T.I.B.A.

So this past weekend was the Bogus Creek & K300 sled dog race. http://k300.org/ is the website to go look at! I had the awesome opportunity to be a checker this year at the Tuluksak check point for both races. What I did was note the time each musher came in, and had them sign in, we had to make sure they had their mandatory axe and sleeping bag on their sled, check their GPS tracker, we had a vet on site to make sure the dogs were ok, note how many dogs each musher come in and leaves with -we are also a drop dog check point so if the mushers had any dogs that were hurt or not pulling their weight they could leave them with us, we noted the time they checked back out and have them sign out. For the Bogus creek, there was no mandatory layover either way (they would see us on the way up and on the way back) but for the K300 there is a mandatory 4 hour layover in Tuluksak. It was an amazing thing to see and I will post pictures soon.  I had an amazing time and go to do a really cool job that in hind sight would have been better suited to someone who knew any thing about sled dog races other than what the have seen in the movies. While trying not to look to much like Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie "Sled Dogs" (I did not succeed & great movie) I was able to have my own sled dog mushing moment. Now if any of you know me this is the part where the cameras should have been rolling because Courtney had a...well...Courtney moment. Lets set the scene

Close your eyes and imagine...

It is a chilly (-25ish) early morning (2:00 am) in the Alaskan bush. You have been outside since 9:00 that evening checking in mushers and their team. At this point you have taught all week and are pretty exhausted from that and the fact that the kids were little punks and now that you have been out all night you are sufficiently simpled out. There are two "official" checkers from the race committee in Bethel but they have been out longer than you and will be out all day on Saturday, Sunday, and part of Monday as well so you let them go back to the school (thats were anyone who come to the village stays) and sleep. The vet on call has assured you that nothing out of the ordinary should happen and no one ever drops dogs on the way up but if you need her she will be in the school. You are only waiting for one more person so you send everyone else up and wait. You should know you friend Beth is there to keep you company and it really is a two person job so you two look out over the river in the middle of the night, the moon is amazing, the village is quiet, and stand amazed at this opportunity you are able to take a part in. You quietly discuss your week and come to terms with the fact of T.I.B.A.- this is bush Alaska and you can't change the world.
Around the bend you see the head light of the last musher (his team got turned around earlier in the race so you know he will be in a hurry). You make sure and have your headlight (yes mom I forgot to mention I was wearing a gopher light/ Dad, you are right they do come in handy) ready and Beth is getting the time down to the second for you. As you are checking his time, axe, sleeping bag and saying hi to him (cause you are both from the south and it is ingrained into your DNA-thanks mom) he utters, well thats to nice, DEMANDS to know where he can drop his dogs. Remember, EVERYONE assured you that this would not happen (Courtney moment #1). As you send a student up to the school to get the vet that has to check over this poor dog, the musher puts his brakes on (brakes are these two claw things that hook into the snow and sort of serve as reins for a bit on a horse, they can help you turn, go faster or stop) and rushes up to the school to get hot water to mix with dog food (all the food is frozen) for his dog.
Now real quick lets do a quick inventory of what you are wearing to survive in hours of below freezing weather. You have on: fleece lined tights, another pair of tights, a thick pair of yoga pant things, fleece pants and snow pants, 3 pairs of socks- two wool and one really thick pair, snow boots, on top you have a base layer, fleece shirt, fleece pullover, jacket, hoodie, and coat, two throat muff things, beanie, and gopher headlight, and two pairs of gloves. Now back to our bedtime story.
The musher leaves and while you and Beth are trying to find the drop line (chain around a tree to put the drop dogs on) you see the dogs get a little antsy. Suddenly something spooks the dogs and they take off. Now at this point you see no other option than to chase after them because, well what else do you do. So you begin to run...in snow boots...when your feet are numb from the cold because you have been out for hours and your hot feet things are not longer hot or even warm...to catch a team of sled dogs...who run...all the time...and you...don't run...ever...and you look like Ralphie's little brother from a Christmas story when his mom bundles him up to go to school...and you are running...do you get the fact that you are running yet...so lets speed this up a little. You begin to chase after this team of sled dogs, yelling for them to stop or hee or haw (they mean right or left but you have no idea which one is which, just hope for the best) and you grab onto the snow shoes that are on the back of the sled any you think you have it you just need to get to the brakes at the front of the sled now and then you trip hitting your chin on the snow shoes and hit the snow. Beth sprints by as you are getting up you get up and resume running, Beth is able to pull herself on the sled and the dogs finally stop as you jump on the other runner. Gasping for freezing cold air you both look at each other with a what the ------ just happened look and go to hook the brakes into the snow. As Beth leans down to stomp hers in the dogs take off again!! You are on the sled this time and Beth takes off after you. You step down on a third brake in the middle of the sled as the dogs try to run up the river bank, which is full of trees and it also able to help stop them. Beth gets to you and you both get your brakes into the snow lick-ety split and both stay on the sled and middle brake ready for what will happen next. As you finally realize the dogs aren't going anywhere you collapse into a fit of giggles all over the sled. About this time the musher comes back and looks at you because his sled has moved a good 30-40 yards by this time, and the first thing out of his mouth is "Where can I drop my dog?" SERIOUSLY....WE JUST SAVED YOUR DOGS AND SLED FROM RUNNING OFF WITHOUT YOU!
Our student returns and says the vet is on the way, the musher is beyond impatient right now and starts to take the dog off the team line, Beth heads back to the school to see what is taking the vet so long. The musher decides he needs to leave then but you still have to have him sign out as per the rules of the race, and as you go to get his signature you realize in all the comotion you have lost the pencil and he is already taking off. So off you run again trying to figure out what you can do to get his signature. When you reach him you pull out your keys and tell him just to scratch because that is all you can do at this point, he does and then he is off and you walk back towards the river bank. By this time the vet has showed and you get the dog taken care of.
After this you and Beth walk back to your houses laughing the entire way about what just happened. Only in Alaska, only with us!

So if you haven't figured it out yet, this is what happened to Beth and I at about 2:00 Friday morning. Out of all the crazy stuff I have done, I never thought I would get to add sled dog team chaser-downer to my resume but hey, T.I.B.A.!

So this post is for you Shane, Neil, & Mom. Happy reading!
Feel free to comment with any LOLs, HAHAs, or the ever appropriate BAHAHAHA. :)

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Courtney Moment Hall of Fame Class of 2013