Fall Training

Wooo-eee! We’ve had some spectacular fall weather. Gold and yellow. Bright blue skies. I LOVE this time of year. Mornings are a crisp 35-40F degrees and by afternoon it’s a balmy 60F.

The dogs are regularly training and seem to love the routine of morning exercise followed by afternoon nap in the sunshine.

Morning Exercise

Afternoon Nap

We have 37 athletes in training.

One-Year-Olds: Beesly, Big Tuna, Cheddar, Dwight, Firefly, Foxfire, Havarti, Holly, Mose, Mozzarella, Muenster, and Spitfire

Two-Year-Olds: Rose, Sherlock, Tobin, and Watson

Three-Year-Olds: Ernie, Bert, and Scarpa

Four-Year-Olds: Etta, Thresher, Faff, Mario, Yoshi, and Bowser

Five-Year-Olds: King Louie, Otis, Smoky, and Oryx

Six-Year-Olds: Dracula, Wingman, Maple, and Wombat

Eight-Year-Olds: Lefty, Dolly, Goblin

Cooke was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which is actually great news. Cooke hasn’t been himself since his brother, Smoky, pulled his tail last year. Cooke’s tail appears to be completely fixed, but there have been lingering symptoms. It appears that it was a perfect storm of two issues cropping up at once. With Cooke’s tail now healed, hopefully a thyroid supplement will have Cooke back to 100%.

Bull has been diagnosed with Addison’s disease. We’re getting a handle on the disease and what it means for Bull. In the meantime, he’s learning about pet dog life and enjoying being a greeter at the yurt with Cartel !

Retirees

For those of you who follow closely, you may have noticed some names missing from the roster. We try to be the best home for each individual dog at the right time, meaning that each dog has their own desires and if Ryno Kennel doesn’t fit their goals, then we help them find the perfect home that does. Each athlete always has a forever home at Ryno Kennel, but sometimes, a dog might prefer a couch where they’re the one and only. Or perhaps they prefer to join a team who runs shorter miles. We had several retire over the last year, and really, retire isn’t quite the correct word. Re-focus maybe is a better term. Change career paths. Whether adventure buddies or couch potatoes or recreational sled dogs- each RK athlete picks what their next stage of life looks like for them. For some like Lefty, Supai, and Cartel, they’d prefer to stay at Ryno Kennel. For others, they’d like more individual attention.

Petzl and Crunch have joined my good friend Kristina and her two kids. Kristina and her family prefer shorter miles and adventures out to their property on the Yukon River. Petzl and Crunch are kid wrangler extraordinaires, so they’ve been helping teach Nieva and Enli how to be mushers.

---

Badger, Flash, and Ham have joined Katy Canine and our neighbors with Midnight Sun K9s. Jen and her husband originally had two Belgian Malinios. Then Katy Canine joined the family. A few sled dogs later and now they have a Belgian Malinios/ Alaskan Husky pack! Flash, Ham, and Badger have all been enjoying lots of quality inside time (or in the case of Flash and Ham, they live inside all the time now). Follow Midnight Sun K9s on Instagram to see their adventures!

Flash testing out the treadmill

Ham taking full advantage of nap time

Badger and his new Belgian Malinios buddy Recon

---

Loretta now lives in Delta Junction with a small recreational team. She’s enjoying short runs and lots of inside time with the kiddos.

---

Uno learning to canoe

Uno is Saeward’s new adventure buddy. She’s been canoeing and backpacking, but her favorite is definitely chasing ground squirrels.

---

Rucu is Gilberto and Rosanna’s new adventure buddy. He’s been exploring all over British Columbia!

---

Boone and Fire are Kalyn’s new sidekicks. Boone goes EVERYWHERE with Kalyn and has been the source of much entertainment. Whether she’s digging caverns to the middle of the earth or goosing everyone she meets, Boone is a goofball. Fire

---

Perm is at the kennel, but she’s permanently joined Mandy and Simon’s pack. Perm spent last summer in Switzerland with Mandy, Simon, and her new brother Midnight!

It is Time

Fall training has begun! While we sporadically went for runs in August, September 1st signals that it’s time to train for real. Running the dogs takes priority over other tasks. It’s the time of the sled dog.

We're going to have a great crew this season. I’ll do a post with more in-depth introductions of the human crew once the entire crew is at the kennel. In the meantime, Simon and Mandy have both arrived at the kennel. Mandy helped train the dogs last year, while Simon trained with our next door neighbors- Smokin’ Ace Kennels. This winter, Simon will be helping train the RK athletes. Mandy had to get a real job (well, mushing is real but doesn’t have the best paycheck), but when she’s free, she’ll be helping entertain the RK pups. And other fun news- Simon and Mandy are engaged so congrats to them!

Simon and I have been the primary coaches. At the moment, there are 37 athletes in training comprised of 12 yearlings, 4 two-year-olds, 3 three-year-olds, 6 four-year-olds, 5 five-year-olds, 4 six-year-olds, and 3 eight-year-olds. Supai is fully retired. After being diagnosed with Addison’s disease, Bull is taking a break from pulling, instead going on walks and building back up his strength. And Cooke still has a lingering weirdness from last season when his brother Smoky pulled his tail just a little too hard. Hopefully we’ll have some results back from tests to determine what is bothering Cooke!

As I type, the dogs are all sprawled out in the sun, taking a nap after a fun morning run. There’s no better feeling than a relaxed, recently exercised dog yard! Happy dogs, happy life!

A Day of...cough cough... "Tutoring"

A few days ago, we had our annual spay and neuter day! We’re fortunate enough to have Dr. Jeanne Olson come to the kennel and perform spays and neuters right at home. I should note, I have no relation to Dr. Olson, although I wish I did! She’s one cool lady. Dr. Olson travels to remote villages and offers her knowledge and skills at discounted rates in communities that don’t have a veterinarian. She regularly participates in rabies clinics or spay and neuter clinics for both dogs and cats. She has so much knowledge of both Western and Eastern medicine and has helped us many times when a dogs just seems off. So thank you, thank you to Dr. Jeanne Olson!

Ok, back to our big day. Spaying and neutering at home is a fantastic setup for us. First, the future patient is given a calming drug. About ten minutes later, the dog is ready for a dose of the anesthesia drug. Once out, we lift the pup up onto a table in the kitchen (which is different from the kitchen table I might add), and before you know it, they’re relaxing on the living room floor with an ice pack, no puppy making organs, and sleepily wagging their tail. Since the procedure is performed at home, the dogs get to wake up on familiar ground and don’t have the added stress of being in a new environment. Plus, with 13 dogs to spay and neuter, it makes my life easier to keep everyone home!

Spaying and neutering dogs is a key aspect in our kennel management plan. There are SO MANY benefits to spaying and neutering—

Faff, Rose, and Scarpa

• There’s significantly less chance of having unplanned litters. With 40+ dogs, mistakes can happen (and frisky dogs are good at finding ways to meet up). By spaying and neutering over half of the kennel, there’s a far less chance of an oopsie.

• It helps dogs hold weight. Especially for the big males, neutering helps them maintain a healthy weight during winter.

• Spaying and neutering can take the edginess off. Sometimes (not always), spaying and neutering can tamper down reactive and/or aggressive behaviors. This isn’t always the case, but it can certainly help.

• Spaying and neutering reduces the risk of certain cancers and pyometra (a potentially deadly infection in a female’s reproductive tract).

Normally we wait until dogs are two to three years old before spaying and neutering; however, this time I did opt to spay and neuter a handful of the yearlings. With twelve athletes in the yearling class, if they were all intact, training could quickly turn into a MTV Spring Break episode. Plus, I already knew there were several who I did not want to breed in the future (primarily for health reasons or shyness).

So who were the special thirteen? Dr. Olson spayed/neutered Yoshi (4), Faff (4), Scarpa (3), Rose (2), Beesly (1), Smoky (5), Thresher (4), Bert (3), Watson (2), Sherlock (2), Dwight (1), Mose (1), and Mozzerella (1).

A BIG THANK YOU to Dr. Olson, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible!

Dr. Olson and Rose

Flying

WARNING- not dog related. If you’re on the Ryno Kennel website for only dog content, then skip this blog post.

In 2012, I finished my first Iditarod with the help of SP Kennel, and impulsively decided to get my private pilot’s license. Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure why. Don’t get me wrong. I love flying. I love the feeling of being high above the ground and soaring over Alaska’s vast landscape to remote corners of the state. With so few roads in Alaska, you need a dog team, snowmachine, boat, or airplane to reach more remote areas. Perhaps I made the decision because I was dating a pilot (Derek), or my dad is a pilot (he flew A-6s in the Navy), or my aunt is a pilot (she flew Boeing 787s for United Airlines), or my paternal grandfather was a pilot (I remember him taking me up in a glider plane), or my maternal grandfather had provided me with the financial support to do so (he gave each of his grandchildren a gift to use towards education, in whatever form that may take).

But whatever the reason, I spent a few weeks down in Arizona, sleeping in a camper borrowed from my Aunt Joan, and flying daily in pursuit of my private pilot license. After a whirlwind course, I walked away with a signature in my logbook saying I could fly small planes but only having the knowledge of how to fly a Cessna 172 in very specific conditions.

Upon returning to Alaska, I quickly realized that flying Derek’s PA12 was a whole different beast from the Cessna 172. Add to that the arrival of the first Ryno Kennel athletes, and my focus rapidly re-directed back to dogs. For the next 7-8 years, I rarely took the controls of the plane. Derek is an outstanding bush pilot, so I happily squeezed into the back seat and let him run the show. I always hoped to get my tailwheel endorsement and fly myself, but I couldn’t seem to find the time (or rather, I just wasn’t interested in making the time). Fast forward to the pandemic, and suddenly, I had time. Neighbor and certified flight instructor, Marty Meierotto generously agreed to fly with me and give me a refresher. Last summer, Marty and I spent several hours practicing in Derek’s PA-12. Throughout fall, winter, and spring, my focus returned to the dogs, but this summer, I was able to hop back in the pilot’s seat. Even better, a good friend offered to put me on his plane’s insurance, and bam- Derek and I could take to the skies together in separate planes!

A couple weeks ago, we embarked on our first, separate but together, cross country flight. We flew through the Alaska Range to visit Paige and Cody! It was SPECTACULAR. I certainly had a basket of butterflies in my stomach comparable to the start of a 1000-mile race, but we made it to Susquidna Lodge and back in fine form. Full disclosure, there were a couple minor hiccups (1- losing my visual of Derek as we flew over the Yanert River, so from then on he followed me and 2- doing a go-around as I landed at Paige and Cody’s after taking a funky bounce), but as Marty would say, there’s only one mandatory landing, otherwise just enjoy yourself!

Even though this was barely a 24-hour adventure, so many thank yous are in order. To my mom, for caring for the critters at home (did I mention there’s an arsonist running around Two Rivers right now too?!) To my dad for your love and support in my pursuit of flying. To Kalyn for managing Chena Outdoor Co while I was away. To Chris Swisher for allowing me to pilot his spectacular plane. And to Paige and Cody for letting us come visit!

Summer

IT’S MID-JULY!

Wha- what?

Where did the time go? This summer has been a whirl-wind. Ok, truth be told, every day with a kennel of dogs is a whirlwind, but this summer seems particularly busy. After taking the month of May to plan, design, and build our summer tours at Chena Outdoor Collective, we jumped all-in on June first. Our standard tour is called the Taste of Two Rivers. It includes a 1.5 hour sled dog demonstration (complete with puppies), 45 minute interactive reindeer tour, and 45 minute gold panning. While this might seem like a strange combination of activities, our goal is to give visitors a little window into what people do in Two Rivers. Some people are mushers, many people have farms and harvest and hunt (reindeer help inspire this conversation), and many folks are gold miners or work at larger gold mines like Fort Knox. Full disclosure, I wasn’t super excited about the gold panning portion; however, after researching the history of gold in the Fairbanks area, my excitement did increase.

Cheddar being a good sport and teaching the next generation about mushing.

Peeps and Sappho being reindeer ambassadors

Gold Panning!

We have some fun off-site tour options too. Peony tours with Boreal Peonies and Reindeer Hiking in the Chena State Recreation Area! The peony tours were offered for the last couple weekends during harvest season. The guided reindeer hikes are offered all summer. The peony tours were a hit. The reindeer hikes…not so much. We’ve had a hard time finding the right way to market for them. Or perhaps our price point is too high. Whatever the reason, we need to do some tweaking because who wouldn’t want to go hiking with reindeer?

Pilot posing for the camera on a reindeer hike.

We’ve also been organizing events like reindeer yoga and monthly community events with live music, food, reindeer, and puppies. Needless to say, it’s been kind of crazy! Speaking of puppies, we have some! Dracula gave birth to eight beautiful pups five weeks ago. After last season’s enormous puppy class, I won’t be keeping any of these little fluff balls. My friend Lauro Eklund will be taking the whole litter.

Dracula and pups relaxing on ice packs in the summer heat.

A big THANK YOU to my mom for staffing the storefront yurt. She welcomes all the guests and babysits Dracula and the puppies. I love you!

Iditarod 2022 Sign Ups!

After much deliberation, we decided to sign up for the 2022 Iditarod! And we’re PUMPED!

Friday night, my mom and I drove down to Cantwell, car camped, then hopped in with the Squid Acres crew and drove down to the Iditarod picnic. It was great to see mushers and volunteers all fired up about the 2022 Iditarod. The Iditarod holds several incentive drawings during the picnic, with the biggest prize being two Iditarod entry fees! The entry fee for the Iditarod is four thousand dollars, so needless to say, the free entry fee is a pretty coveted prize! With about 30-35 mushers at the picnic, my odds were good (2 out of 35); however, I wanted to hedge my bets. I asked Riley Dyche (a good friend, former handler, and owner of Dark Horse Racing) if he’d like to hedge our bets. Meaning if I win, I give him $2,000 or half of the winnings, and if he wins, he gives me half of his winnings. Well…. Riley won! Woohoo!!! Riley could have wished that he hadn’t made the deal, but instead he said that he was glad he did, figuring that it was our combined good luck that influenced the win! What a nice guy! We left the Iditarod picnic with big smiles and excitement for the upcoming season. Thank you to the Iditarod headquarters and volunteers for hosting the picnic!

And who else did we see there but Bridgett! We can’t wait to share the trail with you in March!

Expeditions

I apologize for the long radio silence! We’re back from our spring expeditions with lots of stories and photos to share!

Huge snowdrifts!

One of our adventures was with a mother/daughter duo. We had last taken them on a trip when the daughter was a freshman in high school. Now she was graduating and selecting a college! It was a blast to catch up and learn about her senior year during the time of Covid. On their last expedition, we had traveled around the Chena River Valley. During one of the nights, we stayed on top of Trapline Mountain during a windstorm and ended up bringing all the dogs into a 19ft in diameter yurt! While it wasn’t a very restful night, the mother/daughter duo said it was a highlight of the trip. This time we would be traveling to the Denali Highway. And wouldn’t you know it, Mother Nature had something to say about this trip as well! The adventure was delayed due to record snowfall in Fairbanks, then we had two glorious days, which were followed by two days of exceptionally high winds. Reading the forecast (-50F with windchill, 30-35 mph gusts) I knew that those just weren’t conditions that one would call a vacation. Luckily, we were holed up at Alpine Creek Lodge, and they made room for us to stay an extra two days! Bonus! As we mushed out after the storm, we crossed drifts that were at least twelve feet high caused by the wind!

All the photos in the above gallery were taken by Kalyn Holl Photography

At the very end of the season, we went on our annual arctic caribou hunt. This year, the crew was comprised of Kalyn (who you all know), May (good friend who has accompanied me on this hunt the past two years), Nick (my elder brother from Colorado), and Jessie (a new friend from Wyoming who owns a horsepacking outfit in the Wind River Mountains). Prior to this trip, my mom had actually spent more time with Jessie during the 2018 Yukon Quest when my mom was handling for the Ryno Team and Jessie was handling for Tim Pappas. In addition to the five humans, we had twenty six RK athletes going on the adventure: Goblin, Smoky, Thresher, Bert, Ernie, Tobin, Watson, Sherlock, Otis, Bull, Boone, Etta, Yoshi, Dolly, Scarpa, Faff, Mario, Rose, Wombat, Maple, Louie, Oryx, Wingman, Elmer, Bowser, and Avie (May’s dog). Basically we were a traveling circus.

We spent five invigorating days exploring the Arctic, mushing in extreme conditions, and spotting caribou, wolves, and even muskox! Each day brought so much adventure, excitement, and unending thrills that as we left the Arctic to head south, we sighed in contentment thinking the adventures were over.

Little did we know, the trailer tire had other plans. We’d been driving for hours and only had about 1.5 hours until home when I noticed a strange, dragging noise. I pulled to the shoulder of the road, hopped out of truck, and walked around to the trailer. “Uh oh….” I said. “We have a problem.”

Yep, as you can see from the photo, we had a problem. The tire had completely disintegrated, and the rim had warped around the hub. Oops. Apparently we had been driving like that for awhile. Initially, I was pretty embarrassed that I hadn’t noticed the issue sooner; however, after talking to other people who have driven the Dalton Highway or other long dirt roads, I was reassured that I’m not the only one to have had this issue. Apparently it can be challenging to detect on a trailer.

As we stared in awe at the rim and hub, May exclaimed, “this calls for lipstick!” May had brought pink and red lipstick on the trip and insisted that we all wore lipstick throughout the day. Why? I have no idea, but since I haven’t worn lipstick since my senior prom, it was a fun ritual. With a fresh coat of lipstick on everyone (including Nick), we got to work. Jessie, Kalyn, and Nick began unloading the sleds from the trailer and reloading them onto the dog box of the truck. May ran back down the road to see if she could find the tire, which was a futile task. I stared at the hub, hoping for inspiration. “Well,” I said, “Let’s see if we can take the rim off. It only seems to be molded on a couple sides. Maybe we can wiggle the rim off.” I’m glad I couldn’t see the massive flaws in my plan, otherwise I would have written off the entire endeavor as hopeless. With a bottle jack, we lifted the trailer and began to take off the lugnuts. It was quite a struggle, but using two sets of hands on the tire iron, we managed to get them all off. I did a brief wiggle of the rim and realized that there was no way we could finagle the rim off the hub. “Perhaps a trucker has a metal sawzall in their truck?!” I said hopefully.

With a fresh coat of lipstick, May and Jessie began flagging down truckers. Most would quickly shake their head and speed away, until one truck pulled up behind us. The trucker popped his head out of the window and said, “I’ll come take a look.” Long story short, Sean (nicknamed Two Dog due to having a Labrador and Weimaraner on his first truck) took the entire hub off the trailer and spent almost three hours bashing on the rim, finally freeing the hub! At one point, there were four semis backed up around us, everyone chit-chatting and slowing down to ask Two Dog what was going on. He’d proudly hold up the warped rim, which always received a PHEW! Good Luck! from the passing trucker.

A big thank you to Two Dog for getting us moving down the road! May asked if he would like a celebratory coat of lipstick, to which he said, “No thanks, but it makes sense why everyone has lipstick on now! Including Nick!” Ha! Nick was getting some strange looks from the truckers as they passed!

We didn’t trust the trailer, so we loaded all 26 dogs, 5 humans, and 5 sleds into the truck! But for some reason, that felt like the perfect way to end such an incredible adventure. And yes, we did bring home some meat for the freezer too!

Post Race and Sleeping

Photo by Whitney McLaren

I apologize for the radio silence, but phew, we’ve been rocking and rolling! When finishing in Nome, you often have to wait at least a couple days until the banquet. Sleeping, relaxing, eating. While I have enjoyed skipping out on the normal banquet hubbub, I did miss the forced relaxation. This year, we finished in the morning. We had breakfast with our dropped dog crew (Tyler and Kelsey), then immediately drove home to Two Rivers. The next day I relaxed inside and hung with the dogs. But that was it. The following day we jumped into tours and catching up on every day life. To be honest, I haven’t even had time to really think about the race beyond watching a couple videos. Occasionally, little snippets of moments come flooding back, but honestly, I’ve had to focus on the next task at hand. I’d say that the dogs have rebounded faster than me. As I type, I’m watching out the window as they body slam each other, chew on their houses, dig in the snow, and wonder why we went from running hundreds of miles to only doing 10-15. I definitely feel a little dog guilt, but luckily, they’re headed out for an expedition on the Denali Highway starting Monday. That should could them happy!

All that being said, I do plan to share stories and write a dog recap. It just might take me a few weeks, so thank you ahead of time for your patience! Each night as I crawl into bed, I do think about how I want to write about napping on the Iditarod. How if it’s cold, I would crawl in my sleeping bag with all my clothes and boots on. I typically lie on my chest and one hip, curling my arms underneath my body and cocooning my head in both my parka ruff and sleeping bag. I would try to make the perfect air hole that allowed oxygen into my cave, but not so much cold air that my nose got cold. But when sleeping in a warm cabin, like Skwentna or Iditarod, woooeee! Those were moments of paradise. I’d lie flat on my back, one arm outstretched over my head, soaking in the warmth as if I was in a lawn chair on the beach. I can’t normally sleep on my back, but in the middle of the race in a hot cabin, for whatever reason, it was my favorite. There are few times in my life when falling asleep has felt as glorious as napping in a hot cabin on a thousand mile race.

Another sleeping story- it was near the end of the race. I had been traveling more or less with Paige since Nikolai (inbound). We ran though the middle of the night, picked up supplies in Rainy Pass, and then mushed a bit farther until we pulled over to camp on the side of the trail. We had our alarms set for a 3:50 AM wake up call. As the alarm sounded, I started pulling myself out of my cocoon of warmth. Paige was nearby, and I heard her say, “Let’s stay in the sleeping bag just 10 more minutes”. RED FLAG. Never ever give yourself just a few more minutes of sleep. That is a slippery, slippery slope. But Paige typically beats me in a thousand mile race, so I thought, what could be the harm? Forty minutes later, I jump out of the sleeping bag and say- “PAIGE! We have to get up!!” She crawls out of her sleeping bag and says, “Let’s just go home. I’m cold. This isn’t fun anymore.” To which I replied, “Paige, we can’t go home. We’re on a race.” She gives me a quizzical look and says, “we are?” At this point, I thought she was just teasing. She asks, “Which race are we on?” “We’re on the Iditarod, Paige!” Paige responds, “huh, where are we?” “We’re on our way to Skwentna,” I say. She looks extra confused now, which is understandable since it is strange to be returning to Skwentna. She says, “ok…so…what should I do now?” “Well,” I say, “let’s starting packing up to leave and get to the finish!” Shortly after this conversation, Paige has cleared out the cobwebs, and she was quickly prepping the team to leave. But for the rest of the race, this memory brought us lots of laughs!

Iditarod Videos

After resting for a couple days, we’ve jumped back into the normal routine of tours, training runs, and playing with puppies! Over the next couple weeks, I’ll upload videos from different sections of the trail.

One of my favorite sections was the Farewell Burn, specifically on the return route. However, on the outbound, that section of trail was my least favorite. When heading outbound, we hit the burn at night. It was windy, causing the dead trees to sway and groan. The Burn is notorious for its bare ground (all the snow is blown away), and the way out was no exception. We skidded across frozen dirt and tundra with the wind whipping up the dirt particles. As I opened my mouth, panting from the effort of running next to the sled up the steep inclines (sleds don’t slide very well on dirt), I would swallow a cloud of dust, leaving a gritty dry feeling in my mouth. A layer of dirt and grime covered everything- the sled bag, the dog booties, their tongues, my face. Most mushers camp at the only open water of Tin Creek, otherwise you’re scraping the meager layer of snow off the ground to try and make water for the team. So needless to say, when we left the Burn behind on the outbound direction, I was not looking forward to having to return back through that wasteland.

Little did I know, the area received a fresh layer of snow during the interim, so when we returned through the Farewell Burn, it was spectacular! Since it was daylight, I was able to see the towering mountains on all sides. The once spooky trees adopted a Dr. Seuss-like quality rather than a Nightmare Before Christmas vibe. The dogs sailed across the fresh snow, so no more dust and dirt in the face for us! Plus, we saw buffalo!

A bit about Alaska Bison:

In Alaska, there are two different subspecies of bison: wood bison and plains bison. Wood bison are slightly larger and are naturally occurring in Alaska; whereas the plains bison were established in 1928 near Delta Junction.

There are four herds of plains bison totaling about 900 animals. According to Alaska Fish and Game, “various forms of bison existed in Alaska for several hundred thousand years; until relatively recent times, bison were one of the most abundant large animals on the landscape. Alaska’s existing wild plains bison are descendants of animals that were transplanted from Montana in 1928 to Delta Junction. Transplants have created additional herds at Copper Rivers, Chitina River, and Farewell.” The bison that we saw were part of the Farewell herd.

And did I mention we were treated to a SPECTACULAR sunrise?

Iditarod Finish

Ryne Olson, 7:13 am, 18th place!!!! A huge congratulations to Ryne and the team who came across in this order:

Goblin Thresher

Faff Smoky

Wingman Mario

Maple Yoshi

Louie Oryx

Dolly Etta

Uno and Bowser met the Ryno crew at the finish line.

They spent 8 days 16 hours 13 minutes and 42 seconds running and camping on the Iditarod Gold Loop Trail... so there will definitely be more updates, trail stories, and race pictures on the way! We just need to get the team home first and let the well earned resting begin.

Thank you for following along and cheering on Ryno Kennel! It means so much to us to have a support system like we do. You guys rock too!

Photos courtesy of our good friends - Whitney McLaren, Kelsey Koenigs, and Cat Strader

Day 9 of Iditarod

Even though I’ve worked with sled dogs before, this is my first year handling for a race kennel. All those trailing miles, puppy massages, meat cutting, packing drop bags, and rest of the long list for what needs to happen before the race start... they‘re paying off. I’ve adored watching Ryne and the dogs that I’ve cared for all season take on the famous Iditarod race. This year has been full of unknowns, making it tough at times so I couldn’t be more proud of what the team is accomplishing! Even better, they’re happy while doing that!!!

Kalyn has been a rockstar at helping me write these blogs. She’s much better at checking the GPS tracker regularly and telling me what it means. It’s been fun learning how to watch virtually and pull from multiple resources to get a basic understanding of a trail I’ve never been on.

We’ve been caring for the dogs at kennel, running the large puppy class, checking off the end-of-season to-do list, and operating tours at the Chena Outdoor Collective. Our little routine is being changed up today as Kalyn and Derek take off this afternoon. The plan is to be down there for Ryne’s finish... and Ryne and the dogs can’t return until they pick her up. So Derek and Kalyn better be at the finish line on time!! I’m ready for trail stories and dog cuddles.

Ryne left Nikolai and passed through Rainy Pass for a quick resupply before camping on trail 1.5 hours later. She took a five hour rest before pulling the hook and running to Finger Lake. They did the same thing here; a few minutes for a quick resupply of dog food, booties, and human snacks. They left at 8:48 this morning.

The team is in Swkenta now, where they’re taking the final mandatory 8 hour rest. It’s the last official checkpoint before Deshka Landing and the finish line.

Go, Ryne Go!!!

Photographer: Michael Schoder

Photographer: Michael Schoder

Photographer: Michael Schoder

Photographer: Michael Schoder