A Look from the Inside Out

A phone call at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. Is somebody dead? Nope, they need me at the Seeley Lake Community Hall to help out. Okay, will be there in half hour.

Getting my pack ready with some food, water, extra gloves, headlamp, camera, cell, not knowing when I will be back home. Had the awards ceremony for the junior mushers and the 100 milers at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. Hey, do you want to go to the Whitetail Ranch checkpoint? Yeah, sure.

Driving through three counties, Missoula, Powell and Lewis and Clark we turned off Highway 200 at the Dry Creek turnoff and head to Whitetail Ranch. After the harrowing drive to the Ranch on icy roads with winds whipping up snowdrifts, we finally arrive at the Ranch. Point me to the cocktail area!

No 300 mile mushers to come in until early AM on Monday. This is the best time of a race for volunteers, I think. You get to hang out and talk to other volunteers, the ranch people and the vets.

The living room was nice and toasty with a fireplace burning and woodstove going. A heavy curtain separated the dining room from the living room to keep it dark and quiet. We all picked our spots to sleep for the night-I got the lovely leather recliner next to the curtain so I could hear what everyone was saying in the dining room.

I was finally able to doze off only to be awakened by cell phones ringing about 2 a.m.

Can't their owners hear them ringing? Wake up and answer them!

The Race Marshall Rob came in about 3 a.m. and had already checked trail. His work is never done. All is okay - some drifting but not bad.

The few of us that got up were looking at the computer or the TV screen on the wall to track mushers' times and figured they will start rolling in around 5 or so. Turned out to be 7ish when Jessie Royer came in (she won the race).

Back in the recliner to get some more sleep. Sleeping in the spacious living room with two other men and four other women on sofas, some on the floor in sleeping bags and me in my recliner.

Ever hear of the dueling banjos? Well we had the dueling snorers! The two guys were going at it. I think they were trying to beat out each other for the loudest snore! Guess I wasn't tired enough to sleep through it. Ugh. So, I got up again around four and that was it for me. Coffee time.

Musher coming in! Had to run out to the anteroom to put on my gear and grab the clipboard. One looks so official with a clipboard. I called myself "the keeper of the time." Cool title.

Cell phones were used as the official time since they all sync up with the same clock somewhere in cyberspace.

Jessie Royer is the first musher in and her handler helps her get the team settled and food ready for her dogs. My job is to get her time in (the lead dog's nose over the line), count dogs in harness and get her to initial the timesheet. Whitetail Ranch is a mandatory six-hour layover for the teams.

First thing dogs do is "groom." They pee on the trail and sometimes poop while running so personal hygiene has to be taken care of. Then onto their feet. Mushers can't get their booties off fast enough so they can lick their feet. Some are already doing the three-circle turn around and bedding down in the straw that is laid out for them. Hot food is coming - soupy mix of water, kibble and meat protein. The protein varies from musher to musher.

Talking to Roy Etnire about his dogs, he likes to feed them a mix of 40 percent protein and 20 percent fat and the rest quality kibble.

Mushers coming in all during the day so you are in and out of the warm ranch main house in the -17 degree weather. Perfect, I might add for sled dogging. The dogs loved the hot sun while they were in their cozy beds of straw. Dogs were sleeping (with no snoring I might add), getting a much-deserved rest.

By about 5 p.m. or so, the last musher came in. Me, with "the clipboard", handlers would ask me when they could officially leave.

Once the mushers are getting ready to leave after their "6", I had to check them out on yes, the clipboard papers again. Each musher needs to have mandatory items in their sleds. Mostly for their own safety and that of their dogs. Items include an axe, booties, cooker, dog food (one pound per dog), first aid kit, food for the musher for one day, headlamp, knife, map of the trail, arctic weight parka and sleeping bag, snow goggles, snowshoes and the vet forms that I had to get the correct abbreviations for at the beginning of the race. The vets will continue to make notes on the dogs and check their progress on these forms.

So with all this looked at in the sled and counting how many dogs are in harness the musher signs again and off I run to get their official time when they start going again. Cell phone charged and ready to go when the nose of the first dog goes over the line and then they are on the clock again.

I decided I didn't want to drive on the "ice road" from the ranch at night to come home, so my "race" ended at 5 p.m. on Monday night. An hour drive to come back to Seeley Lake and get some vittles and that elusive cocktail.

I must say how kind everyone had been, even to me, the newbie at this race. Volunteers make the wheels turn at these things. Without them there would be no race, well ok we need dogs and mushers too, but you know what I mean.

Everyone is exhausted from too few hours sleep but having fun at the same time. I will be dreaming tonight of winning MY race with my super dogs and my own Nushka, my rottie/boxer mix as my lead dog...