What would we be surprised to learn you carry with you on a long race? I don't think anything is too surprising. Mostly just essentials like anyone else. But... if you really want to know the nitty gritty details, this is something that may surprise a few. Running Iditarod is really hard on the body. For women, you can count on it messing up your cycle completely. So I am always prepared for that, regardless of where I am on my calendar. There - that was pretty gracefully put for an awkward topic.
Who were you most excited to meet for the first time on any of the races you've done?I think I know just about all the mushers pretty well by now. The only time I was ever sort of 'star struck' is before I ran dogs, and Ray Redington invited me to his kennel and took me out on a 50 mile run the week before Iditarod. We took his final 16 pick, and he even let me drive the team for many miles. It took me a long time to pick my jaw up off my boots.
What other musher has been the most influential in your mushing career and why?I really learned how to train, handle a sled, and prepare a team for Iditarod when I handled for Diana Moroney. Also, I bought her yearlings and one of those, Fly, has become the foundation for my kennel.
What's the worst advice anyone has given you regarding mushing? Hands down worst advice EVER went something like this (very knowledgeable race official last year in Shaktoolik): "When you are about 10 miles from Koyuk, the trail will get a little rough, and there won't be anymore markers. You'll be able to see the lights of Koyuk by then, so just head for the lights and you won't have any problems." So I got to a place where there weren't any markers in any direction, and I figured this is it. I headed straight for the lights. It was definitely rough trail. It got rougher and rougher, and pretty soon I was guiding the team in a crazy spiraling curlique between blocks of jumble ice the size of two story buildings, around 30 foot ridges, humongous drop offs, and over terrain that I didn't think it was possible to take a team. All the while, we were working through a white out with the wind howling sideways and shoving the team westward. I wasn't sure what would happen if we ran into open water or an obstacle we couldn't get around. It took us hours, but we eventually came out on the other side. Apparently the trail had taken a 90 degree right hand turn to go around the jumble ice, but all the markers had blown away. I learned a lot of good things about my dogs on that run!
What's the best compliment you've ever received while on a race?
Any time someone compliments my dogs it makes may day!
If you ever take a vacation away from Alaska, where do you like to go?I went to Maui once - I am not good at laying around. I would really like to go skiing - back to Colorado or to Jackson Hole. Dreaming big - foreign travel, almost anywhere. Neither of these things are likely to happen as long as we have dogs.