The day of the race we needed to be parked with our dog truck in our designated spot by 6am. At 7:30am the vets and judges were going to be coming around to check dogs and our sleds to make sure we had healthy dogs and all the required gear in our sleds. Unfortunately the breakfast spot didn't open till 6am, so Bill again helped out by volunteering to move the truck into position while Wayne and I went to breakfast right at 6am. Before we could even finish our breakfast, JJ and Bill made it in to the restaurant and sat down with us while we finished. I then spent a few final minutes getting mentally prepped and completing my personal gear packing before heading out to the sled to ready it for inspection.
While it was a bit of a tight parking arrangement, we had enough space to get the main line stretched out to check all the tugs and necklines one more time and sort out any tangles. I also made sure the caribiners connecting the line to my sled and the snow hooks and snub rope to everything else were all locked tight with pliers. I then checked everything over on the sled, packed the rest of the food and gear I needed into it, and realized that I still had a fairly empty sled. This bode well for the trail ahead as I would be taking quite a bit more gear and food on some of the longer runs and would need that extra space.
It was a beautiful morning with low clouds or fog hanging over Glennallen but no heavy clouds above and a good temperature somewhere in the single digits either side of zero. It took awhile for the vets to make it around to check out the dogs. While I was fairly certain they would all be good to go, especially after seeing some of the skinnier dogs on other teams, it was still a relief to finally sign off on the form saying I had twelve dogs ready to start the race.
