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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
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Last night Lance Mackey won the Yukon Quest for the fourth year in a row. This has been a bad year, with an awful, awful trail and temperatures that hit -60F. The Quest website has video up of Mackey leaving the last checkpoint 100 miles from the finish line in Whitehorse, at http://www.yukonquest.com/site/view-...urn/#showMedia (choose "Mackey leaves Braeburn for the Finish Line"). It also shows him drinking bottled water. News reports about him often mention that he's a cancer survivor, but what they tend not to mention is that he's got no salivary glands as a result and so he's got to drink water nearly constantly, which is a real challenge when you're spending over a week on the trail with temperatures substantially below zero. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
Melinda Shore wrote:
http://www.yukonquest.com/site/view-...urn/#showMedia (choose "Mackey leaves Braeburn for the Finish Line"). Very low key. You can tell they're all pretty tired. The scene in the middle, when the starboard lead dog is nosing him, is super sweet. That's a guy who really likes his dogs. which is a real challenge when you're spending over a week on the trail with temperatures substantially below zero. It's logistical things like that that I wonder about. Does he keep a bunch of bottles on the sled, right in front of him? Don't they freeze? Or does he stash a few in his pockets, where they might stay warmer? And how the heck does he get the lids on and off with those huge gloves? That can be kind of difficult with bare hands, when it's a brand new bottle. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
#3
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
In article ,
Shelly wrote: Very low key. You can tell they're all pretty tired. Really? They look calm to me, not tired. They're not barking and harness banging, but they're pretty clearly up and ready to go. The scene in the middle, when the starboard lead dog is nosing him, is super sweet. That's a guy who really likes his dogs. In talking about him Aliy Zirkle said "Lance is glad he's alive. Lance's dogs are glad he's alive." It's logistical things like that that I wonder about. Does he keep a bunch of bottles on the sled, right in front of him? Don't they freeze? Or does he stash a few in his pockets, where they might stay warmer? I understand he stashes a few inside his parka (the really warm parkas have a mess of pockets in them) and keeps the rest inside a cooler. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
Melinda Shore wrote:
Really? They look calm to me, not tired. They're not barking and harness banging, but they're pretty clearly up and ready to go. It's hard to tell on an itty bitty viewer (my screen resolution is by necessity insanely high). I assumed tired, but you'd definitely know better than me. Calm, it is! In talking about him Aliy Zirkle said "Lance is glad he's alive. Lance's dogs are glad he's alive." That part came across loud and clear. It was neat watching them interact like that. Those little adjustments to the dogs' positions? Is that just a touching base sort of thing, or is there a purpose in it? I understand he stashes a few inside his parka (the really warm parkas have a mess of pockets in them) and keeps the rest inside a cooler. Ah! Clever. I wouldn't have thought of a cooler as as working in reverse. -- Shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship) http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther) |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
In article ,
Shelly wrote: It's hard to tell on an itty bitty viewer (my screen resolution is by necessity insanely high). I assumed tired, but you'd definitely know better than me. Calm, it is! Yeah - they're up, alert, and wagging their tails, and they trot off smartly (there's another video of them a short bit down the trail). Genuinely tired dogs won't get up. After 900 miles, the dogs know what's next. Those little adjustments to the dogs' positions? Is that just a touching base sort of thing, or is there a purpose in it? I'm not really sure, but from what I could see on the video he was making small harness adjustments (centering the tug, etc.) that don't really matter but that make contact with the dog - touching base, as you said. It's pretty interesting to contrast his interactions with his dogs with Ken Anderson's, on an adjacent video. Anderson is also a great musher but he doesn't seem to be as involved with his dogs. Ah! Clever. I wouldn't have thought of a cooler as as working in reverse. That's pretty much SOP for people who have to carry medications, etc., but it's not something you'd think of unless you're spending extended periods outside in very, very cold weather. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
In article ,
sighthounds & siberians wrote: That sounds familiar (not the trail part). What kind of cancer did he have? They keep saying "throat cancer" without providing more details. Apparently he wasn't expected to make it, and he was a young guy at the time (still is). Apparently when he was recovering he was too weak to do much, but he'd sit outside with his dogs and make plans. -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
"Melinda Shore" wrote in message ... [] Last night Lance Mackey won the Yukon Quest for the fourth year in a row. This has been a bad year, with an awful, awful trail and temperatures that hit -60F. The Quest website has video up of Mackey leaving the last checkpoint 100 miles from the finish line in Whitehorse, at http://www.yukonquest.com/site/view-...urn/#showMedia (choose "Mackey leaves Braeburn for the Finish Line"). (snip) I found the video moving, and really got a kick out of the "Road Closed" sign. Road closed my ass, mush on! The finish line video showed Lance to be a gracious winner, he remarks that his feet are frozen, then sees to his dogs and returns to the finish line for Anderson's arrival. Well done. Karla |
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
"Melinda Shore" wrote in message ... It also shows him drinking bottled water. News reports about him often mention that he's a cancer survivor, but what they tend not to mention is that he's got no salivary glands as a result and so he's got to drink water nearly constantly, which is a real challenge when you're spending over a week on the trail with temperatures substantially below zero. I didn't know that. I have no idea how you'd manage to even walk around in those temps - the air is soo dry, without salivary glands. He's a hard core guy. |
#10
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What dogs look like after 900 miles of awful trail
In article ,
Shelly wrote: It's hard to tell on an itty bitty viewer (my screen resolution is by necessity insanely high). I assumed tired, but you'd definitely know better than me. Calm, it is! By way of follow-up, the finishers banquet was last night and Mackey won the veterinary award, given by the veterinarians for best dog care and the dogs in the best shape. http://newsminer.com/news/2008/feb/2...quest-banquet/ -- Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis - Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community |
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