For the first time, Mile 101 will be a checkpoint of the Yukon Quest. This is in addition to the checkpoint at Two Rivers and 9 others including the Start and Finish for a total of 11 checkpoints for the 2010 race.
Mile 101, however, will host the mandatory two hour layover for mushers which has in the past taken place at the first checkpoint. During this layover the Veterinarian Team will carefully check over every sled dog on the trail and take urine samples from selected dogs for analysis.
While taking urine samples with a cup on a stick needs the patience of a good hunter, checking a '14 dog team' in sub-zero temperatures is a labor-intensive task for the highly experienced Veterinarians on the 2010 trail. Every dog has its own file that travels along to every checkpoint. Entries have to be made and compared. Every dog will have its say. This is the main reason for the layover which will happen at Mile 101 this year. Other layovers for this purpose are done at the Eagle, Dawson and Braeburn Checkpoints.
Making 'Mile 101' a checkpoint also has other advantages for teams. Now mushers are allowed to send drop bags with gear and dog food to this part of the trail. The checkpoint and the surrounding summits are notoriously plagued by storms that can blow the Yukon Quest Trail shut within hours. Now they have the chance to sit out a storm with the content of their drop bags before crossing the summits to either side of 'Mile 101'. They also can dig out fresh clothing from new provisions if the typical overflow on Birch Creek on the foot of Rosebud Summit proves to be a bit deeper than they thought.
Preparations for a checkpoint at Mile 101 are well ahead of schedule! Volunteers have visited Eagle Summit this fall to check on the permanent markers that the Yukon Quest has installed on the windblown upper reaches of the trail. New reflective tape was added and the trail was mapped again by GPS.
The checkpoint itself consists of four cabins which once served gold miners: A cook cabin, which serves mushers, a communications cabin with sat, Internet, and ham radio, and two cabins in which mushers and checkpoint volunteers can rest.
A group of volunteers has already staked out a part of the rest area for the 2010 race and did some of the necessary brushing around the checkpoint. New electric lines have been laid so generators can be connected more efficiently to the remote cabins and the cook cabin has received a face lift with fresh paint, a new cook stove and some repairs. A team of snowmachiners is scheduled to pack down a base layer of snow in the rest area at the end of November.
Even though preparations are well ahead of schedule, a few tasks remain to be completed.
Volunteers will still need to bring some firewood to this remote location and some further repairs will need to be done during early winter.
A special thanks to Steve Olson, owner of the gold claim on which the cabins stand, who has sponsored the Yukon Quest with the use of his cabins since 2003!
Submitted by: Peter Kamper (Checkpoint Manager Mile 101)
