ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff

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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby libby the lab » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:44 am

I would drive up from Kansas City to Lincoln- keep us posted.

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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Hugh Neff » Thu Mar 26, 2009 8:59 am

braider wrote:
Hugh Neff wrote: Like most of us, Rick is the "MAN" in my book.


Would you elaborate on this a bit? I am an ancient friend of Rick Swenson - our parents knew each other in West Central Minnesota. Of late, most of what Iditarod fans see is not always very favorable towards Rick - 'Mr. Grumpy'. What makes him 'Da man' to you? ...Dave

Hey Dave,
Like the Paul Bunyan picture- reminds me of Swenson. Rick is the only musher that I've always been afraid to talk to. Not out of fear but respect. What he, Mr. Mackey, Joe Redington and that generation of mushers did was Alaska's finest moment as a people. What their 'dream' is morphing into, well, makes you wonder what joe would say. Of course the media had to play up the 'who is the greatest champion?" debate last year. Yet what those folks did back in the day was awesome- Lance, Jeff and Martin all would have been lucky to be a Swenson handler back in the 70's-80's. It wasn't just having the dogs- it was his knowledge of the land, the people, the stars. I just wish we had more video from those days- will always be jealous of those folks. Another musher I admire immensely is Rick's buddy Sonny Linder, a true gentleman. As far as folks calling him whatever nickname- I know how he feels. But you know what? When we're out on the trails playing with the pooches do you think we care what others say? After all it's a sign of their spirituality not ours. Most of the media folks who write about mushing are being paid to create controversy not elaborate on one of Alaska's greatest treasures. Most of us don't even know what Craig Medred even looks like- this guy's too cool to even bother showing up to a race. Pathetic in my book. HHN
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Hugh Neff » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:04 am

mamamia wrote:Hugh,

Thanks for taking the time to join us. I want to echo the words of the others saying that we rode the Iditarod rollercoaster with you (and Tamra) this year and I'm glad that ultimately everything turned out ok. No real question here... just wanted to give yu a shout out and say thanks.

Tamra, It was an absolute pleasure hanging with you during the race. Don't be a stranger. You both are part of our community, our family now. I hope you can feel that.

Please post your itinerary for your trip to the lower 48 when you can. If you get anywhere near the Deep South (TN, GA, NC, SC etc) I would love to catch up with you.

Take care,

Linda

Hey Linda,
Will be in the southern area probably 3rd week of May. Let us know if you'd like a presentation, Hugh
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Heidi » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:13 am

Thank you, Hugh and Tamra, for joining us. You both are special to us. :) Hugh, I'm so glad to hear you're healing up quickly.

My questions:

1) I like your idea of "floating 4's" on the coast. Have you discussed this idea with other mushers, and if so, how do they feel about this?

2) How many dogs do you bring along on your school tours, and who takes care of the ones left back at the kennel?

3) Now that you're no longer doing summer tours in Skagway, do you ever get down there anymore? I love Skagway - and Haines too (when the cruise ships are gone).

I hope I get to meet you when y'all are down in Texas later this year. :D
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Hugh Neff » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:12 am

Heidi wrote:Thank you, Hugh and Tamra, for joining us. You both are special to us. :) Hugh, I'm so glad to hear you're healing up quickly.

My questions:

1) I like your idea of "floating 4's" on the coast. Have you discussed this idea with other mushers, and if so, how do they feel about this?

2) How many dogs do you bring along on your school tours, and who takes care of the ones left back at the kennel?

3) Now that you're no longer doing summer tours in Skagway, do you ever get down there anymore? I love Skagway - and Haines too (when the cruise ships are gone).

I hope I get to meet you when y'all are down in Texas later this year. :D

Hey there,
The winds outside our window are ripping down the lake- sounds like "Shacktown". Yes, the only one that agreed was Hans Gatt. Most of the top folks are fairly stubborn creatures. Another idea I like is changing the Quest into a semi-stage race. The handlers and trucks are at nearly every checkpoint anyways. Why not have a pool of 16 to choose from where each musher only runs a 12 dog team. I believe a format such as this would encourage more folks to sign up and most importantly be beneficial to ALL of the dogteams. In the old days did the mail drivers not leave tired dogs at various roadhouses and pick them up on their way back up the Yukon river. This whole notion of dog races being the 'toughest one' is idiotic- they should be vying to see who has the funnest, most enjoyable competition for the pooches. I often wonder what type of spirit these races are seeking to pay homage to.
Usually one or 2 dogs. We were thinking of bringing Maestro this year but he's a bit shy. Might bring Titan, a retired Lance dog. We have a helper from Belgium named Boris who is great. Looking for summer help at present. Anyone out there like to go canoeing while watching dogs swim in the lake? I'm in Skagway periodically though presently I'm looking to acquire some land near Tok. The coast is pretty but to me it's not the 'real' Alaska. Too bad alot of touriists never receive an authentic view of the north. Hoping to spend alot of time canoeing the Yukon this summer, want to visit my gunna Lester Erhart up in Tanana!
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby mushing loon » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:22 am

Hey Hugh.
Congratulations on two great finishes!

Can you compare the weather on Eagle and the weather past Shaktoolik?

I hope you continue to run both races - you are an asset to the sport.

Thanks to Tamra for her gracious presence here while you were away.

Thank you for making time to answer our questions, and for the good humor you show!
For race updates check The Loon's Mushing Report http://mushingloon.blogspot.com
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Heidi » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:34 am

Hugh Neff wrote:I'm in Skagway periodically though presently I'm looking to acquire some land near Tok. The coast is pretty but to me it's not the 'real' Alaska. The coast is pretty but to me it's not the 'real' Alaska. Too bad alot of touriists never receive an authentic view of the north.


I agree Skagway's not the 'real Alaska" in that the town itself has a somewhat 'cheesy, fake-ish' feel to it, but like you say it sure is pretty around there, and I love the drive through Alaska and Canada to get there. I enjoyed hiking in that area too.

Tok...cool. Spent a couple nights there too.

Ahhh... I think I'm itching for another road trip. Well, flight first, then road! :lol: ...and THEN a canoe or a hiking trail. :D
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby dashdel » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:36 am

Hugh Neff wrote:
braider wrote:
Hugh Neff wrote: Like most of us, Rick is the "MAN" in my book.

Lance, Jeff and Martin all would have been lucky to be a Swenson handler back in the 70's-80's. HHN


Hey Hugh glad you had a good race sounded fun.
You are right Rick was charm to work for as I did handle for him 80 thru 83 and being His former B-inlaw it was truly a challenge. :D If you know what I mean...
But he was a good teacher and I did learn a lot from him. And put on several thousand miles helping him train those wonderful teams back then. It was truly a pleasure being in such control. And really Rick was the only one at the time that figured it out back then too.. Susan showed up those years too and learned from Rick too.
I just wish I stayed as I had a whole team out of his best dogs IE: Andy and Obe. But time moved on and so did I back here in sunny Florida now watching the race from the sideline as the armchair musher I now am.
I did wonder if you got any info from Rick as to what or why he took such a long time at ole women? He was having such a good race too. Just wondering.. As I am sure he wouldn't tell me his old handler.
Del
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby sc-race-fan » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:16 pm

It seems like your schedule is still in the development stage. Is there a place we can see the confirmed locations to see if we can get to your presentation??
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Re: ASK THE MUSHER VOL 15: Hugh Neff (open to questions)

Postby Hugh Neff » Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:27 pm

mushing loon wrote:Hey Hugh.
Congratulations on two great finishes!

Can you compare the weather on Eagle and the weather past Shaktoolik?

I hope you continue to run both races - you are an asset to the sport.

Thanks to Tamra for her gracious presence here while you were away.

Thank you for making time to answer our questions, and for the good humor you show!

Howdy,
That'd be like comparing Baghdad to Kabul. They're both tough environments to survive in. When we got to the base of Eagle Summit a blizzard was underway. The winds had drifted the trail over necessitating that I walk in front of the leaders to find better footing. The reflectors were great on that portion. Unfortunately 20 minutes from the summit those reflectors disappeared. The race trail coordinator had not bothered to put them on the tripods. In the dark these reflectors are what my leaders Annie and Watson were chasing after. I camped on the trail for 5-6 hours not knowing even where we were. With snow up to my knees there was no way we were going anywhere til daylight. Thankfully John Little showed up and we helped each other. One of the trailbreakers appeared at about at the same time from 101. He was pissed that there was no trail because he had been instructed previously not to worry about it, things had already been taken care of. The fella in charge this year was more worried about the back of the packers finishing than us folks up in front- makes ya wonder. At least I was the musher getting screwed over- I'm used to it by now. Guess, some folks just don't care for arrogant cityboys from Chicago that make something so difficult seem like fun. My problem with this year is that our oustanding Quest leader's were not properly recognized. I also feel sorry for Sebastian who felt uncomfortable securing 1st place in this matter. The 2 hour penalty did NOT cause this situation it was once again- the trailbreakers on the Alaskan side, or lack there of.
Shack was rip roaring fun. In one day I went from being in the front pack that was trailing Lance to 'wait til next year' mode. Not having a decent ruff on started our problems. From there it was trail conditions and the overall welfare of our dogs that caused us to scale things back a bit. This year was a good wake up call, I have a feeling that this type of weather might become the 'norm' in years to come. The coast is definately what makes Iditarod an overall more difficult race on a yearly basis. Nothing we see in the Quest compares.
As far as being an asset to the sport. We all know by now that I'm one of those men that just does'nt seem to 'fit in'- obviously by choice. There's much in the community (especially the media) that many of us racers find appalling- especially the negative energy that we are forced to deal with at times. I did not migrate to the Greatland in search of being some great mushing champion. I came here because I want to be a Great Alaskan. Still working on earning the people's respect 1st.
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