Loon's Big Mushing Wreck

Angie and I have started mushing with our farm dogs. Well, not so much “mushing” as “walking behind the sled yelling at the dogs.” We bought harnesses and lines and a little kick sled. Unfortunately, our biggest dog, Krunchy, doesn’t want to pull. But Brownie does pretty well, she doesn’t mind being hooked up, she usually just walks. Biscuit pulls along with her, but at 35 pounds, he doesn’t have much strength.


Sunday morning, we headed out to mush down the road, across a waterway to the woods. A snow machine trail goes down the ravine to the bottom land along the river. I’ve already gone down the trail there once, pretty fast. They can pull me because it’s downhill.


So today, I stopped them at the top while Angie walked down to the bottom. They were fired up, they wanted to go with her. When she got down, I stepped off the brake and yelled “hup!” We took off like a rocket!


Now, this little sled has a small claw brake which when stepped on, stops the sled – in theory. But on a snow packed, icy snow machine trail, it either stops it dead or has no effect – there’s really no in-between. And I’ve only been on it going fast one other time – down the same hill – so my feet don’t automatically know where to find the brake.


As we flew down the trail, the sled would take to the air over little jumps. I was yelling “Yee Haw!” as we went. But when I stepped for the brake, the act of raising one foot would cause the sled to become unbalanced and start to turn to the other direction. And the brake would jerk the sled around violently. I had to let it off and get my feet back on the sled to regain control, but as did, we picked up speed. And each jump got bigger as we careened out of control. Nearing the bottom, I didn’t dare take my feet off the runners, and the snow hook, a big claw attached to a separate line used to anchor the sled, bounced loose. I’ve read enough about mushing to know what might happen next. As we were just about to the bottom, the hook set itself in the trail, directly under the sled. Everything – sled, ropes, dogs – came to a complete and sudden halt. Everything, that is, except for the musher.


I hit the handlebars at full speed and was launched up and over the front of the sled. I came down hard on my front, with my left arm trapped beneath my chest. Gasping for air, my first words were, “I just broke some ribs!” I got to my feet and bent over, trying to breathe. The dogs were standing there, wagging their tails. The snow hook had performed perfectly. The sled was in one piece. Angie got a good laugh. She took the dogs through the woods for a ways, and then I went down the hill one more time – to be sure I could handle it.


I think I’m fine, but I am a bit sore now, and it’s only been a few hours.


Can’t wait to see how I feel on Monday!

Lance Mackey Wins Copper Basin 300

Iditarod and Yukon Quest Champion Lance Mackey adds the 2009 Copper Basin 300 to his list of wins. His time of 53:43 was 23 minutes ahead of 2nd place finisher Hans Gatt. Lance finished with 10 dogs in harness.

For more on the CB300, visit their website at http://www.cb300.com/.

Sheep Mountain 150 Recap

Jessica Hendricks wins with 11 dogs in harness.
She was closely followed by Allen Moore, Hans Gatt, Sabastian Schnuelle, Jeff King & Jon Little.

By all reports, the trail was great and the event was extremely well run by Zach and Anjanette Steer.

Toughest Race On Earth: Iditarod - CHANGE

The Discovery Channel has moved Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod to Friday's at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT.

There are repeats at various times, check listings.

Tonight is the Premiere of "Toughest Race On Earth: Iditarod"

Tonight is the premiere of the Discovery Channel series "Toughest Race On Earth: Iditarod".

The series will air at 10PM Eastern Time tonight, and repeat at 11PM ET, 2AM ET early Wednesday, Friday night at 10PM ET, early Saturday morning at 2AM ET, and Saturday morning at 11AM ET.

Tune in for coverage of the race start in Anchorage and Willow. Meet mushers and their dogs. Learn behind-the-scenes strategies and training methods. See exclusive interviews.

For more on the race, go to http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/iditarod/iditarod.html.

Lance Mackey on to appear Conan O'Brien

Lance Mackey will appear tonight, Thursday October 9th, on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, following the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC.

Among the topics to be discussed are his mushing championships, his "Toughest Athlete on the Planet" win and the up-coming Discovery Channel series "The Toughest Race On Earth: Iditarod" which premieres next Tuesday, October 14th.

Sled Dog Accident

Kasilof Musher Jon Little with injured dog Wolf

Photo By Joseph Robertia


Three sled dogs were killed in a training accident Sunday, and two others were injured, according to the Peninsula Clarion. One of the injured was euthanized Tuesday.

Long-time writer and musher Jon Little of Kasilof was returning from a training run with two teams pulling four-wheelers. His former handler Mike Barnett was running the second team, waiting for his turn to cross the Sterling Highway, when the team got out of control and darted in front of a moving SUV.

According to Little, the location near the highway's intersection with Kalifornsky Beach Road, has been dangerous for many years due to high traffic volume.

"It's a tragedy, but the dogs' deaths won't be in vain if this increases awareness about that intersection," he said.

Those wishing to contribute to the medical costs can log on to his website at http://kasilofkennel.bravehost.com/.