Dawson City

Finally a few moments of calm after the mad rush and busyness of the last couple days. Sam is out of Dawson City and back on the trail!! I'll try to give a run down of the events from the past days, however bear with me because its all kind of a blur with the lack of sleep and the hectic schedule.

Team Belgium's handler crew got into Dawson on Wednesday and immediately set up the camp which Sam's dogteam would use for it's 36 hour rest site. A large 50 foot long tarp was hung and fashioned like a tent for a shelter, and the ground inside was covered with bales of straw for bedding. We then did the thing all too familiar to us at checkpoints... Hurry up and wait!  

Our boy Sammy came off the river into Dawson City on Thursday evening with a tired, but happy dogteam, ready for a nice long rest. Sam was in pretty rough shape having completed a couple of pretty tough runs, as well as sleeping, eating, and drinking significantly less than ideal amounts in the past day or two. We fed the dogs a large meal, gave them all a massage, covered with their resting jackets, and let them get some much needed sleep.

Sam was in very high spirits, very talkative and excited to tell about the trail, though he was at times struggling to make sense due to the lack of sleep. We headed up the The Eldorado Restaurant for a large steak and pasta dinner, where we were joined by fellow countryman, friend, and musher Dries Jacobs, who had reached the checkpoint minutes before Sam. They spoke of a few runs on the way to Dawson where they traveled together under the magnificent Aurora Borealis, which Sam described as some of "the most special runs of my life". Sam said he felt as if he could have made it to Dawson hours earlier, but he had been enjoying immensely the wonderful conversation and hospitality along the trail at various cabins and rest stops, and often had spent more time than necessary at those rest stops. Sam said he was amazed at how much time on the trail he had been thinking about and appreciating his family, friends, girlfriend, etc. We relieved Sam of his dog care duties for the night and allowed him to get a full night's sleep in the hotel, and although he hated to leave the dogs for a couple hours he did not protest too much about the sleep. 

I have some wonderful pictures to add, as well as more updates about his layover time in Dawson and his departure, and add this all when I get a little more time today.

I'm off to start cleanup and packing up of the Dawson City dog camp. Happy Trials.

Team Belgium's Handler crew Benji