YQ: Two Rivers

Well folks, it sure is a dog race! Allen and his team arrived into Two Rivers at 5.36am, two minutes ahead of Brent and his team. You weren't planning on doing anything else today were you, other than watching the tracker?

Both mushers set about their arrival routines after checking in, which were very similar to each other. During an eight hour break Allen feeds the dogs twice so his routine at this checkpoint was to snack the dogs immediately, remove booties and leggings etc, put straw down, massage, then give them the first of their meals. He then set about packing his sled ready for the final leg and changing runner plastics on the sled. The veterinarians do a very thorough dog-by-dog assessment of the team at this checkpoint also to be sure everyone is in good shape to continue.


Two Rivers checkpoint, manned by many of our neighbors; Wendy, Meghan and Moira awaiting the teams

Aliy spoke to Allen briefly about his run from Central. Allen said it was the best run up Eagle Summit he has ever had, the team he has is the strongest he's ever run up there. Schmoe, Scooter and Outlaw were barking on the way up the steepest part, cheering the rest of the team on and generally just expressing their joy!

He said they came across some gravelly patches on the trail near Mile 101 and up Rosebud due to the recent winds but they didn't experience any of the winds on either hill.

Allen and the dogs are currently sleeping and will get a good lot of rest here. The whole team needs to rest, refuel and rehydrate ready for the 73 mile sprint to the finish. We are very excited about the prospect of these two fantastic dog teams racing to Fairbanks!