Yukon Quest Day One

I was going to impress you by showing you a pin from the very first Yukon Quest. So I photographed the oldest one in this special little bag I have that holds my Quest pins. I thought the first Quest was 1984 - but it must be 1985 as that is the first pin I have. Then looking on the Quest site - the first race WAS 1984! I must have filed that pin in a very special place.

My first Yukon Quest story: Shaun and I went to the finish line to see Sonny Lindner be the first to cross. Shaun was about 1-1/2 years old. He was also acting very much like a Terrible Two. I finally gave him a bottle to pacify him. Sonny's team finally arrived, he crossed the line then steered his dogs to the front of the White Pass & Yukon Route building where his dogs immediately laid down, panting, tongues hanging out. They LOOKED like they had just run 1,000 miles. Shaun, now in much better mood due to the bottle, went up to the lead dog and shoved the nipple of his bottle in the dogs mouth. Guess he though if it helped him so much, it would help the dog as well.




Give the 'ol blogger a pat on the back. I needed a few things downtown today so thought I'd grab my camera and take a few photos of the Quest start for all my faithful viewers. The crowds began well before the start line and continued well after the start line. Now, in case you didn't know it, Yukoners ARE Yukoners because they don't like crowds. We don't line up for shows (or at least those of us that are not newly from Vancouver don't), we don't like lining up at banks, and we don't like driving around and around looking for a parking spot. So, with this in mind, I proceeded downtown to pick up the few things I needed. A great time to shop downtown - parking spots wherever I went. Then, feeling a bit guilty, I thought I'd proceed further along the Yukon River and perhaps catch some of the mushers there. Eureka! It worked just fine. So here are a few shots of mushers from this year's Quest. Finish line - Fairbanks Alaska - 1,000 Miles away!
If you want to follow the race, just click into the Yukon Quest site.