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2010 GOLD RUSH TRAIL DOG SLED MAIL RUN - PRESS RELEASE
November 30, 2009 - Countdown #5
The heavy snow finally came this past weekend. The trail stretching from Quesnel to Barkerville is now completely snow-covered, with everything over 1000 metres in elevation heavily covered. As is typical of the area, there have been very heavy snowfalls in Wells/Barkerville, with about 75 centimetres falling on that eastern end of the Gold Rush Trail last Saturday and Sunday alone.
Up until now club volunteers (the Mavericks) have focussed on brushing and clearing the trails, with a little bit of bridge construction thrown in for good measure. With the coming of the snow, it is now time to start marking and grooming the trails. A good trail requires a good foundation or base and so it is important to begin packing the snow early in the season. There will be lots more snow to pack before the Mail Run weekend arrives.
This year the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Association will be having a Fun Day on December 27th. There will be Trapper’s Sports complete with sled dog races over parts of the Mail Run trail. This is just another incentive to make sure that the trails are in good shape as early as possible.
The Mail Run website www.dogsledmailrun.ca has now been updated with the 2010 information. The home page features this year’s envelope artwork. Local photographer and artist Daniel Pfister photographed events along the 2009 Mail Run trail and in the off-season, completed several drawings based on his photos. The person featured in the 2010 artwork is skijorer Mark Johnson, who completed the whole Mail Run in fine form with his two little dogs pulling hard all the way. The 2009 Mail Run was a cold one, temperatures got down to -30C. Mark and his dogs camped out in his tent every night, he prepared his own meals as well as hot food for the dogs, and he even carried his share of the mail.
Speaking of the envelopes, they will go on sale to the public at seven outlets in Quesnel and Wells beginning December 14, 2009. At the present time sales for larger numbers of envelopes are being solicited from local businesses, community groups and individuals and envelopes are available for sale to everyone (through the Mail Run website) over the internet.
The Winter issue of British Columbia magazine, known as their “Olympic Issue”, will also include a feature story about the 2008 (BC 150 Years) Mail Run. Writer Larry Pynn and photographer Tyler Garnham travelled the whole trail in ‘08, with Pynn covering much of the route in the basket of a dogsled. Look for the magazine on news stands in the very near future.
Mail Run participants are encouraged to download the Registration and Waiver forms from the website and to complete and send them in. This year, pre-registration is required, organizers would like to know just who will be participating as early as possible and to be ready to greet all participants when they arrive for the Mail Run. Remember, while this is primarily a sled dog event, participants can also skijor, ski, snowshoe and snowmobile the Gold Rush Trail.
But enough of the Mail Run. The big preliminary event of the season takes place this coming weekend on Friday December 4th, the Quesnel Santa Claus Parade! The Quesnel Dog Mushers will be out in full force. Look for the club float featuring the world’s largest dog sled. Club members and even some sled dogs will be out in force, kicking off the Christmas season and celebrating all the winter fun that our region has to offer. Last year even though there was lots of snow on the ground, it poured rain during the parade....now that's what is called winter fun!
