As of 10:35 pm (AKST) last night Keaton had crossed the finish line in Tok! I stayed up and kept refreshing the tracking feed until I was sure he was there.
To see Keaton and his team’s arrival in Tok, here’s a link to the video posted on Star Gazer Racer’s FB page.
Congratulations to Keaton, his dogs and the team of folks who all made it happen. It was fun to watch!
Tok, Alaska 5:05 am (AKST) Temperature 9 Degrees
Sunrise: 8:46 am Sunset: 4:46 pm (a full 8 hours of daylight today!)
Elevation: 1635 Feet
Population: 1355 (2022)
Best place for a burger, beer, and a slice of pie: Fast Eddy’s MP 1313
By the time I checked the Yukon Quest leaderboard at 5:05 (AKST) this morning, Jeff Deeter had won the race with three other mushers coming in a few hours later (Shelley, Eklund, Bacon). For more details, here’s a story from KUAC’s Robyne & Shelby Herbert.
Deeter wins 2025 Yukon Quest 550 | KUAC.org
Meanwhile Keaton Loebrich (Bib #3) and Joey Sabin (Bib #8) were both in Chicken taking the required six-hour break before hitting the trail again.
At 2:55 pm (AKST) Keaton was at mile 519.5. Less than 40 miles to go!
Wishing Keaton and his dogs a smooth run into Tok. Hope you make it in time for dinner at Fast Eddy’s–they close at nine!
Here’s the link to Keaton’s Star Gazers Racing Facebook page.
Chicken, AK Mile 477.9 Sunrise: 8:49 am Sunset: 4:33 pm
Elevation 1677 Feet Today’s High 8F with a low tonight of 1F
Wow–how did it get to be Thursday? I’m guessing out on the trail the mushers and dogs are feeling every minute and every mile of the last five days. They must be happy to see the end in sight.
Here’s a screenshot I took about 8 am (AKST) today which puts the Yukon Quest in perspective in terms of the vastness of Alaska. It also shows the leaderboard with six mushers at that hour still on the trail, one was already on his way out of Chicken. Three were at the checkpoint making the required 6-hour stay. Two, including Keaton, were still on the trail north of Chicken.
If you’re wondering how this town of less than 20 folks on the Taylor Highway got its name, here’s one story that may or may not be true.
Just now (about 5:30 pm AKST) I checked the current standings and one musher, Jeff Deeter has finished the race. Keaton is at mile 453, with 24 miles remaining before he reaches the Chicken Checkpoint.
This link will take you to the Yukon Quest’s Facebook page where you can see photos from the trail. Make sure you keep scrolling down. There is a video of the winner crossing the finish line.
Wishing Keaton and his dogs safe travels, happy trails, and a good rest in Chicken tonight!
Eagle Checkpoint – Mile 377.7 – Sunrise: 8:55 am Sunset 4:23 pm
Elevation 853 Feet Average February Temperatures 9F high/-11F low
Musher Keaton Loebrich Bib 3 is back on the trail this evening after resting for a few hours in Eagle. Here’s a look at that checkpoint in a cool story with photos from Alaska Public Media.
As of 5:43 pm (AKST) this evening, Keaton had departed from Eagle and was headed to Chicken about 100 miles down the trail. For the most up-to-date information, check out Keaton’s current location.
To learn more about Keaton check out the story linked below. It was published in his hometown (Midland, Michigan) newspaper a few months ago.
Midland native Keaton Loebrich has qualified for the 2025 Iditarod
As Day 4 of the 2025 Yukon Quest comes to an end, I wish Keaton and his team a safe run tonight. Happy Trails!
Eagle Checkpoint – Mile 377.7 Sunrise: 8:57 am Sunset: 4:19 pm
I made myself a map to try and get a better understanding of the 2025 Yukon Quest Alaska route. The start is in Fairbanks and the finish is in Tok. Now if you drive the Alaska Highway 2 as I did with Dave and Dad last summer it’s a pretty easy three-and-a-half-hour drive. About 200 miles.
The route the mushers take is nothing like that. They headed northeast out of Fairbanks and have stops at checkpoints (I only have a few of them marked on the map with pink highlighter) at Pleasant Valley (39.2 mi.), Mile 101 (112.7 mi.) and further on in Central (139.6 mi.) and Circle (216.6 mi.) before turning to the southeast.
The next stop is Slaven’s Roadhouse (275.4 mi.) on the Yukon River at the mouth of Coal Creek. When I checked this morning about 6 am Alaska time it was -9 degrees. My musher Keaton Loebrich (Bib 3) stopped there last night and maybe spent a few hours resting his dogs. From there the route continues to Eagle (377.7 mi.), Chicken (477.9 mi.), and finally to the finish line in Tok (557.8)
Much better than my highlighted road map is the official Yukon Quest Alaska map linked below.It is a live map showing all of the mushers’ positions real time along the trail.
2025 Race Standings – Yukon Quest Alaska
As I write this it’s shortly after seven in Alaska and Keaton is at mile 338 with just under forty miles to go to the Eagle Checkpoint where it’s -2 degrees.
For a fun look at the Eagle Checkpoint and everything that goes into a Yukon Quest checkpoint, take a look at this article published by Alaska Public Media.
Eagle is hosting Yukon Quest mushers for the first time in 4 years
Safe travels and happy trails to Keaton and his dogs!
Back in July while in Fairbanks I visited the Yukon Quest Headquarters and made a small donation to the race. In return I was given a dog bootie and a sharpie.
After I returned home, I forgot about it until last week when I received an email with my musher information. Bib #3 Keaton Loebrich https://yukonquestalaska.com/yqa-550-keaton-loebrich/
The race started on Saturday, February 1st in Fairbanks where the days are getting longer. Sunrise on Saturday was 9:34 am and sunset was at 4:35. Seven hours of daylight!
Checking on Monday night at about 11:30 pm (9:30 pm in Alaska) Keaton was in third place and had covered more than 265 miles. Here’s the map with current standings. 2025 Race Standings – Yukon Quest Alaska
I’ll be checking in again tomorrow morning to see how Keaton and his dogs are doing. Safe travels to everyone out there on the trail!
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. Not really sure if I’ll make it a regular thing, but I always meant to share this video that I captured back in January 2019 at the Albuquerque BioPark.
I always stop by to see the polar bears after visiting the Mexican wolf habitat and on most days the bears are lounging on the rocks, not doing much. But on this mild January day they were interacting with each other and their green barrel. The video lasts about a minute and a half. Watch to the end to see some sibling behavior that most of us can probably relate to.
Here’s a link to a little more information about polar bears and these two brothers, Kiska and Koluk.
We wanted to see them while there were still a few out there—Jean Ossorio
Less than 120 Mexican wolves live in the Gila and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests of New Mexico and Arizona, so it’s just not that easy to spot one of the creatures. Jean Ossorio has camped out almost 500 nights over the 20-plus years since endangered Mexican wolves were reintroduced to their native habitat. She has had 56 sightings.
In this recent article by Tracy Staedter about Ossorio’s wolf watching adventures, the writer shares her experience camping out with Ossorio in 2016. On that trip they lucked out. Not only did they hear howling overnight, but were able to watch a family of wolves, the Hoodoo Pack, with their pups the next morning.
One of my favorite parts of the article is Ossorio’s photo of the contents of her pack–a rain-proof notebook, a track ruler, a bag of Traxtone (for making casts of tracks) and her mascot, Camo Lobo, among other things.
Kawi
Photo Credit: Paula Nixon
Although it’s not the same as watching a family of lobos cavort in a mountain meadow, there are other ways of getting a look at a Mexican wolf. Many zoos and conservation centers are home to Mexican wolves, participating in the species survival program. I have listened to wolves howl and watched them run and play and nap in facilities spread across the country. From the Wolf Conservation Center in New York state to the Living Desert in Palm Desert, California. Here’s a list of places where lobos live in captivity.
The place I visit most often to wolf watch is the Albuquerque BioPark. My only equipment is notebook, my cellphone camera, and a pair of birding binoculars that I always carry in the trunk of my car. These days there are two wolves sharing the public enclosure. Kawi, pictured above, is a female who has been at the zoo for a few years. Her new mate is Ryder, recently moved from the Binder Park Zoo in Michigan. You can see pictures of him in this press release.
It’s wolf breeding season so I’ll be keeping watch, stopping by to check on Kawi and Ryder in mid- to late-spring to see if they have pups.
Coyote Yipps is Janet Kessler’s blog about urban coyotes. Known as the Coyote Lady, she’s been photographing and writing about coyotes in and around San Francisco for the last eleven years.
Photo Credit: TonysTakes Flickr via Compfight cc
On a winter morning a few years back, I watched out my kitchen window as a coyote loped up the driveway, crossed the road, then stopped, turning to look behind him. A moment later his mate followed. After a brief greeting (if they made any sound, I couldn’t hear it from my vantage point), they took off together, leaving tracks in the snow as they disappeared from view up the hill and into the trees.
Maybe these are the same two that I have sometimes heard at night, yipping, howling, and barking. Coyotes are the loudest of my wild neighbors. The bobcats and bears are mostly silent as they pounce on mice or strip piñon nuts out of pine cones. I always assumed the noisy coyotes were in hot pursuit of a rabbit or roaming house cat, but it turns out I was probably wrong.
In this recent video posted on Coyote Yipps a female coyote is calling her mate. It takes a few minutes, but eventually he shows up. Her calls and his response sound much like what I have often heard coming from a stand of trees in my backyard or the nearby arroyo. Next time I’ll listen more closely.
Tuesday morning at Anaeho’omalu Bay—it was quiet—a few walkers and the canoe club preparing to launch.
A-Bay Beach
Behind the beach several cats, the A-Bay kitties, were sunning themselves on the lava.
Dave and one of the A-Bay cats
Although I hadn’t visited in more than two years, a few looked familiar. But there was one in particular I was looking for—Red, the one-eyed cat I wrote about in 2013. Now known as Popeye, he’s a favorite of volunteers and visitors, one of the oldest cats in the colony. Dawn of A-Bay Kitties (the nonprofit that takes care of the cats) says he’s about thirteen or fourteen and has mellowed in the last year or so.
I found him snoozing on a lava rock. And sure enough, he let me take his picture and scratch his ears.
Red aka Popeye 3/6/18
Two days later, back on the Mainland I received a text from Dawn. Red had been found dead by a visitor. It was unexpected, but it appeared he died peacefully in his sleep, no sign of any injuries. He was laid to rest nearby.
I’ll miss Red. He represents all that is good in us. From Charlotte and Dawn who captured the feisty tabby and took him to the vet when he was sick or injured to the many volunteers who made sure he always had food and water to the visitors from around the world who stopped by to check on Popeye and leave donations for the kibble fund. Red had a good, long life and was well-loved.