Denali Highway Training

Last week, I took 16 athletes down to the Denali Highway for some race simulation training. Since we’re not competing in any mid-distance races this year, some of the youngsters needed to experience run/rest/run/rest/run/rest/run (you get the idea) so that they would be better prepared for the Iditarod should they make the team!

I loaded up Louie, Etta, Goblin, Dolly, Dracula, Cooke, Wingman, Faff, Yoshi, Maple, Uno, Mario, Scarpa, Bowser, Bert, and Thresher and headed to the Denali Highway!

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Day 1

The first day was full of clear, blue skies and a bone chilling north breeze straight into our faces. I bundled up the dogs and myself and thoroughly enjoyed my new ruff made by my good friend, Amanda Gecas of Boundary Fur Sewing.

Even though we’re deep in the Alaska Range, the area is a popular training ground for nearby Eielson Air Force Base. Jets rocketed around us, sometimes skimming so low that it looked like they were just a couple hundred feet above the ground! Sonic booms shook mountains, causing both me and the dogs to jump and look around for avalanches. On one hand, I was annoyed because the sonic booms would startle the dogs. On the other hand, I was wishing they’d find a place to land, pick me up, and let me zoom around the mountains with them! It must be exhilarating to be a jet pilot rocketing through the Alaska Range!

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For a couple of the runs, Paige showed us a loop that circles back behind their lodge and deep into the mountains. Down along the Denali Highway itself, there is such much life- moose, wolves, fox, caribou. Willows and spruce trees provide shelter and food for many animals. But this trail traversed deeper into the mountains where vegetation was sparse and there were hardly any animal tracks. Wind constantly blows the snow around, obscuring the trail, so Paige and Cody are regularly having to put it back in. I’m so glad we had the chance to mush it!

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The loop behind the lodge

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As we returned home, I was exceptionally proud of the dogs.

Louie and Etta led the entire way. They were a great pair with Etta bringing the energy, and Louie being the solid anchor, holding the line out and taking his job very seriously. Goblin and Dolly ran in swing. Goblin enjoyed having a break from his normal lead position. Dolly was a loud cheerleader, throwing her little 35 pound body into the air in excitement every time we stopped. She preferred running on the hard-packed trails and was a bit slack when the conditions were softer. Dracula and Cooke were next. Dracula would bark and pound her front two feet onto the ground, stamping in excitement. She’d eat all her food and her neighbor’s if I wasn’t watching closely. Cooke was happy to be back in the race pool. I had him sit out one of the runs just as a precaution since he doesn’t have as many miles as the rest of the crew. If you recall, his brother Smoky pulled Cooke’s tail earlier in the season, and it has taken awhile to heal. It finally seems like Cooke is feeling like his normal self! Wingman and Faff were next. Wingman is the biggest cheerleader in the team and was rock solid as always. Faff also had a great training run, eating well and pulling hard. Her tricep was slightly stiff when we returned to the truck, but 12 hours later, it’s hardly bothering her. I’m hopeful it was just a little tight and not a bigger issue. Yoshi and Maple were paired next. Yoshi doesn’t make much noise, but she shows her happiness by jumping up off the straw, pulling hard, and quietly wagging her tail at breaks. She’s looking great! Maple is new this year and brings so much to the team. She whines enthusiastically if she spots a team ahead of us, and she eats everything in sight! Good girl! Uno and Mario were quite the pair. They played together at the first break (as if they’ve never camped in their lives- ha!). After that, they were all business and motored down the trail. Scarpa and Thresher ran together. This was Scarpa’s first “mock” race. She did excellent! Her tricep was a little sore on the last run, so she caught a ride in the trailer on the final run to the truck, but she’s looking great now. Thresher was his normal driven, focused self. I’d like to start working with him in lead more; however, he so loves being farther back where he can chase his teammates. Bowser and Bert. For Bert, this was the farthest he’s ever traveled! Bert has been slow to mature as a sled dog, but he did smashingly during this trip! I was so proud of him. He worked hard, ate his food, and seemed to love traveling in new country. This was also a test for Bowser. When he was younger, Bowser would dip snow incessantly, causing him to vomit on the trail. We determined this was due to anxious nerves, so as a 2-year-old, he was held back to train with the yearlings. This year he has been doing much better! He was still a little anxious on the first run, but then he seemed to settle in. Go Bowser!

Now it’s time for Iditarod drop bag prep! Cutting meat snacks, bagging kibble, packing food- HERE WE GO!

White Mountains Camp by Mandy

“Did you happen to grab the ganglines?”

I glance over and meet Ryne’s eyes for the last second of hopefulness that we didn’t forget one of the most crucial pieces of gear.

You see, we’re a couple of miles down Chena Hot Springs Road on our way to the White Mountains for a two day mushing trip. Our first run is an easy 40 miles so we had a slow morning of packing and free-running the puppy litters. Even so, it’s afternoon already and we want snacks at the gas station, not a trip back to the kennel.

“No, I didn’t.”

Oh, well. It’s only a minor detour before we’re back on the road and bellies happy with food. Just 2 mushers, 19 dogs, and 1 truck.

The parking lot is filling up but the spot next to the trail head is clear. We pull in, slip on warmer clothes, and prep the sleds. Soon after, the dogs are out and dressed for the occasion! The other weekenders curiously watch as they arrange their own snow machines, hiking backpacks, firewood, etc.

We pause at the exit waiting for a family to pass by before taking off.

The little kid loudly asks his parent, “Why does she have so many dogs?” A single pet dog is dragged behind them with eyes spread wide at our pack.

Once they’re out of ear shot, Ryne turns to me; “Why doesn’t he have more dogs?” She gives the dogs the okay.

The sunset waves us off and I get my first peeks of the mountains through the sporadic gaps in Spruce trees. The team is loving new trails.

Night comes quickly and it’s a pleasant run to the cabin. I spend moments with my headlamp off to take in the stars and hear the steadiness of dog feet against the silence of an Alaskan night.

Then we start hitting overflow.

The dogs are doing their best but it’s difficult to grip the ice when wearing booties. We slow down to make it easier on them but it’s hard to tell when the overflow will end—headlamps only reach so far. Ryne knows we’re super close to the cabin though, our end point for the day, so we push on.

(Below video is from the next day when we tackle overflown in the daylight and without booties on)

Reaching the cabin, we have to maneuver around until finding spots for both dog teams to fit. The evening routine begins with melting snow for the dogs’ dinners and ends with Ryne and I tucked into sleeping bags on the cabin’s wooden platforms.

Or at least, we think.

Most of the adult dogs curled up on their straw piles and went swiftly into dreamland. But not one trouble maker. We keep hearing play noises and a few growls—Ryne gets up to yell Quiet and try to catch the culprit but dogs are good at stopping to the sound of a door opening. This repeats a few times until we hear a dog on the porch!

Ryne simply opens the door, let’s in the now loose Faff, and closes it. Problem solved.

Our goal of this trip is not strictly training—we slept the entire night—but to experience the Whites and getting a longer run of 60 miles on new trails. We wait for sunlight and look forward to seeing the landscape in the new light.

And the Whites don’t disappoint! I appreciate the variety of terrain from the overflown rivers, deep forests, and vacant ridge lines; the rise and fall of the sun along its arc. But mostly, I cherish the dogs and what they share with me.

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Puppy Runs

The Cheese and Office Litters are now about 6.5- 7 months old. The Fire litter (Spitfire, Fox, and Fly) now exercise in harness, but we have yet to introduce the youngest RK athletes to a harness quite yet. For now, they get their energy out by chasing the snowmachine. We stage the snowmachine at the beginning of our exit trail, release the horde, and then rocket down to the Chena River for some zoomies.

These two litters have been quite a handful- getting into scuffles, barking incessantly, and growing monstrously large. Compared to the Fire Litter who were perfectly behaved from day one, these nine make for a chaotic horde and definitely try my patience. All that being said, when they’re out running, stretching out into full speed torpedoes, it makes my heart soar. Their love of running is so apparent that I feel lucky I get to be a part of it.

Big Tuna loves to be in the front. You can see in the last portions of the video, Tuna is going all out at the front of the pack, not caring about the dogs behind him and just enjoying eating up the trail. Beesly is often at the front as well and likes to dart around the snowmachine to lead everyone when we’re on narrow sections. Holly is one of the most athletic, and it’s spectacular to watch her run. She alternates from being near the front to playing with her siblings farther back. Mose likes to rocket ahead when he sees Tuna up front and shoulder bump him. Like Holly, Mose has an impressive build and can cover some ground when he puts on the turbo jets. Dwight is enormous. Because of his large size, he’s still kind of clumsy and gangling, so he’s normally farther back in the running group. Cartel often joins us on the runs, and he TOWERS over her. Cheddar is super speedy. She doesn’t have the confidence of Tuna and Beesly, but she spends her fair share of time at the front of the pack. When stopped, she likes to run ahead, then turn around, lie down, and mad dog (meaning stare at everyone like a Border Collie) as if daring them to run past her. Muenster is the fluffiest of all the puppies, which hides his athletic build, but when he gets going, Muenster can hang with the best of them. He prefers to pester and play with Cartel and Havarti rather than push for the lead. Havarti is taller and more graceful than her sister Cheddar. She LOVES pestering Cartel, and Cartel is slow, so Havarti normally ends up being farther back just because that’s where Cartel is. Mozzerella was one of the most confident pups early on, but as he’s gotten older, he’s definitely become a bit more introverted. He’s normally near the front but likes to keep out of the fray. He’s always very attentive on where the human is and likes to sit, hoping for a treat.

Dancing on Thin Ice

In the fall of 2019, we were contacted by email asking to take two famous British figure skaters dog mushing in search of a remote pond on which to go ice skating. I remember forwarding the message to my British sister-in-law, Cass, and asking if it seemed legit. It’s not uncommon to get strange emails, and more often than not they don’t pan out into worthwhile endeavors. Cass eagerly replied, yes, Torvill and Dean are very accomplished figure skaters! Directors Emma Frank and Helena Braun traveled to Two Rivers in the fall to scout out the filming possibilities. I took them for a short dryland mush (in a side by side) around the neighborhood, said goodbye, and wondered if we’d hear from them again.

After a few emails back and forth speculating weather and conditions, Torvill and Dean and a host of filming personnel arrived at the kennel one day. Even then, I don’t think I fully grasped the accomplishments of Torvill and Dean. This was partially due to their personable, down-to-earth demeanors, and also me living in my own bubble. Perhaps it was good that I didn’t do much research ahead of time, otherwise I would have been begging for autographs and acting like a crazy fan.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are gold medal figure skaters, winning the highest score of all time in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo for their performance to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. And they sat on my dog-hair-covered couch, enthusiastically interacting with the dogs, and not letting on that they were celebrities.

After an afternoon of filming, the crew had enough clips to add a portion on dog mushing to their production- Dancing on Thin Ice. Currently, the production has only aired in England; however, it will hopefully be broadcast in the United States. While looking for a wilderness location to skate their gold medal Bolero, Torvill and Dean also touch on climate change and melting ice in the North. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it, and can now claim we’ve met gold medal Olympians!

Fall 2019

The Olympic champions travel to Alaska on an extraordinary quest to fulfill a lifelong dream. But will warming temperatures ruin their hopes to skate the Bolero in the remote wilderness?

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The Retired Life- by Mandy

You can’t train a dog to pull a sled—they either have the drive or they don’t. This goes hand-in-hand with retirement... they let you know when they don’t want to pull anymore or at least desire less intense miles.

And sometimes, an injury will lead to early retirement. This happened to the lovely Perm when her Achilles’ tendon never quite returned to normal. She is staying at my (Mandy) handler’s cabin for the season to get extra love and care... before she gets adopted by my partner and I :P

What’s retirement like for a sled dog, such as Perm?

Let me tell you, she can hold down a dog bed as well as she ran 1,000 Mile races. She was smart then and still is now. Every trait that made her a great sled dog has transferred to pet life. Here’s some stories of her figuring everything out:

At 7 years old, Perm learned the command Sit. Good girl! She quickly made the connection that she receives treats when she sits. On walks, she often randomly sits in front of you and stares intensely for her treat. I fall for it every time.

A couple weeks back, I decided it’d be fun to let Perm run around off-leash while I loaded up on firewood. The pile is next to Ryne’s house across the yard so we head over together. She sniffs a few pieces of wood and then moseys off. I’m not worried about it until I hear a door open and sudden laughter. I turn around to see that Perm let herself into Ryne’s!!!! The door has a long handle that when Perm paws at it, she can click open. It goes to show that, Perm adores any opportunity given to be inside... even if she has to create it herself.

She knows when to bed down but also when to get going. As soon as the second alarm goes off in the morning, a yawn comes from her dog bed that sounds more pterodactyl than wolf. Then she worms her nose to the closest face in hopes of a good morning ear scratch.

Perm is a good eater and knows the drill when it comes to meat soup and kibble. What I adore though is watching her try new treats, such as human food. She likes cheese but not yet peanut butter. Often times she just smells it before looking up with a “what do I do with this weird item?” expression. Don’t offer her toothpaste, she hates the smell.

Just like in the dog yard, these intelligent beasts need their minds stimulated or they get bored. When bored, they chew up their dog houses. We had a busy week and didn’t get much exercise for Perm one day. So, she began chewing the wooden frame of our bed instead!

While retired sled dogs desire a break from racing, they are typically still energetic. We take Perm on long walks, hikes, and bikejoring. The first time was weird for her but she crushed it. Now, she’s lining out and barking her head off to get going! My partner likes to bikejore with Perm and my dog Midnight—their favorite loop being to the local post office and back.

We can’t help it. We LOVE that Perm howls back as soon as you do. So, we regularly start a howl off for every family member we FaceTime... which causes the dog yard to howl too! Sorry Ryno Kennel when we do that at 8 in the morning.
Lastly, I have a 2 year old German Shepard-Husky. He’s an absolute goofball but does have a strong guarding trait. Luckily, Perm steals all hearts around her and broke him down. Now they run around together, marking up and down the trails of Two Rivers! It’s been incredible to watch him open up and a friendship starting to form. Good girl, Perm!

Happy New Year! And... 2021 CB

3rd Place in our first Ryno Kennel CB in 2015

First- HAPPY NEW YEAR! We celebrated the New Year by hanging with dogs, making cookies, and promptly falling asleep at 10:00 PM. It was glorious.

With Copper Basin only a week away, we made a decision-

It was a very tough decision, but we opted to withdraw from the Copper Basin 300. BUT IT’S OK! This is NOT a sad thing. For the past 6+ years, the Copper Basin has been one of our favorite races. The volunteers, the trail, the community- we love our annual trip down to Glennallen for the CB300. Not to mention, the dogs always perform spectacularly at the CB; however, this year, for a variety of reasons, we’ve decided to change it up. Rather than ramping up training so that the dogs peak at Copper Basin then have another peak at Iditarod, we’re trying a little more gradual build up to Iditarod with run/rest series that aren’t quite as intense as a Copper Basin race. Who knows if this will benefit the team or be a bad decision, but it felt like a good year to try something different! So far, the dogs have been looking strong and enthusiastic in training. We’ve gone on a couple campouts and have another one planned for next week. We’re sticking to distances that we will more likely travel during Iditarod (at least for the beginning of the race, meaning no 70-80 mile runs like in CB). I’m excited to see how this change up in training works for us in Iditarod!

On sad note, long time CB trail breaker Jamey Kemp passed away suddenly earlier in December. He was the Trail Boss for the Copper Basin from 2013-2020, and I was always impressed with his commitment to provide the best trail possible. After each race, he’d seek out individual mushers and ask their opinion on the trail, were there any areas that needed improvement, if they were happy with the conditions. He’ll be greatly missed. If you’d like to support Jamey’s family, the Copper Basin is selling special t-shirts in his memory: