John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

[Nanook]

The 2011 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon is in full swing and I spent yesterday on the trail with a nice fire and a camp chair and a couple of people and while we all basked in the warmth of a 15°f sunny end of January afternoon, 54 mushers being pulled by teams of sled dogs, whooshed by us fast and furious. Well, they were only going about 8 miles an hour really, but it seemed fast to us who were sitting still!

About John Beargrease, for anyone who hasn't seen one of my Beargrease reports before:

John Beargrease was born in Beaver Bay, Minnesota in 1858, the son of an Anishinabe Chief, Moquabimetem. The family lived in a traditional wigwam on the edge of the first settlement on Minnesota’s North Shore; Beaver Bay. They survived through their traditional native practices of hunting, fishing and trapping.

John Beargrease and his brothers were avid hunters and trappers and made regular trips to the region along their well-established Lake Shore Trail trap line. Recognizing the opportunity, John and his brothers picked up the job of delivering the mail by simply tossing a mailbag or two into existing packs.

For almost twenty years, between 1879 and 1899, John Beargrease and his brothers delivered the mail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. With the limited equipment available and loads weighing as much as 700 lbs. The trip was made once a week…an incredible feat for one man to accomplish especially when you consider the constant range of altitude along the shore.


History of John Beargrease






The “Beargrease” trail is considered among the toughest there is. Though considerably less distance than the famed Iditarod or Yukon Quest, the terrain of the north shore provide considerable challenges as teams face a rapid series of ascents and descents as the trail winds through Superior National Forest and the “Sawtooth Mountains”. Though the race doesn’t travel along the lakeshore, Lake Superior’s effect on weather is far reaching. Musher’s can face wind chills as low as -70 and temperatures exceeding -35. In the same day they may experience weather well above zero and precipitation ranging from rain to near blizzard conditions.

[R00TS]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

great photo! sorry about the bum lens

carry on

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Now that we have the formalities out of the way...

The hunter gathering of things and packing the car for winter day camping goes pretty smoothly, but I've been doing this awhile now. You don't want to get out onto the middle of a wilderness trail and suddenly realize that something you need desperately, is home... or even a very long walk through the woods back to the car.

In this case, we drag sleds loaded with wood and camp chairs and camera's of course..water and fixings for hot chocolate but not much else. In years past we've packed in food too, but I wanted to go much deeper into the woods this time and it was up hill most of the way.

Everything went without a hitch, except for an expected impending bunch of camera problems. I have been having a problem with my camera for a couple of months when I shoot in cold weather and have tried a few things such as a new battery, and new card to remedy it, to no avail. I managed to squeeze a few pics but framing and focus kind of went out the window and the experience left me shooting not unlike if I was holding a bb gun or something...just aiming and shooting and hoping. Kind of like a crack addict with no crack...

The first 5-10 teams went by while I fiddled around trying to get the camera to function, but finally...

This is last years winner, who is currently in 1st place tonight.



A closer look at his dogs..I did this with a lot of the teams, zoomed in on just the dogs post process, because the faces and obvious happiness of them doing what they were born to do is priceless.



After all, it is all about the dogs....

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: R00TS</div><div class="ubbcode-body">great photo! sorry about the bum lens

carry on </div></div>

I'm pretty sure about the lens...as opposed to it being my camera. I brought the whole works to my camera store today and the owner kindly had me leave it there so he can try to replicate the problem. Hopefully he can figure out what it is that is not working properly. Of course, it worked fine inside the store, it was warm in there.

I will go pick it up tomorrow because the finish line is Wednesday! Anyway, that is some great customer service! The lens is warranty if that is the problem, but will still be a PITA and a wait while it gets shipped back and forth and such.

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

I swear, I have never seen the teams come so fast and furious before. They leave a couple of minutes apart from the start line, and I watch from about an hour and a half up the trail. In that time, the mushers had passed each other many times and were coming in packs of two and three at once with another one coming around the corner.
it was a very busy day for just watching!



I just love the expression of the dog on the left! That is him on the top of the thread, after I cropped him apart from the rest. If he isn't having fun, I don't know who is! Actually, the guy on the right has a frozen smile which is pretty endearing...



One of my favorite Beargrease mushers Colleen Wallin from just up the road in Two Harbors Mn. Colleen works at the veterans home and sure as I'm sitting here, on Wednesday there will be a bus in the checkpoint parking lot in her town with banners..



Case in point...this is that bus last year! I love the little orange sign that says &quot;Get your rear in gear&quot;!



Heck, as long as I am at last years photos for a minute, here is Colleen before taking off on her last stretch of the 340 mile journey towards the finish line..

Gotta love Colleen! Chatting up her lead dogs before the last dash...only they know what was said.





And, a tender moment with mom before taking off down the last stretch of trail.

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

A closer look at Colleen's dogs...I love the snow covered face one.





It is always fun to see how the dogs are watching us spectators. Some younger dogs might not be used to even seeing people on the trails if they have just been practicing and have never run a race before.



This is Minnesota musher Jamie Nelson. I believe she has won Beargrease before...she has also run Iditarod and is a Beargrease legend. Jamie is in 2nd place at this moment.





Jamie was the end of the long distance mushers and the end for tonight...

[Stormmey]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Nookie beautiful and healthy looking dogs.....love the trails with all that snow.....especially love this trail winter wonderland with the dogs.

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Marnin Stormmey! The reports coming in are that undisturbed snow is waist deep! I stepped off our campsite on Sunday and found that to be true, ha ha, I do it every year at least once! One year it happened just as I was shooting a musher who was headed to the finish in 2nd or 3 place...he actually STOPPED until I composed myself and waited so I could take a picture.

[Seveen]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

so the race is 340 miles

do they stand up the entire time? does it run all night?

nice to see it's an equal opportunity event - women

these are amazing photos with your bum camera

i would have liked to see a pic of your camp site - i can't imagine it

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

The mushers for the most part are a pretty jovial bunch. I can only imagine the amount of planning they have to do to prepare for the race. They work with their handlers like a well oiled machine but even so, no amount of preparation can prepare you for running into a moose on the trail, or some such unexpected thing.

Saturday night I went to the opening ceremonies which included a dinner and the bib draw. The highlight of the night though, was the drum and pipe ceremony by local Ojibwae, and guest speaker who explained to the crowd about the ceremony and prayers for safe passage for everyone in the room, and about the tobacco package that each musher is given to take on the trail. At some point, they were told...they should make an offering on the trail with the tobacco, anywhere they choose, and in any manner they choose, it is up to them.



This is Jen Frekking from Togo Mn. Jen is a veterinarian and also a fixture in the race and so is her husband Blake. They are also pretty much at Iditarod every year.




A bunch of happy dogs here!



This is Dave Turner, from Sandy Oregon. Dave won the half marathon yesterday! Congrats Dave!





Last night I left off with Jamie Nelson. She has won Beargrease 4 times! Jamie is currently in 4th place this morning. A LOT can happen on this last day of the marathon, it will be interesting to watch the race between her and Nathan, last years winner.

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Seveen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">so the race is 340 miles

do they stand up the entire time? does it run all night?

nice to see it's an equal opportunity event - women

these are amazing photos with your bum camera

i would have liked to see a pic of your camp site - i can't imagine it </div></div>

Oh Seveen, yesterday as we were flipping through my pics at the camera store, the store owner sympathized with me. It is like, yeah the pics are Ok, but when you just know they aren't even close to what you are trying to do, well..heartbreaking! I will go pick it up later today and hopefully have a diagnosis.

I didn't manage a pic of the campsite from this year...I tried but couldn't get my camera to work! And then, by the time the mushers started coming, there just wasn't time. At the end, there is just enough time to break camp and get out of the woods before dark...but here is a pic of last years spot!




The big heart shaped blanket in the back round was our outhouse! We stand sleds on end in the snow, and put up a blanket wall, works perfectly!

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

This is local native Billie Divers team. No, I don't have any pics of Billy, alas...the blasted camera...




As I was saying...they were coming fast and furious! I have never seen them come so close together before, it was awesome!









Happy happy joy joy, but at 15F above zero, it was a little warm for the dogs. They would have liked it -15f BELOW zero better!

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Contrary to the dog show world, the mushers don't mind us being a distraction to the dogs on the trail. In fact, they love having us out there to cheer them on! As they whiz by they will say &quot;thank you for coming&quot; and smile and wave and in turn we wish them a nice ride and good luck!




This guy is from Wisconsin and a Beargrease regular. I have pics of him from years ago...




Yes Seveen, there are many women in the sport. This years half marathon was over half women! My hat is off to them. Though I absolutely LOVE this sport...even on my best days, I would never have had what it takes for this.





The spectating is to die for though, really...

[Nanook]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

That's all for now! I will be at the finish line tomorrow, and more than likely take a little road trip up the trail too. I have to go blow some snow now, and then take a little drive and go pick up my poor ailing camera gear.

[schultz]

Re: John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon

Hey Nooks, I always love these reports! Looks like you have enjoyed yourself, as usual.