Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Mail Run -- Final Wrap-Up
January 23, 2012, Quesnel British Columbia
It was a bit of a blur…the Mail Run weekend that is….for organizers, volunteers, participants and competitors it was four days of virtually non-stop activity. But it was activity of the good-natured variety and activity of lots and lots or variety.
For the week leading up to the Mail Run Event everyone watched the temperatures plunge, right down to that point where both the Fahrenheit and Celcius scales meet….the fabled -40. This didn’t deter anyone from attending. Slowly the temps. moderated but at the start line on Day 1 the thermometer read -25C….definitely felt packs, fur hat and balaclava weather….warmth was the priority, no-one was interested in making a fashion statement. On Day 2, the run started off with -16C temperatures, with snow….about 8 inches were to fall before skies cleared in the early afternoon as things kept getting warmer. Day 3 saw perfect mushing temperatures rising to about -10C as the day progressed, with clear skies making for panoramic views from the trail before a light snow started falling during the mid-afternoon awards ceremony.
There was a great turnout, 20 Mail Run participants, 4 Stage Racers and 7 participants in the Barkerville Dash, a total of 29 dog teams and two skijorers, just four dog teams short of the all-time high for this Mail Run Event, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2012. Both Mail Run teams and Stage Race teams carried the mail, over 3,000 envelopes destined for 51 different countries. A world-wide outreach from the three central British Columbia communities of Quesnel, Wells and Barkerville.
