Hollingsworth

The Exit Glacier Run dawned cool, but the wind and rain stayed away. I lacked the excitement for this run that I had for the Pink Cheeks, but decided to go ahead and run it as I needed to run anyway and I'd already paid. I think part of my lack of excitement was the fact that we train our dogs on this road all winter long and I get tired of it, though the sceneray is incredible. It is a one way race, so a bus drops you off at the starting line and then you run back. With the cool weather the big issue is staying warm before the race. I took an extra layer which I was able to discard before the run. A van came along behind all the racers and picked up clothes. As usual the first mile was the hardest. I felt like I was struggling, but I also could still see the front of the pack. Then I started to get into the groove and felt comfortable. It looked like most of the people in front of me were quite a bit younger and that turned out to be the case. With the exception of the under 20 group there was only one woman that was faster than me and she was in a different age group. I ended up with the blue ribbon for the 50-60 group and a new personal record for the 5K. My time was 27:44 which made me very happy and made me glad that I had run the race. I'm trying to decide whether to do a tri in Kenai in a couple of weeks. I wasn't going to do it, but then Hunter signed up which made it more appealing.

After the race I came home and made some cookies as I was expecting a friend to come by and take pictures of the dogs. She has a really nice camera and the photos she takes are of excellent quality. She took the photo above. She showed up with 4 kids and Nita brought Hunter so the kids ran around and played in Hunter's tree house while we took pictures. Taking pictures of 11 sleddogs was an interesting event. We brought down the old piano bench and placed the dog on top. Then tried to get them to pose. Eventually they all did, but we had a lot of trouble with Ella who was the last dog to do. She was trying to grip the bench with her toes and kept slipping off the back. I got the toenail clippers out and gave her a manacure. That helped a little, but not much. Finally we put a carpet on the bench and though she never really relaxed we finally got some photos that I think will be usable.

I started working for Ididaride this week. I think it will work out well. I take care of the gift shop which is pretty simple compared to what I've done in the past. The learning curve is learning the reservation system. Then I've found that most people that call in want to chat like they are your long lost friends. That's okay unless the other phone is ringing and the shop is full of people. I was there by myself on Thursday and don't think I made any catastrophic mistakes. By the end of summer I'm sure it will all be second hat. We had one decent day this week and I rode by bike to work. It's a pretty good set up as the wind is at my back in the morning and usually changes directions in the afternoon so it is again at my back going home. At lunch I rode a mile to the Building Supply where I borrowed Daryl's car to do errands.

The day of the Pink Cheeks dawns dreary & cold, but it isn't a torrential downpour and the wind isn't howling from the north so I take hope. I start the day at 7 with a strawberry/blueberry/banana smoothie and relax with some quiet time. Linnea is to swim at 8:40 and my swim is at 9:00. It isn't quite 8 when I leave the house for the pool. I know I am early, but race excitement is already hounding me. No spectators are allowed in the pool area so Linnea and I planned our swim so we could cheer each other on. I love to watch Linnea swim as she has such a beautiful easy stroke and looks like a ballerina in the water. I am to swim in lane 1 which is not to my liking as it is the closest to the wall. Here is where arriving early really pays off as the swimmer in lane 2 finished early and I am ready to go so they move me over. I do one warm up lap and then start my swim. 6 months of working up to this moment. Starting from ground zero where I couldn't make it from one end of the pool to the other and working my way up to where I was known at the pool as the one that only had one speed, but could swim forever. Now to put it all together. My fastest 900 to this point was 18:57. I am hoping for 18:30, but Linnea has higher standards and says I can do it in 18. I know I'm pushing myself, but is it too much. My stroke feels a bit sloppy and my strokes are a little short. I'm counting, lap one, lap two, concentrate on stroke, concentrate on breathing right. The swimmer next to me runs into me, keep swimming, lap five & six, the swimmer next to me tries to drown me as I pass her and I am grateful when that swimmer finishes and a smother swimmer enters the water. Lap 9 and I'm half way there, I can do this! Keep stroking. My stroke to breath count is off, but I hope that that means I'm swimming faster than normal Lap15 or is it 16. I've lost count, but know I'm almost finished so will have to look for the red flash. Then I hear Linnea, "100 to go!!". I can do this! Down and back and there is the red flash. I'm on the final lap and pushing it now. Final length, give it all I have and swim hard into the wall. Done. Linnea is smiling huge as are my timers. What is my time? 17:51. Wow! I am stoked now. The adrenalin is pumping and I'm ready to attack the next portion of the tri. Linnea has finished her swim in a very respectable 12:23. My that girl can swim!

One of the things I like about this tri is that the swimming is timed separate from the run & bike. That means I can take a shower and get dressed in a leisurely manner. Daryl brings Linnea and I a smoothie to sip on before the running starts. I have an hour and a half before the run, but race energy pushes me outside even though it's cold. I get my bike set up in my new stand which also has room for Linnea's Bike. Hunter arrives with his bike as well. He is doing the biking portion of a team with his friends Connor & Ian. The standing around waiting is tough, but I run in place while talking to folks and try to stay warm as it edges closer & closer to race time. I am still stoked from such a great swim. Finally I ditch my coat and find a place in the center of all the runners in hopes that I can stay warm there. I have gone with my capri tights, a light long sleeved shirt and very light windbreaker. I've weighed my shoes and picked the lightest ones. I hope to break the 30 minute barrier that so far has eluded me.

After multiple instructions the countdown begins and then we are off. It always seems to take forever for the beginning of the race to sort itself out and I feel a bit stifled, but finally I have some running room. The first half mile is downhill and I'm going to let myself go. I am running with Linnea and that is nice. Then Joe comes from behind, arms waving in the air and announcing to the world that he is passing us. He's only good for about 20 feet though and then has to stop and adjust his pants which enables us to pass him, only to have him once again come charging down the hill. After about a half a dozen times of this we leave him to entertain those further back. Now up over Dairy hill. Lean forward and pump the arms more. Linnea is just behind me and worrying about me beating her. I still think she will catch me on the home stretch. At the top of the hill, Mom, Dad and Blaine are there to cheer us on. It's a wonderful spot to have a cheering squad. Down the other side of the hill and Linnea pulls ahead a little. Then I pass her and that is the last I see of her. Geri is up from Minnesota and cheers as we go past. By now the front runners are passing us on their way back. I'm still ahead of schedule and feeling good. I can still communicate in short sentences so don't feel I am going too fast. Around the turn and I'm on my way home. Over Dairy hill again and finally up the long hill to the school. Run, run, one step in front of the other. You can do this. Cheering from the crowds pushes me on. There is the finish line for the running. Keep running, don't stop. I check my watch and get a burst of adrenalin when I see that I am under 29 minutes. I can't stop now as I run towards my bike.

I have not practiced the transition as I've always had to put my bike together before I could ride, but it went like clockwork. My helmet slid into place as did the snap. I ran with the bike to cross the starting line and was off on the next leg. A couple quick strokes and we are headed down a steep incline. I allow myself a couple seconds of rest. At the bottom of the hill is a sharp turn through the school parking lot. Around the end and back out to the road where a ramp takes us up onto the bike path. I am catching the biker in front and he doesn't take the ramp but runs into the sidewalk instead. Now I'm passing bikes, On your right! On your left! Coming through the middle. I am surprised to be passing bikers as I consider this my weakest leg. Then Linnea passes me and I cheer her on. Now climbing 2nd ave all the way to the top. I had planned to peddle standing, but my legs didn't cooperate so I shift to easier gears and peddle faster. I notice that no one else is standing either. Now we are meeting bikes on their way back. Keep peddling, don't shift too soon at the top. NOW Shift to the hardest gear and fly down the other side of 2nd ave. A quick brake at the bottom and onto the dirt alley. Let her go and shoot out to Lowell Point road. Now the turn around. I'm a little sloppy there.I'm not real great on sharp turns and I have to hop a bit. I get going again and there are a couple cars in front of us. What are they doing there? I realize they are going too slow so I whip out around them and head for the dirt alley going up. This is one of the hardest parts of the race and I grind up the hill reminding myself that it's hard, but a short portion. I crest that hill and now have to climb two more blocks to the top of 2nd ave. Now for my favorite part. A half mile of downhill where I can let myself go. The bike & I are feeling like a team now as we soar down the hill with the wind whistling in my ears. I move into the next lane to avoid a bad spot in the road that I know about and then continue on. Now back up over Dairy hill with my cheering squad in place. I check my time and realize I have a chance to break an hour for the bike/run section of the race. Then disaster almost strikes. The biker next to me pulls ahead, but when we go to make the turn onto the bike path he stops. I yell at him to keep going and he veers to the right just enough to let me slide past on the inside. Now around the final corner to the last long hill. I see Hunter ahead of me so I yell at him to let him know I'm behind him. I hope that will push him up the hill and it does. He puts everything into it and I don't catch him until the finish chute. He's a much better biker than me, but I have a better bike. We peddle for the finish neck & neck. Hunter jumps off to run across the mats and I just drop down with my chipped foot as it's too difficult for me to get off the bike. What an exhillarationg feeling to have just finished a triathlon! I look at my watch and it is just under 57 minutes.

I try to add my swimming time to my bike run time, but am coming up with a number that just can't be. Later I find a piece of paper and do the addition and it is the same. I show up to awards only to find that the awards ceremony has been cancelled because they are still having trouble with the computers. Then they tell me they will have the results up by Monday. I have to wait 2 days to find how I placed. I cannot believe it. I'm glad I checked my watch, but now I wished I'd stopped it when I crossed.  It's now Monday morning, I've written this story and still don't know how I place. I just checked the webpage again just to be notified that they are still working on results. I think we would be better off tossing the computers and tallying by hand. The suspense is killing me, but I'll post this and get back with the results when I hear them. No matter the outcome though I have already won. Not only did I finish the race, but My Daddy told me he was proud of me. That is something that little girls strive for their entire lives. I sure know that I am proud of Linnea and Hunter.

Finally, the results are in. Had I done this well last year I would have won by 6 minutes, but there were some good women that moved up from the 40-50 group that bested me. There were also a lot more women in my age group. Still I am very pleased. I placed 38th out of 96 women and my name made it onto the first page of the results. I placed 4th out of 18 in my age group with a time of 1:14:41. My swim time of 17:51; Run time 28:27; Bike time which includes transition 28:23. I finally broke the 30 minute barrier and did it by much more that I thought I could. Linnea was 21st over all with the 4th fastest swim time at 12:29, and Hunter's team came in 2nd. I guess I'll just have to do this till I'm 60 so I can be the youngest in my age group!

We traveled to Anchorage for 3 days of swimming at the Bartlett pool. Junior Olympics is a qualifying race and Hunter qualified for 5 events plus 2 relays. On day one he broke his 200 IM time by 5 seconds. Then he took a second off his 50 free which gave him a fast enough time to make it into 5th place over all. The highlight of the meet though was on Saturday when the relay swam. Hunter & His buddy Conner were the only two boys to have JO qualifying times, but they were able to get a couple of their teammates to fill in the other two spots and fill in they did. In the Medley relay each swimmer swims a different stroke. I have to hand it to the coaches as they did a good job in setting up the relay team. Hunter swam last and the team next to them was about a quarter length ahead, but their final swimmer was not a strong swimmer and Hunter started to catch him. At the far end he was maybe 10 feet behind and when they came out of the turn it was reduced to 5 feet. By this time the Seward contingent which took up an entire bleacher section was going wild. We were off our seats and screaming like crazy. Hunter passed his competitor about half way back and then pulled ahead to win the race. We all had huge smiles and tears as well. There were 4 very happy boys. On Sunday the same boys swam the 200 free relay. In this race all swim free style with Hunter again anchoring the team. This time they had a bit of a lead going into the final leg which was a good thing as the swimmer swimming against Hunter was very fast. He was the winner of the 50 free. Hunter didn't let the team down though as he gave it everything he had and the team again won the relay.  Hunter was very tired after 3 days of racing.

Now we're heading into the next weekend which is the Pink Cheeks Triathlon. I'm as ready as I can get at this point. I hope to do well in the swimming which I've been working very hard on. Unfortunately I think I am closest to the wall and that's a hard place to swim from as the line curves in the deep end and it's hard to stay on my side of the line. I also worry about hitting the wall. Then the weather has turned really cold and I don't like running in the cold. Not only that, but it's supposed to rain and to add insult to injury, the wind is to be from the north which means climbing the hills into the wind. I guess the good thing is that if even one of those things doesn't happen it will be better than if all happen. I have a huge pile of clothes ready, but can't decide what to wear. I don't want to go too heavy or it will slow me down, but on the other hand, I don't want to be cold at the start. The sun is out now so maybe we'll get lucky and the weatherman will be wrong. It's happened before, just not usually when I want him to be. What a year to decide to do something like this. First the tremendous amount of snow that didn't want to melt and now the very cold May.

Coming up on the agenda is the Pink Cheeks Triathlon. I'm wondering how it is that Linnea talks me into such insanity! Less than a month to go and it seems like I do nothing but Bike, Run & swim, Bike Run and Swim. The roads at this time of year are a disaster and bike riding is iffy at best. Even the paved roads are so covered in sand that they are more like unpaved roads and the unpaved roads are giant pot holes. Plus part of the bike route has not emerged from the great amount of snow that we've had this year so I am not able to do the entire thing in the order it's supposed to be done. I sure hope they get out with the road sweeper before May 5th rolls around.  I've wondered more than once why I had to pick this year to try to do something like this. Couldn't I have picked a year with an early spring. I can't even run or bike from my house as it's impossible to get down the road due to the break-up or lack of it. Linnea joins me at the pool on occasion. She will put in few hours there and then proceed to best a good portion of the women in the swim side of things. She is like a mermaid in the water.

The snow in the dog yard is still man high. Sometimes on the nicer days the dogs will climb to the top to check out what is going on. I dispair of it ever melting this year, but I'm less nervous of the mess as it seems to be melting from the doors first and the snow is not icy so that when it does rain it goes through the snow. It will be awhile before we can get the dogs out for their summer fun this year. I am sure that when they named our street (Winterset Circle) they did so in April as that's when one realizes that Winter has set in and doesn't plan to leave anytime soon.

Hunter again made straight A's in school. He has also qualified for several events for Junior Olympics swim meet. We will be going to Anchorage to cheer him on. Hunter also will have a part in the triathlon. He will do the biking leg with Team ICH (itch) which stands for Ian, Conner and Hunter.

I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the gifts I was given from placing 2nd in the Tanacross Race. They are beautiful and I treasure them.

We came home to snow, lots of snow. Fortunately we had hired someone to take care of our drive while we were gone. Otherwise we would never have made it into the yard. We spent all day shoveling out the dog houses so we could put the dogs away and then started on the deck, the shed roof, the garage, etc. Just as we got sort of caught up we were hit with another 18 inches of snow. The middle picture is of the dog yard before this last snow and the final picture is on our trail that we train on. It looks like the roof is sitting on the snow, but thee is actually a path dug to the doors of this outhouse. I can no longer see out my second story windows there is so much snow out there.

We have one more dog race of the year which is a relaxed race for me. It's the end of the year and more of a fun party. The last few years it has been very warm for this race, but I remember previous races where it could be minus 30 in the morning. It would be nice to have something in between this year.

I'm also preparing for my first ever triathlon. While in Fairbanks I was able to run outside and what a pleasure it was. I was able to continue the outdoor running when we got home until this last snowfall. What a drag it was to have to pull out the treadmill once again. Then there's the biking. I have a bike that Daryl and the girls bought me years ago and it's been good for just tooling around the neighborhood, but will not pass for anything less so I called my friend that sells bikes and she gave me a recomendation. I will pick up my new bike when I get to Tok. Meanwhile my old one gets me out though slow. It is only a step up from a fat bike which is probably not a bad thing since I still have to ride on snow. To make matters worse the bike is down to 2 gears and both are hard. If I can train with this bike I should be able to fy with my new one. I have paid my entry fee so I'm commited now to doing this race though I'm wondering what I am thinking. Oddly enough I think the best leg for me will be the swimming portion and I only learned to swim a few months ago. I have learned to love the pool.

While friends of ours are languishing on the shores of Hawaii and soaking in the heat, we head for the north country for a few weeks of serious racing. This year my goal was to win the 10-dog gold medal on an international level. With this in mind I determined to run every 10-dog race in Alaska. There are 5, but only 4 count for ISDRA points. With two wins in the 10-dog class already I was well on my way to that gold medal.

Things got a bit dicey at the Gold run however. About four miles into the run my main leader, Yogi stopped. This is highly unusual. I couldn't get him going so I ran up and pulled him forward. We went about 100 feet and he stopped again. Again I had to pull him forward. This time when we took off I kept the speed down so he could feel the tug on his line and eventually he decided to run. I had to slow down a few times, but he made it all the way around the course still in lead. I was shocked to find that we had the fastest time for the day, but then my strongest competiter had a very bad run. The next day I put Yogi in wheel and moved my young leader trainee to lead. Ossa did very well leading the team and we again placed first for the day and thus won the race.

The following weekend was the North Pole race with a purse of $15,000.00, about half of that going to the 10-dog class. This time I left Yogi out of the team which was a scary thing for me. It left me without a spare leader if something happened to Ossa or Einar. Ossa has limited experience so we had set up some passing practice during the week and she passed that test flawlessly. We had a clean run the first day, but found ourself in 2nd place, behind the first place team by a mere 9 seconds. The next days run was a bit sloppy. The dogs didn't look as good as I would have liked and I know they were battling some sort of doggy bug. We did end up with the fastest time for the day, but it wasn't enough to move into first place so we had to settle for 2nd. I ran Yogi & Viking in the four dog class and they placed 3rd with a couple of borrowed dogs to fill out the team. The above picture is at the North Pole race.

Then it was time to get ready for Tannacross, one of my favorite village races. For the midweek run I decided to run all 12 dogs. Things went wrong right away. I had made the mistake of putting Viking in swing, behind the leaders, and she balked about a half a mile out. She was tangled enough that I had to stop the team and deal with it. Untangling her didn't take much time, but then I could not get the snow hook out of the ground. It didn't help that the dogs were fresh out of the chute and still rearin' to go.I tugged & pulled. I unhooked tuglines in hopes to take the pressure off. Then hooked the dogs back up again. Finally I saw a man watching and had him come over to help. He was able to get the hook out by pulling from a different direction and we were off. Things were looking better now. On the way home I had to stop again and again I had a wresting match with the hook. I was very happy to finally make it back to the truck.

Tanacross is always a fun race. This year things got very exciting as the times were so close. Jennifer Sterling was in first followed by a 3-way tie of which I was a part of, only 9 seconds back. The rest of the field was right on our heels so it was still anyone's race. I had Yogi back in the team, but he was in wheel so Ossa was once again leading with Einar. The second day I went out 3rd and could see brake marks. Jennifer had to load a dog and so was out of the running. Then one of the teams behind had to change  a leader which also took her out. I ended up 2nd again and only 8 seconds out of first. The beautiful thing about Tanacross is their tradition of giving gifts to the mushers. This year it was in honor of a couple of people that had passed during the year. I came home with a new pair of moccasins, a dream catcher, beautiful beaded necklace, a birch bowl and some canned salmon, not the kind you buy in the store.

We arrived home to more snow than I have ever seen at our place and spent the rest of the day digging out. The dogs can barely get into their houses and Yogi hates having to crawl so sits outside & howls. Now we have a couple of weeks at home before we head out to one last race of the year. I'm wagering that we have snow well into July this year. The record is July 10th, but we may beat that this year.

Here is my winning team from the Raven Electric. Einar & Yogi in lead. This is coming out of the inner loop just after the dogs sensed the moose and took off. I was scared to death we would come around a corner and run right into that big old moose.

After 6 years I was finally able to capture the Raven Electric 10-dog title. I was also the first woman to do so. The race has been dominated by teams from other countries so it was extra special to bring the victory back to the USA and Alaska.  This is a 3-day race of 10 miles each day. Plus, each day the teams run a different trail so it's always fresh. We were to drive up Thursday evening, but on Thursday we were not sure if we were even going to make it to the races as the Road was closed to Anchorage due to an Avalanche. Fortunately the road re-opened at around 4 and we made it in.

Friday dawned warm and snowy. They were calling for 1-3 inches, but it ended up being 10 - 15 inches. Though the trail was slow with the extra snow, it was also very good with a firm base. The dogs seemed to enjoy running in it and with a perfect run we found ourselves in first place with the next team only 4 seconds behind. That sent us out first the second day which isn't always a good thing, but the dogs didn't seem to mind. The trail was much better and we were able to extend our lead to 37 seconds. However, I know from past experience that 37 seconds can easily be lost on that 3rd day. I fretted over the dogs all night and told them how great they were. I watched them eat and poop and determined that all 10 should be fit to go for the final day of racing. The trail was better yet and they took off like a shot. Then at the end of the starting chute one of the wheel dogs went on the neckline which is not good at all. I slowed the team for a bit and soon he was running well and was great the rest of the way. Each day of the race was a different route and today we were to go through the inner loop which is very windy. Many times you could not see the leaders once they rounded a corner. My plan was to take it cautiously through there and just keep dogs from getting tangled. That worked well till almost the end when suddenly the whole team took off like a shot. My eyes shot opened and I thought, 'What are you guys doing?' They were flying! Then I thought, 'Oh no, there's a moose out there!'. Well there was a moose though we never saw it. The good thing was that the main trail was just around the corner and they hit that flying and ran great for the rest of the run. We again had the fastest time of the day and ended up winning by about a minute and a half. I was so proud of the dogs and it was great to have 3 days of racing with no real trouble.

Then once again we drove home through a storm. I think we have returned from every race this year in some sort of blizzard or rain storm with standing water & slush. This was that kind of storm. Really nasty and made us glad to get home safely. While we were gone we had a cat come in and remove some of our snow. The drive is now bigger, but there was a lot of cleanup to do around the yard so Daryl worked on that.

Hunter also had a good weekend. He went to a swim meet in Soldotna and got 4 more qualifying times for Age Group Championships which gives him a total of 9. He can only swim 7 events so now he gets to choose what he wants. What a boy. Nita and Hunter will be flying to Juneau for the championships which will give them a chance to tour the capital. That's a real treat as our capital cannot be driven to, but can only be accesed by air or sea.

Daryl and part of his team running at the Eagle River Classic. Story below!

The weekend of the Eagle River Classic dawned bright and cold with a high of minus 5. But with fresh snow that week the trails were in wonderful shape and all dogs and drivers excited to be out on the trail. There was a slim turnout for this year’s race, but all teams were very good teams with experienced mushers so we expected no problems. Indeed, the first day passed flawlessly. All passes were clean and all dogs returned under their own power. Leading the pack was Bill Kornmuller with a time of 42:10. He was followed by Michael Tetzner in 42:51, Daryl Hollingsworth in 42:59 & Nathan Sterling in 43:12. Any of the top 4 teams had the capability of pulling of a victory on the second day.

If anything day two of the classic dawned even colder. Sunday’s events also included a 6-dog, 8-mile race. It was minus 15 when they ran and very humid which drove the cold right through you. The race ended in a tie with Kim Wells and Kris Racey taking first in a time of 28:19. Michael Tetzner was 3rd in 28:35.

The open race started with a bit of excitement when the ring on Bill Kornmullers sled broke and turned his team loose before they were ready. One of his sons caught the team and stopped it before it got too far in an amazing tackle. All teams got off on the trail in good shape and at the first road crossing were all looking good. There was no more than 15 seconds separating the top 4 teams at that point. At the road crossing coming home Bill Kornmuller came past looking well and everyone checked their watches for the time. Two minutes went by and no Michael, 4 minutes and no Daryl, 6 minutes & no Nathan, 8 minutes and no Shane. We now knew something was terribly wrong, but not what so the Race marshal was called. Then Daryl & Nathan came through together and yelled that Michael was in trouble and needed help, but was on his sled.

Everyone was on high alert now and when Michael got to the road crossing he stopped for help and related his story. He had stopped to make a quick dog fix on the trail when things went very wrong and turned into a Musher’s nightmare. As he was pulling the hooks the sled lurched and fell over. One hook grabbed his leg and he was being drug by the hook. It was about a mile before he got the team stopped with the other hook, but now he could not get the hook out of his leg so waited for Daryl to come help. Daryl arrived, but in trying to get his own hooks to hold the teams bumped and the second prong went into his leg. To relieve pressure on the leg all the dogs in Michaels team had their tugs released. By now two more teams had arrived and were stopped from continuing as it would have been hazardous to the situation. The hook was finally removed and Daryl helped Michael back on the sled where he thought he could make it to the road crossing and help. There he was met by trail guards, a snow machine to take him in and a dog driver to get his dogs to the finish line. He was taken to the ER to be checked out and cleaned up, but was back at his room that night.

While most of the times were greatly affected, the drivers opted to keep the day’s results as it was all part of racing. The race was run very well and the rescue efforts quick and efficient. Daryl’s comment after the race was that he would rather have helped Michael that win the race. I think Daryl speaks for everyone on the trail that day!

It's been very cold lately. Chip & Viking like keeping close to the fire and on the coldest days I've been sure to add extra wood to the fire at night so they will stay comfortable. Then today it warmed up and snowed another 6-8 inches. The dog houses are covered and the dogs have to crawl into them as the snow is so deep. With all the snow surrounding the houses I imagine they are staying very warm inside.

We said goodby to 3 of our favorite dogs this last weekend. Balder, one of our best leaders, went to a friend to help train his young team how to be professional. Balder excels at that sort of thing and even though he's of small stature his heart is huge and his willingness to do the right thing overpowering. He will be in his element having young dogs to train. Without Balder to fall back on if something were to happen to one of our main leaders we needed a back up plan. All fall Balder worked with a female named Ossa, teaching her the finer points of leading. Yesterday we put her in lead in front of a 13 dog team and she ran like a seasoned veteran. That was a huge relief. We are now down to 13 dogs in the kennel and one doesn't belong to us and will be going home to her owners in a couple of weeks.

Daryl raced the Orville Lake Classic last week in the Open Class. The first day he passed two teams. One was shut down with a wall of people trying to corral a loose dog off the team. He made it past them okay. The other was a bit more tricky. the musher of the other team did everything right, but our crazy leaders took the difficult way around. They went out in the deep snow and dolphened past the team. One dog got it's leg through the harness of the other so Daryl had to stop and fix that, but then they were on their way. Even so they were only 15 seconds out of first and we hoped to make it up on day two. We did make it up, but then on the home stretch one of the swing dogs went down. She got up again, but Daryl had to ease her in which cost time, but at least he didn't have to load her. She's a good dependable dog so we're not sure what's wrong with her.

I'm still swimming and even did a flip turn the other day though it was pretty rough. Then I tried a flip turn with my hand paddles and promptly lost one in the deep end. I may be able to swim on top of the water now, but diving to the bottom of a 12 foot pool is beyond me. Fortunately one of the other swimmers offered to retrieve it for me. Next week Masters swimming starts and I'm hopeing to see improvement then. This month has brought improvement in my swimming and I am no longer the slowest one at the pool and I think my style has improved although I haven't had Linnea to critique me in awhile.

Our snow machine is still in the shop. They've had to order parts and are reluctant to replace the ski on warrantee. They're trying to tell us that we wrecked the machine, but we've never even had it off the road and we only use it for grooming trails and chasing dog teams. What a rat race. I hate machines. Tomorrow we will send Daryl out by himself without the machine as a back up and that's always risky with a 13 dog team. I will stay at the truck praying that they return safely with no moose encounters or anything like that. We did have a moose encounter last week. We were almost back to the truck when a moose stepped out in front of us. We followed it for a bit, but then it turned on use. That was scary and even the dogs got nervous. Daryl waved his arms and shouted and the moose finally left the trail. That same run we surprised a flock of Ptarmigan which was a real treat. One other treat this week was coming home late at night and finding a baby owl sitting on a bucket near the garage. We stared at each other for a long time before it finally flew away. Life in Alaska is wonderful!