The First FInishers Are In Nome

Dallas Seavey became the youngest winner of the Iditarod yesterday when the 24/25 year-old crossed the finish line in Nome and passed under the Burled Arch at 19:29:26 AKDT. (My confusion with his age has to do with the fact that I heard it was his birthday. When the race started he was 24. When he crossed the line in Nome he (may have been) 25--depends on what time of the day he was born I guess. Officially they say 25.) The trip from Willow to Nome took Dallas and his team (he finished the race with 9 of the 16 dogs he started with) a total of 9 days, 4 hours,29 minutes and 26 seconds.

The Seavey family has a long and rich history with the 40 year old race. Dallas' dad, Mitch, won the race in 2004 and Grandpa Dan (now 74) raced in the first one in 1973. Both Mitch and Dan are still on the trail to Nome in this years race.

Second place went to Aliy Zirkle who passed under the arch almost exactly one hour later at 20:29:10 AKDT with 10 dogs in harness after 9 days, 5 hours, 29 minutes and 10 seconds.

Other finishers (so far): 3rd Ramey Smyth, 4th Aaron Burmeister, 5th Peter Kaiser and 6th Ray Redington, Jr.

There are still 48 mushers on the trail and they will be coming into Nome in the next couple of days. This race isn't over by a long shot. We may not have to wait for some fat lady to sing, but until the last musher on the trail comes in and blows out that Red Lantern, this thing is still on!

On the Road To Nome!

Dallas Seavey pulled into the White Mountain checkpoint last night just after midnight Alaska time (or more properly Iditarod Race Time since the race seems not to have recognized the switch to daylight savings time). He had a seemingly comfortable lead over Aliy Zirkle who arrived an hour and 11 minutes later. Not far behind, however, was Ramey Smyth who showed up 52 minutes after Zirkle. All three must remain in White Mountain for a mandatory 8 hour rest before they can depart for Safety about 50 miles away and eventually the burled gateway that marks the finish line in Nome another 20 miles further on.
Aliy lost some time to Seavey on the last couple of legs coming into White Mountain and Smyth has been steadily gaining on both of the leaders so this could get real interesting later today.

Further back the winds kicked up across the ice out of Shaktoolik where a couple dozen mushers and their teams have been stuck. With temperatures near minus 10 degrees and sustained winds out of the north at around 30 miles per hour, no one is venturing forth onto the ice of Norton Sound to head into the wind and advance to Koyuk.

Currently there are two mushers running more or less together at the tail of the race (the Red Lantern position). Bob Chlupach and rookie Jan Steves are in Galena on the Yukon River and nearly 400 miles from Nome. The weather is a bit nicer there (only 2 below and 9 mph winds with a light snow falling) but they haven’t moved for quite a while. They had better shake a leg or they will be faced with a decision to be made or made for them.

Ahead of the two at the next checkpoint (Nulato) is Dallas’ Grandfather, 74 year old Dan Seavey. It would be somewhat historical if Chlupach and Steves drop out, Dallas wins and Dan gets to blow out the Red Lantern.

Following the race and chatting with other enthusiasts online in the forums sure beats following the news.

Forth and Back

Whew! Long day today. Both in time and distance. I drove up to the Bolt Hole early this morning, checked the house, barn and garage and then drove home. Round distance was 425 miles. All was well and the ground had just a very small layer of snow and ice (maybe 2 new inches of snow on top of old, crusty, frozen junk).

I checked my records and discovered I hadn't been up there since October 5th when Terry and I went up to pick up the Tundra that had been left behind when I injured my knee back in August. THe house looks like it too. I'll need to spend a couple of days just vaccuuming, dusting and washing the next time I go up. I figure, weather permitting, that will be in a couple of weeks.

Then I had to go back to the Iditarod forums and catch up on not just last night's comments but today's as well! There were close to 100 new PAGES of comments to read.

As far as I can tell, the race is on!

1 34 Seavey, Dallas
2 44 Burmeister, Aaron
3 14 Zirkle, Aliy
Only 4 miles or so between Dallas and Aliy as they head up the coast from Unalakleet toward Shaktoolik.

Behind them areL
4 11 Baker, John
5 35 Seavey, Mitch
6 28 Kaiser, Peter
7 2 Redington Jr, Ray
8 17 Jonrowe, DeeDee
9 21 Smyth, Ramey
10 59 Lindner, Sonny
11 24 Ekran, Sigrid
12 39 Anderson, Ken

In other news, Jeff King faced some recalcetrant dogs about 10 miles short of Unalakleet and after many hours of enduring a sit down strike, he was forced to scratch.

Jake Berkowitz also scratched after slicing his hand ope while cutting sosme frozen fish for his team. (Yeah, same thing happend to Mitch Seavey last year.)

Lachlan Clarke also scratched in Galena when he found himself with not enough dogs. His team had shrunk to less than 10 ready, willing and able critters.

Same for Pat Moon. He's the guy who was air lifted out a couple years back after hitting his head on a tree while negotiating The Steps. Since he hadn't finished he was still considered a rookie this year. Well, he's still a rookie after his team was reduced to jut 7 dogs. And he was still in Ruby with 400 miles to go.

On the Road

I'm going to head up to the Bolt Hole tomorrow to see if it's still standing. I haven't been there since we went back to get my truck after I damaged my knee last fall.

It might be a one day up-and-back or I could stay over night. It depends upon what I find. The weather, at least, will be cooperative. It's supposed to get up into the 50s there and close to 60 here at the Aerie with lots of sunshine on Sunday but a chance of showers late on Monday.

I should be hitting the sack since we'll lose an hour tonight with Daylight Savings Time starting, but there's this race in Alaska I've been following online....

After resting in Kaltag on the Yukon River for 5 and 1/2 hours, Aliy Zirkle has hit the trail for Unalakeet on the Bering Sea. Aliy spend much of the time in Kaltag alone with her dogs. John Baker and Mitch Seavey didn't get there until 3 and 1/4 hours after she arrived. Aaron Burmeister, Dallas Seavey and Jeff King arrived even later. None of them have taken out in pursuit of Aliy as of yet. She may well be in a position to dictate the pace of the race. And if she chooses to push things, she's likely to run the boys into the ground. She's got more than an hours head start as it is and still no one is stirring out of Kaltag.

More from the Iditarod Trail

Mitch Seavey may have been the first into Ruby, but he will have to wait to enjoy his earned reward of a multi-course gourmet dinner. Apparently the Millenium Hotel, chose not to serve the meal on site, but to present it in Anchorage at a time of the musher’s choice.

Seavey, by the way is still in Ruby doing his mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon River.

Aliy Zerkle is ell ahead of him and the rest of the pack. She's currently some 30 miles down river heading to the next checkpoint of Galena. She will have to take her 8 hour rest either there or at Nulato or Kaltag where the trail leaves the river. She's probably hoping to build a large enough lead to remain ahead of Seavey and the rest.

On the Iditarod Trail

Musher Jim Lanier claimed the prize at Cripple Checkpoint, arriving at 13:55 AST with his team of 13 dogs. Unfortunately for Lanier, he has yet to take his mandatory 24 hour rest and will/has fallen well behind the race leaders.

Mitch Seavey has taken over the lead pulling into Ruby on the Yukon River this morning at 06:00 AST . Somewhere behind him are Aliy Zirkle, John Baker, Dallas Seavey and Ray Redington, Jr. [UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Seavey gets the gourmet dinner and cash prize for being first into Ruby. As Paul mentions in the comments, Alit Zirkle breezed through Ruby staying just long enough to drop one of her dogs before continuing on. Nine minutes is all it took her.]

Two more mushers have scratched. Ryan Redington withdrew from the race at the Takotna checkpoint citing concern for his dogs. He was down to just 10 in harness at the time. Wade Marrs scratched at the Ophir checkpoint for the same reason. Marrs had just 12 dogs in harness at the time of his withdrawl.

Each musher is permitted to start the race with 16 dogs in harness. It’s not unusual for them to drop dogs along the way due to injury, illness or just plain orneriness. ("Love" might be a reason too. Ask Lance Mackey who is down to 12 dogs.) Many of the teams are still carrying between 13 and 15 dogs but a few still have all 16 in harness. Ray Redington, Jr. (in 5th place), Aaron Burmeister (running 6th), and Michelle Phillips (13th) are all out of Cripple and heading to Ruby with 16 dogs Further back, Rookie Mike Santos (41st) has left Ophir heading to Cripple with a full string as has Art Church, Jr. (55th).

It is unusual for mushers to go with just 10 dogs this early in the race. Like Ryan Redington They are more likely to concede and withdraw…unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Rookie Pat Moon (54th) left Ophir this morning with just 10 dogs, but he started from Willow with just 12 if the charts are to be believed. You have to believe that with his medical history (diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an auto immune disease that targets the intestines and kidneys at age 15) this is a personal challenge and he’s looking to complete the Iditarod, not win it. (By the way, I love his quote: “Although having an illness is physical, being sick is a state of mind.”

Almost halfway on the Iditarod

The Iditarod has claimed its first musher. Norwegian native Sylvia Furtwangler scratched yesterday afternoon at the Nikoli checkpoint. A rookie to the Iditarod, Furtwangler gave concern for her health as the reason for her withdrawl. She had 13 dogs on her team at the time. (The Dispatch story is here along with other news from the trail.)

Elsewhere, the leader board is in a state of disarray(?) as a whole lot of jockeying is going on. The Current leader seems to be Jim Lanier who left the Ophir chceckpoint at 23:25 (ADT) just a little more than an hour ahead of Trent Herbst (00:35 (ADT)) but that’s likely to be only temporary as neither has taken a mandatory 24 hour rest yet.

This first mandatory rest is also when the difference in starting times back in Willow is corrected. Those who had an early start must wait a bit longer than 24 hours before moving out. Those who started near the end of the pack will need considerably less time beyond the 24 hours. With 2 minutes between each official start back in Willow, the difference in times can be sizable. Start 1st out of 66 mushers in Willow and you might 132 minutes (2 hours 12 minutes) to give back. Your 24 hour rest is suddenly 26+ hours long. It's okay, though 'cause after this, it's all straight racing.

Meanwhile several mushers have taken their mandatory 24 in Takotna and are on the trail. Listed as running in 5th through 9th place, Mitch Seavey, Alit Zirkle, Dallas Seavey, Kohn Baker and Jeff King all stayed in Takotna but headed out between 01:13 and 02:08 this morning. Many more mushers appear to be taking their 24 hour rest at Takotna. Running in 3rd and 4th place, Martin Buser and his son Rohn have been at the Ophir checkpoint since 12:19 and 13:34 respectively so it’s likely they are taking their 24.

Much further back in the listings, in 44th and 45th places, Lance Mackey and Kelly Griffin took their 24 at McGrath but are once more on the trail heading to Takotna. (Lance was probably playing dog whisperer trying to convince his team that as much as he wouldn’t mind having puppies sired by his two lead dogs, there will be plenty of time for lovin’ once they get to Nome. )

The Ophir checkpoint is 73 miles from Cripple considered the “official” halfway point in the race when the northern route is used. The first musher to arrive at Cripple, an old gold rush mining town, is awarded a poke of $3000 in gold nuggets. That’ll buy a lot of kibble!

After Cripple, the next stop is 70 miles further along the trail at Ruby. Ruby is 495 miles from Anchorage, about 480 miles to Nome, and the first stop on the fabled Yukon River. The first musher to arrive there gets a gourmet meal and a cash prize curtsey of the Millennium Alaska Hotel in Anchorage. They actually serve up the meal at Ruby having the chef make the trip.

There’s a lot of prestige (not to mention good food and cash) involved in getting to either Cripple or Ruby first So this stretch is often a bit of a race-within-a-race. But the Big Prize--first to Nome--that’s still a long way away.

The things you see along the Iditarod Trail

Meanwhile, The Last Great Race On Earth continues. Currently, Rohn Buser is chasing his dad Martin between Takotna checkpoint and Ophir. That’s only a 23 mile stretch so one or the other (and Martin left an hour and 15 minutes ahead of his son) should be getting there soon.


The Alaska Dispatch posted an excellent story today about some of the trials and tribulations faced by mushers and their teams on the Iditarod Trail--so far. Titled: A near-death experience for dog in runaway Iditarod Trail team, the stuff they've run into runs from falling asleep and off your sled to collisions with stumps and spruce trees to possible food poisoning to…well, the dog teams are coed and not neutered or spayed so use your imagination but be sure to read all of the article.

Notes from the Aerie

This last Friday I decided to take a short ride up to the Tioga-Hammond Lake complex to see if any of the geese I had seen flying north had put into the lakes.

My first stop was at the overlook above the junction of the two lakes. There's a weir there that mixes the waters of Hammond Lake/Crooked Creek with the acidified waters of Tioga Lake/River. (Drainage from the Bloss coal mines has caused the Tioga River to become something of a dead zone.) The overlook is on an exposed point some 75-100 feet above the water of Tioga Lake. The wind gets funneled through the gap in the mountains in this area and, since it was coming from the south and blowing right up the lake to begin with, was quite strong. I needed to hold my knit hat on for fear it would be blown away. This wind, in conjunction with the warm winter we've enjoyed, had freed the Tioga Lake of any ice but it also kept the number of bird species to a minimum. I was able to spot only a handful of Common Mergansers and several hundred Ring-billed gulls. The gulls were putting on an aerial acrobatics display that was impressive but the wind prevented me from spending much time enjoying it.

A glance over toward Hammond Lake showed that the more protected waters (the wind had to navigate over the mountain and hit the lake at right angles to its length) still had some ice on it. On that ice I saw three large dark birds that I determined were immature Bald Eagles. There was also a Red-tailed Hawk soaring on the wind.

Driving on to the Ives Run Campground area, I spotted half a dozen American Crows working the tall grass of one of the fields near the day use area. Out on the water there were more Common Mergansers and several hundred Ring-billed Gulls but no geese of any kind.

Leaving Ives Run, I drove the Railroad Grade Trail towards Hills Creek State Park. The RGT was not wind blown as it too is protected by the mountain ridge that runs east-west on its southern side but there were no small birds visibly (or audibly) present along the mile and a half length.

Hills Creek State Park had a little more diversity. A dozen or so Canada Geese had taken advantage of the open waters as had several Ring-billed Gulls, eight Common Mergansers, two dozen Ring-necked Ducks, and a pair of Mallards. I heard, but did not see, a couple of Black-capped Chickadees and a White-Breasted Nuthatch in the thickets along the lake shore.

My count from this outing wasn't that great. While it was pleasing to see the Bald Eagles, I have more species of birds around the Aerie and only the numbers of Ring-billed Gulls topped the Goldfinches and Dark-eyed Juncos I see at the feeders on a daily basis.

******

Yesterday (Sunday) I spied a relatively slim ground hog scurrying through the woods here at the Aerie. "Your cousin says you've still got two more weeks of winter, you idiot! Go back to sleep!" I shouted out to it but it kept on going. Then I laughed as the lake effect snow flurries arrived and the temperature remained below 32 degrees. When I go to 15 degrees last night, I (sorta) hoped the little sh*t froze.

******

I've heard several Red-winged Blackbirds the last two days and saw my first of the year when I went for mail this morning. The males typically arrive before the females to set up territories but I wonder how they decide what constitutes a prime site when many ponds and marshes are still frozen and the cattails and phragmities they use for nesting sites are still nothing but humps of tan/brown?

******

The winds today are coming out of the north-northwest so I guess any geese desirous of heading north are going to hunker down where they are for a few days until they get some favorable tail winds. With the cold night time temperatures we are having, it's probably for the best.

******

Our furnace is acting up again. Last year we started having some problems with a "return water temperature sensor." The computerized controls would shut off the furnace when the sensor indicated a lack of electrical juice running through it. We had a repairman come out to look at it then and he gave it a clean bill of health but said if it should act up again, we might have to have the sensor replaced. Well, since Thursday the damn thing has shut down a dozen times. It restarts when we press reset, but it sure doesn't inspire any confidence. Twice we got up to 50 degree temperatures inside. Leaving the house for several days is, naturally, out of the question. The water in the pipes (PEX tubing actually) that normally heat the house isn't a worry. The thermostats tell the circulating pumps to keep that water flowing even though it's not warm enough to heat the house. The supply lines to sinks and showers, however....

So this morning I stopped at Williams Oil & Propane, the company that installed the system, and told them of my concerns. The guy I spoke with tried to contact the manufacturer to pick their brains but had no luck. Their guru was out of the office. The Williams guy will try again and get back to me in a day or two. *sigh*

Weather.com tells me the low tonight will again be around 15 degrees. It will warm up Tuesday (high of 43, low of 28) and Wednesday (high of 60!, low of 40), however.

Heh!

Why?

"Although he is a very poor fielder, he is a very poor hitter."

Ring Lardner, Sr.
(03/03/1885 – 09/25/1933)
US writer

They don't make sports writers like this any more.

Speaking of Things Starting...

Today is the day of the Ceremonial Start of the Last Great Race on Earth, aka The Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The first musher, Ray Redington, Jr., wearing bib #2, will be heading out of Anchorage in just a few hours heading to the Campbell Airstrip 11 miles away. He will be followed by 65 other stalwarts with the last being Ryan Redington, wearing bib #66.

Yeah, Ray and Ryan are brothers. Granddad, Joe Redington, is credited with starting this race 40 years ago and with keeping it going during the difficult early years. (Joe also completed the Iditarod 19 times finishing his last at the age of 80!) Their dad, Raymie, was a participant in the first race in 1973 and has completed 13 Iditarod races. He's not in this year's race, however.

As might be expected, the preponderance of racers come from Alaska but there are a number from the lower 48 and Canada. There are even entrants from New Zealand (rookie Curt Perano) and Norway (rookie Silvia Furtwängler and veteran Sigrid Ekran).

Tomorrow's restart will be in Willow this year. Along with some rerouting of the race the total distance will be 975 miles. Here's a list of this year's checkpoints and the distances involved. You can expect the first musher and his/her team to pull into Nome between 9 and 11 days after they leave Willow. The final musher and his/her team can get to Nome anywhere from 14 to 18 days after they leave Willow.

Good thing I've not much planned for the next two weeks or so.

It Has Begun!

This is the time of year when a young man’s fancy (and many a young girl’s) turns to the smell of new leather rubbed well with neatsfoot oil; the odor of ash rubbed hard with an old bone to compact the wood grain; the fragrance of a freshly mowed baseball field; the pop of a pitched ball into a catcher’s mitt; and the crack of the same ball against that ash bat recently boned to give it hardness as it is sent sailing over the fence.

This is the time of year when hope springs eternal. Baseball season has begun.

Last night, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland A’s 8-5 in the first Cactus League game of the year. Today there will be four more Cactus League games and five Grapefruit League contests—including the first for those damn Yankees and cursed Braves. The Mets do not play their first game until Monday when they face the Washington Nationals. From then until October it will be baseball, baseball, baseball.

Oh, there will be some March Madness on the NCAA front (teams TBA soon), a long and extended NBA playoff (I’m pretty sure New Orleans (9-27), Washington (7-28 and Charlotte (4-30) are out of the playoff picture but as for everyone else…), and a similar NHL playoff (is anyone truly out of it?) leading to a championship or three--and, perhaps some crazy fans setting fire to a city or two—at the beginning/first half of the MBL season. Hopefully they will be done by the All-Star break. And there will be college and pro football to serve as distractions for those fans teams are 20 games out on September 1st. But it will be another summer of baseball. Lots of baseball. And that is good.

Rare (for this year) Visitors

Recently we have been inundated with American Goldfinches. Most of the winter we have had only a smattering of these birds while having copious amounts of Dark-eyed Juncos. Both species would show up at the feeders immediately prior to and after any snowfall.

But this morning I spotted two birds I hadn't seen much of this season: a Pine Siskin and a Common Redpoll. The former drew my attention when I realized its back was brown and not the olive green of the goldies, the whitish wing bar did not stand out nearly as well against the brown not black wings of the goldies and the breast was heavily streaked unlike the smooth grey of the goldies. I didn't notice any of the yellow on the wings the Siskin is supposed to have, but then again, the goldies aren't exactly golden yet either. (When they begin to turn the color of daffodils we'll know spring is in the air!)

The Redpoll showed up while I was watching a mass of goldfinches hitting the feeder hoping to spot the Siskin again. Like the Siskin, it had the stripped breast and brown back and wings, but this little guy had a jaunty little red beret shoved low over his forehead and a reddish blush to his chin/breast.

Both the Siskin and Redpoll are birds of the far north that range south only to feed during the winter. I had thought that, despite reports from others in Pennsylvania--west and south of here, that they had passed us by in this year of a mild winter. Certainly two birds do not come close to the huge flocks we've had over the last two years, but it's better than not seeing them at all.

Neither bird stayed around--or still--long enough for me to get the camera out and snap their photo before they flitted off into the tree. *sigh* Maybe I'll get lucky and spot them again--now that the camera is at the ready.

While I'm taking about birds.... Yesterday we had some really strong winds that reached 40 mph coming out of the northwest. Perhaps that's what carried the Siskin and Redpoll our way. Standing on the deck early in the day I happened to catch a group of approximately 30 Wild Turkeys with their heads down and the wind at their backs hustling up the hill through the woods. In all likelihood they had been spooked from the field below us by either human, feline or canine activity. Whatever it was that got them moving, they were not going to slow down. They were trotting right along.

Snowy Morning At the Aerie

I was going to write about how we have enjoyed some Camelot Snow over the last week or so. (That's an inch or so of snow that arrives over night but melts away during the day.) The weather folks forecast a 2-4 inch fall overnight that would be followed by some pretty heavy rain which would wash it all away. Didn't happen. Those prognosticators proved they were NOT Merlin. We got the snow but no following rain.

Some 4+ inches of heavy, wet snow lay on the ground--which had been completely bare thanks to bright sunshine and 45+ degree temperatures on Thursday. Terry tackled the deck while I started with the shovel on the driveway. I soon gave that up and started up the tractor. (I deemed the snow too wet and heavy for the snow thrower to be of much use.) It took some time and I scrapped a good bit of the gravel and dirt that comprises the driveway, but the job did get done.

Terry headed out to the Bradford library for one of her stitching meetings and I went for t he mail. Our road hadn't been touched by a plow yet and the going was a bit rough but it was down hill. The paved roads and the dirt portion serviced by the school buses (two hour delay) had been plowed and were quite passable. Coming back up the hill I needed to switch over to 4-wheel high and had only a few moments when the Tundra slipped in the heavy snow. Of course, I was followed by the snow plow that cleared the road and spread some cinders in its wake.

The temp is now 35-36 degrees and there's a bit of a drizzle falling so what's left on the road and driveway may well be gone before things freeze up tonight.

The birds are pleased that the feeders are filled. I'm happy that the driveway and road are cleared and Terry should have little difficulty getting home this afternoon with the pizza she'll pick up in Troy. I even saw three deer pass through the back part of the yard when the snow plow created enough racket to stir them from their beds. Even the cats are happy--they just got fed.

Time for another cup of coffee.

GBBC 2012

Sent in my count for the yesterday. I spent the entire morning on the deck and looking out the windows to come up with my list. It's not terribly large but this has not been a winter for either manyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif species or many individual birds.

Just 14 species on my list.

Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 15
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 35
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 18

I didn't actually "see" the Raven or the Crow, but they were calling from somewhere nearby. The voices of the two are pretty distinct.

I first heard the Pileated Woodpecker calling from across the street where there's a tree that has obviously gotten its attention. Then it flew through the yard heading for another excavated tree up on the hill that I saw the other day.

The Red-tailed Hawk flew out of one of the white pines on the hill above the Aerie and circled once before disappearing over the ridge.

I spotted the nearly invisible Brown Creeper working its way up a locust trunk on the other side of the yard. Once it got to the second level of branches it swooped down to another tree deeper into the woods and I lost sight of it.

The rest were visitors to the several feeders I've got on the deck and in the side yard. They are here nearly every single morning--right after I scare the fattening squirrels away.

The rest

The 2012 Yukon Quest is Fini

The Mushing Loon posted this on the Yukon Quest 2012 forum on the Iditirod site this morning at 8:03 AM.

Yukon Quest Update #25
The Red Lantern is in!

The 2012 Yukon Quest officially ended Sunday night at 8:05 local time when Michael Telpin crossed the finish line in Whitehorse. The Russian musher finished with all 9 of his native Chukchi dog...s, winning the Challenge of the North Award as the musher “who most exemplifies the Spirit of the Yukon Quest.”
The race ended 15 days, 8 hours, 5 minutes, 22 seconds after it started.

Rookie Marcelle Fressineau finished only 45 minutes before, making it a closer finish than it appeared it was going to be.

Complete Final Standings got to The Loon's Mushing Report: Yukon Quest

Congratulations to Michael Telpin and his team of dogs upon competing their first Yukon Quest. Congratulations also to the 18 men and women and their teams who finished ahead of Telpin. Four other teams scratched during the race and one never got off the line at Fairbanks because the musher was too ill. Congratulations, too, to the many, many volunteers working to make this race happen.

The Iditarod--The Last Great Race On Earth--kicks off in just over 12 days!

Today's the Day!

Pitchers and Catchers, baby!

It's on!



This year I'm going to find a way to go to a couple of games. Minor or major league won't matter as long as I can get out to the ball park and watch the action while sipping a beer (or two) and eating some peanuts, popcorn, Crackerjacks and hot dogs.



Spring is when every major league hopeful aims to impress and make the roster. Every year some young phenom shows up and heads north with the team. This causes the casual fan to ask the most important question:

Yukon Quest update.

Two men and their dog teams remain on the trail to Whitehorse.

Marcelle Fressineau, in 18th place, has arrived at the Braeburn Checkpoint. Michael Telpin, in 19th place and the current Red Lantern, is approximately 48 miles short of Braeburn and appears to be camped. (His last position was reported some 6 and a half hours ago.

Both men need to spend at least 8 hours in Braeburn before heading out to Whitehorse and the finish line 100 miles away.

IF they continue, Telpin should finish early Monday morning bringing the 2012 Yukon Quest, The Toughest Race In The World, to an end.

Just When You Thought ...

...it was safe to go back in the water.

Sea otters face a growing threat: shark attacks

California's sea otters have struggled for years with diseases, parasites and even the occasional collision with boats. But now the fuzzy coastal mascots are increasingly facing another threat: shark attacks.

For reasons still a mystery to scientists, the number of sea otters killed by sharks has soared in recent years, with great whites as the leading suspects.
...
In the mid-1990s, about 10 percent of the dead sea otters found along the California coast had shark bites. Today, it's about 30 percent -- and growing -- to the point where shark attacks now represent the largest hurdle to the otters' recovery from the endangered species list.

Sea otters may be cute and fuzzy little acrobats in the water, but something out there is doing a number on the population. And scientists aren't sure why the sharks are going after them. Perhaps the sharks need glasses. Or maybe they are just opportunists.

One major change: the abundance of elephant seals. Until 1990, the large mammals were rare along the coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. But that year, two dozen came ashore at Piedras Blancas, near Hearst Castle. Now there are more than 15,000.

A small number of white sharks, perhaps juveniles, could be coming into the area to feed on young elephant seals and ending up killing otters, as well, Tinker said. Had the rate of shark attacks remained where it was a decade ago, there would be about 500 more California sea otters now -- around 3,250, according to his computer models. That would be enough to reach the 3,090 population target to remove the otter from the federal endangered species list.

In any case, the sharks have discovered something the killer whales up north have known for a couple of decades: Sea otters taste good.

In the 1990s, Tinker and other biologists published studies showing that orca whales in southern Alaska were beginning to feed on otters there. Since then, the otter population there has fallen from 80,000 to about 5,000.

The question then arises:

Can anything be done?

No, he said. Even if people wanted to try to identify the sharks responsible and somehow kill them, others could easily take their place.

"It's a hard thing to explain to people," he said. "But there's nothing we can do about changes in shark distribution or shark behavior. It's natural."