Saturday, February 9, 2008

A Cold Start to the Yukon Quest

They're off! One of the first teams heads down the 1000-mile trail to Whitehorse, Yukon.

The Yukon Quest sled dog race started on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks this morning in the crisp -40F (-40C) air and bright pre-spring sunshine. About 25 mushers headed out into the Alaskan bush in one of the toughest races that traverses several mountain ranges, the Yukon River, and some of the coldest valleys in North America. It will take the teams 10-days or more of sleepless nights to reach Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada.

Veteran racer and Yukon Quest and Iditarod champion Lance Mackey departs the start line. The race start was packed with spectators even though the temperature was some 70 degrees Farenheit below the freezing point.

A group of us walked to the race start from Dea and Bens house through the thinning ice fog.

We were all decked out in our warmest arctic clothing as we posed downtown on the Chena River

5 comments:

Julie said...

i was riiiiiiight across from you when lance mackey started. can't recognize anyone when they're all bundled up. :-)

Anonymous said...

The Yukon Quest so much more rugged than the Iditarod. :) Always loved hearing about that race. You guys look toasty.

hgg said...

Hi Ed,

I've been lurking around your blog for a while (can't even remember how I got here) and I really enjoy your photos and stories. So much that I nominated you for an excellent blog award on my blog, http://hypoglycemiagirl366.blogspot.com/. I don't even know if you care about such things, but I thought I'd let you know :-).

Wayfarer Scientista said...

Hey Ed! You don't know me but we kind of know some people in common and I sent hypoglycemiagirl your way once upon a time. Man, I miss watching the Yukon Quest start off!!

brown said...

hey sugar,

nice coverage of the Quest - i was hanging in the staging area watching Phil Joy's team so i seem to have missed everyone - Cobbie said he ran into you though! (I didn't even see COB!) brownie