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Mark & Karen
Ramstead
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North Wapiti Siberian Husky Kennels
Iditarod 2005 - Tales from the Trail

March 14, 2005

 
Deteriorating Trails

What a difference a day makes.  Record breaking temperatures, rain and deteriorating trails have taking their toll on our team.  Since I posted last, Karen has dropped 5 dogs, Grover, Skor, Kara, Dasher & Surge.  All were dropped for muscle or shoulder injuries caused by the soft punchy trail.  The dream of a 12 day race has evaporated and Karen’s Iditarod has quickly turned into a salvage mission.  Every checkpoint that Karen makes from now on will be a bonus, she will take as much rest as she can while she watches the trails disappear and the back of the pack pass her by.  I’m very confident in Karen’s dog driving abilities, and I’m positive that she will do whatever is best for her dogs.

 

Gus and Snickers are recovering nicely and the babies are doing fine. I’m off to the prison today to pick up two more dogs, I think that it’s Grover and Skor.

 

Well that’s all for now, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what today brings.

 

Later,

Mark

(Editor's Note: Although it is disappointing that warm weather and poor trail conditions have lead to the dropping of key dogs from previous Iditarods. The remaining nine dogs, although a smaller team, are still very good team:)

 

The dogs still running towards Nome with Karen are -

  Dog Status DOB/
Age
Sex Finished
Draco
Son of Iditarod Finisher Butch
4 Time Iditarod Veteran 11/5/97
7 yrs
M 2 Time
Finisher
Loki
Son of Iditarod Finisher Striker
3 Time Iditarod Veteran 7/27/99
5 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher
Sprite
Daughter of Butch
Rookie 7/1/01
3 yrs
F  
Crunchie
Son of 2 Time Iditarod Finisher Grover
Iditarod 2004 Veteran 6/6/01
3 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher
Moses Iditarod 2004 Veteran 1/4/00
5 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher
Herman Iditarod 2004 Veteran 8/28/01
3 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher
Hector
Herman's brother
Iditarod 2004 Veteran 8/28/01
3 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher
Denali Iditarod 2003 Veteran 5/27/00
4 yrs
M  
Odie
Son of Striker,
Loki's brother
2 Time Iditarod Veteran 7/27/99
5 yrs
M Iditarod 2004
Finisher

 

Karen's Diary - 2005 Edition


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