A Day at the Races!

A view of the races from the road

This morning we headed into the town of Churchill to see the start of the Hudson Bay Quest, a dogsled race from Churchill to Gillam. It is a 220 mile race over barrens and then through the boreal forest. The weather is cold, but picture perfect! In fact this might be the nicest weather this race has ever seen since its inception in 2004. The race is known to be extremely challenging, and it is one of the races that is a qualifier for the Iditarod. This year there were 17 teams, and each team was supposed to leave with a 3 minute time delay.

This is Dave Daley, founder of the Hudson Bay Quest

Dave's family cheers him on!

 The scene was set. As we drove into town, we saw that they had plowed huge amounts of snow into a long area by Hudson Bay. Then they plowed a trough for each dog team, reminding me of horses getting ready to race. It was a crazy sight.

A typical pack

On the other side of the main road was the race itself. The banner went up at 9:00, and the race began at 9:30. A Tundra Buggy was on sight to serve as a combination warming hut, bathroom, and viewing area for many of the elementary school children. There were 17 dog teams, and each classroom (K-12) had been assigned a musher to support. They had all made signs, and when their musher was ready to run, that class came out from the tundra buggy to cheer on their team.

This is a photo of one team being brought from the "snow lanes" across the road

The event happened by the "snow bowl", an area where you could be somewhat protected from the weather if it was severe. I wondered how I had never seen the snow bowl on any trip to town, but I understood once I laid eyes on it. It was a giant ring of snow, about 12 feet high. I'm just guessing. There was a wide opening, and I guess it could protect you from wind and blowing snow. Today we did not need it. I am wondering whether the snow bowl has been there all along, and I just never knew it had a purpose and a name.

The race began, and it was a spirited send-off for every team. I will have to check out the website, as you can follow their progress. They should arrive in Gillam some time over the weekend. They have only one mandatory stop, but these racers need to care for their dogs, and the ones I know personally are totally devoted to their animals.

This is the train that will take us back to Winnipeg next weekend.

On the way up, we encountered many drifts on the tracks.
Unfortunately, this machine was behind us.

The dogs and mushers from out of town travel up on the train. You can see how close the train tracks are to the race. I just had to turn around, and there was the train. Another interesting sight was the train plow. I haven't any idea what it is called, but I think that's what it does.

It was a full morning of fun, topped off by a hot drink and pastry at Gypsies, the local bakery and restaurant.