Nonviolence is working, where do butterflies come from? Pull up the tracker and detach from the horrors of this world. Beargrease week is here and the best lead dog will drag us to victory.
Source material: The Manitous, Cat’s Cradle, Andor.
L’Etoile du Nord!
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Episode Transcript
[0:00:01 – 0:00:21] AdamSnowLog: When Wabuzu recovered from his trance, his companions asked him what he was listening to, and he explained that he had committed himself to the beauty and meaning of the call of some bird, animal, or wind, the crackle in the night sky of the northern lights, the boom of ice, or the rumble of the earth.
[0:00:22 – 0:00:28] AdamSnowLog: There was nothing as beautiful or as full of meaning as these things, and he hungered for his fill of beauty.
[0:00:29 – 0:00:38] AdamSnowLog: But more than anything else, Wabuzoo wanted to know the meaning of the echoes and the sounds that gave the birds and the animals the gift of speech.
[0:00:40 – 0:00:46] AdamSnowLog: Wabuzoo’s companions thought these explanations of the habit silly and the exercise a waste of time.
[0:00:46 – 0:00:56] AdamSnowLog: It was enough to know what these creatures said about the forthcoming weather, to understand their habits and routines, and to know the coloration, rates of growth, and average size of plants.
[0:00:57 – 0:00:59] AdamSnowLog: No one needed to know anything else.
[0:01:01 – 0:01:09] AdamSnowLog: What his companion said may have been true, but it didn’t stop Wabuzu from continuing to listen to and derive joy and peace from the talk of the animal beings.
[0:01:11 – 0:01:22] AdamSnowLog: With so many distractions, so many other noises and sounds within the village, Wabuzu began to go farther and farther into the woods and fields where boys and girls his age did not normally venture.
[0:01:23 – 0:01:32] AdamSnowLog: Older people sometimes followed him, curious to find out what Wabuzu was up to as much as to keep an eye on the boy so he would come to no harm.
[0:01:32 – 0:01:34] AdamSnowLog: But they saw and heard nothing unusual.
[0:01:34 – 0:01:41] AdamSnowLog: The boy just stood or sat in the one place, and when the observers soon grew tired of watching him do nothing, and they went home.
[0:01:43 – 0:01:59] AdamSnowLog: Wabuzu asked the older people, who are supposed to know and be more tolerant of youth’s inquisitiveness than younger people, what made birds happy, and to whom were they whistling and warbling when they’re not doing so to their mates, little ones, neighbors, or intruders.
[0:02:00 – 0:02:06] AdamSnowLog: And he asked why humans and animals do not use their voices as birds do to communicate to others in song.
[0:02:08 – 0:02:14] AdamSnowLog: Of course, no one, not even the wisest, could give a satisfactory answer.
[0:02:17 – 0:02:24] AdamSnowLog: Wabuzu also wondered whether the birds spoke to the manatees and whether the manatees understood or spoke to birds.
[0:02:24 – 0:02:31] AdamSnowLog: The more he heard about the manatees and the more he thought about them, the more Wabuzu wanted to know about these beings.
[0:02:33 – 0:02:36] AdamSnowLog: It is not likely he knew that his father was a manatee.
[0:02:38 – 0:02:40] AdamSnowLog: The older people advised Wabuzu to leave them alone.
[0:02:41 – 0:02:46] AdamSnowLog: They said, that isn’t as good to intrude into the affairs of the world of the Manitus.
[0:02:47 – 0:02:53] AdamSnowLog: When Wabuzu received a little encouragement from others, he turned more and more to his grandmother for explanations.
[0:02:55 – 0:03:05] AdamSnowLog: His grandmother listened patiently to all of his questions, as attentively as if he were an adult, and as if his questions were as weighty as an adult’s.
[0:03:06 – 0:03:14] AdamSnowLog: Answering them as she would in adults, he asked questions that only crossed the minds of other youngsters and were soon forgotten.
[0:03:15 – 0:03:16] AdamSnowLog: Questions that baffled adults.
[0:03:19 – 0:03:21] AdamSnowLog: Nocumus, where did I come from?
[0:03:23 – 0:03:24] AdamSnowLog: Where do butterflies come from?
[0:03:25 – 0:03:27] AdamSnowLog: Where the rabbit?
[0:03:28 – 0:03:28] AdamSnowLog: The beetle?
[0:03:30 – 0:03:31] AdamSnowLog: Where does the sun go at night?
[0:03:32 – 0:03:34] AdamSnowLog: Where do bluebirds and geese go in winter?
[0:03:36 – 0:03:40] AdamSnowLog: Why do leaves drop off some trees, leaving them naked, but others do not?
[0:03:41 – 0:03:44] AdamSnowLog: When beavers and groundhogs die, where do they go?
[0:03:46 – 0:03:48] AdamSnowLog: Do deer, grouse, and otters cry?
[0:03:51 – 0:03:56] AdamSnowLog: Wabuzu’s grandmother was baffled by many of the questions that her grandson put to her.
[0:03:57 – 0:04:03] AdamSnowLog: All too frequently, she had to admit, I wish I knew the answers to such hard questions.
[0:04:09 – 0:04:13] SPEAKER_02: Why in the night sky are the lights hung?
[0:04:15 – 0:04:18] SPEAKER_02: Why is the earth moving round the sun?
[0:04:20 – 0:04:29] SPEAKER_02: Floating in the vacuum with no purpose, not a one Why in the night sky are the lights hung?
[0:04:34 – 0:04:41] AdamSnowLog: Bonjour, my name is Francois Lacastor, coming to you live from the snow globe.
[0:04:44 – 0:04:50] AdamSnowLog: The snow log for this evening is, it’s snowing right now.
[0:04:50 – 0:04:51] AdamSnowLog: It’s still snowing.
[0:04:53 – 0:04:55] AdamSnowLog: It was 29 below zero this morning.
[0:04:56 – 0:04:58] AdamSnowLog: It was 30 below zero yesterday morning.
[0:05:00 – 0:05:02] AdamSnowLog: And you don’t think it’s going to snow when it’s that cold.
[0:05:04 – 0:05:05] AdamSnowLog: But it’s snowing.
[0:05:07 – 0:05:08] AdamSnowLog: Quite a bit, actually.
[0:05:08 – 0:05:10] AdamSnowLog: We got like two inches on the ground today.
[0:05:12 – 0:05:16] AdamSnowLog: And that brings us to three inches for the week since last week’s episode.
[0:05:16 – 0:05:20] AdamSnowLog: And that brings us to 36 inches of snow on the ground.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:23] AdamSnowLog: Three full feet.
[0:05:23 – 0:05:30] AdamSnowLog: I watched the fourth episode of Andor last night.
[0:05:32 – 0:05:32] AdamSnowLog: And…
[0:05:35 – 0:05:40] AdamSnowLog: They’re going to steal the payroll files?
[0:05:41 – 0:05:43] AdamSnowLog: Hold on, I gotta get my notes up on this one.
[0:05:46 – 0:05:56] AdamSnowLog: They’re going to Aldani, and Luthen Rail asks Andor to help him steal the payroll files for the entire empire?
[0:05:57 – 0:05:57] AdamSnowLog: And…
[0:06:03 – 0:06:04] AdamSnowLog: Meet a whole bunch of new people.
[0:06:04 – 0:06:06] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:06:06 – 0:06:07] AdamSnowLog: I didn’t take very good notes on it.
[0:06:08 – 0:06:09] AdamSnowLog: And…
[0:06:12 – 0:06:18] AdamSnowLog: I was going to re-watch it today, but… You know.
[0:06:20 – 0:06:22] AdamSnowLog: Been some pretty shady news.
[0:06:24 – 0:06:24] AdamSnowLog: R.I.P.
[0:06:25 – 0:06:27] AdamSnowLog: Rene Good and R.I.P.
[0:06:27 – 0:06:28] AdamSnowLog: Alex Pretty.
[0:06:30 – 0:06:47] AdamSnowLog: They murdered again and Governor Wallace spoke and these assholes are going to get everything they end up deserving.
[0:06:49 – 0:06:52] AdamSnowLog: Do they, you know, I’m not going to talk about Andor anymore.
[0:06:52 – 0:07:07] AdamSnowLog: They’re still in the payroll files, but it did give me an idea, and then I read something today, and it’s like, do they not understand that these goons all are getting paychecks, and there’s a whole payroll file on them?
[0:07:07 – 0:07:10] AdamSnowLog: And we’re going to prosecute every single last one of them.
[0:07:13 – 0:07:15] AdamSnowLog: And none of this…
[0:07:18 – 0:07:40] AdamSnowLog: none of this is okay you don’t get to do nazi and confederate and make that your living and then just get away with it so um everybody’s keeping notes and it’s gonna get worse before it gets better but
[0:07:45 – 0:07:48] AdamSnowLog: We’re all keeping track and we don’t have to steal the files.
[0:07:48 – 0:07:48] AdamSnowLog: The files are public.
[0:07:58 – 0:08:06] AdamSnowLog: It seems kind of nuts to be living in this world and then also being somehow excited for
[0:08:09 – 0:08:38] AdamSnowLog: the Bear Grease and I admit it’s a pretty weird weekend which the Bear Grease is starting tomorrow and I’m trying to get excited about it you know the preparations are in place to make our way out to Pronto on Tuesday morning yeah it feels wrong to be like getting excited about it but also
[0:08:39 – 0:08:48] AdamSnowLog: The Bear Grease is like one of the many things that makes Minnesota a special place and makes living here in the winter…
[0:08:48 – 0:08:53] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:08:54 – 0:08:59] AdamSnowLog: Being a part of the Bear Grease in winter here is a highlight and a delight.
[0:09:00 – 0:09:09] AdamSnowLog: And no matter what else is going on, once the race starts, you know,
[0:09:11 – 0:09:18] AdamSnowLog: Once the race starts, then you can just immerse yourself in that for the next three days.
[0:09:20 – 0:09:37] AdamSnowLog: And if anybody listening to this, particularly if you’ve never followed the Bear Grease before, if anybody out there just needs a distraction for a couple days and something positive to latch on to, check out the Bear Grease.
[0:09:40 – 0:09:49] AdamSnowLog: Everybody finds the race in a different way and there’s probably going to be a lot of people this year that just need that, I think.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:55] AdamSnowLog: And it’s the first time in three years that the race is going to be on the typical route and schedule.
[0:09:57 – 0:09:58] AdamSnowLog: And I need that.
[0:09:59 – 0:10:03] AdamSnowLog: Let’s be honest, tumble homies, I need it.
[0:10:04 – 0:10:17] AdamSnowLog: I was looking back at old pictures and thinking back on the old memories, and we need this race so bad.
[0:10:17 – 0:10:18] AdamSnowLog: I cannot wait for it to start.
[0:10:19 – 0:10:25] AdamSnowLog: And as much as I have been sitting around by the fire all day just thinking,
[0:10:27 – 0:10:31] AdamSnowLog: reading the news when I know I need to stop looking at it.
[0:10:31 – 0:10:41] AdamSnowLog: Sitting by the fire here reading the news and it’s just like I got to move on and think about the race right now to like protect myself from myself.
[0:10:42 – 0:10:42] AdamSnowLog: Does that make sense?
[0:10:49 – 0:10:54] AdamSnowLog: I’m having some I’m having some rhubarb wine that I’m
[0:10:57 – 0:10:58] AdamSnowLog: I’m having some rhubarb wine that I made.
[0:11:00 – 0:11:02] AdamSnowLog: It’s rhubarb from the garden.
[0:11:02 – 0:11:05] AdamSnowLog: It’s blue valiant grapes from the garden.
[0:11:05 – 0:11:11] AdamSnowLog: And it’s a bunch of raspberries from the yard.
[0:11:17 – 0:11:24] AdamSnowLog: And yeah, I just got a bucket over here that has been racked and like waiting for bottling and
[0:11:25 – 0:11:27] AdamSnowLog: I haven’t even bothered to bottle this wine.
[0:11:27 – 0:11:34] AdamSnowLog: I just opened up the lid of the bucket and scooped a glass of wine out of it.
[0:11:35 – 0:11:37] AdamSnowLog: It’s fresh from this year.
[0:11:37 – 0:11:39] AdamSnowLog: Tastes pretty good.
[0:11:44 – 0:11:52] AdamSnowLog: Anyways, the race starts on Sunday, which is by the time most of you are going to listen to this, the race will be on.
[0:11:53 – 0:12:00] AdamSnowLog: And if anybody needs a distraction or something positive in their life, go ahead and find the tracker.
[0:12:00 – 0:12:03] AdamSnowLog: The tracker is available on the Bear Grease website.
[0:12:06 – 0:12:14] AdamSnowLog: You can also just like search for track leaders bear grease 2026 and you should find it there.
[0:12:15 – 0:12:17] AdamSnowLog: Go to race flow, watch race flow.
[0:12:20 – 0:12:30] AdamSnowLog: You know, mushing is a weird sport and that the leader is not often in the lead of the race because there’s required rest.
[0:12:31 – 0:12:41] AdamSnowLog: Everybody has to have the same amount of required rest, and I believe it’s still 24 hours for the course of the race, and it has to be done in the checkpoint.
[0:12:41 – 0:12:57] AdamSnowLog: So, you know, a lot of people cut rest early for some reason, thinking they’re going to get ahead, when in reality you’re wearing your dogs down, you’re wearing yourself down, and you are just skipping rest.
[0:12:57 – 0:12:58] AdamSnowLog: You’re
[0:13:00 – 0:13:05] AdamSnowLog: You’re avoiding the rest that you need in order to be in the lead.
[0:13:07 – 0:13:09] AdamSnowLog: It’s an artificial lead.
[0:13:09 – 0:13:10] AdamSnowLog: Does that make sense?
[0:13:12 – 0:13:18] AdamSnowLog: In dog mushing, if you’re cutting rest to jump out in front, then you’re not really out in front.
[0:13:19 – 0:13:21] AdamSnowLog: I think there’s something to be learned from this.
[0:13:22 – 0:13:26] AdamSnowLog: Often it’s the teams that lay back and take the rest early that…
[0:13:28 – 0:13:35] AdamSnowLog: Often, almost always, it’s the teams that take the rest early and hang back that end up in the front at the end.
[0:13:35 – 0:13:43] AdamSnowLog: What’s really important is your run speed, average run speed, maintaining your speed.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:49] AdamSnowLog: If you’re skipping rest early, you’re not going to maintain your speed and you will falter at the end.
[0:13:52 – 0:13:57] AdamSnowLog: Um, yeah, dog mushing and dog racing.
[0:13:57 – 0:14:00] AdamSnowLog: It’s a strange, odd sport.
[0:14:03 – 0:14:10] AdamSnowLog: But yeah, there’s a lot of teams in this year’s race.
[0:14:13 – 0:14:39] AdamSnowLog: and i would just recommend getting on the tracker um find yourself a link bookmark it or whatever just keep a tab open on that tracker and rather than like going on to blue sky or reddit or whatever your social media of choice is and like hitting refresh and trying to like find out new details of the horrors which don’t trust me they’ll still be there next week you know
[0:14:40 – 0:14:45] AdamSnowLog: Allow yourself to take a few days off from that at this point.
[0:14:46 – 0:14:47] AdamSnowLog: Maybe not even full-time.
[0:14:47 – 0:14:50] AdamSnowLog: Just give yourself an excuse to stay away from it for a little bit.
[0:14:51 – 0:14:56] AdamSnowLog: And take in one of the most beautiful things that Minnesota has to offer.
[0:14:57 – 0:14:58] AdamSnowLog: Le 12 du Nord.
[0:14:58 – 0:14:59] AdamSnowLog: Take in the Bear Grease.
[0:15:02 – 0:15:14] AdamSnowLog: Get yourself the tracker, focus on the race flow tab, which does show you the relative speed of the teams and also allows you to see like the run rest strategies that they’re using.
[0:15:16 – 0:15:19] AdamSnowLog: Um, but you know, you can just watch the map and see where they’re at.
[0:15:19 – 0:15:35] AdamSnowLog: Um, if you happen to be up here, it’s great to see where the leaders are, where’s the field, um, where would be a good spot to like go stop and see like teams coming in or going out, uh, depending on what, where you’re at or what time of day it is.
[0:15:36 – 0:15:41] AdamSnowLog: Um, also this year, the fat tire bikers are back.
[0:15:43 – 0:15:59] AdamSnowLog: And good buddy Josh Capps, Sawbilly number one and leader of the Sawbill Checkpoint and one of the main reasons I know even a little bit about dog mushing or the bear grease in general.
[0:16:01 – 0:16:05] AdamSnowLog: He texted me before he headed down to Sawbill today and he’s like, hey, the bikers are back.
[0:16:05 – 0:16:08] AdamSnowLog: The Fat Tire bike crew is in there and they have a tracker.
[0:16:09 – 0:16:11] AdamSnowLog: They’re on the tracker right now.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:17] AdamSnowLog: They’re in the gravel pit on Highway 2, just north of Two Harbors right now.
[0:16:17 – 0:16:19] AdamSnowLog: So they’ve completed the first leg of the journey.
[0:16:19 – 0:16:21] AdamSnowLog: So they left a day ahead of all the dogs.
[0:16:22 – 0:16:25] AdamSnowLog: So, yeah, there’s a whole crew of fat tire bikers out there.
[0:16:25 – 0:16:28] AdamSnowLog: And they’re out there a day ahead of the dogs.
[0:16:28 – 0:16:30] AdamSnowLog: And they will get gobbled up.
[0:16:31 – 0:16:35] AdamSnowLog: And I don’t think they’re going to do the loop to nowhere up to Gunfoot Lake and back.
[0:16:36 – 0:16:38] AdamSnowLog: But they do end up going to Trail Center, I think.
[0:16:38 – 0:16:44] AdamSnowLog: So if you see any crew of fat tire bikers out there, they’re friends of the show.
[0:16:45 – 0:16:46] AdamSnowLog: And…
[0:16:47 – 0:17:15] AdamSnowLog: you have to go way back but one of them left us a poem the first pronto which was read into the show it was quite something kind of describing the experience of the trail the spirit of the race you know similar to these questions that we started the show with you know do otters cry um
[0:17:18 – 0:17:19] AdamSnowLog: Does the trail move?
[0:17:20 – 0:17:22] AdamSnowLog: Or are you moving upon the trail?
[0:17:26 – 0:17:26] SPEAKER_01: That kind of stuff.
[0:17:27 – 0:17:28] AdamSnowLog: Anyways, go check out the tracker.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:30] AdamSnowLog: It’s always a favorite of mine.
[0:17:30 – 0:17:32] AdamSnowLog: And it makes it hard to sleep, sure.
[0:17:32 – 0:17:34] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:17:35 – 0:17:37] AdamSnowLog: Do we need more distractions on this road?
[0:17:37 – 0:17:38] AdamSnowLog: Possibly.
[0:17:38 – 0:17:39] AdamSnowLog: Hopefully.
[0:17:40 – 0:17:41] AdamSnowLog: Almost certainly.
[0:17:42 – 0:18:01] AdamSnowLog: but uh anyways race starts tomorrow i did want to go through the list of mushers uh we have the bib draw here i don’t think we’re gonna go through the whole bib draw but oh
[0:18:05 – 0:18:31] AdamSnowLog: looks like the bikers are on the move i just refreshed the tracker and they have left actually they’ve left two harbors they’re on their way to finland here oh they’re up there like the manitou state frankly they’re in the manitou state park area right now near the beaver river there on their way up towards the baptism river in finland uh super cool
[0:18:34 – 0:18:37] AdamSnowLog: Anyways, I have the Meet the Mushers page here.
[0:18:37 – 0:18:42] AdamSnowLog: We’re going to run through all the different mushers that are in the 2026 marathon.
[0:18:43 – 0:18:50] AdamSnowLog: And I’ll give you my honest assessment on, you know, who might have a chance to win this race.
[0:18:53 – 0:18:54] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know anything.
[0:18:55 – 0:18:57] AdamSnowLog: Nobody does, right?
[0:19:00 – 0:19:02] AdamSnowLog: All I know is how to make rhubarb wine and…
[0:19:05 – 0:19:12] AdamSnowLog: And, you know, that’s about it, you know, really.
[0:19:12 – 0:19:13] AdamSnowLog: What else do you really know?
[0:19:15 – 0:19:18] AdamSnowLog: But I have been following the Bear Grease for a decade now.
[0:19:20 – 0:19:20] AdamSnowLog: At least.
[0:19:21 – 0:19:25] AdamSnowLog: I’ve been all over the track.
[0:19:26 – 0:19:30] AdamSnowLog: Me and Josh Capps were out on Friday getting road crossing signs.
[0:19:31 – 0:19:36] AdamSnowLog: kind of moved around and dropping off firewood for the road crossing crews and some of the checkpoints.
[0:19:40 – 0:19:47] AdamSnowLog: So I keep finding new ways to get involved in this race and finding the beauty in it.
[0:19:47 – 0:19:49] AdamSnowLog: I have been on the runners.
[0:19:50 – 0:19:53] AdamSnowLog: I’ve been out to Knife Lake and back on a dog sled.
[0:19:54 – 0:19:57] AdamSnowLog: I’ve been out on Clearwater Lake on a dog sled.
[0:19:58 – 0:20:03] AdamSnowLog: I have a Husky, Natalie and I and the kids, and Arrow.
[0:20:04 – 0:20:06] AdamSnowLog: She’s a beautiful dog.
[0:20:06 – 0:20:08] AdamSnowLog: The Alaskan Husky, it’s a beautiful dog.
[0:20:09 – 0:20:18] AdamSnowLog: It’s a beautiful creature of just like power and toughness and sweetness.
[0:20:19 – 0:20:21] AdamSnowLog: Yes, and sweetness.
[0:20:24 – 0:20:26] AdamSnowLog: Man, I don’t know.
[0:20:27 – 0:20:28] AdamSnowLog: You know, who am I trying to sell?
[0:20:28 – 0:20:31] AdamSnowLog: If you’re listening this far into a Snog episode, obviously…
[0:20:32 – 0:20:37] AdamSnowLog: You have some curiosity as to what the bear grease is about and what we’re doing here.
[0:20:38 – 0:20:40] AdamSnowLog: And yeah, I don’t know.
[0:20:41 – 0:20:46] AdamSnowLog: I know enough at this point to know, to think, I think I know what I’m talking about.
[0:20:47 – 0:20:50] AdamSnowLog: So we got like 20 teams in the marathon this year.
[0:20:54 – 0:20:55] AdamSnowLog: it’s quite the field.
[0:20:56 – 0:21:08] AdamSnowLog: Um, where we’re sitting for Pronto at mile 250, I always say, you know, generally, if you’re lucky, you’ll see half the field because most of the, most of these teams won’t finish.
[0:21:10 – 0:21:12] AdamSnowLog: And, uh, that’s the nature of the race.
[0:21:12 – 0:21:17] AdamSnowLog: It’s, um, it’s the toughest 300 mile track and all of dog sledding.
[0:21:18 – 0:21:18] AdamSnowLog: Um,
[0:21:20 – 0:21:24] AdamSnowLog: The trail is going to be, there’s a good base.
[0:21:25 – 0:21:26] AdamSnowLog: It’s going to be firm.
[0:21:26 – 0:21:32] AdamSnowLog: I mean, as I said earlier, it was negative 30 multiple nights in a row for most of the trail.
[0:21:34 – 0:21:37] AdamSnowLog: And so it’s going to be packed down.
[0:21:37 – 0:21:39] AdamSnowLog: There’s a fast like hard base.
[0:21:40 – 0:21:42] AdamSnowLog: That’s going to feel squeaky almost.
[0:21:43 – 0:21:45] AdamSnowLog: Now squeaky is not the right word.
[0:21:45 – 0:21:48] AdamSnowLog: It’s going to feel like crunchy and loud.
[0:21:50 – 0:21:52] AdamSnowLog: It’s going to be an obnoxious trail.
[0:21:53 – 0:22:03] AdamSnowLog: It’s a I don’t know what you would call the noise it makes when you step on that kind of snow with a boot when it’s 30 below.
[0:22:07 – 0:22:13] AdamSnowLog: It’s almost like the snow is screaming when it’s that cold.
[0:22:14 – 0:22:40] AdamSnowLog: it’s so loud like I was like going out to get firewood and just the noise of me walking around in the yard on that kind of snow I was certain I was gonna be like waking the kids up in the house in the insulated inside back part of the house I was like oh they’re gonna hear this the snow is so loud and it’s not it’s not deafening you know it’s just like it’s abrasive
[0:22:43 – 0:22:45] AdamSnowLog: But the trail is going to be fast.
[0:22:46 – 0:22:52] AdamSnowLog: Fully expecting probably arrival at Pronto before sunrise based on that.
[0:22:53 – 0:22:59] AdamSnowLog: Probably be like an hour or two hours ahead of standard pace.
[0:22:59 – 0:23:07] AdamSnowLog: So, you know, if the leaders normally get to Pronto by sunrise, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see somebody into Pronto like at 5 in the morning.
[0:23:08 – 0:23:11] AdamSnowLog: That said, every year you think it’s going to be different.
[0:23:12 – 0:23:17] AdamSnowLog: And that some factor is going to change something and, you know, they’ll be there.
[0:23:17 – 0:23:19] AdamSnowLog: They’re going to be there early.
[0:23:19 – 0:23:20] AdamSnowLog: They’re going to be there late.
[0:23:20 – 0:23:21] AdamSnowLog: Something’s going to fast them up.
[0:23:22 – 0:23:23] AdamSnowLog: Somebody’s going to slow them up.
[0:23:23 – 0:23:23] AdamSnowLog: No.
[0:23:24 – 0:23:30] AdamSnowLog: Generally, the Bear Grace Trail is very consistent in that way that, like, they always just end up.
[0:23:31 – 0:23:43] AdamSnowLog: being at the same, at the same pace as always, it’s very hard to break away from the standard race pace, which for the bear grease is extremely fast.
[0:23:43 – 0:23:49] AdamSnowLog: Like you’re not running this kind of pace in the Iditarod or the Yukon quest or almost any other race.
[0:23:50 – 0:23:56] AdamSnowLog: Um, even though it’s a hard, it’s a hard trail, like, um, to win the bear grease, you have to
[0:23:57 – 0:24:01] AdamSnowLog: you have to average over 10 miles an hour, which is extremely difficult to do.
[0:24:02 – 0:24:04] AdamSnowLog: It’s hard to keep a team together.
[0:24:04 – 0:24:06] AdamSnowLog: Hard to finish with more than eight, you know.
[0:24:06 – 0:24:10] AdamSnowLog: A lot of teams just come in limping into the finish line with eight dogs.
[0:24:11 – 0:24:16] AdamSnowLog: And some teams come in just flying with eight dogs, and then you occasionally get the winning team that comes in with 10.
[0:24:17 – 0:24:25] AdamSnowLog: They’re somehow able to keep 10 dogs healthy and feeling good all the way to the finish, which is always a delight to see that happen.
[0:24:31 – 0:24:32] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:24:35 – 0:24:41] AdamSnowLog: I’m emotional tonight in a way that I am having a hard time to understand.
[0:24:44 – 0:24:45] AdamSnowLog: The nostalgia for the race.
[0:24:46 – 0:24:50] AdamSnowLog: My heart is breaking for the state of Minnesota.
[0:24:53 – 0:24:58] AdamSnowLog: I’m sure that anybody listening to this can tell that I’m not my normal self tonight.
[0:25:01 – 0:25:03] AdamSnowLog: I do need this race badly.
[0:25:04 – 0:25:11] AdamSnowLog: It’s been three years since the Bear Grease has launched on time in January.
[0:25:11 – 0:25:22] AdamSnowLog: I don’t think I’m going to ever be able to properly communicate with words how much this is meaning to me for this race to start tomorrow because I badly need it.
[0:25:24 – 0:25:25] SPEAKER_01: Let’s look at the field.
[0:25:26 – 0:25:27] AdamSnowLog: Let’s look at the field.
[0:25:31 – 0:25:37] AdamSnowLog: Field’s listed on the Bear Grace website in alphabetical order by last name.
[0:25:37 – 0:25:45] AdamSnowLog: And number one here is Aaron I. Lee, two-time champ, two-time Golden Corndog Award winner.
[0:25:46 – 0:25:50] AdamSnowLog: Friend of Pronto has always taken a corndog.
[0:25:51 – 0:25:54] AdamSnowLog: And I would say almost certainly the favorite.
[0:25:55 – 0:25:58] AdamSnowLog: No, I will rephrase that.
[0:25:59 – 0:26:00] AdamSnowLog: Definitely the favorite.
[0:26:03 – 0:26:11] AdamSnowLog: I would honestly be shocked if Erin Eiley doesn’t win again and get her third Bear Grease Championship title.
[0:26:12 – 0:26:13] AdamSnowLog: Um…
[0:26:15 – 0:26:21] AdamSnowLog: Last year, Juliet, her lead dog, won the Golden Lead Dog Award.
[0:26:24 – 0:26:25] AdamSnowLog: Shit, I don’t have it on me, but…
[0:26:27 – 0:26:28] AdamSnowLog: It was in my notes.
[0:26:28 – 0:26:30] AdamSnowLog: I was reading through the notes from last year.
[0:26:30 – 0:26:34] AdamSnowLog: And Juliet, her lead dog, was the best dog of the whole race last year.
[0:26:35 – 0:26:40] AdamSnowLog: And I look forward to seeing her team come through pronto.
[0:26:40 – 0:26:43] AdamSnowLog: And I fully expect she’ll be the first one through.
[0:26:43 – 0:26:50] AdamSnowLog: I would honestly be fucking shocked if Erin Ailey wasn’t the first one to Otter Lake.
[0:26:51 – 0:26:51] AdamSnowLog: So…
[0:26:52 – 0:26:52] AdamSnowLog: There you go.
[0:26:52 – 0:26:54] AdamSnowLog: Made that one real easy for you guys.
[0:26:54 – 0:26:57] AdamSnowLog: We can just skip the rest of the list, and that’s the end of the episode.
[0:26:58 – 0:27:02] AdamSnowLog: And congratulations to Aaron Ailey for winning the Bear Grace again.
[0:27:02 – 0:27:05] AdamSnowLog: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[0:27:05 – 0:27:06] AdamSnowLog: It ain’t that easy.
[0:27:07 – 0:27:07] AdamSnowLog: Bear Grace is nuts.
[0:27:09 – 0:27:13] AdamSnowLog: And even when you think somebody’s got it in the bag, they don’t.
[0:27:14 – 0:27:15] AdamSnowLog: It’s the nature of the trail.
[0:27:16 – 0:27:31] AdamSnowLog: Next up on the list, Aaron Altimus, our neighbor, and our own heroic nurse and neighbor, Aaron Altimus, who literally lives two minutes away from us.
[0:27:32 – 0:27:35] AdamSnowLog: And Arrow and I share the same trails that…
[0:27:36 – 0:27:52] AdamSnowLog: um aaron and matt run with their dogs and their their handler kendra who um kendra’s running the 120 so we’re also cheering for kendra in the 120 i’m not going to talk about the whole 120 field but
[0:27:53 – 0:28:01] AdamSnowLog: A friend of the show, Kierso, worked with Kendra back at Minosian, and I’ve run into her out on the trails out here.
[0:28:03 – 0:28:08] AdamSnowLog: She’s running a lot of miles on those dogs, but Aaron is running the A-team in the marathon.
[0:28:09 – 0:28:12] AdamSnowLog: And I don’t know.
[0:28:12 – 0:28:13] AdamSnowLog: I always complain.
[0:28:13 – 0:28:15] AdamSnowLog: I was born in the early 80s.
[0:28:15 – 0:28:22] AdamSnowLog: I’m a very old, ancient cedar millennial, and there’s so many idiots named Adam out there.
[0:28:24 – 0:28:27] AdamSnowLog: So many idiots out there named Francois, too.
[0:28:27 – 0:28:30] AdamSnowLog: I’m so sick of running into so many Francois born in the 80s.
[0:28:32 – 0:28:52] AdamSnowLog: There’s got to be a mild annoyance to being at the top of your game as a Midwestern Minnesota musher and then finding out that the top two women in the sport are both named Erin, E-R-I-N. And that’s the finish from last year, Erin and Aaron, 1-2.
[0:28:52 – 0:28:55] AdamSnowLog: And they’re also 1-2 alphabetically.
[0:28:56 – 0:29:01] AdamSnowLog: And also probably the top two favorites to win this year.
[0:29:02 – 0:29:02] AdamSnowLog: How weird is that?
[0:29:06 – 0:29:07] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:29:08 – 0:29:11] AdamSnowLog: I keep desperately wanting Aaron Altomus to win one.
[0:29:12 – 0:29:13] AdamSnowLog: And or Matt Schmidt.
[0:29:13 – 0:29:15] AdamSnowLog: Usually Aaron’s been running them.
[0:29:15 – 0:29:16] AdamSnowLog: Matt’s kind of in support.
[0:29:17 – 0:29:21] AdamSnowLog: Josh told me that Matt’s going to be, like, trailbreaker this year.
[0:29:22 – 0:29:24] AdamSnowLog: So we’ll probably see him come through.
[0:29:24 – 0:29:34] AdamSnowLog: We’ll probably see him come through at Pronto, like, before any of the teams come through as trailbreaker.
[0:29:37 – 0:29:38] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:29:38 – 0:29:40] AdamSnowLog: Just delightful people.
[0:29:40 – 0:29:41] AdamSnowLog: Great neighbors.
[0:29:42 – 0:29:47] AdamSnowLog: I wish anything for Aaron and or Matt to win one.
[0:29:48 – 0:29:50] AdamSnowLog: For Cook County, honestly.
[0:29:52 – 0:29:55] AdamSnowLog: As long as I’ve been living up here, nobody from Cook County has ever won one.
[0:29:56 – 0:29:58] AdamSnowLog: A lot of dedicated mushers up here.
[0:30:00 – 0:30:07] AdamSnowLog: Living in the historic mushing district, you know, it would be really special to see one of our neighbors just win this thing.
[0:30:08 – 0:30:12] AdamSnowLog: And so, you know, I’m always on team Aaron Altimus.
[0:30:14 – 0:30:15] AdamSnowLog: Next up, Peter McClellan.
[0:30:16 – 0:30:18] AdamSnowLog: We definitely talked about him a lot on the show before.
[0:30:19 – 0:30:23] AdamSnowLog: Eric worked for him at White Wilderness.
[0:30:23 – 0:30:28] AdamSnowLog: The reason I got to do a free dog mushing trip out to Knife Lake and back was
[0:30:29 – 0:30:49] AdamSnowLog: way back in the day and Peter’s a real nice dude and he always stops by I mean I don’t know what he’s gonna do and he stops by and sees that Eric isn’t there this year because he always remembers Eric but I don’t think he knows who I am and he should not
[0:30:50 – 0:30:54] AdamSnowLog: But he’s always a friendly dude, and he always generally stops at pronto.
[0:30:56 – 0:31:01] AdamSnowLog: Next up on the list, and this is definitely not by any sort of alphabetical.
[0:31:01 – 0:31:02] AdamSnowLog: What is going on here?
[0:31:03 – 0:31:04] AdamSnowLog: Nathan Schroeder next.
[0:31:05 – 0:31:06] AdamSnowLog: I honestly don’t.
[0:31:06 – 0:31:08] AdamSnowLog: Is this just like by the order they signed up?
[0:31:12 – 0:31:15] AdamSnowLog: Uh, Nathan Schroeder next up on the list, four time champ, I believe.
[0:31:17 – 0:31:19] AdamSnowLog: Uh, so we got two former champs here.
[0:31:19 – 0:31:30] AdamSnowLog: Um, Nathan Schroeder’s back in the race and, uh, the omelet man is going to make it, he’ll make it up to Otter Lake for sure.
[0:31:30 – 0:31:30] AdamSnowLog: We’ll see him.
[0:31:30 – 0:31:30] AdamSnowLog: Um,
[0:31:32 – 0:32:00] AdamSnowLog: uh he’s always a lot of fun uh david burge the burger man is coming honorary saw billy david bergey is coming and uh he made it last year up there we’ll see him for sure blake frecking yeah i don’t know what kind of i take it all back this is not in any order whatsoever this must just be in like order of seniority or or who signed up first honestly this is silly
[0:32:04 – 0:32:09] AdamSnowLog: Blake Frecking, former champ, two-time former champ of the Bear Grease, back again.
[0:32:09 – 0:32:11] AdamSnowLog: It’s going to be a cold one for sure.
[0:32:11 – 0:32:17] AdamSnowLog: I think the high temp for the race is seven above, maybe, on Tuesday.
[0:32:18 – 0:32:27] AdamSnowLog: So those Siberian Huskies from Blake and Jennifer Frecking could do pretty good here in the super cold temperatures.
[0:32:29 – 0:32:30] AdamSnowLog: You know, we end up with a…
[0:32:31 – 0:32:36] AdamSnowLog: you know, crazy storm at the end or something that always benefits those cold weather dogs.
[0:32:36 – 0:32:38] AdamSnowLog: So everybody loves to see Blake come through.
[0:32:40 – 0:32:46] AdamSnowLog: Next up on the list, Colleen Wallen, the only person I believe who has made it to Pronto Pub Lodge every single year.
[0:32:46 – 0:32:52] AdamSnowLog: A lot of these folks that race these, you know, they’re like, oh yeah, Nathan Schroeder’s been in the race every year.
[0:32:52 – 0:32:55] AdamSnowLog: No, they don’t always race every year.
[0:32:55 – 0:32:55] AdamSnowLog: Um,
[0:32:58 – 0:33:21] AdamSnowLog: you know they take years off um nobody ever to do this every year is really tough it takes a lot and not just showing up and doing the race for the days it’s like the preparation is where you’re putting all your um that’s where you’re putting all your mustard um colleen wallen
[0:33:23 – 0:33:25] AdamSnowLog: That lady’s got a lot of toughness.
[0:33:25 – 0:33:38] AdamSnowLog: She’s tough as fucking nails, that Colleen Wallen, and she’s a true Rhea sunshine, and we’ve seen her every single year, I believe, that we’ve done pronto, and she always…
[0:33:40 – 0:33:53] AdamSnowLog: like, is happy to see us, and we’re happy to see her, so, guarantee we’ll see her, um, I don’t think she’s, uh, I don’t think she’s really, like, in the play to win this thing, but you never know.
[0:33:55 – 0:33:58] AdamSnowLog: Uh, next up, Anna Hennessy, who, uh,
[0:34:00 – 0:34:04] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know if she won Rookie of the Year at the Iditarod off the top of my head.
[0:34:05 – 0:34:11] AdamSnowLog: Forgive me for my lack of research, but she did very well at the Iditarod.
[0:34:11 – 0:34:16] AdamSnowLog: A very accomplished musher, also from the North Shore.
[0:34:19 – 0:34:25] AdamSnowLog: I’m not sure where she’s currently headquartered out of, but I’ve seen her in the co-op, you know, so she’s around.
[0:34:26 – 0:34:32] AdamSnowLog: Super cool, and her and her partner both ran the, I did her on last year, Emily.
[0:34:33 – 0:34:36] AdamSnowLog: They both finished, I believe, did great.
[0:34:37 – 0:34:39] AdamSnowLog: Anna’s going to run this one, and I don’t know.
[0:34:41 – 0:34:43] AdamSnowLog: I was talking to Josh yesterday.
[0:34:43 – 0:34:47] AdamSnowLog: We were hanging out at Skyport after we finished dropping off all the road crossing signs.
[0:34:47 – 0:34:50] AdamSnowLog: I’m like, well, Josh, who do you think is going to win?
[0:34:50 – 0:34:53] AdamSnowLog: And it’s the obvious answers.
[0:34:53 – 0:34:55] AdamSnowLog: There’s probably three people that really have a chance to win.
[0:34:56 – 0:35:01] AdamSnowLog: And I got home and they texted me, which is pretty odd for the derelict attorney.
[0:35:01 – 0:35:03] AdamSnowLog: And he texted me late night.
[0:35:03 – 0:35:06] AdamSnowLog: He’s like, we forgot to mention Anna Hennessy.
[0:35:08 – 0:35:10] AdamSnowLog: She definitely has a chance.
[0:35:10 – 0:35:13] AdamSnowLog: And I was like, I just texted back, I agree.
[0:35:13 – 0:35:16] AdamSnowLog: I think Anna Hennessy has a chance.
[0:35:18 – 0:35:33] AdamSnowLog: Sean McCartney, also a white wilderness guy who always somehow was able to detect Eric’s presence just by heart feel or something.
[0:35:34 – 0:35:38] AdamSnowLog: He’s a sweet man, and I think he was top five last year, honestly.
[0:35:38 – 0:35:41] AdamSnowLog: I think he was maybe placed fourth last year, I want to say.
[0:35:42 – 0:35:44] AdamSnowLog: He did pretty good, so he’s right up there as well.
[0:35:45 – 0:35:46] AdamSnowLog: Rob Greger.
[0:35:48 – 0:35:49] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know anything about Rob Greger.
[0:35:51 – 0:35:52] AdamSnowLog: Thomas Bauer.
[0:35:53 – 0:35:55] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know anything about Thomas Bauer.
[0:35:57 – 0:35:58] AdamSnowLog: Jesse Terry.
[0:35:59 – 0:36:13] AdamSnowLog: Obviously, everybody who’s listening to this right now knows that I deeply love Jesse Terry and his lead dog Moon Dancer and Little Jitterbug.
[0:36:15 – 0:36:30] AdamSnowLog: And Jesse Terry definitely took third last year, and I got to stand on his runners while he chucked on his team and grabbed a corndog last year at Pronto in the middle of the night, and it was a real treat.
[0:36:32 – 0:36:36] AdamSnowLog: And Jesse Terry, if you’re listening to this, I love you, and I…
[0:36:39 – 0:36:42] AdamSnowLog: Hope you consider me a friend because I am your friend.
[0:36:43 – 0:36:44] AdamSnowLog: I’m on your team, Jesse.
[0:36:44 – 0:36:46] AdamSnowLog: I’m on your team, Jesse Terry.
[0:36:46 – 0:36:47] AdamSnowLog: Please be on my team.
[0:36:49 – 0:36:54] AdamSnowLog: He went on to do really well in the Canadian Yukon Quest last year.
[0:36:56 – 0:36:59] AdamSnowLog: And this year is going to run the Iditarod.
[0:37:01 – 0:37:14] AdamSnowLog: And so that would lead you to believe that, like, yeah, he’s been on the right, like, motion track where every year at the Bear Grace he does a little bit better, and last year he finished third.
[0:37:15 – 0:37:20] AdamSnowLog: He’s got a great team, just beaming with positivity.
[0:37:21 – 0:37:24] AdamSnowLog: If you ever, like, want to subscribe to the –
[0:37:27 – 0:37:38] AdamSnowLog: the ethos of positive mental attitude, the importance of it, which it’s obvious to anybody that positive mental attitude is the way.
[0:37:39 – 0:37:47] AdamSnowLog: Someone like Jesse Terry is the embodiment of that, and you just want Jesse Terry to do well.
[0:37:48 – 0:37:54] AdamSnowLog: You believe in that because you can just see it coming down the trail.
[0:37:54 – 0:37:57] AdamSnowLog: It’s brighter than the brightest headlamp in the middle of the night.
[0:37:59 – 0:38:00] AdamSnowLog: You can see it in his eyes.
[0:38:01 – 0:38:04] AdamSnowLog: He’s a magical man, and we all love him.
[0:38:04 – 0:38:06] AdamSnowLog: Jesse Terry is going to do great things, and…
[0:38:08 – 0:38:22] AdamSnowLog: As much as I want to believe that this is his year for the Bear Grease, knowing that he is doing the Iditarod, the Iditarod pace and the Bear Grease pace is two completely different paces.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:27] AdamSnowLog: You cannot maintain the Bear Grease pace that is required to win the
[0:38:29 – 0:38:33] AdamSnowLog: The bear grease, you cannot maintain that for a thousand miles.
[0:38:33 – 0:38:34] AdamSnowLog: It’s not possible.
[0:38:36 – 0:38:44] AdamSnowLog: And if you are, if you’re like having your eyes focused on the big goal of winning, no.
[0:38:45 – 0:38:52] AdamSnowLog: Yes, if you’re focused on winning the rookie of the year at the Iditarod, you need to lower your speed raters.
[0:38:53 – 0:38:57] AdamSnowLog: and train your dogs in a different way.
[0:38:58 – 0:39:03] AdamSnowLog: And you will use the bear grease as a great learning tool for those dogs.
[0:39:04 – 0:39:09] AdamSnowLog: And a great training run for them, but you’re not running to win, in my mind.
[0:39:09 – 0:39:14] AdamSnowLog: Definitely not going to be wanting to push them too hard.
[0:39:14 – 0:39:23] AdamSnowLog: You want everybody to get through there healthy, happy, and all on the move at the same pace.
[0:39:24 – 0:39:31] AdamSnowLog: As much as I’d love to see Jesse Terry win this thing, I would be shocked if he was the first one into pronto, but…
[0:39:33 – 0:39:39] AdamSnowLog: That said, though, there’s been plenty of teams who have won the Bear Grease and then gone on to do great.
[0:39:40 – 0:39:42] AdamSnowLog: So what do I know?
[0:39:42 – 0:39:43] AdamSnowLog: I don’t know.
[0:39:44 – 0:39:48] AdamSnowLog: Jesse’s partner, Mary England, is in here next.
[0:39:48 – 0:39:50] AdamSnowLog: This must just be, like, the order that they signed up.
[0:39:51 – 0:39:59] AdamSnowLog: Because, yeah, Jesse and Mary are in here together, along with Garrick Schmidt, who I know is buddies with them up in Sioux Lookout.
[0:40:02 – 0:40:03] AdamSnowLog: Mary England’s in here, too.
[0:40:05 – 0:40:07] AdamSnowLog: And she finished last year, I think, in 12th.
[0:40:08 – 0:40:11] AdamSnowLog: with their puppy team, and who knows?
[0:40:12 – 0:40:13] AdamSnowLog: Josh and I were talking about this.
[0:40:13 – 0:40:19] AdamSnowLog: There is a chance that Mary is running the A team and Jesse is running the pup team.
[0:40:19 – 0:40:29] AdamSnowLog: One of them could have the team of these are the dogs that are for sure going to the Iditarod, and then the other one could have some dogs that maybe we’ll see who has it.
[0:40:29 – 0:40:32] AdamSnowLog: Maybe one of these dogs makes the Iditarod team.
[0:40:33 – 0:40:35] AdamSnowLog: So who knows how they’re dividing that up?
[0:40:35 – 0:40:36] AdamSnowLog: We don’t know.
[0:40:37 – 0:40:38] AdamSnowLog: Maybe they don’t even know.
[0:40:38 – 0:40:42] AdamSnowLog: It’s Saturday and the race starts tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure they know.
[0:40:43 – 0:40:46] AdamSnowLog: But that’s how mushing is.
[0:40:46 – 0:40:54] AdamSnowLog: You never do know how anybody’s actually approaching a race and how many of these teams are actually trying to win.
[0:40:55 – 0:41:02] AdamSnowLog: Of the 20 teams in here, 21 teams in here, how many of these teams actually think they can win?
[0:41:03 – 0:41:06] AdamSnowLog: Who’s being realistic and who’s being naive?
[0:41:08 – 0:41:19] AdamSnowLog: And I don’t see any problem with either of those approaches, but you just never know until you actually start seeing the speed on the trackers and who’s jumping up in front or whatever.
[0:41:20 – 0:41:21] AdamSnowLog: Who’s taking the rest?
[0:41:21 – 0:41:22] AdamSnowLog: Who’s running?
[0:41:24 – 0:41:31] AdamSnowLog: We’ll know a lot more by the time they all get to Sawbill, as we always do, but that’s why we’re putting the episode out now.
[0:41:32 – 0:41:34] AdamSnowLog: Everybody next week will find out what actually happened.
[0:41:35 – 0:41:42] AdamSnowLog: Garrick Schmidt, I don’t know anything about him, but he does say in his bio that he knows Jesse and Mary and runs with them up there.
[0:41:44 – 0:41:46] AdamSnowLog: If you are a friend of Jesse and Mary, you’re a friend of us.
[0:41:47 – 0:41:50] AdamSnowLog: Kevin Mathis from Iowa is back.
[0:41:50 – 0:41:53] AdamSnowLog: I think he’s run the Bear Grease like five or six times now.
[0:41:53 – 0:41:57] AdamSnowLog: This guy’s really dedicated.
[0:41:58 – 0:42:03] AdamSnowLog: Mary Manning took fifth place last year and also a Cook County local.
[0:42:03 – 0:42:06] AdamSnowLog: She’s got Arrow’s brother, Sean.
[0:42:06 – 0:42:14] AdamSnowLog: I always get a kick out of that that one of the four dogs out of Arrow’s litter just ended up being named Sean.
[0:42:16 – 0:42:18] AdamSnowLog: I love it when dogs get the human name.
[0:42:18 – 0:42:19] AdamSnowLog: It’s so funny.
[0:42:21 – 0:42:24] AdamSnowLog: Anyways, Sean is definitely not on her race team.
[0:42:24 – 0:42:26] AdamSnowLog: He was definitely not cut out for racing.
[0:42:27 – 0:42:33] AdamSnowLog: I always feel a little bad that Arrow ended up in our house, even though we do get to skeege her a lot and run a lot.
[0:42:34 – 0:42:41] AdamSnowLog: She could have been a champion sled dog if she had ended up at a real kennel.
[0:42:41 – 0:42:52] AdamSnowLog: I always wonder what would have happened if she would have went to Mary Manning and we would have ended up with Sean in some sort of weird parallel universe.
[0:42:52 – 0:42:56] AdamSnowLog: There’s a chance that Arrow could be a lead dog for Mary Manning tomorrow.
[0:42:57 – 0:43:06] AdamSnowLog: instead of being a pet dog who cuddles with the babies and eats treats and is now walking over to me to say hi.
[0:43:06 – 0:43:07] AdamSnowLog: Hi, Arrow.
[0:43:09 – 0:43:09] AdamSnowLog: Hi.
[0:43:09 – 0:43:10] AdamSnowLog: Yes, I am talking about you.
[0:43:11 – 0:43:13] SPEAKER_01: Yes, we’re talking about you.
[0:43:14 – 0:43:15] SPEAKER_01: You’re a good pup.
[0:43:19 – 0:43:26] AdamSnowLog: Uh, Catherine Langlais, Langlais, um, got a lot of Canadians coming down for this race.
[0:43:26 – 0:43:34] AdamSnowLog: Frankly, I’m shocked that this way people are brave enough to cross the border and come down here for a silly race, but they’re coming down.
[0:43:38 – 0:43:58] AdamSnowLog: uh she’s raced before um i don’t know if we’ve seen her at pronto ryan anderson um four or five time champ five time champ maybe the most may have won the most bear grease of anybody in history at this point and is back uh wasn’t there last year
[0:44:00 – 0:44:04] AdamSnowLog: Josh is convinced that he’s bringing up a new generation of dogs.
[0:44:05 – 0:44:06] AdamSnowLog: So we’ll see.
[0:44:06 – 0:44:15] AdamSnowLog: If Ryan Anderson’s in the race, he obviously feels like he can compete, and he has no plans on going to the Iditarod or doing anything else.
[0:44:15 – 0:44:21] AdamSnowLog: So I assume if Ryan Anderson’s going to show up at the starting shoot tomorrow that he plans to win.
[0:44:22 – 0:44:23] AdamSnowLog: So put him in the list.
[0:44:25 – 0:44:26] AdamSnowLog: Redmond Gleason.
[0:44:28 – 0:44:28] AdamSnowLog: No idea.
[0:44:29 – 0:44:32] AdamSnowLog: Andy Hirschkamp definitely has raced before.
[0:44:37 – 0:44:40] AdamSnowLog: No insider knowledge on that.
[0:44:40 – 0:44:43] AdamSnowLog: And then we got two guys from Utah who are coming out together.
[0:44:43 – 0:44:49] AdamSnowLog: Ryan Clegg and Wade Donaldson, both coming up from Utah.
[0:44:51 – 0:44:51] AdamSnowLog: Got nothing.
[0:44:51 – 0:44:52] AdamSnowLog: I have no idea.
[0:44:52 – 0:44:56] AdamSnowLog: If one of them somehow wins it, I’d be shocked, but…
[0:44:58 – 0:44:59] AdamSnowLog: Yeah, Clegg.
[0:44:59 – 0:45:00] AdamSnowLog: Watch out for Clegg.
[0:45:01 – 0:45:02] AdamSnowLog: I mean, my name is Clem.
[0:45:03 – 0:45:06] AdamSnowLog: Yeah, no, I’m totally, I’m not Cassian Endor.
[0:45:07 – 0:45:09] AdamSnowLog: I’m Ryan Clem.
[0:45:09 – 0:45:11] AdamSnowLog: I’m from Utah.
[0:45:14 – 0:45:18] AdamSnowLog: And that’s the entire field.
[0:45:18 – 0:45:19] AdamSnowLog: What’s our prediction?
[0:45:21 – 0:45:23] AdamSnowLog: Predicting Aaron Ailey will win again.
[0:45:24 – 0:45:28] AdamSnowLog: Ryan Anderson probably has a good chance.
[0:45:29 – 0:45:30] AdamSnowLog: Aaron Altomus has a chance.
[0:45:32 – 0:45:35] AdamSnowLog: Jesse Terry for sure has a chance.
[0:45:35 – 0:45:39] AdamSnowLog: And then Anna Hennessy, I would say, is your wild card.
[0:45:41 – 0:45:45] AdamSnowLog: Absolutely has a chance, and I don’t know anything.
[0:45:45 – 0:45:48] AdamSnowLog: I could be wrong, but I know enough.
[0:45:49 – 0:46:03] AdamSnowLog: I’ve read enough Vern Schroeder Facebook posts from back in the day that I think I understand how run and rest works and how perceived trail speed actually should be calculated correctly.
[0:46:04 – 0:46:05] AdamSnowLog: And that’s all we got.
[0:46:07 – 0:46:13] AdamSnowLog: I have one more little passage I want to read for you before we get out of here.
[0:46:18 – 0:46:21] AdamSnowLog: This might end up being one of the longest Snowlog episodes of all time.
[0:46:23 – 0:46:24] AdamSnowLog: Chapter 24 from Cat’s Cradle.
[0:46:28 – 0:46:32] AdamSnowLog: Which brings me to the Bokanist concept of a wampater.
[0:46:33 – 0:46:35] AdamSnowLog: A wampater is the pivot of a carass.
[0:46:36 – 0:46:38] AdamSnowLog: No carass is without a wampater.
[0:46:39 – 0:46:42] AdamSnowLog: Bokanon tells us, just as no wheel is without a hub.
[0:46:44 – 0:46:45] AdamSnowLog: Anything can be a wampater.
[0:46:46 – 0:46:54] AdamSnowLog: A tree, a rock, an animal, an idea, a book, a melody, the Holy Grail.
[0:46:56 – 0:47:03] AdamSnowLog: Whatever it is, the members of its carass revolve around it in the majestic chaos of a spiral nebula.
[0:47:04 – 0:47:09] AdamSnowLog: The orbits of the members of the carass about their common wampater are spiritual orbits, naturally.
[0:47:10 – 0:47:13] AdamSnowLog: It is souls, and not bodies, that resolve.
[0:47:14 – 0:47:14] AdamSnowLog: Revolve.
[0:47:15 – 0:47:17] AdamSnowLog: As Bokunan invites us to sing,
[0:47:19 – 0:47:25] AdamSnowLog: Round and around and around we spin, with feet of lead and wings of tin.
[0:47:27 – 0:47:30] AdamSnowLog: And wampaters come and wampaters go, Poconon tells us.
[0:47:33 – 0:47:39] AdamSnowLog: At any given time, a carass actually has two wampaters, one waxing in importance and one waning.
[0:47:41 – 0:47:44] AdamSnowLog: I am almost certain that while I was talking to Dr.
[0:47:44 – 0:47:56] AdamSnowLog: Breed and Ilium, the wampater of my carass that was just coming into bloom was the crystalline form of water, that blue-white gem, that seed of doom called Ice Nine.
[0:47:58 – 0:47:59] AdamSnowLog: While I was talking to Dr.
[0:47:59 – 0:48:12] AdamSnowLog: Breed and Ilium, Angela, Franklin, and Newton Hunnecker had in their possession seeds of Ice Nine, seeds grown from their father’s seed, chips, in a manner of speaking, off the old block.
[0:48:14 – 0:48:22] AdamSnowLog: What was to become of those three chips was, I am convinced, a principal concern of my carass.
[0:48:25 – 0:48:27] AdamSnowLog: As we always say on Snowlog, folks…
[0:48:30 – 0:48:32] AdamSnowLog: Snow takes many forms.
[0:48:33 – 0:48:35] AdamSnowLog: Stay safe out there.
[0:48:35 – 0:48:36] AdamSnowLog: Be well.
[0:48:37 – 0:48:39] AdamSnowLog: And also, stay dangerous.
