Iditarod Drop Bags by Mandy

Multiple skills I have learned over the season come together in order to make one thing happen: Iditarod drop bags. These are what will carry Ryne and her incredible furry athletes over the famous 1,000 Mile Race.

They hold goodies for the dogs (booties, meat snacks, vet kits, kibble, jackets, cat food) and for the human (dry gloves and socks, meals, spare batteries, hand warmers, etc). It’s a fine line balancing having enough supplies with options but also not wasting a ton of resources.

We had a few meat-cutting marathon days to prep for the amount of snack bags needed. This happened outside at the meat bandsaw. When the cold snap arrived, we moved inside to bag other non-frozen items. My own dogs loved when I weighing and bagging kibble on the kitchen counter; they were quick on the clean up duty whenever a stray kibble made it to the floor.

Beef, Beaver, Chicken Skins, Fish

Fun fact about me: I adore spreadsheets. It’s calming to have a piece of paper in my hand with all the information I need to complete my task—and easy access at that. We used our spreadsheets heavily as we gathered the correct quantity to each individual bag. Not every check point requires the same items. Ryne spent a great deal of effort to think of a broad running plan and base the drop bags off of that. It’s difficult making these decisions weeks out when you’re not sure what the weather will be like! They’re many factors to take into consideration.

This is my first year working for a race kennel, classifying me as a “Yearling” with Tobin, Sherlock, Watson and Rose. I’ve given Ryne and Kalyn quite a few laughs already this year and made sure it continued through the packing process. From silly questions to threading half of the drop bags wrong, I must take it in stride and appreciate the strong female mushers teaching me more and more... besides, a good belly laugh is always needed!

Speaking of which...

“One of the drop bags is opened and I saw Simon pick up an almost empty meat snack bag,” Derek says coming into the main cabin.

Simon and I, who also just arrived, nod in agreement.

“What? But wasn’t Sasha and Jeezy with you?” Ryne says from the couch.

“Yes.”

“Cartel is with me,” she says while getting up to prove the point. “Cartel?”

Peeking into the dog kennel, we hear another “Cartel?“ before a huh is let out.

“I guess it was Cartel since she’s not actually inside.”

Laughter is interrupted long enough for Simon to add that there were only a couple pieces left of the original 16 meat slices. Who knows where they’re hidden around the property now.

As if Kalyn and I didn’t sneak Cartel enough meat crumbles through the fence during our meat packing day.

Denali Highway Training

Last week, I took 16 athletes down to the Denali Highway for some race simulation training. Since we’re not competing in any mid-distance races this year, some of the youngsters needed to experience run/rest/run/rest/run/rest/run (you get the idea) so that they would be better prepared for the Iditarod should they make the team!

I loaded up Louie, Etta, Goblin, Dolly, Dracula, Cooke, Wingman, Faff, Yoshi, Maple, Uno, Mario, Scarpa, Bowser, Bert, and Thresher and headed to the Denali Highway!

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Day 1

The first day was full of clear, blue skies and a bone chilling north breeze straight into our faces. I bundled up the dogs and myself and thoroughly enjoyed my new ruff made by my good friend, Amanda Gecas of Boundary Fur Sewing.

Even though we’re deep in the Alaska Range, the area is a popular training ground for nearby Eielson Air Force Base. Jets rocketed around us, sometimes skimming so low that it looked like they were just a couple hundred feet above the ground! Sonic booms shook mountains, causing both me and the dogs to jump and look around for avalanches. On one hand, I was annoyed because the sonic booms would startle the dogs. On the other hand, I was wishing they’d find a place to land, pick me up, and let me zoom around the mountains with them! It must be exhilarating to be a jet pilot rocketing through the Alaska Range!

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For a couple of the runs, Paige showed us a loop that circles back behind their lodge and deep into the mountains. Down along the Denali Highway itself, there is such much life- moose, wolves, fox, caribou. Willows and spruce trees provide shelter and food for many animals. But this trail traversed deeper into the mountains where vegetation was sparse and there were hardly any animal tracks. Wind constantly blows the snow around, obscuring the trail, so Paige and Cody are regularly having to put it back in. I’m so glad we had the chance to mush it!

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The loop behind the lodge

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As we returned home, I was exceptionally proud of the dogs.

Louie and Etta led the entire way. They were a great pair with Etta bringing the energy, and Louie being the solid anchor, holding the line out and taking his job very seriously. Goblin and Dolly ran in swing. Goblin enjoyed having a break from his normal lead position. Dolly was a loud cheerleader, throwing her little 35 pound body into the air in excitement every time we stopped. She preferred running on the hard-packed trails and was a bit slack when the conditions were softer. Dracula and Cooke were next. Dracula would bark and pound her front two feet onto the ground, stamping in excitement. She’d eat all her food and her neighbor’s if I wasn’t watching closely. Cooke was happy to be back in the race pool. I had him sit out one of the runs just as a precaution since he doesn’t have as many miles as the rest of the crew. If you recall, his brother Smoky pulled Cooke’s tail earlier in the season, and it has taken awhile to heal. It finally seems like Cooke is feeling like his normal self! Wingman and Faff were next. Wingman is the biggest cheerleader in the team and was rock solid as always. Faff also had a great training run, eating well and pulling hard. Her tricep was slightly stiff when we returned to the truck, but 12 hours later, it’s hardly bothering her. I’m hopeful it was just a little tight and not a bigger issue. Yoshi and Maple were paired next. Yoshi doesn’t make much noise, but she shows her happiness by jumping up off the straw, pulling hard, and quietly wagging her tail at breaks. She’s looking great! Maple is new this year and brings so much to the team. She whines enthusiastically if she spots a team ahead of us, and she eats everything in sight! Good girl! Uno and Mario were quite the pair. They played together at the first break (as if they’ve never camped in their lives- ha!). After that, they were all business and motored down the trail. Scarpa and Thresher ran together. This was Scarpa’s first “mock” race. She did excellent! Her tricep was a little sore on the last run, so she caught a ride in the trailer on the final run to the truck, but she’s looking great now. Thresher was his normal driven, focused self. I’d like to start working with him in lead more; however, he so loves being farther back where he can chase his teammates. Bowser and Bert. For Bert, this was the farthest he’s ever traveled! Bert has been slow to mature as a sled dog, but he did smashingly during this trip! I was so proud of him. He worked hard, ate his food, and seemed to love traveling in new country. This was also a test for Bowser. When he was younger, Bowser would dip snow incessantly, causing him to vomit on the trail. We determined this was due to anxious nerves, so as a 2-year-old, he was held back to train with the yearlings. This year he has been doing much better! He was still a little anxious on the first run, but then he seemed to settle in. Go Bowser!

Now it’s time for Iditarod drop bag prep! Cutting meat snacks, bagging kibble, packing food- HERE WE GO!

White Mountains Camp by Mandy

“Did you happen to grab the ganglines?”

I glance over and meet Ryne’s eyes for the last second of hopefulness that we didn’t forget one of the most crucial pieces of gear.

You see, we’re a couple of miles down Chena Hot Springs Road on our way to the White Mountains for a two day mushing trip. Our first run is an easy 40 miles so we had a slow morning of packing and free-running the puppy litters. Even so, it’s afternoon already and we want snacks at the gas station, not a trip back to the kennel.

“No, I didn’t.”

Oh, well. It’s only a minor detour before we’re back on the road and bellies happy with food. Just 2 mushers, 19 dogs, and 1 truck.

The parking lot is filling up but the spot next to the trail head is clear. We pull in, slip on warmer clothes, and prep the sleds. Soon after, the dogs are out and dressed for the occasion! The other weekenders curiously watch as they arrange their own snow machines, hiking backpacks, firewood, etc.

We pause at the exit waiting for a family to pass by before taking off.

The little kid loudly asks his parent, “Why does she have so many dogs?” A single pet dog is dragged behind them with eyes spread wide at our pack.

Once they’re out of ear shot, Ryne turns to me; “Why doesn’t he have more dogs?” She gives the dogs the okay.

The sunset waves us off and I get my first peeks of the mountains through the sporadic gaps in Spruce trees. The team is loving new trails.

Night comes quickly and it’s a pleasant run to the cabin. I spend moments with my headlamp off to take in the stars and hear the steadiness of dog feet against the silence of an Alaskan night.

Then we start hitting overflow.

The dogs are doing their best but it’s difficult to grip the ice when wearing booties. We slow down to make it easier on them but it’s hard to tell when the overflow will end—headlamps only reach so far. Ryne knows we’re super close to the cabin though, our end point for the day, so we push on.

(Below video is from the next day when we tackle overflown in the daylight and without booties on)

Reaching the cabin, we have to maneuver around until finding spots for both dog teams to fit. The evening routine begins with melting snow for the dogs’ dinners and ends with Ryne and I tucked into sleeping bags on the cabin’s wooden platforms.

Or at least, we think.

Most of the adult dogs curled up on their straw piles and went swiftly into dreamland. But not one trouble maker. We keep hearing play noises and a few growls—Ryne gets up to yell Quiet and try to catch the culprit but dogs are good at stopping to the sound of a door opening. This repeats a few times until we hear a dog on the porch!

Ryne simply opens the door, let’s in the now loose Faff, and closes it. Problem solved.

Our goal of this trip is not strictly training—we slept the entire night—but to experience the Whites and getting a longer run of 60 miles on new trails. We wait for sunlight and look forward to seeing the landscape in the new light.

And the Whites don’t disappoint! I appreciate the variety of terrain from the overflown rivers, deep forests, and vacant ridge lines; the rise and fall of the sun along its arc. But mostly, I cherish the dogs and what they share with me.

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Puppy Runs

The Cheese and Office Litters are now about 6.5- 7 months old. The Fire litter (Spitfire, Fox, and Fly) now exercise in harness, but we have yet to introduce the youngest RK athletes to a harness quite yet. For now, they get their energy out by chasing the snowmachine. We stage the snowmachine at the beginning of our exit trail, release the horde, and then rocket down to the Chena River for some zoomies.

These two litters have been quite a handful- getting into scuffles, barking incessantly, and growing monstrously large. Compared to the Fire Litter who were perfectly behaved from day one, these nine make for a chaotic horde and definitely try my patience. All that being said, when they’re out running, stretching out into full speed torpedoes, it makes my heart soar. Their love of running is so apparent that I feel lucky I get to be a part of it.

Big Tuna loves to be in the front. You can see in the last portions of the video, Tuna is going all out at the front of the pack, not caring about the dogs behind him and just enjoying eating up the trail. Beesly is often at the front as well and likes to dart around the snowmachine to lead everyone when we’re on narrow sections. Holly is one of the most athletic, and it’s spectacular to watch her run. She alternates from being near the front to playing with her siblings farther back. Mose likes to rocket ahead when he sees Tuna up front and shoulder bump him. Like Holly, Mose has an impressive build and can cover some ground when he puts on the turbo jets. Dwight is enormous. Because of his large size, he’s still kind of clumsy and gangling, so he’s normally farther back in the running group. Cartel often joins us on the runs, and he TOWERS over her. Cheddar is super speedy. She doesn’t have the confidence of Tuna and Beesly, but she spends her fair share of time at the front of the pack. When stopped, she likes to run ahead, then turn around, lie down, and mad dog (meaning stare at everyone like a Border Collie) as if daring them to run past her. Muenster is the fluffiest of all the puppies, which hides his athletic build, but when he gets going, Muenster can hang with the best of them. He prefers to pester and play with Cartel and Havarti rather than push for the lead. Havarti is taller and more graceful than her sister Cheddar. She LOVES pestering Cartel, and Cartel is slow, so Havarti normally ends up being farther back just because that’s where Cartel is. Mozzerella was one of the most confident pups early on, but as he’s gotten older, he’s definitely become a bit more introverted. He’s normally near the front but likes to keep out of the fray. He’s always very attentive on where the human is and likes to sit, hoping for a treat.

Dancing on Thin Ice

In the fall of 2019, we were contacted by email asking to take two famous British figure skaters dog mushing in search of a remote pond on which to go ice skating. I remember forwarding the message to my British sister-in-law, Cass, and asking if it seemed legit. It’s not uncommon to get strange emails, and more often than not they don’t pan out into worthwhile endeavors. Cass eagerly replied, yes, Torvill and Dean are very accomplished figure skaters! Directors Emma Frank and Helena Braun traveled to Two Rivers in the fall to scout out the filming possibilities. I took them for a short dryland mush (in a side by side) around the neighborhood, said goodbye, and wondered if we’d hear from them again.

After a few emails back and forth speculating weather and conditions, Torvill and Dean and a host of filming personnel arrived at the kennel one day. Even then, I don’t think I fully grasped the accomplishments of Torvill and Dean. This was partially due to their personable, down-to-earth demeanors, and also me living in my own bubble. Perhaps it was good that I didn’t do much research ahead of time, otherwise I would have been begging for autographs and acting like a crazy fan.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are gold medal figure skaters, winning the highest score of all time in the 1984 Winter Olympics at Sarajevo for their performance to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. And they sat on my dog-hair-covered couch, enthusiastically interacting with the dogs, and not letting on that they were celebrities.

After an afternoon of filming, the crew had enough clips to add a portion on dog mushing to their production- Dancing on Thin Ice. Currently, the production has only aired in England; however, it will hopefully be broadcast in the United States. While looking for a wilderness location to skate their gold medal Bolero, Torvill and Dean also touch on climate change and melting ice in the North. We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it, and can now claim we’ve met gold medal Olympians!

Fall 2019

The Olympic champions travel to Alaska on an extraordinary quest to fulfill a lifelong dream. But will warming temperatures ruin their hopes to skate the Bolero in the remote wilderness?

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The Retired Life- by Mandy

You can’t train a dog to pull a sled—they either have the drive or they don’t. This goes hand-in-hand with retirement... they let you know when they don’t want to pull anymore or at least desire less intense miles.

And sometimes, an injury will lead to early retirement. This happened to the lovely Perm when her Achilles’ tendon never quite returned to normal. She is staying at my (Mandy) handler’s cabin for the season to get extra love and care... before she gets adopted by my partner and I :P

What’s retirement like for a sled dog, such as Perm?

Let me tell you, she can hold down a dog bed as well as she ran 1,000 Mile races. She was smart then and still is now. Every trait that made her a great sled dog has transferred to pet life. Here’s some stories of her figuring everything out:

At 7 years old, Perm learned the command Sit. Good girl! She quickly made the connection that she receives treats when she sits. On walks, she often randomly sits in front of you and stares intensely for her treat. I fall for it every time.

A couple weeks back, I decided it’d be fun to let Perm run around off-leash while I loaded up on firewood. The pile is next to Ryne’s house across the yard so we head over together. She sniffs a few pieces of wood and then moseys off. I’m not worried about it until I hear a door open and sudden laughter. I turn around to see that Perm let herself into Ryne’s!!!! The door has a long handle that when Perm paws at it, she can click open. It goes to show that, Perm adores any opportunity given to be inside... even if she has to create it herself.

She knows when to bed down but also when to get going. As soon as the second alarm goes off in the morning, a yawn comes from her dog bed that sounds more pterodactyl than wolf. Then she worms her nose to the closest face in hopes of a good morning ear scratch.

Perm is a good eater and knows the drill when it comes to meat soup and kibble. What I adore though is watching her try new treats, such as human food. She likes cheese but not yet peanut butter. Often times she just smells it before looking up with a “what do I do with this weird item?” expression. Don’t offer her toothpaste, she hates the smell.

Just like in the dog yard, these intelligent beasts need their minds stimulated or they get bored. When bored, they chew up their dog houses. We had a busy week and didn’t get much exercise for Perm one day. So, she began chewing the wooden frame of our bed instead!

While retired sled dogs desire a break from racing, they are typically still energetic. We take Perm on long walks, hikes, and bikejoring. The first time was weird for her but she crushed it. Now, she’s lining out and barking her head off to get going! My partner likes to bikejore with Perm and my dog Midnight—their favorite loop being to the local post office and back.

We can’t help it. We LOVE that Perm howls back as soon as you do. So, we regularly start a howl off for every family member we FaceTime... which causes the dog yard to howl too! Sorry Ryno Kennel when we do that at 8 in the morning.
Lastly, I have a 2 year old German Shepard-Husky. He’s an absolute goofball but does have a strong guarding trait. Luckily, Perm steals all hearts around her and broke him down. Now they run around together, marking up and down the trails of Two Rivers! It’s been incredible to watch him open up and a friendship starting to form. Good girl, Perm!

Happy New Year! And... 2021 CB

3rd Place in our first Ryno Kennel CB in 2015

First- HAPPY NEW YEAR! We celebrated the New Year by hanging with dogs, making cookies, and promptly falling asleep at 10:00 PM. It was glorious.

With Copper Basin only a week away, we made a decision-

It was a very tough decision, but we opted to withdraw from the Copper Basin 300. BUT IT’S OK! This is NOT a sad thing. For the past 6+ years, the Copper Basin has been one of our favorite races. The volunteers, the trail, the community- we love our annual trip down to Glennallen for the CB300. Not to mention, the dogs always perform spectacularly at the CB; however, this year, for a variety of reasons, we’ve decided to change it up. Rather than ramping up training so that the dogs peak at Copper Basin then have another peak at Iditarod, we’re trying a little more gradual build up to Iditarod with run/rest series that aren’t quite as intense as a Copper Basin race. Who knows if this will benefit the team or be a bad decision, but it felt like a good year to try something different! So far, the dogs have been looking strong and enthusiastic in training. We’ve gone on a couple campouts and have another one planned for next week. We’re sticking to distances that we will more likely travel during Iditarod (at least for the beginning of the race, meaning no 70-80 mile runs like in CB). I’m excited to see how this change up in training works for us in Iditarod!

On sad note, long time CB trail breaker Jamey Kemp passed away suddenly earlier in December. He was the Trail Boss for the Copper Basin from 2013-2020, and I was always impressed with his commitment to provide the best trail possible. After each race, he’d seek out individual mushers and ask their opinion on the trail, were there any areas that needed improvement, if they were happy with the conditions. He’ll be greatly missed. If you’d like to support Jamey’s family, the Copper Basin is selling special t-shirts in his memory:

Christmas Eve Campout by Mandy

Any adventure with Ryne and the dogs is a great time—leaving under the auroras and spotting moose within the first hour are just bonuses!

Our day begins with me hooking up a little bit before Ryne. You might not know this about her, but she’s incredible and much faster at dog booting than me so I need the head start to keep pace. It also lets me sneak hellos/pets to the nearby dogs that aren’t on my team! All said and done, we mush out of the yard together at 7:05 am.

The first time I did the Angel Creek trail, I didn’t have enough snacks and became Hangry. I made sure that wouldn’t happen this time around and came well prepared: dark covered espresso beans, cliff bars, fig newtons, crackers and pretzels, two possible lunch options, and a large thermos of honey black tea. So tasty!

For away camp outs, a lot comes with us. Dogs need straw to sleep on, meat snacks, the cooker pot with an insulated bucket and kibble for their meal, and extra booties. We have gear backups and the usual essentials. Everything packs into the sled—which will be lighter on the return leg after the camp out break.

The sky is breathtaking and comes alive with color. It’s like being inside a robin’s egg; the blue only broken up by the pink poking through the mom’s wings draped over the shell. The temperature is lovely and the team looks great.

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We’re approaching over 45 miles when our trail ends in a tight turnaround of deep snow. Ryne’s team of 12 dogs is almost out of the turn around with my lead dogs half-way touching her sled runners. Her lead dogs are not even two leaps from touching my own sled runners! It takes careful maneuvering of the gang lines and dogs but we make it... and stop right out of it for our camp out break of four hours.

Snow begins to melt in the cooker pot while dog booties come off, straw down, and neck lines are unclipped. The more experienced dogs settle quickly while the newer ones flirt with their running mate or mark every snow spot within reach. Some eat moose poop too! Oops. Once the dogs have their soup meal of kibble, meat, and warm water, we work on our own camp fire.

We trade snacks and swap stories. The warmth feels amazing and the smoke made me cry a few times. Our topics range all over the place while our eyes peek at the sleeping dogs throughout it. Camping with someone definitely makes the time go by quicker and soon(ish) we’re on our way again.

The sun set during our camp out and once the extended dusk passes, headlamps click on. It’s the same path back and a smooth run overall. I love that even after a full day of mushing (it’s after 9 pm now!) we still pull into the dog yard with wagging tails and smiling faces. It’s a special way to spend Christmas Eve! And one of my favorite memories of the season.

Rosebud Adventure

Recently, the whole human crew (Kalyn, Mandy, Derek, and I) took a day adventure up to Rosebud summit. Accompanied by three dog teams, one snowmachine, and one crazy Griffon (Sasha) we climbed up to Rosebud, searching for caribou along the way.

The Fortymile Caribou

The Fortymile Caribou herd travels throughout eastern, Interior Alaska and crosses into Canada. During last year’s Quest, I shared videos of the dogs chasing caribou down the Yukon River, as the strange critters came hurtling right at the dog team (or in the video I joked it was because of my newfound ability to call in caribou after listening to our pet reindeer). See the video below. Portions of that same herd are now on the other end of the Yukon Quest trail, near Two Rivers and Rosebud Summit.

The Fortymile Caribou herd is one of the most important resources for many First Nations and Native Alaskan communities. In the early 1900s, it was one of the largest herds in the world and had a far-reaching habitat as shown by the graphic below. The herd has varied in size over the past 100 years with its peak in the early 1920s of 500,000+ animals to a low of an estimated 5000 in 1973. Biologists believe the changes in size are due to reduced nutrition from overgrazing, predation from wolves, and excessive harvest of caribou by humans (more roads made for easier harvesting combined with incorrect population estimates). With the herd at abysmal numbers, Alaskan and Yukon officials worked together to better manage the herd. By 2002, the herd had grown in size to 46,000 and for the first time in fifty years, the herd crossed the Yukon River by the Fortymile River, once again expanding its range into Canada. In 2017, the population reached almost 80,000 animals; however, biologists believe this is likely the herd’s peak based on current environmental conditions. In an effort to reduce long-term impacts to the environment from overgrazing, Alaska Fish and Game has increased the harvest quota for this year. Hunters must submit the lower jaw to ADF&G so biologists can reassess the herd’s nutritional condition.

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Before the word got out that the herd was so close to Chena Hot Springs Road, we decided to try our luck hunting by running the dogs up to Rosebud. I would call it a 80% mushing trip, 20% hunting trip. While we would be opportunistic should the caribou cross our path, we were more interested in just getting outside, mushing with the dogs, and seeing Rosebud in the daylight. I’ve mushed this section of the Yukon Quest trail SEVEN times and never once seen it in the daylight!

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Smoky and Etta

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Climbing UP!

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Goblin and Bull leading Kalyn up to the saddle.

As I was looking for the video of running with the caribou during the 2020 Quest, I passed over this Rosebud view from the plane. So I guess I have seen it in the daylight! Ha!

The caribou stayed just out of reach during our mushing adventure, so we didn’t bring any meat home for the freezer, but wouldn’t you know, we had to slam on the brakes as a couple caribou crossed the road on our way home! More than anything, I love seeing all the tracks and sign left by the caribou. I’m not a biologist, but it seems like life and diversity follow the caribou wherever they go. Whether we’re in the Brooks Range with the Porcupine Herd or in Two Rivers with the Fortymile Herd, there is SO MUCH LIFE. In addition to the caribou tracks, wolf, lynx, fox, and moose tracks crisscossed the trail. And for a few moments, as we held onto our sleds behind beautiful huskies, our faces wrapped in fur of wolf and wolverine, our hands toasty inside mitts made of beaver fur, smelling the musky odor of caribou hiding in the black spruce, I can imagine myself living in a bygone era, at one with nature, traversing the Arctic.

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DISCLAIMER- I tried to get all this info from reputable sources (government sites and research papers). That being said, I am not an expert on the Fortymile Herd. This info was researched to the best of my ability, but I’m just a girl blogging about things I like.

"Meat" the Bandsaw by Mandy

Cutting meat is one task out of the large ocean of tasks required to keep a race kennel running smoothly and happily. But it’s a fun one!! At least to this handler. The job has two goals: meat blocks used for dog breakfast and meat snacks for long runs.

Starting with a 50lb block of frozen beef, it gets cut down into five pieces. One piece will thaw inside for about 24 hours before hot water is added, creating meat soup that will be served for dog breakfast. How many buckets it takes to feed 45 dogs depends on the amount of mileage they are averaging. The higher the distance, the more meat soup they get. Currently, Ryno Kennel is at 30lbs per day!

Meat snacks are the extra fun ones to cut! They can come from the frozen 50lb beef/chicken blocks, whole salmon, bundles of smelt, and so forth. The blocks are more straightforward: cut into thin 1/2 inch strips that are breakable. Frozen whole fish are cut into slightly thicker length-wise strips. Don’t forgot to cut off the head and tail first!! The fish head can be used as a push block... meaning, it can push the fish against the blade when there’s not much left to cut (protects your fingers from the blade). The long strips are then cut in half or thirds for more manageable eating size.

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At Ryno Kennel, we use a bandsaw machine to cut the meat. It’s set up outside under a Shelter Logic tent and runs off a generator. The tent is the same temperature as the outside air (cold), which is good because it keeps the frozen meat frozen. No one wants raw meat to start melting and clogging up the blade. Ew!
The meat snacks are stored in empty dog food bags while the meat blocks are stacked under a tarp. The entire setup (uncut and cut meat, bandsaw, and tent) is surrounded by a fence to keep the Assistant Coaches/ off-leash dogs from eating all the goodies. Don’t tell Ryne, but if Cartel sneaks in with me I always give her a bite of frozen meat before kicking her out. After all, it is hard work to be so cute!

How Covid is Like a Runaway Dog Team

I lost my team a couple of weeks ago. Everyone is ok. I just had to write that down before I continued. Losing your team is every musher’s worst nightmare. A lot of books or blogs that are written by novice mushers joke about losing a team, but there’s absolutely nothing funny about it. It’s exceptionally dangerous for the dogs. A small team might stop with just a verbal “WHOA!” but most larger teams will not. And my team was no exception. I’ve been mushing for 11 years now, and I knew it would happen some day. I always figured it would be more dramatic, like I was skewered on a branch and let go of the sled only because I had a stick through my gut. But it wasn’t anything nearly that dramatic. We stopped to snack. I walked up the team petting the dogs and feeding everyone a chunk of beef. They got excited and popped the snowhook. I leapt on the sled and rode briefly on the bag. Then I tried to set the hook from the sled bag and fell off in the process. The moment of seeing the team run away as I yelled whoa…I wanted to vomit. I immediately began yelling for Mandy (who was running a team behind me). She mushed up, jumped in her sled bag, I hopped on the runners, and we mushed as fast as we could after my team. I handed my phone to Mandy and she began calling. Within minutes, Kalyn, Derek, Matt, and Will were on snowmachines racing towards us. I was on the phone with Aliy as she was firing up her snowmachine when I came around the corner, and there was the team in a big, tangled ball. Miraculously, everyone was ok. My body trembled as all the anxiety and stress of those few minutes came surging out. As Derek says, it was a cheap lesson. And one that I’ll never forget or take for granted.

The reason a loose team is so dangerous is because it’s exceptionally hard for them to stop. All 10 or 12 dogs have to consciously decide to stop at the exact same moment, and even then, the sled will probably slide into the back of the wheel dogs if a tree or deep snow doesn’t slow the sled first. And as we all know, sled dogs love to pull, so the pressure of the tugline is their happy place. It’s how they feel secure and at peace. That’s why Covid is like a loose dog team. We’re all running along, working, but we’re out of control. Sure the fast and healthy dogs can sprint all the way home. The dogs who don’t need to poop, they’re good to go. But the older dogs or the dogs who really need to use the bathroom or the dogs who accidentally misstep- they’re about to get tangled and be seriously injured or killed, but we’re all still running along. The leaders could decide we need to stop and slam on the brakes. It’d result in a massive mess of tangles and lines. Dogs might get grumpy with each other, but at least we’d stop. And everyone would be ok. But here I am in team, running along, pulling. Giving tours to people from out-of-state. Planning to compete in races that will bring together large groups of people and travel to remote communities. And I’m doing it because this is what I know and love and feel comfortable doing (and we are taking precautions like masks and congregating outside). But is it the right thing? Maybe I need to put on the brakes and stop pulling. I might not be able to stop the team, but maybe I can slow us down enough so that one more dog can keep up. Alaska’s Covid-19 case count has hit an all-time high. We had a record 933 new cases reported Saturday. Our ICU beds are more than 75% full, with only 30 beds remaining of the 128 in the state. And while I love Alaskans, the “you can’t tell me how to live my life” mentality makes it really difficult for the general populous to support a mask mandate. Even though my job (tourism and racing) is essential to me and feeding our pack, is it essential to society? Probably not.

But our decisions in these next few months will have many repercussions. Repercussions for our business, Chena Outdoor Collective, a major way we support ourselves. If we close down, how will we remain financially stable? Repercussions for our kennel and sponsorships, the main way we support the dogs and our mushing lifestyle. If we don’t race, will we loose sponsors for future years? This winter is probably the last season of racing for some of our older all-stars; would we miss out on what promises to be one incredible race team? And repercussions, most importantly, for the health of the people in Alaska. If we keep giving tours and racing, will our health care system become overwhelmed and people die unnecessarily? Would we be contributing to the problem?

I’m writing this blog post not as an announcement of what we’re going to do but just as a window into what’s going on in our lives and how Covid-19 has impacted us. It’s a way for me to look back in several years and remember the winter of 2020-2021 for Ryno Kennel.

I try to keep Ryno Kennel from ever having an opinion on topics that aren’t mushing related, so I hope this post doesn’t upset sponsors or discourage fans from following, but also we live in crazy times.

In the meantime, we’re training for the races and enjoying the Two Rivers trails with this rockstar team of dogs.

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