MIDWAY
The Quest checkpoints have changed over the years. The original leg between Carmacks and Dawson City was touted as the longest leg between two checkpoints of any sled dog race anywhere….300 miles. It’s true though, there were three places along that section where a musher could stop for some support and maybe some food, two hospitality stops at Maisy Mae and Stepping Stone and one hamburger stand at the Midway Lodge. The Midway Lodge happened to be located on the North Klondike Highway at a spot where the trail came out of the bush, followed the long straight stretch of the highway known as the Minto Landing Flats before disappearing back into the bush. The Midway Lodge had no formal Quest status, it wasn’t a check point or a rest stop or a vet check or a dog drop, it was simply a restaurant with a parking lot and if anyone wanted, a place to sleep for $5.00. It was owned and run by the Kruse family, the same folks who now host the checkpoint at McCabe Creek. Their agreement with the Quest was that they would stay open 24-7 for as long as there were teams on the trail, that way anyone could choose to stop if they wished, and virtually every team did. The Quest handlers, fans and groupies loved Midway. It was a great [warm] place to hang out all night drinking coffee, dressed in parkas and felt packs and waiting for that one word from the posted look-out… “headlight”. Everyone would zip up their parkas and rush to the parking lot as that headlight drew closer and closer before the team pulled into the parking lot and hooked down. The musher would do what was best by the dogs and when the chores were finished, inevitably they came inside for a cheeseburger and fries. Things changed when the decision was made to establish a dog drop at McCabe Creek and a checkpoint at Pelly Crossing. Cheeseburger or not, with the new Pelly checkpoint just down the trail, there was no longer an incentive to pull over and stop at the Midway Lodge.
CARMACKS
From 1984 to 1995 the Quest trail from Whitehorse followed the Yukon River out of Whitehorse, ran the length of Lake Laberge and then followed a trail known as the Chain of Lakes before once again connecting with the Yukon River just downstream from Carmacks. From there the trail followed the river into the Carmacks Checkpoint which over the years had been located on both sides of the river. This section of the Quest trail was 120 miles long, for many teams it became a proving ground, there were no rest stops en route, it was tough and took its toll. In 1989 forty teams left the starting line, 31 finished, four scratched either en route or when they arrived at Carmacks. Bob Grawehr, a Whitehorse plumber ended up completely immersed in a creek with his sled bag over half filled with water, conditions on the trail were desperate, Bob was never able to empty his sled bag, when he finally arrived at Carmacks after a frigid night, his sled bag was a block of ice. Bob Pelling, a Fort St. John social worker also scratched in Carmacks. It should be noted that in 1989 it was still not necessary to qualify to run this race, and Bob, who had only run sprint races was overwhelmed by just what it took to compete in a distance race like the Quest. He faced the very difficult reality that scratching in Carmacks was the best choice for him and his dogs. Bob Bright, a sports promoter and creative innovator from Chicago, had a sled that quite frankly was the talk of the race. But this sled was to prove to be his nemesis, and it was a very dejected musher who had to accept that his planning had let him down. Charlotte Fitzhugh, a teamster from College Alaska never did make it to Carmacks and her experiences somewhere out on the Chain of Lakes may still be a mystery. On a less discouraging note, Harry Sutherland arrived in Carmacks with a jagged hole punched right through his toboggan sled’s plastic bed. When Harry saw this damage all he could say in his somewhat deadpan manner was “look at that, I must have run over a rhinoceros”. Harry kept on mushing and finished the race in 14th place.
THE CANADIAN RANGERS
A secret that a dog musher will very seldom acknowledge publicly is that despite the incredible power and stamina of their working sled dogs, their team really does like the nice smooth and hard packed trails left behind by the snowmobile. Purists might say that every team and musher should be on their own. Why not let the musher walk in front of the team on snowshoes and break trail like in the old days? The reality is that even in the “old days”, while snowshoes were definitely used, there were broken and maintained trails running between destinations and the dogs and mushers loved them.
The Canadian side of the Quest trail has been maintained for the past number of years by a group known as the Canadian Rangers….but very few people know just who these folks are. Many believe that they are sort of like a northern volunteer Search and Rescue service, and while that belief isn’t necessarily wrong it is a gross simplification of their role. Others think that they might be a bunch of macho guys that like to roam around the bush in summer and roar around on snowmobiles in winter and if they are lucky they might get to shoot a moose. The bush part is right and there is no question that most are hunters and know how to live off the land, but women as well as men are Canadian Rangers. Some think that they are army reservists, like a military militia, ready to fight for their country if the enemy comes sneaking over the North Pole. Again, there is some truth here but if this is the case, the Rangers are certainly not a high tech military operation, the rifle that has been issued to the Rangers is the Lee Enfield 303 Mk.4 rifle, a weapon that dates back to pre World War I days….it was actually developed in 1895. Maybe the Rangers are a secret branch of the army’s secret special forces? Well, some Rangers are in their 70’s, certainly not the prime age for special forces troops, and they go around wearing red hoodies and ball caps or toques, and waving a flag, certainly not what you would call secretive.
Here are some facts about the Canadian Rangers paraphrased from the Canadian Forces website:
Canadian Rangers are adult members of the Canadian Forces who live in remote and isolated communities of Canada. They are part-time reservists, more importantly they are often leaders in their local community. Canadian Rangers must be at least 18 years of age to join, there is no retirement age.
Canadian Rangers provide a military presence in support of Canada's sovereignty. They report unusual activities, collect data of significance in support of military operations, and conduct surveillance and sovereignty patrols as required. They play an important role in assisting Canadian Forces members by providing local expertise, guidance and advice, conducting Northern Warning System patrols, and providing local assistance to search and rescue activities. There are countless examples of the Canadian Rangers working in close contact with regular military troops and often, quite frankly, leading the way.
Since its formal inception in 1947, the path taken by the Canadian Rangers has been a true success story. Canadian Rangers are located in 163 remote, isolated and coastal communities across Canada and are organized into Patrols. The majority of Canadian Ranger Patrols are located north of 60 and along Canada's east and west coasts. A Canadian Ranger Patrol consists of a minimum of eight members. The Patrol Group that is responsible for putting in the Canadian side of the Quest trail is under the leadership of Ranger Sergeant John Mitchell. As is readily evident, for the Rangers the task of putting in a great trail involves much, much more than simply going for a snowmobile ride.
At the height of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898, the Canadian government rushed a group of soldiers known as the Yukon Field Force to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River, south of Dawson City. These troops were there to “protect” Canadian soil from the thousands of [mostly American] gold seekers who were en route to the Klondike gold fields. The Northwest Mounted Police were already established at Fort Constantine, directly adjacent to the community of Forty Mile and when it was clear that all of the action was going to be at the mouth of the Klondike river, this group simply moved their operation to Dawson City. Together, the army and the mounties did a great job of asserting Canadian sovereignty, maintaining law and order, collecting taxes and even distributing the mail. If the Klondike Gold Rush was to take place tomorrow, chances are it would be the Canadian Rangers who would take on all of these tasks….that is if they weren’t too busy putting in the Quest trail.
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