do!
On a daily basis, the dogs eat a morning broth of beef stew. For the yard of 40 athletes, we thaw about 25 pounds of beef per day. For the entire season, we use about two tons of beef between morning broths and snacks on the trail.
The bulk of their calories come from kibble. While there’s definitely more waste generated by kibble (aka dog poo), I like that the kibble already comes balanced nutritionally, versus a solely meat diet would leave out lots of good vitamins and minerals. For the last several years, we’ve fed Inukshuk 32/32, meaning that the kibble is 32% fat and 32% protein. At dinner, the dogs are fed a heavy meal of kibble with lightly flavored meat water. Each dog is fed a different amount of kibble. For example, an easy keeper like Oryx Beast only needs 3/4 of a scoop versus the Sherlock Monster needs a HEAPING scoop plus two scoops of water. If you put too much water in Goblin’s, he won’t go diving for extra kibbles at the bottom, so you have to make sure his water amount is just perfect. Otis, Smoky, Dolly, and Etta also prefer just a dash of broth with their kibble.
Shortly after writing the blog about salmon, our fish guy in Valdez reached out saying there was an unprecedented late run of silver salmon in Valdez. We were THRILLED with this news. Tucker and Sam (a handler at ATAO kennel) did a marathon drive down to Valdez to pick up several hundred fish to be split between ATAO Kennel, Squid Acres Kennel, Smokin’ Ace Kennel, and Ryno Kennel. The salmon are really important snacks for the dogs. If temperatures start getting a little too balmy on the Iditarod, the only food the RK athletes like to eat is salmon, so we were so excited to get salmon from Valdez. Longtime kennel supporter Mary Ver Hoef also graciously donated fish from her freezer, so we are now SET. Thank you Mary!
The days of cotton candy colors are back!
This snow and cold also means changes for flying! My focus is primarily on the dogs, training, racing, and tourism at Chena Outdoor Collective, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be ready to fly if timing allows!
I recently swapped the tundra tires for skis on the plane. 99.9% of my flight hours have been on tires, so I spent an afternoon practicing flying with skis with Derek in the backseat. Taxiing requires a bit of skill since there aren’t brakes with which to pivot and turn the plane, but otherwise, the flying felt very similar. It was a wonderful afternoon- I was able to practice landing at a couple different strips and even spotted wolves and caribou from the plane!
You come to Ryno Kennel as a relative novice with just one season as a tour-musher under your belt. So what’re you going to expect when you show up? How to run dogs, of course. But in order for the dogs to run the kennel has to run, and in order for the kennel to run, the equipment has to run, and that’s really the kicker. We’re in off-grid cabins and as of November we’ve landed in the negative temps. You need to learn about working with machines in the cold. It would help to be mechanically inclined or knowledgable — that’s too bad. Well, strap yourself in there, bud. Oh, the spring is broken, you have to pull it out and then you can click the buckle in. Ok, strapped in?
Around here, the first thing you’ll require to get anything started is for the local handy-man (Ryne’s husband, Derek) to have spoken with said piece of equipment beforehand. The aftermath of such conversations usually leaves machinery with unique anthropomorphisms. What that means is that you’ll need a lesson from Derek, or someone who has already had a lesson from Derek, on how to operate the damn thing. If you happen to be mechanically literate, and also lucky, you might be able to get away with skipping the tutorial on half of the things you’ll have to interact with on a daily basis.
The best I can do to explain what it’s like is through a few non-sequitur interactions around some of the equipment we work with.
The green dog truck:
“You’ll have to make sure you’ve let the Webasto run for 30-45 minutes before you try to start it. Here’s the switch. Then, at least at this temperature, you’ll have to let the engine warm up for 15-20 minutes. That’ll change when it gets colder.”
“What’s a Webasto do?”
“Mm, I’m not exactly sure. You’ll have to ask Derek. OK, when you do get it started you have to make sure that the lights are on. Derek had to re-wire some things and when he did for some reason the lights have to be on or there’s no power to the engine. Also, sometimes if you try to turn the volume on the radio down it actually turns it up and then you’ll be stuck at that volume. Just a warning.”
Also, it’s not your imagination that the truck pulls to the left on straight-aways. According to Derek, that’s just because people have been driving it in 4-wheel drive too much. Noted. Also, there’s no gas pedal. Well, ok, there’s technically a gas pedal, the “pedal” part is just missing.
Chainsaw/s:
“Do you have your finger on the throttle?”
“Yes. Sometimes… the pull cord… is just… tough… to pull.”
“Can I try?”
“Sure. If you get it started I’m goi—“ The chainsaw starts. “You suck.”
“Hey, I got that one Stihl running yesterday but then it just gave up and I couldn’t get it started again.”
“Ya, it’s not really a cold weather saw. Once the moisture from the snow gets in there it’ll quit. I put a new piston in that other one but I still have to mess with it a little. Just use the new one.” — The new one that Derek was forced to buy because the other five (no kidding) chainsaws weren’t functioning. Although the other day the trigger release jiggled loose when it was riding on the back of the snow machine, sorry Derek.
Little Ford:
“First trip on paved road with a new bearing, let’s see how she rides. Oh boy, smooth! Let’s road trip to Anchorage!”
“Why are all the dash lights flashing?”
“Oh that’s normal, don’t worry about it.”
Apparently, the little ford thinks it’s being stolen when you turn it on and that’s the alarm system flashing, there’s just no sound.
ATVs:
Tip: never trust a gas gauge.
Tire pre-welding
“Derek got tired of waiting for that axle part to show up in the mail so he just welded the tire onto the camo ATV. Maybe before you take it out for a run give it a wiggle to see if the tire’s loose and make sure the weld doesn’t have a crack in it or anything.”
I have come to believe that there is not an ATV with all four wheels securely attached that is owned by a musher within the Two Rivers community. I assume this is why the common name is ATV and not the misnomer “4-wheeler”.
“I can’t get this ATV to shift.”
Ryne hops on. Giving it some good shoves as she says, “That’s because… you gotta… jostle it. There.”
“Ah, yes, of course.”
“Does it always make those creaking noises?”
“Yes.”
Meat (band) saw and snow machine:
Ryne gives the instructions for the meat saw and finishes by saying, “Be super friggen careful, OK? Most mushers you see who are missing fingers — it’s not because of frostbite, it’s because they were cutting frozen meat. Alright, I’m gonna head out on a run with the yearlings, good luck.”
Me to myself: “Super careful, alright. Super friggen careful. Add it to the list of things mom doesn’t need to know about.” I start cutting the blocks of meat. The band breaks. There’s blood everywhere. The tip of my index finger is — just kidding.
I poke my head in the cabin door: “Hey Derek, the band to the meat saw just broke. Is there another one lying around?”
“You have enough meat cut for the night? I’ll just put a new one on tomorrow.”
OK, now, in order to move the heavy-as-nuts generator that was powering the meat saw back to the generator shed, you have to drag it behind the snow machine. Ryne just dragged the generator over here before she left. I know it should start.
“Hey Simon. Hey Simon!” He’s in the dog yard and they’re all barking. “Hey, do you know how to start this snow machine? There’s no key in this ignition… There’s this thingy. And this. Here’s the choke. This button, this button. Nope.” Simon doesn’t know.
I poke my head in the cabin door: “Hey Derek, how do you start the snow machine out there by the meat tent?”
“Make sure the choke is up two clicks. Is the pull cord not catching? It does that sometimes.”—This is Derek kindly assuming that I’m not a snow-machine-inept-idiot and that I already knew it was a pull start.
Walking back out to the meat tent I have a conversation under my breath: “It’s a pull start you damn-dumb-dummy. Open your friggen eyes.” I see Simon amongst barking in the dog yard. “Hey Simon! Simon! It’s a pull start!” Simon says that he could’ve started it if he knew it was a pull start. Thanks, Simon.
I get the thing started and drive it over to the shed. Now, to turn it off. Let’s see, uhhh, here’s the kill-switch. Poke. Nothing. Poke. Nothing. Poke-poke-poke-poke. Nothing. There's an exposed wire that looks like it should be connected to the kill-switch. It happens to be one of those educational wires that teaches you how electricity works when you grab it. Some people might call it a live wire. Bonus points if you grab it with a wet glove on. I get my refresher lesson in electricity.
I poke my head in the cabin door: “Hey Derek, how do you turn that snow machine off?”
“Just flip the choke.”
Turns out you can also touch the two kill-switch wires that have escaped their button cover together to turn off the snow machine.
Tip: If you’re trying to start the snow machine and you’re fishing with the pull cord, trying to get it to catch (it helps if you vacantly look off into the void) — you’ve got one hand on the throttle to help it out if it ever does decide to catch — but it’s still not starting, you might want to double check that the two kill-switch wires aren’t touching, you dummy.
Generator/s:
Which one? Don’t get me started.
Ryno Kennel is home to Iditarod and Yukon Quest veteran, Ryne Olson and her growing sled dog racing kennel in Two Rivers, Alaska.
All Photos Taken by: Scott Chesney, Julien Schroder, Kalyn Holl, or other Ryno Crew. All rights reserved. Please contact prior to using any photos.
BIG THANKS TO THE RYNO TEAM
Big Dan’s Trucking
Rick and Sue Patton
All Dog Sponsors
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