Kern Post 7 Hands On

Mushing is very much a ‘hands-on” sport, perhaps more so than any other. Without hands a musher is useless to his team. Without hands that can grab, pinch, feel, clip, yank and hang on as needed, well, it’s all over. I’ve watched and photographed mushers on the trail for years and witnessed with my own eyes the many things the mushers have to do, usually with bare hands. The most obvious and difficult task involves ‘installation’ of the booties. Every musher has their own technique for accomplishing this necessary task, installing protective booties on 14 dogs X 4 =56 paws at race start, and then afterwards during all the many many stops and starts at checkpoints and on the trail during rest stops and after bootie loss from overflow and ‘blowouts’…..Usually accomplished often with bare hands and in very cold temperatures. The better the technique the faster the process, and this prowess can make for a winning time all by itself. It all adds up! Add to that handling the chow line: starting the cooker, handling the insulated stock pot, the kibble, bowls, etc. For nine to fourteen days. There are runner repairs and runner skin replacement, harness on/off, and the snaps on lines that need clipping/unclipping. On and on. And canine foot inspections, foot rubs, and medication application. Use of axe and knife. The more dogs you have the more there is to do.

When Allan Moore arrived in Whitehorse in 2018 with all fourteen dogs and won the race, well, he still had his entire team with him, looking very fit, healthy, and all looking ready to keep on going. An Amazing feat, especially considering that he had to serve the whole team alllll the way, as described above.

The necessity of sound ‘ race hands’ came home to me during a moment with Lance Mackey as he warmed what was left of his hands over a barrel fire one night at Steppingstone. He went from finger to finger reporting on each ones condition. He had nine fingers left and none of them was in great condition. He explained to me how important hands were, and how pretty soon his ‘paws’ would be too far gone and he’d be done with racing……This announcement, coming from this four time Yukon Quest and Iditarod Champion, chilled me, for I too, have dead spots on my hands from shooting the Quest over the years, and know my days on the Quest Trail are numbered as well…..