It was 8-degrees today in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. This is only important if you were on the starting line for the 1000-mile Yukon Quest dog sled race. Lydia and I have a friend in the event, Michelle Phillips. She, along with companion Ed, ran the dog sled rides and Alaskan Husky puppy petting portion of our favorite tour destination, Caribou Crossing.
The race goes from Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, AK. The race is not as well known as the Iditarod (which is completely in Alaska) and doesn't have the big prize money, but it is tougher and harder with only 8 check points in 1,000 miles - - which means that there is one spot where it is nearly 200 miles between check points and for at least 2 full days it's just you and the wilderness. Interesting fact: the most dangerous thing on the trail aside from freezing to death or crashing and losing your grip on the sled (which means the dogs just keep on running away from you) is being charged by a moose. Now, moose are magnificent animals - - they just have really lousy eyesight.
Now, if you are interested in how the race is going or want to find out some interesting info check out yukonquest.org. This is the official web site. Another web site, run by someone who we have never met but have used it extensively for information and just to see how things are way up north near Skagway is explorenorth.com
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