Ramey
takes 3rd Place!!!
Ramey grabbed third place arriving in Nome this morning
at 09:52:06
Finishing in 9 Days 18 Hours 52 Minutes 6 Seconds
The City of Nome Lolly Medley Golden Harness Award Winner
03/16/08
Originally presented by the late Lolly Medley,
Wasilla harness maker and one of two women to run the
second Iditarod in 1974. The award honors an outstanding
lead dog, chosen by the mushers. This year's recipient
was "Babe" an 11 year old member of Ramey
Smith's team from Big Lake Alaska. Babe has completed
eight Iditarods and led her team to a 3rd place finish
in 2008. Ramy Smyth is the son of the late Lolly Medley.
Update March 11th 2008 Out of White Mountain
Ramey's on his way to Nome in 3rd place with
eight dogs leaving at 23:44. He has
77 miles to go.
Update March 11th
Into White Mountain at 15:44:00
Ramey is resting in White Mountain tonight completing
his mandatory 8 hour layover. He can leave at 23:44 this
evening. He has 8 dogs. Ramey is currently in 3rd place.
March 11th 00:10
Rolling into
Koyuk Monday evening at 20:51:00 in 4th place, Ramey is
nipping at the heals of Iditarod Champion Martin Buser.
Ramey's team only gets better the closer he gets
to Nome. He's clipping along at about 7.5 miles per hour.
Next checkpoint Elim a short 48 miles away. Ramey has
989 ,iles behind him and ONLY 123 miles to go. All mushers
must take a mandantory 8 hour rest at White Mountain,
from there and incrediable race should unfold.
March 10th 2008 Unalakleet:
Ramey rolled into the coastal village of Unalakleet
this morning at 01:26:00 with 12 dogs.
CLICK
HERE FOR CURRENT IDITAROD RACE STANDINGS
The
village of Unalakleet |
Next stop Shaktoolik
The actual distance on this leg is usually about
37 or 38 miles. (As with some other legs, the official distance
sometimes reflects the longest possible routing, or old
routings.) The race follows the main snowmachine trail to
Shaktoolik; it is normally well traveled and well marked.
The first 25 miles cross a mix of woods, taiga, open areas,
and exposed ridge tops; the last 12 miles are completely
in the open on the barren coastline. This leg usually takes
four to six hours, but can be much longer if the weather
is bad. The trail leaves Unalakleet northbound and runs
just in from the beach, turning inland after five miles
to pass behind rocky 850-foot-high Blueberry Point. It comes
almost back to the shore at the fishing camp of Egavik before
climbing up the Blueberry Hills, reaching the thousand-foot
summit at the 18-mile point. At the top the trail turns
west and makes a three-mile drop back to the beach, then
follows a slough and the dune line northwestward for the
last 12 miles out to Shaktoolik. The primary concern on
this leg is the weather. Shaktoolik is windy even in good
weather, but under some conditions the winds can blow from
the north at more than hurricane force, with temperatures
well below zero and chill factors worse than minus one hundred.
If the winds are howling,
the trail from Unalakleet to the top of the Blueberry Hills
will be relatively sheltered
(except on the ridge tops), but the last 12 miles out to
Shaktoolik can be extremely difficult with drifts and ground
blizzards.
March 9th 2008 Out of Kaltag:
Ramey is moving along leaving Kaltag this morning
at 09:20:00 with 12 dogs. The
dogs enjoying the cooler temperatures. Trail is slow
but steady.
CLICK
HERE FOR CURRENT IDITAROD RACE STANDINGS
Trail
from Kaltag to Unalakleet |
Next stop...
Unalakleet (the coast)
This leg follows the ancient Kaltag portage, a
relatively straight valley angling southwest through the
coastal mountains; the route has been used for millennia
by Natives. It is normally a well-used snowmachine highway.
It marks the major transition from the inland river environment
to the Bering Sea coast. Conditions can be vastly different
at opposite ends of the portage, and wind is a constant
threat on the western half. The
distance to Unalakleet is actually about 82 miles. Plan
on 10 to 15 hours for this trip, depending on whether
you want to camp along the way, and for how long. (By
this stage of the race your team may be able to make it
without a major rest.) If the weather gets bad, though,
this trip can easily take 18 or 20 hours. There are two
excellent resting spots on the trail, fifteen miles apart:
the Tripod Flats cabin is 35 miles from Kaltag, and the
Old Woman cabin is 15 miles farther on, about 35 miles
from Unalakleet. Both are snug log cabins maintained by
BLMand the local villages
and can provide welcome refuges in case you encounter
a storm.
Old
Woman Cabin |
The trail climbs for 15
miles from Kaltag through mostly wooded country to the
summit of the portage, about 800 feet above sea level.
Then it descends slowly into the valley of the Unalakleet
River, staying mostly in wooded or semi-wooded country
with some excursions across taiga and open areas until
Old Woman, then running across mostly open tundra on the
south side of the river valley. The trail drops back down
onto the Unalakleet River about 8 miles out of town, making
a couple of short portages across river bends before crossing
the frozen lagoon into Unalakleet.
Check the weather carefully
before leaving Kaltag. In a few years the race has actually
been shut down because of storms on the coast, or drivers
were at least advised not to leave Kaltag. Watch conditions
closely as you work your way to the sea, and be prepared
to hole up in one of the shelter cabins if conditions
turn bad, which they can do out here with breathtaking
swiftness.
Map-
Kaltag to Old Woman Click to enlarge |
On this stretch of trail
the primary markings will be permanent four-inch metal
reflectors on trees, or on wooden tripods in open areas.
Most of the reflectors are yellow or gold, but many have
weathered to various shades of off-white; they still reflect
well, but may be hard to spot during daylight. You might
want to keep your headlight on in twilight periods to
help you pick out the reflectors.
The permanent reflectors
often mark a corridor rather than a specific track; this
corridor can be a hundred yards wide, and there are multiple
markers in many sections. The exact hard-packed trail
will usually be marked with standard Iditarod trail stakes.
This can be a major factor on the western end of the trail
where it runs for miles across open tundra and the wind
can drift everything in within minutes. When the trail
is drifted over, you’ll want to try to follow the
trail stakes because that’s where the packed trail
is. (You don’t want to be floundering through unpacked
open snow with your dog team if you can avoid it.)
Coming
off the trail into Nulato |
Update March 8th
Ramey is currently in 13th
position blowing through Galena today. He arrived at 07:49
and departed at 08:00. His dogs are doing great.
CLICK
HERE FOR CURRENT
IDITAROD RACE STANDINGS
Next
stop ...Nulato
This leg is all on the Yukon River and normally presents
no real problems. It is a major snowmachine highway maintained
by the locals and is well used all winter. Plan on four
to six hours for this run. It can be cold, as can all river
runs, and all the usual river hazards can be present, including
overflow, rough ice, and open water. When the wind blows,
the trail can become obscured very quickly, but it should
be well marked. The trail can swing back and forth across
the river several times on this leg to cut across bends.
Leaving Galena
the river runs generally west. Fifteen miles from Galena
the trail passes the fishing camp at Bishop Rock, a prominent
landmark on the north bank of the river. Ten miles later
it passes the mouth of the Koyukuk River, a major tributary,
flowing in from the north, with the village of Koyukuk
on the northwest bank. Five miles past Koyukuk the river
swings south and the right bank becomes a low range of
mountains rising to a thousand feet above the river. Nulato
is eleven miles past the big bend to the south, on the
right (west) bank.
Ramey leaves the 2008 Iditarod
start line with his Iditarider smiling
(click on photo for larger view)
Welcome
to Homestretch Kennel
Ramey is signed up for Iditarod 2008. This will be his 13th
running of the Last Great Race. This year’s plans
also include a few mid-distance races. The team is in training,
setting the base miles for the upcoming race season. The
kennel has grown and there are many young dogs ready to
step up to the plate. The two year olds that were in training
last season are really shining! We’re very excited
about the prospects. The veteran members of the team are
going strong, and we are very proud of all of them. Let
the snow fall, we’re ready get on the runners.
Our new pups are here! We have a litter out of Sand and
Pawn. They are a lively and social bunch ready for adventure.
Sand is a veteran Iditarod and 440 finisher.
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Our other litters are from
Dude and Gabby and Flint and Fire. Gabby had 5 pups. Dude
is a 6 time Iditarod finisher! He finished 2006 Iditarod
at 10 years old. His sister Babe is a 7 time Iditarod finisher,
leading Ramey under the burled arch 7 times in a row! The
pups are enjoying their walks and exploring the forest.
We have two pups from our Sand and Star litter, Luna and
Pluto. Fire had 8 puppies, quite the litter. They look like
little wolf pups. Both Fire and Flint are Iditarod finishers,
both having spent a lot of time leading the team.
Ramey and the team placed 16th in the 2007 Iditarod. Eight
dogs made a strong push to the finish line; Babe, Scott,
Hera, Emelia, Yoshie, Dude, Happy, and Flame. They swiftly
cruised down Nome’s front street healthy and happy.
Babe and Scott (Babe’s son) led most of the race.
Hera finished as a two year old. Hera is the daughter of
Phoenix, another 8 time Iditarod finisher. Most of the Iditarod
team went on to race in the Kobuk 440.
A huge thank you to our wonderful
and dedicated sponsors!! All of you help keep this team
on the trail. Outdoors and More Sporting Goods - Wasilla,
Steve Ripp - Wisconsin, Kenai Chrysler – Bob Farvetto
- Kenai, Daily’s Web Design – Theresa Daily
- Chugiak, Dr. Tim’s Pet Food – Dr. Tim Hunt
- Michigan, Lloyd Charlie- Minto, Alaska Diesel Doctor -
Wasilla, Brent Cassidy – custom welding - Willow,
Pizza King - Wasilla, and Alaska Cheesecake Company - Wasilla.
Also, many thanks to everyone who helped with Iditarod 2007:
Steve Ripp, Marguerite Goodman, Janine Goodman, Kayla, Trisha,
Skeeter Stitt, Miranda Stitt, Skipper Stitt, Bonnie Church,
Devin Rolland, Melody Hughes, Jessica Manifold, and LJ Miller.
Becca
Moore |
Thank you to our very good
friends Mark, Julie and Jack Laker for hosting us during
the Tustemena 200. Ramey and the team placed 7th.
Thank you to Dennis and Candace of KICY radio station for
hosting us in Nome after Iditarod. They have been our host
family for 3 years now!
We have a fantastic
kennel handler, Sylvester Traylor! He has jumped right in
and has been an important part of our kennel. Syl comes
from Connecticut but was born and raised in Georgia. Our
puppy handler is Pam Aviza. Pam has been doing and excellent
job loving and socializing our puppy crew and getting them
out and about on puppy walks.
Becca has many things to look forward to this season. She's
looking forward to running her first big race; The Yukon
Quest International Sleddog Race! Half of the fun will be
getting ready for it. The race begins February 9th, 2008
in Fairbanks. This year is the 25th Silver Anniversary of
the Yukon Quest…it should prove to be quite spectacular!
Ava joins us on most of our
training runs and during dog lot chores. She’s always
excited to see the dogs and jump on the 4 wheeler or sled.
Look for her in the 1-dog class in a few seasons!
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