When mooshing gives you a bug; make bug juice (but make sure you add vodka)!   We vowed to make bug juice today and just go have fun and we accomplished that!   PS. Buddy, I didn’t really have vodka this morning

We woke to 1 degrees and it was snowing!   We heard that the temps would climb today and worried if it would get too hot and zap the remainder of the dog’s energy.   We were the 2^nd team out today and had to get our butts moving early to be ready.   We waxed up the skis and chose to go with 12 dogs.   They were all injury free and we figured they could all trot 10 mph to get things done.  Some of the dogs from yesterday’s run were in tough shape with the virus and stayed back, but these 12 seemed to be on the upside.

They were loud and excited at the start and we talked about this later and realized last night that despite this nasty bug zapping their energy and reserves, we had done a fantastic job keeping them all hydrated and getting food into them.  We did this while still racing and for those of you that know, this is not an easy task.  This race’s sponsor believes that “It’s all about the dogs!” and we couldn’t agree more.   This race is a grueling test of a canine athlete and year after year I’m amazed at what they are capable of.  In my opinion, it is our responsibility to offer them the best care available so they can perform to their peak.  Simple things like a comfy bed, vet care, massages, proper nutrition and the small details are what make a happy, successful dog team.  Out team was sick, but they were happy and willing to run (or trot); we are proud of that fact.  We have strived to excel at these basics for the benefit of our dogs, the sport and the spirit of the race.

Bruce left the chute and caught Dennis Laboda, whose team was also struggling with the bug, at about 5 miles out.   The teams are faced with a major climb right away and Bruce got excited when he realized they climbed this section in about 50 minutes; which is the best he had ever climbed it in the past.   The trail was hard packed until he reached the top of the mountain and then life changed dramatically.  There was 24 inches of fresh new snow at the top of the mountain and the snowmobiles were breaking trail right in front of him.  He couldn’t believe his poor luck; the flu crew was now going to have to break trail today.  Can’t the guy catch a break?  Even with the snowmobiles breaking trail there was still 10 inches of loose powder.   Bruce would catch the snowmobiles, that kept getting stuck, and then they would zoom past him in a cloud of snow dust so thick he couldn’t see his team.  At about 20 miles he had a leader start puking and so he switched leaders.  At about 28 miles he bagged one of his biggest dogs that had nothing left.  By this point the team shut down to survival mode and ran in on empty.  Despite the tough run, the team finished better than the day before and came across the finish line first.  I was cleaning boxes expecting a long wait because I had already heard about the 2 foot of snow and had seen the groomers when they came in.  So when I heard Bruce’s name I was totally unprepared, but beyond giddy that he was there!

We were able to hold onto 11^th place, which we seriously can’t complain about given the situation we were in.

I am very proud of these dogs and there are some really tough tunas on that team.  Periwinkle was our superstar this week and gave us 5 days in a row; too damn bad he’s neutered.  Utah and Stella were also anchors to the team giving multiple days in a row.  Thank goodness for Pepper who wound up leading 3 days and wasn’t supposed to lead at all.  Then our two yearlings gave us everything we expected and turned out to be two tough sled dogs!!

Al had a good run today and was able to have his best finish yet.  The young dogs showed us what they were made of and we are very proud of them and excited that we have a few new leaders, some great feet and possibly some everyday dogs out of that bunch.

Jerry Bath had a disappointing run which knocked him out of the top five.  He had to bag a dog and his team had started to run out of go-go juice the day before.  He gave an AWESOME run at it all week and should be very proud of what he accomplished; his team looked great!   Congrats to Buddy for another impressive win and to the remainder of the line-up for an exciting race.

Bruce and I want to thank all the competitors, the vets, the IPSSSDR crew and fans for their support during this very difficult race.  The hugs, well wishes and genuine concern were very much appreciated and helped a ton.  YOU GUYS ALL ROCK!!!

No photos today, too busy with bug juice.  Ryan wore the monkey hat today!  Are monkey’s fast?  You betcha!!!

9-1-1

“Please state your name and emergency.”    “Yes, IPSSSDR race crew calling.  We have a musher and a handler that are sitting at the finish line rocking, hugging, crying and completely unresponsive.  Please send an ambulance immediately to pick them up; they need immediate psychological help.”

The only thing missing from today’s run was the ambulance, men with the white coats and two straight jackets; one for me and one for Bruce.   I am done with the intravenous crap; it doesn’t work.   Serious therapy is required at this point.  The emotional stress of this is overwhelming; I actually contemplated taking one of the dog’s Prilosec today so that I didn’t hurl waiting for Bruce at the finish line.  At one point, I asked Frank, the Race Director, when they would send a search and rescue team.   Damn they even started taking down the Finish line and that hasn’t happened to us since our first year here.

It was about 26 degrees and snowing rather heavily when we arrived at the race site.  There was 4” inches of fresh new snow, which thrilled the crap out of us; NOT!  The race had cancelled the Kemmerer stage this year as the community was unable to come up with the money to participate.  The alternative plan was to run the Evanston leg forwards and backwards.  So today we would be running the leg backwards.   This meant there would be some long down hills and dogs with questionable front ends needed to stay on the truck.

Our dogs were full on into the virus this AM and we felt like we were duct taping a team together.   We came up with 9 including two fresh leaders, but we were holding our breath, crossing our fingers, legs and we were doing mini-prayers for two of them.   The team was led by Sik Sik and Sparrow and supported by Rocky, Sedona, Spit, Kaloof, Stella, Utah and Perry.  They were ready to go, but the edge wasn’t there.   To make matters worse, Bruce wore the unlucky parka that I told him to never wear again.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize he had it on until he eventually showed up at the finish line for the pity party.  I think I’m going to burn that ugly thing.

Bruce’s team shut down almost immediately and went into crawl mode.   They were in good spirits, but they just had nothing in them.   He would call them up and they would pick it up for a bit and then shut back down.  The bug we had thought was a 24 hour deal just won’t go away and came back with a vengeance and now the entire truck is working through it.  The dogs are pushing food through themselves so fast you can actually see undigested tissue in the stools from the meat.  They are losing weight rapidly as they are not absorbing anything.  We’ve never seen dogs poop so much in our lives and the smell will practically knock you over.   We discussed treatment with the vets after Lander and the decision was made to not treat with metronidazole because it was passing through in 24 hours and they were still eating and drinking, plus we just had a blazing run.  However, it wasn’t until yesterday that it became apparent the dogs weren’t actually kicking the bug.  Unfortunately, it’s now too late in the game to recover from this.  The vets now believe it could be giardia, most likely from the warm, wet weather we had dealt with when we arrived in Alpine.   We always treat for giardia just before race season and know that we arrived clean and must have got it here.

So I did the agonizing wait at the finish line wondering if he would ever get there.  When he finally arrived the dogs were yapping like fools and they were all on the line and I thought, “For crap’s sake, at least look sick.”

So Bruce and the flu crew had the most miserable ride ever and he had a lot of time to think and contemplate the agony of this sport.   All the months of training, time, money and exhausting effort to see it completely go down the drain in a couple of days is pretty hard to stomach.    We have certainly learned a few things this race, but the part that we really wanted to confirm was unable to be accomplished due to the team’s health.  There are so many variables in this sport that can go awry and every race you learn how to eliminate some of them.  However, when you get blind sided with a bug you cannot confirm your training, your nutrition or your dogs.   We’re beyond pissed that we feel like we still have all the unknowns we had before the race and no way to confirm them.   There is no other race that we participate in that draws this level of competition or pushes the dogs to these limits and so anything left on the table remains there until next year and that is a hard pill to swallow at the moment.

We are left with the dismal prospect of what to do with the rest of the season because racing is really unappealing to both of us at this time.

On the upside, Aaron Peck had a blazing fast run and we have a serious race tomorrow between the top three.  Bruce and JR were in awe of Aaron’s team as they charged and loped up steep hills like they were on fire.  Beautiful site Aaron!  We are excited to see how this race is going to pan out.  Buddy is in the lead, but not by so much that he can afford a mistake.  The Beck brothers have also turned up the heat and are throwing down some blazing runs making the top five a true battle.  Lots of things can happen on this last stage and it is known for having tons of bagged dogs.  The leg starts with an hour climb that seems to go forever.  This can be very draining for tired teams plus it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow.   I’m thinking of asking if they’ll let us hook our team to the snowmobile.  Ok, can’t blame a girl for trying!  I think Bruce better wear the running shoes and shorts though to help the team out.   We are hoping to just finish tomorrow and have no expectations at this point.   Ryan Redington wore the dog hat today so that he was part of the team; it worked for him. 

I have straw in my bra, I have ate less than my required rations, I am in desperate need of a shower, we have a dog in the backseat on IV’s and we are flippen lost on the highways of Wyoming trying to find our way to Evanston.   It is 7:00PM and we were supposed to be at a dinner at 6:00PM; guess we aren’t going to make it.   We stopped and fed the dogs on the way and started to realize we had not seen any dog trucks and began questioning our route.  We no sooner did that and spotted Warren Palfrey.  We thought we were good until we had another crazy junction come up that we screwed up.   All in all, we figure we have gone an hour out of our way so far.  I’m wondering right now if Wyoming is one of those states where the passenger can have an open beer?   Forget it; I’m in the middle of nowhere and its unlikely I’ll find a beer store.

We woke to a nice balmy 7 degrees Fahrenheit this morning.  It always seems to be chilly in beautiful Alpine.  We were promised 30 degrees and we probably got close about mid-day.

We put together a team of 10 and everyone looked good.  We chose to booty the entire team in hopes of saving some feet for later; we were the only team I saw with booties on the entire team.  This was interesting because I’ve heard from the vets that feet are bad this year.  There were a few teams with big strings hoping to throw one down and then there were some teams with less than 10.   Our team was led by Pepper and Spike and supported by Cheyenne, Kaloof, Durbin, Perry, Puff, Stella, Spit, and Utah.   All the dogs were healthy and in good spirits.

The trail was nice on the way out and then the teams broke it up so it had about an inch of loose stuff on it.  From about mile 20 to mile 26 the trail was littered with moose and elk holes; which took a few victims today.  Some teams actually saw the elk and moose on the trail.  Bruce was having a decent run until about halfway and then one dog started puking and then one of his leaders started balking down hills, but was loping decent on the flats.  He kept the team moving and then about 14 miles out he noticed dark urine from the leader when he stopped and peed.  The dog started moving better after he urinated and was able to make it in.

When the team arrived it was evident that we still had not kicked the bug.   We thought we were good, but it is still messing with the dogs.  This is musher talk now or MOOSHER talk as some folks tease me about; our stools have been the weirdest things ever.  We go from pudding and the smelliest funk you can ever imagine to great stools.  We decided today on the way to Evanston when we saw a dead skunk in the trail that even the skunk smells better.   The vets determined today that the bug is still haunting us.  In addition, we now have some very sore muscles and will be working on dogs late tonight.   The dog with dark urine got immediate attention from the vets and they noticed he had some edema on his front leg with a small puncture.  It was obviously swollen and had not been there when he left.  We kept putting fluids into the dogs and they were monitoring him.  When he finally peed it was not good and we chose to put him on IV’s.  During this process they discovered he must have had some blunt trauma to the chest as it was swollen as well.  Best we could figure it happened at the turn around; which had been punchy and Bruce had wound up in a tangle.  On the bright side, the feet looked great.

Several teams had bad runs and there were quite a few bagged dogs.  This was not surprising watching the teams in the chute.  I noticed at least ½ dozen question marks leaving the chute today.  On Ryan Redington’s way to the chute I pointed out to him a dog that wouldn’t put its foot down.  We looked at the pads and they seemed fine.  However, as he got to the chute he made the call to pull the dog out.  She had an obvious bob and apparently a muscle knot.  Whew, close call on Ryan’s part.  Shoot …. I helped the competition as he is only minutes from us now   LOL  We know Will Kornmuller had bagged a dog early on in the race before the turn around and he had left with a smaller team.   Al Borak had bagged a dog for 10 1/2 miles.  Jerry Bath had a bagged dog that had stepped in a moose hole and they were working on that dog when we left.

We finally made it to Evanston at 8:00PM.  What a looooooong drive.   It is snowing now and the roads are getting a covering.   Rumor has it we are expecting 6-8” of snow tomorrow; oh BOY!!   We will be running the Evanston trail backwards tomorrow, which will have a long downhill at the end of the race.   Long drive to the start so we won’t start until 11:00AM.

This is by far the WORST stage stop roller coaster ride we’ve ever been on.  Whoever designed this one should be shot.  So the hell with the intravenous Dramamine; they’ve now got me hooked up to a Red Bull IV in one arm, Bud Light Limes in the other arm and I’m snorting Dramamine and completely open to trying whatever mind numbing substances come my way.

We woke this morning to -3 degrees Fahrenheit and it only got to about 7 degrees at the parking lot at 7:00AM.  There was plenty of snow, but the parking lot was a bit gravely.  We chose to go with 10 today as a bigger team may not be of any help in a slug fest.   The team was led by Sparrow and Cheyenne and supported by Rocky, Nessa, Utah, Sedona, Puff, Durbin, Harlon and Perry.   The team was amped and it all felt and looked good at the starting line.   Bruce took off and basically enjoyed about 3 miles of the course, but only on the way out mind you.  Those same 3 miles on the way back in were pure agony.   At about 4 miles he had a dog come off the tug and start bobbing like she was struggling with a sore front shoulder.  He slowed the team down to try and see if the dog would work through it.  10 miles in another dog had decided he had enough of the punchy conditions and started balking.  Bruce patiently muddled along, tried a few things and eventually got them going, but slowly.  Then at about 16 miles he had another dog come off the tug and at 20 the dog was majorly neck lining and had to be bagged.   So in case you lost track; he has one in the bag (the biggest one mind you), he has two others giving 25% and if that weren’t enough he has another take a fall through the punchy snow and comes off the tug hard.  The dog kept moving, but it didn’t look good and there was no room in his teeny tiny bag.

So as if he wasn’t having enough fun at this point, Mother Nature decided to heat things up and throw a heat wave his way.   The dogs really felt the effects with only 6 dogs working.  He finally took the bagged dog out at 3 miles from the finish during a huge climb to give the team a break, which is why it didn’t show that he had bagged a dog.  This helped them limp across the finish line to 15^th place.  We would like to know if there is an award for the team that has successfully been at the top of the pack, the middle of the pack and the back of the pack all in the same race; because I think we’re eligible.   The award could be more intravenous coping fluids!

There were others today that did not enjoy themselves.  Kate St. Onge had a horrible run.  She blew her knee out on some of the punchy moguls and then lost her team.  Thankfully, Baily Vitello saved the day and caught the team for her.  Unfortunately, she tore some ligaments and is out of the race.  Kate, I didn’t see you at the banquet and I just want you to know that “SUCKS”!  Take care of that knee and we’ll miss you.

I spent two hours with the dogs tonight massaging them, talking to them, working on their feet and trying to figure out what else I could do to alter our course.  Then we sat in the truck and analyzed the entire mess and where we went wrong AGAIN.  Aside from the bagged dog, which was a poor strategic choice, all the other dogs were all healthy and came back healthy except the one that took the fall.  So it was glaringly apparent that the only thing left and our lesson learned for this Stage Stop is that you need to get to these types of snow conditions if you hope to compete.  We have one hell-uv a fast dog team; on fast hard trails.  However, IPSSDR rarely if ever has fast, hard trails….. DUH!  When we analyzed the competition, every single musher in the top 10 had seen these conditions and trained in them; some for a month or more.  We had not.  We’ve been told you MUST.  Yeah, yeah, yeah….. It’s not that we are slow learners or stubborn or just dense.  It basically is just not that easy when most of the country was without snow until mid-January.  It’s just not that easy when you are tied to a job that can barely afford to have you leave for the race let alone a month of training.  Waaaa Waaaa Waaaaa … We’re not making excuses.  It IS what it IS and we did the best we could with the conditions we had and the circumstances we are forced to deal with and it SUCKS!   I’m liking that word tonight!  The question is how can we overcome this in the future?  This remains to be seen as I don’t see our situation changing much and Mother Nature would have to get her act together and provide needed snow by December 1^st.  Yeah, like that is going to happen.

Alpine is tomorrow.  Based on what we saw during training it will be 54 miles with a base and probably a few inches of soft stuff on top.  We’re going out there to have fun and see what comes our way.

Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentleman; this is going to be a rough ride.  If you’re prone to motion sickness, we highly advise that you get off the roller coaster now.  I, personally, am taking Dramamine intravenously for this one.

Got to Pinedale last night and saw single digits, which was quite an adjustment from the weather in Lander.  It was 4 degrees Fahrenheit when we woke this morning and it was 18 degrees by the time we got to the parking lot; perfect weather for running dogs.   We ran out of the Green River Trail head and did a lollipop back to the parking lot.  We were glad to see this trail choice as the alternative trail that historically runs out of town along the highway is less than appealing for many reasons.  Just prior to the start it started to snow fairly hard and you could see visibility might be an issue.  The trail was claimed to be 38 miles; however, by GPS it is a true 43 miler.

We chose to go with 11 dogs based on what we heard.  Everyone was happy and healthy and we felt good about the choice.  The team was led again by Sik Sik and Spike and supported by Pepper, Spit, Perry, Harlon, Kaloof, Stella, Sedona, Rocky and Nessa.  Since we had the fastest time on the Lander leg we left last out of Pinedale and had quite an exciting start.  We had the entire team hooked up and they sent an ATV to come hook the team so they could drive us across the semi-icy parking lot to the chute.  I was up front holding the leaders and the next thing I know I felt the release and the dogs are running.  I start booking it and thinking, “Holy crap this ATV driver is nuts!”  I looked back to see Bruce dragging on his side barely holding the sled and people diving in to grab the gang line.  It all happened so fast, but felt like slow motion.  I was screaming, “WHOA, WHOA!”  as if that would help?!?!?  Turns out the ATV driver hooked up to our quick release on the truck and not the sled.  So as if once wasn’t enough, they hooked the snow hook to the rope on the ATV for a 2^nd attempt and the team literally busted the rope.  Once again, everyone dove, Bruce drug and I yelled, “WHOA, WHOA!”   All of us involved were a little shaky and gun shy by now and damn if it didn’t happen again.  I had a mild panic attack as I envisioned the team taking off without Bruce and the team being DQ’d.

Finally, we got them to the chute.   Bruce was extremely nervous today, which isn’t his nature.  He was overwhelmed by the number of people rooting for him and it brought a huge pressure that was very emotional.  He wanted so badly to show that Lander wasn’t just a fluke and that this team truly deserved to be up there.  I felt for him and understood to a degree without all the pressure.  I just told him, “Just go have fun and run those dogs just like they’ve been trained to run; don’t worry about the rest.”

So the team took off like a flash and probably within a mile out of our sight the race changed.  Conditions were “brutal” as several mushers described.   This was exactly what we had feared given the fact that our team was never able to get on snow until the Christmas holiday.  The majority of the trail had about 3 inches of loose snow on it and was very soft and slow.  At least 20 miles of the trail was windblown and drifted over.  Bruce said that even being the last team there were many times he could not tell where the trail was and could not see where other teams had passed.  If not for markers periodically and the dogs smelling the trail, he would not have been able to find the trail.  To add to the agony there were hellacious winds today; uneducated guess 60-70 mph.  Immediately after he left the chute, he started having issues with a point dog that was just not there.  It caused him to stop several times to untangle him from his tug.   This turned out to be a 25 mile ordeal.  In the end he had two other dogs slack off putting a lot of pressure on the rest of the team.   They made their way in and you could see that the lack of snow legs for this stuff had taken its toll.  On the upside, the team all checked out healthy and ate and drank like machines.

We had relished our brief moment of having the yellow bib and realized that we would be turning it over at the banquet.  Nonetheless, it was still a glorious feeling; took everything not to wear it to bed!!  LOL don’t worry Bud, didn’t happen!!  I did wonder though what would happen if we lost the bib prior to the banquet?  Could you then technically keep it forever?  Okay, just a thought!   Buddy smoked everyone today with an awesome run and the yellow bib was well deserved.  Congrats to the Streeper crew on an impressive run.

Al’s team had a nice run today and handled the conditions very well.  As a matter of fact, they looked great coming across the finish line and they were all happy and healthy.   Today his team was led by Daisy and Houndy; supported by Donut, Petrus, Cora, Checker, Epson, Prince, Blackie and Grey.

Not a whole lot of news from the trail, but there sure was a lot of position shifting today as can be seen in the results.   Buddy gained some time on everyone, but everyone is still very, very close.

The driver’s meeting tonight indicated that Big Piney will be a slug fest.  They shortened the trail to 36 miles and they received 40 inches of new snow within the past week.  There was no trail put in until recently and it is windblown and drifted in many places.  It is very unlikely that the base will be set.  The trail crew told everyone to stay alert because there were many hazards out there that could get you in trouble; we’ve certainly seen this before.  Oh Joy!   Stay tuned.

PS. No photos today; glove-delete-button-malfunction!  For those following, Ryan Redington had on the Penguin hat today; wonder what he has in store for us tomorrow!!

The Lander stage was switched around a bit.  Instead of running out of the Lake Louise parking lot 45 minutes out of town, we ran out of Sinks Canyon which is only 5 minutes out of town.   At Sinks there are 5 miles of switchbacks to climb right at the beginning of the race.  The race hasn’t run out of Sink’s since they paved the switchbacks.  There was some concern about snow as the night before we saw high 40’s.   The temp when we got up this AM was 28F and by the time we got to the parking lot it was 36 degrees.  We were warned of a possible inversion, which is when it is hotter at the top of the mountain than at the bottom.  It was overcast so we were hoping this would help keep the temps cool.

When we got to the parking lot it was a sheet of ice and I mean ice skating ice.   We immediately started hauling snow by sled to put around the truck; however, this made it more slippery.  Fortunately, we were parked next to The Redington’s and Erin and Miriam were hacking away at the icy parking lot with an axe.  At first, I teased them and soon found myself hacking away just to keep safe footing.  All the dogs had to be gently lifted to the ground or they would have lost footing jumping from the truck.

Since the trail was new to us we weren’t sure how fast it could be done.  We set ourselves a mark and Bruce was going to gauge things as he went and run his dog team.  Buddy went out right in front of him and he was focused not to let that play into how he ran this team.  We chose to go out with 11 dogs.  The team was led by Sik Sik and Spike followed in order by Cheyenne, Sparrow, Pepper, Spit, Puffy, Utah, Durbin, Stella, Kaloof.  We were very concerned about the team’s health the night before as it became blaringly obvious we had a bug going through the truck.  However, at the morning drop those dogs drank like champs.  By the time we dropped them in the parking lot they were crazy fools.  When I picked up the harnesses they just went mad.  I was truly impressed with their attitudes and relieved at the same time.

The trail was hard and fast going up and at the halfway point it got a little soft and very warm due to the inversion.  The winds were very strong and played havoc with several of the lightweights literally blowing them around.  The switchbacks had some brief sections of pavement showing and Bruce got out on the pavement early on ruining his runners.  The main team charged the climb and ran great.  They went a little flat around the halfway point in the heat.  When it got breezy they picked it back up.  When the first teams started coming in I was timing them and it the fastest times were 3:07 as far as my rough calculation could tell.  Buddy had gained some placements and came in right on Richard Beck’s butt down the switchbacks.  It was great fun to watch that type of finish.   I kept checking my watch and knew that Bruce had to arrive soon to be in the thick of things based on the times that had already come in and then Al-Jo said, “Oh my gosh, there he is!”  I got so darn excited I neglected to check the watch and later had to guess.

The team checked out great.  One dog had the bug show up and he was not a happy camper and there were a few sore feet, but overall they looked great.  Our two yearlings; Durbin and Kaloof were still ready to roll.

Al’s team was led by Darling and Dokken followed by Blackie, Cora, Driver, Lahti, Epson, Tesla, Checker and Vaanta.  Al’s race was a bit more eventful as he had an unfortunate head on collision with Jerry Bath due to our leaders running on the left.  Jerry was coming down the hill fast and the point dogs banged pretty hard.  Thank goodness all dogs involved were ok.  Then at the halfway point he had a dog that needed to be bagged and he had one that fell victim to the bug.  On the bright side, the team was happy when they came in and they drank like pigs.

There were a few stories out on the trail.  Stacy was having a good run and then got blown over by the wind and hit some pavement, which flipped her and she drug for a few ripping up her snow pants.  Erin Redington got sucked off the trail coming down the switchbacks and took out a plastic snow fence.  Overall, she was pleased with the dogs and how they performed.  We heard there was some cramping going on in some teams due to the heat.

On the way to the banquet we got tipped off that Bruce had unofficially won.  We were in disbelief.  When we got the official times it was very emotional.   It’s been 7 years of coming to Stage Stop and we have worked so hard trying to build a team that could run up at the top.  It was overwhelming to know that we were at the top for one day.  We would certainly hope there are more to come, but we will relish this one for a long time!!

Thanks to the entire Magnusson Racing crew that has been a part of helping us get this team the yellow bib today; Al-Jo, Gerhardt and Al you guys rock!

After struggling with warm temperatures for the past two weeks, the weather in Jackson Hole was a system  shocker.  I was dressed for spring and quickly had to add some layers to survive the elements!!  We also discovered a secret just for men to stay warm in the Hole.

Introducing the fur jock strap or as Al-Jo referred to it in her South African way; a willy warmer.  If anyone’s interested, I can send you the name of the store or I bet Erin Redington might make you one!!  Imagine a handmade crotch parka; gotta love it.  Jerry said he was getting one with a removable ruff!!  I’m thinking Mr. Stewart should get one so he’ll wear that damn kilt one day

Friday started without a hitch.  Al-Jo had arrived safely around 11:00PM with a few stories and just in time to drop dogs.  No rest for the travel weary on this crew.  We started our morning with the traditional breakfast at The Bunnery and ran into Denny Albert and Andy Anderson.  We were bummed to learn that Denny’s husband, Mark Nordman, would not be joining all of us this year as Race Marshall.  Seems the Iditarod has him very busy this year.  This was a total bummer as we’ll miss having Mark here.

Vet Check was fun as there are many new faces this year and it’s always a riot hooking up with old friends.  It was a big family atmosphere with lots of hugs and laughs.  Everyone seemed relaxed and ready to get things rolling.  Ryan Redington is ready to rock-n-roll with a hat for every day.  Day one was the Woodchuck hat!!

It was fun to learn the inside poop on all the teams.  Here’s a few tid bits that folks might not know.   Al Borak is driving our 2^nd team.  His goal this race will be to get the young dogs through the race and have fun with no pressure.  If they finish last, that’s fine as long as they get through it with good experiences.  He will only have a couple veterans on the team to help him out in a pinch and for some leadership.  With the exception of a few veterans, most are two years old or younger and there are lots of new unproven leaders.

James Wheeler bought Lloyd Gilbertson’s Stage team and Lloyd flew in to provide race insight for the entire race.   Two of the three Becks made it to the race; Richard and Brent.  One of which has been training in West Yellowstone since December.  Dave Turner had his dogs at Doug Swingley’s all season utilizing Doug’s training and IPSSSDR experience to prepare them for their rookie year.  Charlotte Mooney joined Dave as his handler.    John Stewart will be running the Streeper “B” team this year.  William Kornmuller came without his dad, Bill, and is here to see if he likes this format of racing so the kennel can determine if they will make this part of their normal race circuit.  Baily Vitello will now make history as the youngest IPSSSDR musher ever at the age of 14!    Warren Palfrey is here with his son Sam.  Sam recently graduated from highschool and told his dad he wanted to run dogs this year so he will be running their kennel’s “B” team.   Marco Rivard hailing from Quebec drove some 4000 miles to make it to the race.  This year the race will have two mascots as the Streeper’s and the Anderson’s both have their baby girls in tow.  More gear for these teams to be concerned about; where in the hell is that diaper bag!?!?!

The theme this year seems to be trailers as most of the teams came hauling something.  This is our first year with a trailer and it’s a tad concerning as I only have one trailer gear; “Go Forward”.  If I’m required to go in reverse with this 27’ foot monstrosity; we’re going to have issues.  I was fortune to have Lloyd chauffeur me and Al-Jo to the finish line on Friday night as driving through the streets of downtown Jackson with me at the helm could have been costly.   I can seem me now dragging a few beamers down the side streets.   I’m still negotiating with James on the fee for hiring Lloyd for 10 minutes.  He was thinking 10% of race winnings and I’m thinking a coffee, but negotiating is still not over.

The race went exactly as we planned.  Friday does NOT count towards your cumulative time, but it is strategic in that it determines your starting order for Lander.  We wanted to be in the middle of the pack so it worked just as we had planned with both Bruce and Al going out 10^th and 12th.  It was pretty apparent that many teams were trying real hard to get the early starting order; when you hook down in a 2 mile race the gig is up!

We are on our way to Lander to start more festivities.  We have a little concern today as it looks like the team has caught a bug, which is making its way through the dogs.   Sooooooo we will be doing everything we can to get them on their feet for tomorrow, but this is not exactly what we had planned.

I know I’m not alone when I say that the weather this winter has driven me to the edge and left me agitated and feeling helpless.  So I started wondering; wouldn’t it be totally cool if there were a direct line to the infamous Mother Nature?  Or would it?

1-800-MOTHER-N

“Hello, you’ve reached the corporate offices of Mother Nature; weather is our business.  I am currently busy screwing up someone’s outdoor activities and/or challenging someone’s survival skills; however, your call is important to me.  For English, please press 1.  Para español, presione dos.”

WHAT!?!?  Now I completely understand why the weather is so screwed up; she works for the government.

“If you are calling to inquire about current weather conditions, please press 1.  If you’re more interested in future conditions, press 2.   If you’d like to file a complaint I really want to hear from you, please press 3 immediately.  For all other inquiries; keep trying.”

I can see myself adamantly jamming the #3 button on my phone over and over.   Muttering, “YEEESSSSS, I HAVE A COMPLAINT!  UHHH UH, BIG COMPLAINT !!”

“You’ve reached the Mother Nature Complaint line.  If you’re calling to bitch about the lack of sunshine try #1.  If your ailment is a lack of snow (Yawn) press #2.  If you have an issue with any of the following natural disasters; hurricane, tornado, typhoon or earthquake press #3.  If drought is your chief topic of concern, try #4.  All others, (chuckle) you’re out of luck.”

#2, #2, #2, #2, #2

“Please state your name, city and state followed by your complaint at the tone.”

What a release it would be to then unleash into the receiver.   “This is Monica Magnusson from Cheboygan, Michigan.  It is December and we’ve not seen one flake of snow; not ONE.   I have a large kennel of sled dogs; that’s “SLED” dogs as in they must have snow to pull a sled … those kind of DOGS!  I have been training them since August on an ATV.  My ars hurts and my sciatic nerve is making me crazy. I should be looking out my window to a beautiful white trail of snow, but instead I see grass and its 40 degrees.  I have invested months and months into this dog team and there is no snow for the first race; just ice.   I don’t know what ever happened to you or whoever pissed you off, but you need to quit POURING all your grief out on us snow lovers.   I am sick and tired of you RAINING on my life’s passion.   Please quit SHOWERING us with all your doom and glom.

BEEP …… thank you for calling the Mother Nature complaint line.   Your request for POURING – RAIN- and GLOOMY SHOWERS has been registered and will receive immediate attention; have a great day!”  BEEP

Yeah, well I must have had a direct line the other day as she majorly screwed up.  We arrived in Alpine and there was barely any snow; more like hard ice.  However, like a miracle from the heavens the next day it started falling and we accumulated 1 ½ feet of snow.  The forecasts were calling for snow for the next 5 days and a total accumulation of 2 feet or more.   Saweeeeet!!   Mother Nature was alright in my book, but it didn’t last long.   By the next morning, it was raining a very fine mist.  We had to run dogs and so we headed to the trail head.  Remaining optimistic we assured ourselves the rain would cease.  To our delight it switched back to snow and we proceeded on with training.  Then like a switch it changed to sleet and then to pouring rain.   One and half feet of snow saturated in rain is very wet to put it mildly.  We could barely see as we finished the training run.  We soon discovered that the parking lot was a wet sheet of ice when the dogs pulled the hook out of the mashed potatoes and Bruce and sled went careening on their sides all the way through the slush to the truck.  Fun for me; not so much for him. 

After two runs in this crap, all of us, dogs included, were drenched to the core.  My parka was soaked all the way through and the fur ruff literally looked like someone strapped a wet Pomeranian to my neck.  Not to mention it smelled like hell; wet dead animal is just not a good thing.  My gloves were so wet I could literally wring them out and a lovely brown juice would pour out; imagine that smell.   My hair was a dripping ponytail.  I had on a ball cap with a headband to keep my ears warm and if I pressed on them they would also drip.   My snow pants were soaked through; yes, I just love the feeling of wet long underwear pasted to my legs.   It’s about as bad as putting on pantyhose on a hot day.  We all got in the truck and were assaulted with our funk.  I found myself becoming increasingly irritated with the whole wet mess.   I needed to make another phone call to the Queen party killer.

1-800-MOTHER-N

“Hello, you’ve reached the corporate offices of Mother Nature; weather is our business…

#3, #3, #3, #3, #3 …………………………#2, #2, #2, #2, #2

“Please state your name, city and state followed by your complaint at the tone.”

Monica Magnusson, Cheboygan, Michigan.  Obviously, you didn’t understand my last message.  We need SNOW, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW; not rain.  The rain is making everything a WET, SOGGY mess     !  Please quit MIXING this up; we have a race to prepare for.

BEEP …… thank you for calling the Mother Nature complaint line.   Your request for WET, SNOW, RAIN MIX  has been registered and will receive immediate attention; have a great day!”  BEEP

She, once again, didn’t miss a beat.  Day two we watched the weather change every 15 minutes.  Just when we thought we were in the snow zone, it would change to sleet/rain.  The parking lots had become small lakes and we struggled to find high ground to drop dogs.  We drove looking for good parking only to find 6” of slush or water everywhere.

This weather brought on a whole new set of issues we were not prepared to deal with since  mushing was not intended to be conducted in the rain.  It is a cold weather sport that requires snow.  This year I only brought three coats thinking I didn’t need all the others that I usually bring; mistake.  So I have a heavy bubble coat, a mid-weight bubble coat and a fur parka.  None of which are ideal for rain.  It was so wet I literally had to switch coats every time I went out to drop dogs.  If you do the math, 5-6 dog drops a day would mean I was short 2-3 coats.  By the end of the day, this meant soggy, stinky options for outerwear……  Monica not happy.

I brought two pairs of boots; my Lobbens and my King boots.   I didn’t even bother with the Lobbens as the water in the parking lot was literally 4 inches deep and they are not waterproof.  The King boots, on the other hand, are like wearing a pair of KISS boots with 4” platforms and they are great for deep water.  However, they’re a wee bit warm for rain and temps in the high 30’s.   So I had rock star stature with my bad ass boots, but the rest of me was a soggy, stinky, sweaty mess.

At some point we realized that every coat we own, most of the gloves and hats, some boots and all our snow pants were soaking wet and we were in a motel room with no dryer.   So we did what anyone would do in our situation; we draped wet clothing on anything and everything that would hold something.  There were wet jackets dripping from the corners of doors; hanging off the shower rod, on the lamps, on the kitchen table anywhere you could imagine.   Then we threw three buckets of meat in the shower to thaw, turned the heat up HIGH and let things bake.

This created a sauna like effect in our room and not the good type of sauna.   It was every Finlander’s nightmare; no cold beer, no sausage dripping over the hot coals and the grossest funkiest smell you could ever imagine.  The funky steam was dripping down the windows and beads of ooog were collecting on the bathroom ceiling.  While we were basting in the funk; it wasn’t so bad.  I could actually breathe since there was humidity in the normally dry air.  However, at several points we had to leave the room and then re-enter.  HOLY BANANAS, it took everything to keep from hurling.

The humans weren’t the only ones suffering.  The poor dogs were soaked to the bone and every time they came out they got wetter.  They had to eat in the rain and do their business in the rain standing in pools of who knows what.  Then they had to go back in their boxes soaking wet and all their bedding would get wet.   We changed the bedding more in the past 4 days then I normally would for two weeks.

I was at my wits end with the rain.  I needed to make a phone call.

1-800-MOTHER-N

“Hello, you’ve reached the corporate offices of Mother Nature; weather is our business….

#3, #3, #3, #3, #3 …………………………#2, #2, #2, #2, #2

“Please state your name, city and state followed by your complaint at the tone.”

Me again.  Monica Magnusson from Cheboygan, Michigan.  Listen lady, I am a northern chick.  I grew up in the mid-west and spent my childhood in northern Michigan.  I am from Finnish stock.   It was snowing the day I was born and that was in March mind you.  I like wind burn and not sun burn.  I don’t mind not being able to feel my fingers and toes.  I love when it’s so cold it hurts to breathe or when your nostrils stick together or your eyelids feel like they are moving slow.  I love the cold.   I hate the heat and the rain.  I am begging you to please bring SNOW, SNOW, SNOW and COLD weather.  It is not VISIBLE that you took my complaint seriously and are just sucking the WIND from our sails.  SNOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

BEEP …… thank you for calling the Mother Nature complaint line.   Your request for SNOW, COLD TEMPS WITH LOW VISIBILITY AND HIGH WIND has been registered and will receive immediate attention; have a great day!”  BEEP

We woke to at least another 8” of white fluffy stuff.   It was a wet snow, but snow nonetheless.   We headed to the trailhead.   The roadway was slush becoming slick in the colder temps and the snow was coming down rapidly.  Highway signs indicated there was high wind danger and to drive cautiously.  I chuckled at how Ms. Nature had delivered.  We crawled along and got to the site safely, which was buried in a fresh foot of snow.   We were the first ones to the trail head and picked a nice parking spot.  We got hooked up, switched to dry coats and took off in the fluff.  Visibility stunk and you couldn’t even see the trail if not for some fluorescent orange trail markers sticking up along the way.  It was a blinding white blur with snow falling rapidly.  I wondered if I had pissed off Ms. Nature and she was trying to take me out by having me drive off a blind cliff.  I proceeded cautiously.  When we got back to the parking lot I couldn’t believe my eyes.  It was full to the brim with people and snowmobiles and trucks and trailers.  We could barely weave our way with the teams back to the truck only to discover that a few morons had completely blocked us in.  They were parked so tight you could barely open the dog doors on one side.  It was unreal.  Snow had fallen and all the snow ants had come out of the woodwork.

The chaos in that parking lot was like none I had ever seen.   It was like watching hungry wolves descend on a dead carcass.  Since we had absolutely no way of leaving to seek less populated pastures, we chose to run the 2^nd teams.   On the bright side we got a lot of passing practice; head on passing, people passing, dog team passing; snowmobile passing; trak machine passing; skier passing; crazy, pet dog passing and even beer drinker passing!  We are now 100% confident that our leaders will weave through rush hour traffic past bars and past the neighborhood dogs without blinking an eyelash.

I’ve decided that 1-800-MOTHER-N is probably a worthless idea.  I have vowed to never even think of calling her again!

Surprisingly …. today was in the mid-twenties and it was sunny!   The weather was perfect, trails were rocking and we had an absolute great day running dogs!

Post Mushing Stress Disorder or PMSD is a serious illness.    Its symptoms are nearly similar to those from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; however where the two illnesses differ is in their origins or causes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a type of anxiety disorder that’s triggered by a traumatic event. You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you experience or witness an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror.

Post-mushing stress disorder (PMSD), on the other hand, is a type of anxiety disorder that’s triggered by participating in a sled dog event.  You can develop post-mushing stress disorder when you experience or witness a sled dog event that causes intense joy, excitement and adventure.  Mushers that must return to some form of civilization outside of their kennels after a sled dog event are most commonly afflicted.

My husband and I have been suffering from PMSD for 9 years and it has nearly disrupted our lives.   Here is our story and how we came to the conclusion that there was a strong need for Musher Decompression Training to help re-integrate mushers back to civilization after the race season. 

I can still remember the first time I realized I was having a hard time assimilating back to civilian life.  Surprisingly, it was not the overwhelming feeling of dread that washes over most of us as we travel home closer and closer to our final destination; reality.  No, it didn’t really hit me until I was actually done traveling and at home.

We got home that first evening, unpacked and went to bed.   I awoke in the middle of the night sweating and alarmed from a nightmare that I had forgotten to drop the dogs for over 24 hours.   I was so freaked out I woke Bruce up and said, “Did you drop the dogs?”   He flew out of bed in his underwear and ran outside in 0 degrees to check on the dogs only to realize they were not in the truck.   At first we laughed and we laughed hard.  However, on day three when Bruce woke in a startle because he had just driven off a cliff with a 16 dog team, we knew something might be a little askew.  On the 5^th and 6^th day when I could have sworn I heard the dogs barking and ran to the door alarmed they would disturb someone in the next room only to discover there were no dogs, let alone someone in the next room, I knew I needed to take action.

I started to immediately do some research on the internet and found information on PTSD.   As I began to research the symptoms of PTSD I learned I was experiencing them.  According to Mayo Clinic, the signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are commonly grouped into three types: intrusive memories, avoidance and numbing, and increased anxiety or emotional arousal (hyper arousal).

Undoubtedly, we were both suffering from intrusive memories and flashbacks.   As I started to reflect on that first week I realized we were experiencing symptoms from each of these categories.  Every year, the sequence of events and symptoms are nearly the same.  Upon returning we experience what I would call a complete energy drain.  We are so accustomed to a regimented schedule; up at 6:30AM to drop and water dogs, re-drop 2 hours later, feed at 2:00P, re-drop 2 hours later and, finally, drop before you go to bed.  Everything revolves around dropping the dogs.   So imagine how this messed us up when we had to return to a civilized schedule.   That first day the alarm went off at 4:30AM and it was damn near impossible to get out of bed.  My brain kept telling me it was 2 hours too early to drop dogs and my body was agreeing, but that damn alarm kept going off and some small part of my brain finally remembered I must get up.  I hate that part of the brain.  Getting out of bed was nothing short of torture for days.  

When I finally managed to crawl out of bed, I was barely functioning.  I had been used to having a Red Bull within arm’s reach to help clear the fog in my head.  However, there was no Red Bull and the fog was thick.   I got up and reached for yesterday’s dog clothes lying on the floor and began to put them on when I remembered that I needed to shower.   Going without a shower for multiple days in a row and wearing stinky dog clothes is just not acceptable in civilization.   This realization actually pissed me off; I was in no mood to bathe.   Reluctantly, I drug myself into the shower with my glasses still on and when I was done I actually almost administered toothpaste under my arms.   I needed Red Bull in a bad way.  On the bright side, at least I could see through the newly clean glasses and minty fresh is not a bad smell to start the day with.

After the dreaded bath, I usually start the process of determining what to wear.   This activity always causes major feelings of anxiety and irritability.  There isn’t a damn thing in my closet that is as comfortable as the ski pants, comfy polar fleece tops and slipper like Lobbens that I’ve been sporting around in for the past few weeks.  I angrily flip through the closet full of “professional” clothes and reluctantly settle on some dress pants, a blouse and some shoes to match.  In civilization you must be matchy, matchy; why do you think they invented the Garanimal Clothing line for kids?  It was to start them young.  People cannot be walking around in purple shoes and green polka dot pants unless you are in the mushing world.  If it’s warm, mushers don’t care about matchy, matchy.  I had been wearing red lobbens with army green pants and an indigo blue coat with a red hat for days and I was ok with it and no one even stared.   Anyway, back to the clothes.  So if the matchy, matchy doesn’t make you crabby then the fact that you’ve gained a pound or two from all the roadside dining will certainly blow your mind.  Gosh, cannot wait to put on my matchy, matchy outfit that is too dang tight.   I pour myself into my civilized get up and realize it itches and it’s not even remotely warm to boot.  My feet feel like they’ve grown two sizes and are crammed into these tight little shoes.  I am major crabby and feel the need to cry.  I am most definitely suffering from the increased anxiety and emotional arousal symptoms.  

As if the clothing is not enough to send me over the edge, I must put on makeup for the first time in weeks.   I can hear my pores screaming as I drown them in foundation.   It takes twice the amount of foundation as normal due to the fact that my face is so wind burn it feels like a dried up desert.   I have nearly forgotten how to apply the shadow, liner and mascara as evidenced by my overdone clown appearance.   Within minutes my eyes are watering from the onslaught of the chemical applications and I now look a little like Raggedy Ann.   The hair is not an entirely different matter.  It has grown significantly since I left.  It looked fine under the ski cap, but trying to blow dry the overgrown dried out mess looks like something in a science experiment as it stands on its ends.   Bruce’s situation is no different as he shaves for the first time in weeks to discover half of his face is white and the rest is tan.  He is out of practice in the shaving department which results in several nicks covered by tissue paper.

All dressed up with our ridiculous hair, my clown makeup and his tissue dotted face we jump in the truck to drive to work and I still do not have a Red Bull.  I am foggy, uncomfortable, itchy and bitchy.   I’m also as hungry as a Polar bear because my feeding schedule is totally off wack.  When you are racing you eat what and when you can and the last meal is usually late at night.  There is no food in our house since we’ve been MIA for a few weeks.   So I do what every musher would do when hunger strikes.  Like a dumpster diver I start digging through the back seat looking for remnants of snacks we bought along the way.  It’s like hitting the jackpot when Ifind some leftover chocolate muffin I purchased in Nebraska.  I’m so hungry the darn thing still tastes good even if it is crunchy and stale.

The drive to work furthers the anxious feelings.   One of the first things I notice is the traffic.   Where in the hell did all these people come from and where are they going so fast?  For weeks I’ve been on two lane mountain highways with minimal traffic and now there are four lanes with hoards of cars and trucks.  50% of the drivers are chatting carelessly on their cell phones.   Only days before I was dreading the steep, icy grades and now I’d take them any day over this chaos.

We stop at the gas station on the way into the office and are hit with the lovely odor of CITY; I practically hurl in disgust.  Oh, how I long for that fresh, northern mountain air.   Then we notice that every time we stop we are the subject of many looks.  You’d think I was still wearing my purple, army green get up.  Some of the looks are disgust, some appear to be total disbelief, there’s a few curious stares, there is always fear and then there is, my favorite; the completely dumbfounded look.  Those are fun because they look around to see if anyone else is witnessing what they are.  I half expect them to smack or pinch themselves.  They always look around to see if they can find help to decipher what they are looking at.  We just spent several weeks where folks admire the dog box and want to see inside.  Spectators are in awe at the dogs and how they travel and now we get blank faces and the ever constant question, “Are you the dog catcher?”   PMSD symptoms are very strong at this point as you clench your pants trying hard not to smack the dumbness right out of them.  “No, we are not the dog catcher.  See the logo “Magnusson Racing LLC”, we are a sled dog racing kennel.”   “What’s a sled dog?”   I know, I know it’s important that we are friendly and educate the public, but someone suffering from PMSD should just walk away at this point.

Before we start the truck to drive away, we discover ourselves circling it not once, but twice as we check for the dogs and other stuff that isn’t there.

Typically, when you’ve been racing most mushers are out at their trucks dropping/watering dogs in the AM.  Most say, “Good Morning”!   They are generally happy standing around with their caffeine in hand as they take care of the dogs.   The return to civilization is much less civilized.  We are greeted with unsmiling faces and instead of good morning you receive either a nod or a grunt of some sort.   It immediately begins to suck the energy and happiness right out of our bodies.  We start to experience avoidance and numbing symptoms.

Upon arrival, the ringing of phones almost drives us out of our minds.  Three weeks without a single phone ringing and then you are inundated with ringing, ringing, ringing………….”Monica, why are you sitting on the floor, rocking and holding your ears?”   “It’s the ringing……THE RINGING….STOP THE RINGING!!!!”

We’ve spent 3 weeks living an adventure.  Our heads are full of tales of excitement; lost dog teams, crashing, dangerous roads, wildlife in the trail and dangerous weather etc.  We’ve spent hours with people that truly live life; mountain climbers, Iditarod finishers, deep sea divers, endurance horse races, Iditabikers.  They’ve filled our heads with exciting adventures.   When we return to civilization we find socializing very difficult and very boring.  Folks try to catch us up on three weeks of visiting the mall, cleaning their houses, the doldrums of work and the horrible cold and all the snow they shoveled.  It is almost too much to bear.  We begin to check out and get what they call the blank stare.  Conversations at the lunch table find us completely checked out.  We’ve spent weeks discussing dog stools and other gross subject matter that would go over like a fart in church at the work lunch table.  We have nothing to contribute so we continue to eat and stare.

It seems as if everyone walks around with nothing else to say but, “I hate the cold!”   “It’s so damn cold.”   “When is spring going to be here?”   “This sucks, it’s snowing again.”   The weather forecasters are doom and gloom, “Another chilly day for Detroit folks and no sunshine on the horizon.  Spring will not be here soon enough.”   I envision myself running through the office, “Cold is good, it is invigorating, snow is beautiful and I love it.  Get off your lazy butts and find something fun to do in it or move to flaming Florida where it is hot and humid otherwise just SHUT UP!”   I don’t though.  Instead, I hold it in and become more numb.

The return to civilization brings to the forefront how far society has become removed from our roots of survival and self-preservation.   We are now a land of gun less, non-meat eating, non-fur bearing folk.    Many don’t know the difference between an elk and a moose and have never seen one outside of a zoo.   They are grossed out by the totally kick ass beaver mitts that we bought on our trip.  “Did the person who made these kill the beaver?”  as they skew up their face in disgust.  “Noooooooooooo, I’m not going to put my hands in there?”    They do not understand that some folks carry guns due to the threat of wildlife on the trail.  “What would you do?  Kill it?  Why?  It’s just minding its own business and you are on their trail?”  I accidently wear my fur parka in public and hear the yells, “Animal killer”.      I see all the prima-donnas in their shorty, short coats with fake fur and fake fur boots with skin tight pants running around talking about how they are freezing their butts off and realize I’m near the edge.

We’re in the door five minutes and are greeted by the employee that feels since we’ve been away he/she now deserves a raise.  “I’ve been here for 6 months and I feel I’m worth more.”   “You do, heh?  Well guess what?   We’ve been training and preparing a dog team for a whole fricken year and we thought we were worth more too, but we found out otherwise.   So I guess you’re out of luck too buddy!”

By this point in your day, we both must find an escape.  We cannot socialize and are numb.  So we seek escape on the internet.  Yes, on company time, we are checking race stats, reading blogs and constantly searching for the next big race.  We must get away soon!

Finally, we’ve killed enough time and the day is over so we can head home.  We’re so used to going to banquets that we’re pissed when we arrive home after a long day only to realize that our fridge is empty.  “Maybe, I have something left over in that cooler,” I wonder out loud.

After years of going through the above symptoms over and over, we finally realized we needed help.  I contacted an expert in PTSD who referred me to a doctor he knew that used to run dogs, Dr. Mushnomore.   After extensive sessions and meetings with Dr. Mushnomore he determined that we were actually suffering from PMSD; a non-documented illness.   He felt he had tapped into an undiscovered illness not yet researched in the medical world.  We worked with him to thoroughly research this new psychological problem, its causes, symptoms and cures.  We wanted to help our fellow mushers.  We thought there might be some sort of Decompression Training to help ease us back into civilization.  We were so excited about the research and the hope for a cure.  The day Dr. Mushnomore called us into his office to share what he felt the cure was we were like giddy teenagers.   We sat down on the edge of our seats in anticipation as he told us the following:

“Broosh & Moneeka, it vould appear afta da many years of research dat dere is only vun cure for dis ailmend.   You must move to the voods TODAY!”