Dalton makes a push
PELLY CROSSING, Yukon—Dave Dalton has made up a lot of ground in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, but the Healy musher still has some work to do if he wants to match his best career finish.
Dalton left this Yukon River checkpoint in sixth place Monday, but was just 16 minutes out of fourth place as he chased Gerry Willomitzer and Sebastian Schnuelle into the Black Hills for the Quest’s final 200 miles.
“It’s been a battle getting to this spot,” Dalton said while eating at the canteen.
“I hope I don’t lose it. Anything can happen.”
Now that Frank Turner has retired after 22 years in the Quest, Dalton is the most experienced musher in the Quest field with 16 previous starts. When he directed his team into the checkpoint at 9:22 a.m. AST Monday, Dalton was running fifth behind the lead group of Lance Mackey, William Kleedehn and Hans Gatt.
Willomitzer was fourth overall at 9:10 a.m. Schnuelle followed Dalton in at 10:23 a.m.
Dalton told reporters he likes where he’s at right now as he ate lasagna, caesar salad and corn and potato chowder.
“We have 10 dogs and the team is strong,” he said. “We’re doing good.”
Dalton had to drop one dog, Comet, at Scroggie Creek and another, Rio, before he departed Dawson for Pelly. He noted a quick shift to girl power in his team.
“They were two strong males,” Dalton said. “Comet was one of my main leaders. But I’ve got four little females alternating in lead right now and they all seem like they want to be there. And the trail from Dawson to here has been good.”
The southbound leg of the rerouted Quest trail took the mushers over the highest obstacle on the course, 4,002-foot King Solomon’s Dome, then through the rugged Black Hills.
And now the dogs have to turn right around and make the same trip on the northbound leg.
“There was good, hard-packed trail,” Dalton said. “It seems like we went up there pretty easy. That’s where we caught Gerry and Sebastian. The hills have always been a strong point for my team.”
One difficulty the rerouted Quest trail presents is convincing experienced dogs to turn back toward Dawson when they are accustomed to continuing south for the finish in Whitehorse.
“If they think they’re going back to Dawson for a 36-hour layover, they should go pretty fast,” Dalton said. “If they think we’re going all the way back to Fairbanks, it might be hard to convince them.
“It will be interesting to see how they handle the turnaround. This is all new to me, too.”
Dalton said the main thing to do on the return trip is make sure that the dogs feel a sense of routine.
“I have a gameplan going back,” Dalton said. “On the way here I marked each of my campsites with flagging, so we’ll camp in the same spots. The dogs will know it’s the same routine and they won’t be wondering where we’re at.”
Dalton said even after 16 years the trail continues to offer surprises. Teams have dealt with snow, lack of snow, temperatures above freezing and below zero, rain, 60 mph winds, extremely difficult trail conditions and a reroute that put the finish line in Dawson.
“This is a tough trail,” Dalton said. “I feel sorry for the rookies. Everything I’ve learned in 16 years of running the Quest, I’m putting together on this race.”
The former King Cab driver said the rough trip and poor conditions briefly made him consider leaving the Quest for smoother trails. But by Pelly, he was feeling love for the Quest again.
“When I win this race, then I’ll retire,” Dalton said.