ASK THE MUSHER Vol 1: Karen Ramstead

[SiberianRose]

Karen, I can never get enough of your wonderful stories about your dogs - how Bat Dog got his name, and about Kara in her goldern harness (retired leader) at the Open House - just to name a couple. The stories are often hilarious, but sometimes they require a tissue alert. I'm guessing that you have more tales to tell about them from this journey to Nome.

[Daphne in Alberta]

Karen, You are very gracious to take time to talk with us armchair mushers. We live vicariously through your exploits and those of our other favourite mushers. I'm fairly new to following it on the internet but really happy that I found the link. There is a real dearth of info in the newspapers and TV. Anyway I am gradually learning where you all reside and was tickled pink to find you are an Albertan. Made it almost personal rooting for you. I followed all the Canadians and was so pleased to see you all do well. I hope you will have another Open House so that I can drive up and meet you. I have become a real dog sled racing junkie so anything you share with us about the dogs and the sport will be appreciated.

[Breeze]

Congratulations, Karen, on your completion of another Iditarod Journey. I, too, thank you for participating here as a forum member AND as one of our SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS!!!!

Race time is way past hectic for those of us who try to follow from home. We are always rushing from site to site to follow news, reading and responding to forum postings, who is in or out of which checkpoint, it is a myriad of details to all keep straight and keep TRYING to keep straight. We seem to be crazy hungry for details and joke often about f5f5f5f5 ( refresh) finger bruises.

In your tribute to Snicks, ( which caused some leaky eyes here) you mention the peace and solitude of the trail, and how much you appreciate Cape Nome as "your" favorite spot to stop and honor your team because you are about to leave that peace behind and be caught up in the circus of Nome.

Out of that seemingly incongruous contextual arrangement comes my question....

What leg of the trail this year was the most FUN for YOU, personally? Does one particular portion of trail stand out as being Most Enjoyable because of weather, scenery, dog performance, your mood, your psyche, and all the other bits that go into a YESSSSSSS Day?

Thank you for considering!

Breeze

[northwapiti]

Hey Breeze,

I don't know that I can pick one day or leg that stands out for me as 'the leg'. Iditarod, for me, is 'moments'. There are moments of perfection that are sometimes immediately followed by moments of extreme lows. One leg or day may have several lows and highs within it.

Some of the moments of perfection for me on this Iditarod were the sunrise over the Alaska Range - complete with a RAINBOW - on the way into Finger Lake; my run over to Takotna on a beautiful trail as the sun set; the northern lights over Ruby; my run to Old Woman Cabin and the few hours there with a group of wonderful mushers (despite the fact they all snored like sailors); my trip over to Shaktoolik with Kelley Griffin and the 'spirit ravens' ; and discovering that the 'checker' parking my team in White Mountain was actually my husband (I figured that out when my leaders jumped straight up into the air to try and get into his arms!!).

Karen

[northwapiti]

Hey Daphne,

Nice to see a fellow Albertan on the Forum. No need to wait for an 'Open House' to come visit during the summer. If you drop me a private email at northwapiti@xplornet.com we can set up a time for a summer tour of the kennel!

Karen

[Breeze]

Hey Breeze,

and discovering that the 'checker' parking my team in White Mountain was actually my husband (I figured that out when my leaders jumped straight up into the air to try and get into his arms!!).

You are blessed in many regards, Karen. I don't wonder that you took some extra time at WM, it WAS about Family, Team, Journey and Process, and you honored all.

many thanks for the most personal response !

breeze

[northwapiti]

Thank you Breeze. Fufilling my promise to Snickers gave me more of a sense of peace then I have felt in the last year. It was very healing for me.

Karen

[fladogfan]

Thank you , Karen, for being the first musher to "Ask The Musher".

You brought leaky eyes here also, when I read your story about stopping at Cape Nome to honor and remember Snickers. I understand the feeling, I had a place like that in Virginia that I went thru on my way to the mountains. It was so open and beautiful it made my heart feel good.

My question for you is, how many dogs do you have in your kennel, any puppies?

Thanks, fdf/gretchen

[northwapiti]

I'm a bad one to ask about numbers - as I try not to know the number of dogs in the kennel. It is around 70 dogs though. You can see them all listed on our website (http://www.northwapiti.com) in the 'Our Dogs' section. All the litters we have had are also listed in the 'Our Litters' section.
We maintain a completely 'open book' policy on the dogs in our life - all are listed there and we are completely accountable for every dog that has been or is in the kennel.

I think it is important for fans and supporters of mushers to ask the hard questions to make sure the people they support share the values they do. Don't ask about principals in general - ask specifics about specific dogs. That's how you will figure out the truth about folks!

Karen

[BB Backer]

Karen,
Your Cape Nome ritual touched my heart!!! What a perfect place and time to thank your best friends for their undying loyalty and the unforgettable journey!

As for Snickers...she'll be an excellent angel watching out for all those magnificent four-legged athletes! I'm glad the last little bit of her made it to Nome with you! (...tears from the heart)

I have a couple of questions. When showing your dogs, judges look for certain standards including weight. Do any of those characteristics go counter to what is needed to be a long distance racing dog? For example, I do agility with my dogs. A weight for best in breed often would be too heavy for an agility dog.

The second question has to do with the necklaces "For Snickers" that were sold as a fund raiser for ulcer research and your 2008 race. Are the necklaces still available? I don't see a link on your website, and I know there were a limited number of them.

Thanks for taking the time to join us. We love it!