One of the key and hidden elements of the Yukon Quest Race are the various ‘hospitality’ stops along the trail. The three stops that I am familiar with are Steppingstone, on the Pelly River, Forty Mile, at the confluence of the Forty Mile and Yukon Rivers, and Trout Creek, about forty five miles north of Eagle Checkpoint.
All three of these have several things in common: they are set up and served by very dedicated volunteers who provide a respite from the weather, hot food, sleeping quarters, emergency communications, a nice parking lot for the teams, and hosts who understand the mushers needs and sensibilities. While these hospitality stops are all not officially part of the Yukon Quest, and do not have veterinarians nor Race Judges present, they are very much a part of the trail experience, and universally appreciated by all, especially the racers!
This post is dedicated to explaining a bit about Forty mile and the hospitality there. I have had the pleasure of stopping and resting at forty mile in 2011 and 2012. Sebastian Jones was the solo host both those years and had been doing so since the late eighties. He has always mushed the fifty miles from Dawson to and from this location, never using a snow mobile. He and fellow Dawsonite Mel Beshara would often host together. Sebastian states:,’ We did it because we were all mushers in the area and knew what it was like travelling that country at that season, and knew how important a warm bit of floor and some grub is. We definitely needed extra water and we always tried to have moose rib meal for everyone.’
The Quest supplied a sat-phone and Sebastian used it to call the Quest with in/out times as the mushers came and went. During both my stays he supplied hot water for the mushers as required, and hauled in wood to keep the water barrel outside hot 24/7 and the cabin warm too. The food was always hot and ready to go too, as were the cookies…..and the big single room cabin was really warm and comfy.
Some of the mushers would blow through Forty Mile, but all stopped for the hot water bonus while I was there, and reloading their personal insulated water supply as well as the insulated dog food containers. Available hot water, free to all, was to be cherished, as it meant not having to stop along the trail and get the cooker going. Time saved meant faster time at the finish line!
The forty mile crew had to be ready as the first teams left Dawson mid-race (notified by sat-phone) and could shut down ‘operations’ after the last musher went through a day or so later. There is a thirty six hour mandatory rest period in Dawson City, at the half way point, so by the time the leaders headed out north towards Forty mile the spacing of the departure times of most, if not all teams, would be known, and this would give Forty mile a pretty good idea what to expect, and when. In alternate years, when the race went the other way, it was a bit harder to predict, as the teams would be quite strung out over many miles, with the leaders perhaps a day or so ahead of the back of the pack. In this case, predicting the arrival times of mushers was made even a bit more tricky, as American Summit could toss up a blizzard at any time and cause substantial delays.
Regardless of the schedule though, Forty mile would be there waiting with hot water, hot grub, a warm floor to sleep on,….and cookies.
