Between race errands, volunteers at the Fort Yukon checkpoint of the Yukon Quest Alaska sled dog race set out aluminum containers filled with caribou ribs, salmon salad and — the biggest hit — cinnamon buns with wild blueberries baked inside.
Nibbling on a bun, first-time race official Izzy Nicolier said it’s imperative to taste all the snacks before the mushers arrive.
“We're doing our due diligence,” she said. “No poison, just deliciousness.”
But outside, the cold was punishing. Dog sled teams pushed into the Arctic Circle amid temperatures that dropped into the minus-50s.
Frontrunner Josi Shelley charged across the Yukon River and up to the checkpoint just after 3 a.m. on Tuesday. She said her team of 12 sailed over that part of the trail, but the extreme temperatures were wearing on her.
To manage, the steward of the There and Back Again Kennel escaped into a fantasy world.
“I was listening to ‘The Silmarillion.’ It's kind of a long, boring book,” she said. “But I was like, this is a perfect time to listen to it.”
Shelley left the checkpoint just before noon on Tuesday. Jeff Deeter followed, six hours later. He dropped two dogs in Fort Yukon and is running to Beaver with ten.
Deeter said this leg of the trail has been hard for his team.
“Everything is just taking a bit longer,” he said. “I've got a few dogs with orthopedic issues, so just muscles and joints that are tight with the cold, and that needs heat.”
Jonah Bacon was third into Fort Yukon, pulling up in the noon sunlight. He said his 13-dog team was handling the extreme cold well, but he was a little worse for wear. Frostnip got to his feet while he camped out.
Bacon rolled up the ankles of his snow pants to show pale blisters erupting from his toes.
“After doing my dog chores and stuff, I laid down, stretched out next to my sled on the ground. And when I woke up, I was like, I'm frozen,” he said. “I got a little bit of a blister on my right big toe. Actually, it's almost the size of the whole toe.”
He said the northern lights have been a welcome distraction from the pain.
“Oh, the aurora has been ripping the last two nights,” Bacon said. “While it was cold and everything, just like to look up and be like, that's incredible. It was moving like a snake across the sky.”
Meanwhile, Fort Yukon checkpoint volunteers are doing their best to keep mushers comfortable and fed. Several talked about their excitement hosting the race for the first time, and their hopes that it’ll pass through their community for years to come.
Corrima Cadzow and her aunt, Louie Fairchild, showed their appreciation by sewing beaver mittens with colorful woven accents for each of the mushers. Cadzow said she got the idea while she was out moose hunting with family.
“They brought up that the Quest might be going through Fort Yukon. And we threw around ideas how cool it'd be, and one of them said — beaver mitts,” she said. “Five pairs took about three days — the whole mitt, the liner, everything.”
As the first musher to the checkpoint, Josi Shelley got first dibs. But Jeff Deeter picked out Cadzow’s favorite pair.
“A beautiful pair of jet black beaver mittens,” Deeter said. “They fold over at the top so snow doesn't get in them. So, not only do they look beautiful, they're also very practical.”
Each of the mushers say they’ll wear the mitts proudly as they charge south for the next leg of the race.
According to the Yukon Quest 750's GPS tracking site, the trail is 71 miles from Ft. Yukon to Beaver and another 66 to Stevens Village. That's over 400 miles into the race — which organizers say actually runs about 850 miles.
