Meet the Mushers
/My mom and I have made it to Whitehorse! Kalyn, Derek, and the dogs will be arriving later tonight.
Upon arriving in Whitehorse, our first event was Meet the Mushers. All the competitors sit at tables around the perimeter of the hall while friends and fans file down the line of tables, getting signatures from all the mushers on the posters, shirts, banners, or sometimes their own jackets! While this event is more socializing than most mushers do the entire year combined, it’s a great opportunity to say brief hellos to kids and folks from the community who will be excitedly following the race. It’s also fun to see all the other mushers who we sometimes haven’t seen since last year! Even though we’re all competitors, there’s a lot of camaraderie among mushers so the evening was filled with chatter between mushers- how are their dogs, what are they feeding, how was training, did their truck break down on the drive- all normal musher conversations.
Today will also be full of meetings including the Quest Guest Lunch, the Mushers Meeting, the Rookie Meeting, the Handler Meeting, and the Start Banquet. It’s currently snowing and 4F outside, but temperatures are forecast to drop to -30F by Saturday. Bring on the Quest!!
