Alaska 2010 - Buser Kennel

I can't believe we've been home two weeks already!  I'm happy that I've finally gotten settled enough to put my photos in the computer and at least begin working on getting them ready for blog posts.

So here's the first post on my month in Alaska.

I had a cloudy flight into Anchorage.  Not the usual spectacular views of ocean and snow capped mountain ranges with glacier lakes.  I couldn't see the ground at all until we were only a couple hundred feet above it.  The Fisherman was there to greet me and it was so good to see him!  I got in around 9pm on Saturday night, August 28th.

The first thing we did the next day was visit the sled dog kennel of Iditarod champion, Martin Buser. 

His kennel is in Big Lake, about 50 miles north of Anchorage. His summer tour season was one week away from closing down and we were the only ones who showed up for a tour that Sunday, thus we got ourselves a private tour! His handler, Magnus (from Sweden, I believe) met us in the "dog yard" and started the tour for us. He led us to the Trophy Room where some of Martin's many trophies were on display. Next we went into The Garage and watched a movie about sled dogs, the Iditarod, and Martin's life and achievements. He is a Swiss immigrant who moved to Alaska when sled dog racing became his passion. He is now a citizen of the U.S. and I think probably holds the record for the longest naturalization swearing-in ceremony. It was begun at the opening of the Iditarod race in 2002 and ended just under 9 days later when Martin crossed "under the burled arch" to win the race and break the Iditarod record for the fastest time.

I love the name of this dog (below), Drop Zone. He was so named because someone just dropped him off as a young dog a couple years ago.  Martin raised him and he's now part of the kennel along with about 70 others.

At the end of the movie, Martin Buser himself came in and we shook hands and introduced ourselves.  What a treat it was to get a private tour and be able to have easy conversation with him.  He has been one of my favorite mushers because of his happy personality, good attitude, his tender way with his dogs and the great care he gives them.


We walked outside where Martin (in the orange shirt) and Magnus hooked up a small team of dogs for a demonstration around the property. 

The following are terrible photos, blurry because I didn't have my shutter speed set fast enough to stop the action of the dogs.  But I wanted to include them to show how excited the dogs get when they're getting ready to go.  This guy (gal?) was bearing down, lunging into the harness, so excited waiting for the command to go. 

And all of them were barking their heads off with excitement.

It was a chaotic, loud, crazy cacophony of barking howling dogs!  It went on, and on, and on.  It was so loud and wild, and went on for so long that all I could do was laugh.

 

This was just before he gave the command to "Hike!"  When he did, all the noise abruptly stopped and the dogs leaned into their harnesses and got down to the business they so eagerly awaited.

Here they are coming in for a stop after a short loop around the property.  It was about 55 degrees outside - a heatwave in sled dog terms - so the dogs aren't trained in earnest during the summer.  They are kept fit, but not trained.  

Among many things Martin Buser is known for as a musher, he is the musher who has made dog-sized "hamster wheels" for his dogs to run in.  They get in on their own and run just because they love it.


Here's me, being a groupie, with the four-time champ himself.

After the demonstration, we went over to another area where a tent was set up, a fire pit, a table with gear on it, and several sleds around it.  There were log benches setup in rows, amphitheater style, for the usual crowds that show up for these tours. There was a dog running around wild, enjoying her moments of freedom, running through the grass all around the tent and table.  Martin called her and she jumped right up on the table.  She came bolting up so fast that she slid right off into him, taking with her the blanket that served as a table cloth.  Her second try was more controlled as she landed right where she needed to be. She stood there patiently serving as a model for Martin to show us all the protective gear the dogs wear in various weather conditions. They have wrist warmers to keep their muscles warm, dog booties to protect their feet from ice and snow buildup. They have tee shirts and jackets to wear when it gets cold (like, really cold), special waist bands for the boys' private parts, and "donuts" of fur to protect that little flap of skin on the dogs' hind legs (where the legs connect to the torso).


We were so fortunate to be the only ones there.  We just stood right at the table, up close, and never sat down for the "show" like we would have had to if we were among dozens of others.


Next came the puppies.  Magnus let loose three six-week old puppies and their mama.  They ran circles of excitement all around us and were so cute.


And then.... THEN...Martin said, "If you don't have to leave right away, I'll let the big dogs loose and you can go with Magnus on their free run."  Let me think..... Uhh....YEAH!  I was so excited.


By "big dogs" I think he meant the older dogs.  Not the pups, the yearlings or the young ones.  By "big dogs" I think he meant his veteran athletes.


Here's Magnus, just getting started.  There are about 25 dogs ahead of him, all saying, "Woooooo! Yahoooooo!  Wheee!  WooHooooo!", as they run wildly back and forth along the trail.

Everybody had to pee on everything.  Everybody had to charge up the trail and back again, over and over.   They plunged into the woods on either side of the trail and popped out further up ahead.  They got into tussles with each other occasionally.  Mostly they just went nuts with their freedom, with all the scents and all the sights.


Always, they came back to Magnus as their anchor point.  This white one especially, who was being treated for a skin infection, stayed close to Magnus, always looking for loves from him whenever he stopped on the trail.

I'll be watching Magnus next March when he makes his rookie run in the 2011 Iditarod. He'll be running Martin's "B Team" or "Puppy Team" so he won't actually be racing competitively.  It's more of a training experience for the young dogs. I suppose it's a training experience for the rookie musher, too.

The dogs were running so wildly back and forth, with such excitement and speed, that Magnus cut off alder branches for The Fisherman and me.  He said the dogs can get so focused on a point past us as they're running along the path that they might actually run into us, not even seeing us.  He gave us the leafy branches to shake in front of us if it looked like a dog was going to barrel into us.  It would catch their attention, enabling them to actually see us there in their way.  We never had to use them, though I did get halfway barrelled into from behind once.  Sort of clipped by a speeding bullet running with glee up the path.

There was one open spot on the walk route.  We didn't linger there long because of a neighbor's float plane parked on the shore of the lake...the dogs were called away from the area of the plane so as not to damage it.

I love these shots of me, taken by The Fisherman.  Me, walking with a bunch of dogs, in the woods.  What could be better? 

Well...maybe it could be better if the dogs were my own.

And not so wild and rambunctious...

Still, it was pretty fun and pretty cool.

A really special experience for this dog lover.

While we were with Magnus and the dogs, Martin stayed back in the dog yard to hook up the dogs as they raced their way back home. They came back to the yard at will and Martin was there to greet them and secure them to their familiar spots.

In the end, there were two brothers missing.  Martin was not concerned, stating that they always get into trouble but they always come home.


He hooked up his famous and beautiful Jefferson...

...and gave him some personal attention and lovin' just like he does to all his dogs.

I bought a t-shirt from Martin's Happy Trails Kennel.  It's long sleeved and pink.  I had him sign it on the back, just below where my hair ends.  He wrote "Happy Trails.  Martin Buser"

It was a really fun day. It was so special to have such a casual and intimate setting with this famous, accomplished professional musher.  And what a treat to get to go with the dogs, "the true athletes", on their daily free run.

Alaska Photos 5

IDITAROD HEADQUARTERS

The Sled Dog Behind the Mask

I LOVE this dog's face! I commented to the owner's wife about what a beautiful and striking dog this is, and that he looked like he should have some thespian-type name. She said she had wanted to name him Phantom, after Phantom of the Opera, but his name became Othelo. I like it.

This is what a summer time sled dog ride looks like.
And this is what a "dog truck" looks like.

FLY BOB
In my posts from Alaska I mentioned Fly Bob, so named because he is a fly tier and there was a need to distinguish him from another Bob. Here he is with the pride of his collection. And a fancy fly, too. I mean beer.

Some others
And with the whole winter's worth of flies....some 4000. Three winters ago he tied 8000.

Fly Bob told us a great story. He said last fall he had been out fishing on the river and was walking back to his truck with his catch. An SUV was pulling out of the parking lot and a little girl was frantically waving at him trying to get his attention. She rolled her window down and hollered with all her might, "HI, SANTA!" Bob said it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.


EAGLES
I love taking photos of the eagles on the beach. They are beautiful It's amazing to be in their presence.

Bald Eagle or Headless Eagle?

Ah, there's his head...just barely .

Flaps up. Landing gear down. Love it!

This is just to give you an idea of how many were hanging around. Lots of the birds in this photo are seagulls but there are plenty of eagles, too.

VOLCANO
We watched the steam plume rising from Mt. Redoubt all the while we were on the beach with the eagles. This was shot at about 11pm. It was actually much lighter out than this. The camera tends to dramatize sunsets, but hey, I'm not complaining.

OK, OK, This is the Last Iditarod Post (This year - I can't promise about next year)

You guessed it. The Iditarod has a winner and yes, it's "The Incredible Lance Mackey" again. (See February post "How I Became an Iditarod Fan"). He's accomplished a Three-Peat like only two other mushers have ever done in the 37 year Iditarod history.

Lance won the Iditarod Sled Dog Race today around 11:30 a.m. Alaska time. He was about 7.5 hours ahead of the 2nd place guy. Third has yet to come in and it's a very close race for 4th being fought by about 5 mushers, including a father and son, Mitch and Dallas Seavey. Lance pulled a daring move midway throught the race. His dogs were running strong so he pushed over 100 miles past the favored check point at which most mushers take the mandatory 24 hour rest. He took his 24 at the mining ghost town of Iditarod, the halfway point. He never looked back. He just increased the gap between him and the next pack of mushers. About 55 other mushers will reach Nome in the coming several days.

As he drove his dog team down Front Street in Nome - over 1000 miles away from the starting point of the race - Lance stopped them and changed out his lead dog. Being a sentimental guy, he wanted his long time leader, Larry, to take him across the finish line (or "under the burled arch" per Idita-language). He said he has a great new little leader, a girl named Maple, who led him through some rough miles of this race but he wanted Larry in lead for the finish because Larry has lead him to so many victories in his career. Larry is being retired after this race. He's earned a spot on the couch as Lance likes to say.

When he won, his mom was there at the finish line. His dad was home in Arizona and couldn't make it, but someone soon handed Lance a cell phone. In front of cameras and microphones he talked to his dad, another Iditarod champion. We could hear Lance's side of the conversation. The connection was bad, or was it something else? Dad? Hello? Dad, speak up. What? You can't speak? Are...are you crying? It's OK; I did my crying about 40 miles back.

Cool.

Meanwhile....The Iditarod

Meanwhile, up in Alaska, the 37th Iditarod is being raced. I have been following the internet morning and night. It is shaping up to be a surprising and exciting race. Mushers draw a Bib # at a banquet the night before the race. This is their starting position. Start times are separated by 2 minutes. So, out of 67 mushers, if you draw a high bib #, you're going to start perhaps hours after the first musher. This time is made up somehow when the musher takes their mandatory 24 hour rest period at one of the check points down the trail.

Most of the top contenders drew bib numbers in the 30's and 40's. And they're all tightly bunched at the front of the pack on Day 5. That means, Mackey has passed about 40 other mushers to get there. Passing is done on the trail or at checkpoints by leaving earlier than the others. Several former champions are running in a tight pack in positions 4-10 with some younger guys pulling out the surprising 1-3 spots. It's going to be a tight and exciting race. One young musher has gone from a 60-something-th start to around 12th position. He's surprising everyone, even his dad (a former Iditarod winner and constant strong contender) who is also running the race. They are Mitch (dad) and Dallas (son) Seavey. Dallas' new bride is also running the race. Sometimes musher couples run together, but they must have had an agreement because Dallas left her in his snow dust early on. It was at the Seavey "Iditaride" and kennel tour (2008) that the photos in my sidebar at right were taken.

Last year they had a free GPS tracking on a handful of mushers. It was a trial year that went over as a huge success with the fans. So of course, this year you have to pay for it. I didn't. The Current Standings page (once on the page, click on Current Standings at right - not that I believe any of you actually are interested enough to do so) only tells in and out times from check points. You have no idea what happens once a musher leaves a check point. They list info from the last check point to the current one so you can see how fast they travelled on the last stretch but you don't know what they'll do next. They could rest on the trail, they could have a great trail and go fast, they could have a soggy trail and be slowed down. They could run into moose, wipe out around a tight curve, get a broken sled (like several mushers already have), or any number of delays. They could pass the guy ahead of them and show up first to the next check point. The dogs, of course, are the major factor - how they're feeling and what they need. It adds a fun dimension watching the Current Standings only and trying to figure out who's really in the lead based on how fast they've traveled to the last check point, how long they might rest there and that even though it LOOKS like Martin Buser is in first place, he's really not because he's just starting his 24 while mushers behind him are just coming off theirs.

For a quick look of fun film footage of the dogs and mushers, go to Anchorage's Channel 2 Iditarod page.

How I Became an Iditarod Fan

How did I become an Iditarod fan? I’m one of those people who doesn’t read the newspaper of my own city but likes to read papers of places I'm interested in. So I regularly check in with the Anchorage Daily News online. Just two days before last year’s Iditarod I read an interesting article about the 2007 winner, Lance Mackey. I found a video clip of an interview with this ordinary guy who sounds part humble, part cocky. It showed his first place trophy sitting on top of his refrigerator in his humble cabin. I saw the way he loved his dogs. The whole sport just grabbed me. I like sports. I like dogs. I like Alaska. Boom! Iditarod fan.

I was fascinated by the movie-material story of how his dad, Dick Mackey, helped organize the first race back in the 70’s and then dramatically won it the 6th time he raced. He was wearing bib number 13. Then years later Dick’s son, Rick, was running his 6th Iditarod, drew bib #13 and he won it. Can't top that, can you? Well, in 2007, it was the 6th time son Lance was running the Iditarod. It was the first and only time the Iditarod committee allowed mushers to pick their bib numbers, so of course Lance picked bib number 13. He won! AND he did it on the heels of running another 1000 mile race just 3 weeks before! AND he used many of the same dogs. His training and racing knowledge are changing the sport. No one had ever before considered running both 1000 mile races back to back with any serious competitiveness. Evidence now suggests that instead of the dogs being spent and needing a longer time to recover, they actually show greater strength, endurance, energy and enthusiasm the more miles run. Oh, by the way, Lance Mackey not only ran both races within weeks of each other, he won them both. Two years in a row. It literally stunned the mushing world. Oh...and Lance is a cancer survivor. Didn't I tell you it’s movie material?

I always knew the Iditarod existed but never thought much of it, even with my interest in Alaska. Finding out more about it just two days before the 2007 race was the perfect breeding ground for fanship. Two days later I was all over the internet and the Iditarod site "watching" the race. It's really interesting. The challenges these men and women face are real and big. They never know how the weather will factor into things but it always does. Last year's race was during a "heat wave". Temps "soared" up to the 40's making the trails and dogs slower. The dogs prefer temps below zero. The year before, weather affected the race with nasty storms producing white out conditions.

Well, I could go on and on.... but I'll spare you. ( I guess I kinda already did go on and on.)

Controversial Sport

Sled dog racing is a controversial sport because some people think it’s cruel to race dogs. Yes, sometimes dogs get injured and the truth is that sometimes accidents happen and a dog dies. Everyone hates this and mushers and vets are constantly studying how to keep the dogs safe and healthy. Because of these unfortunate happenings, it is a very controversial sport with heated angry objections. BUT I have learned that: 1.) the dogs LOVE to run. Musher Martin Buser constucted these giant "hamster wheel" things in his dog yard. They’re not for training purposes; he did it because the dogs love to run. They get in there on their own and just run and run. 2.) The mushers LOVE their dogs and take the most excellent care of them. To hear Lance Mackey talk about his dogs and see him interact with them, you can just tell he adores them as do other mushers I’ve seen on video clips. 3.) The most common reason I’ve heard as to why a musher gets into racing is that they love dogs and nature, and love being in nature with their dogs. They’re not in it for the money. Mushing is definitely not a lucrative professional sport. The costs often far outweigh any race winnings. A lot of professional mushers take on summer jobs to make ends meet. Some offer tours of their kennels as a means of additional income. As for glory seeking? People are naturally competive. These men and women are athletes, but they ALL give credit where credit is due and claim their dogs are the true athletes.

Favorite Websites, Part 4 - Iditarod

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is a 1000 mile race of dog teams pulling a sled and musher from Anchorage to Nome Alaska. It commemorates the lifesaving Diptheria serum run performed by mushers and dog teams in around 1926 that saved the town of Nome. Anchorage hosts a "ceremonial start" on the first Saturday of March. It’s coming up on March 7th this year. Crowds of people line Anchorage’s 4th Avenue to see the dogs take off. Dogs are so excited they bark and howl and leap in the air. They just can’t wait till they’re given the signal to start pulling and RUN! It’s amazing to see their excitement. For various reasons over the years, it was decided to make the official start of the race in Wasilla the day after the ceremonial start in Anchorage. The race winner will cross the finish line in Nome in about 9 days. The Red Lantern award given to the last musher across the finish line is earned approximately a week or more later.

Mushing was and still is an important means of transportation in many parts of rural Alaska. Lots of places today cannot be reached in winter except by airplane, snow machine or dog sled. Mushing certainly is a different kind of sport to "watch". You have to watch it by checking the current standings on the internet, checking local online newspapers and newscasts, seeing photos from various check points, or being a paid subscriber to the Iditarod's daily video coverage. Check out the very short video clip on the Iditarod home page.