Seeley Lake 100 Post Race Summary

January 29, 2002
Click here for official race results

Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs--Jim Gallea

Race Champion Jason Barron prepares his team at the start of the Seeley Lake 100 on Saturday, January 26, 2002.

    This year's Seeley Lake Race was one of the best ever!  The race was actually three races run simultaneously--a 50-mile "sportsman's" race, the 100-mile main event, and a 200-mile Iditarod qualifier.  Six teams ran in the 50-mile race and a total of 21 teams competed in the 100 and 200-mile races.  The teams running the 200-mile race first competed in the 100, and then continued on for an additional 100 miles.

    The race course featured a variety of trail conditions, ranging from 12-foot-wide groomed trails to 30-inch-wide, windy, backcountry trails.  Very little of the course was flat, and teams reached elevations above 6,100 feet after starting and finishing at 4,000 feet.  The weather began as snowy, with high winds and poor visibility at the highest elevations.  Later, the skies cleared, the temperatures dropped well below zero, and the trails were well-lit by the full-moon.  The second half of the 100-mile race was a musher's dream run with cold temperatures, fast trails, and amazing scenery lit by the moonlight.

Race Recap

    My family was plenty busy as my mom, dad, and I all prepared teams to run in the race.  Thanks to the help from Joan and Brooke Dellwo, all three of us had smooth starts to the race on Saturday (January 26, 2002) afternoon.  I was extremely happy with the performance of my dog team.  Very soon after the start, they fell into a fast, easy pace as we began to climb the first of several ridges on our way to Holland Lake, 54 trail miles to the north.  After about six miles, I was passed by Billy Snodgrass and his team from Dubois, Wyoming.  Billy started two minutes behind me, and within the first half-hour, his dogs had made up that time, and were looking excellent!  (Billy finished second, only six minutes behind race champion Jason Barron of Lincoln, Montana.)  Billy and I have raced together many times, and we seem to take turns beating one another, so we have a friendly rivalry.  

Everyone's dog sleds were packed full of gear and supplies because no food drops are allowed during the 100-mile race.  Everything needed by the musher and dogs must be carried in the sled from the starting line.

    "I hope I never see you again," was his only comment to me as he pulled ahead.  

    "Hmm, must be the dog food.  I'll buy you a cup of soup at Holland!" was my only reply.  Billy is the manufacturer and distributor of DISTANCE Dog Food, which he personally developed for his team and now sells across the western U.S.

    As I have said before, mushers are a very close-knit group, but we enjoy giving each other a bad time whenever we possibly can.

    Billy's team was the only team to pass me, and as we neared the 20-mile point of the race, I began to pass several other teams that started the race ahead of me.  No matter whether Billy Snodgrass was beating me or not, I was having a great time with my dogs, and the dogs were doing just awesome!  

    When we neared Richmond Saddle, the highest point on the race trail, the snow began to really fall, and winds began to blow.  I stopped and gave my dogs a snack at the Saddle, and then tightened down my hood and ruff over my face, called to the dogs, and took off on the five-mile downhill plunge, barely able to see the front of my team.  The blizzard-like conditions were kind of fun.  I was driving on feeling more than vision, and when I sensed the team was going too fast, I stepped on the brake to slow them down.  When I sensed we were going too slow, I let up on the brake.  Reflective trail markers occasionally passed by my sled, indicating we were still on the correct trail.

    After what seemed like just a few  minutes, but in reality was probably 20 or 25 minutes, the trail markers signaled a right turn, and I got ready to give my dogs the command to go right ("Gee").  As we turned onto the new trail, the width of the trail narrowed to just a snowmobile-wide track, and trees and brush were tight in on the sides.  The trail wound around trees, over hummocks, and up and down small hills.  I pulled back my hood and became an active participant in leaning, running, and controlling the sled.  That type of trail is some of the most challenging and fun trail to mush on, and both the dogs and I loved it!

    Within a few miles, we were back on wider mountain roads, and headed down hill to Holland Lake.  I passed a few more teams, and then caught up to a familiar parka and sled.  My dad was in the parka and the other half of my Iditarod team was pulling the sled, and they, too, were looking very good.  Neither my dad nor I was faster once I caught up to him, so we ran the last 13 miles to Holland Lake together.  The weather was clearing, and the full moon began to poke through the clouds.  We turned off our headlamps and ran along in the moonlight, enjoying the fast ride the dogs were giving us.

    When we arrived at the halfway checkpoint at Holland Lake, I could barely stop my dogs.  I started the race 18th, and I arrived at Holland Lake 11th.  We had passed a number of teams, and both my dad's dogs and my own appeared to be hardly breathing when we tied our sleds to trees and began to make camp.  We were both smiling from ear to ear.

    Once the team was secure, I opened my sled bag, took out the cooker, and began melting snow into hot water.  While this was happening, I unhooked all the tuglines from my dogs' harnesses and removed the booties from their feet.  I added more snow to the cooker pot when needed, placed my own food in vacuum-sealed bags into the warming water, and then I turned my attention back to dog care.  I checked all of the dogs' feet and applied lotion to them to ensure good blood flow to their feet while resting.  While I was checking feet, I also checked all the dogs' wrists to make sure that no swelling or soreness was present.  With all that done, the water in my cooker was hot, and I poured it into the cooler containing the meat and dry food for the dogs.  

    While the dogs' food was soaking into a warm stew, I sat on top of the cooler and ate chicken stir-fry with rice from the vacuum bags I heated in the water.  When I was done eating, the dogs' food was ready, and they quickly ate it and then curled up in "doggy donuts" to rest the remaining 4.5 hours before we ran the return leg of the race.  Once this was done, I walked to the checkpoint cabin, where I found warm chicken soup and Billy Snodgrass.  We joked around a bit, and I had a bowl of delicious, hot soup, and then returned to the dog team to sleep in my sleeping bag beside a dog named Ophir.

    An hour before the rest was over, I awoke to pack up my things, put new booties on the dogs' feet, and go.  Exactly six hours after our arrival, we took off like a rocket down the road and up the trail.  The weather was clear, and the temperature was starting to drop below zero.  The time was 3 A.M.

    The run back was excellent.  The moon was so bright that I barely used my headlamp, and we saw a beautiful dawn rise behind the Swan Mountains as we neared the finish.  Every musher agreed that the run back to Seeley was one of the most spectacular ever witnessed.  Unfortunately, no one's cameras worked too well without full daylight, so you'll have to just close your eyes, picture the most beautiful mountains you've ever seen, blanket them in perfectly white snow, and then imagine what they look like with moonlight shining on them from one side, and the deep blue of a winter dawn backlighting them from the other.

    At the awards ceremony, the mushers voted that race coordinator Norman Lee should receive the Sportsmanship Award.  Norman has taken on the bulk of the race coordination over the past several years, and his efforts have been, and will continue to be, appreciated by all.  Thanks to Norman, Charlie Ackley, Pam Barker, Sue Geske, Terry Hinsley, and the rest of the trail crew, volunteers, and race officials.

    Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you how my parents and I finished.  I was seventh place, my dad was tenth, and my mom was twelfth.  We were very happy with our finishes.  The dogs did great and were happy and healthy at the finish, and we were not very far behind the top teams (in terms of time).

--Jim

Click here for official race results

© 2002 Ultimate Iditarod, Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs, Seavey's Iditarod Racing Team
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