In response to a question on the NorthWapitiNews email list Karen said...

Actually Snickers necropsy is completed. She was cremated earlier in the  week and we picked up her ashes on Friday. She will go home to Perryvale  for her final resting place. Mark and I have already picked a special
 location in our yard for her. We were very touched to not only receive a lovely box with her ashes, but  a heart shaped piece of clay with her pawprint on it. It brought about a  whole new round of tears, even though I thought no more were possible. It will be a  very cherished keepsake.

As for when we are going home to Perryvale - that is a bit of a story right now. See NONE of my gear is back off the trail. That includes the sled I was driving when I scratched in Grayling, all my favored gear that was in it, my second sled that was in McGrath and all my leftovers from the checkpoints. Mark figures it is well in excess of $10,000 worth of stuff.

Stuff should start trickling in starting on Tuesday or Wednesday, however for Mark to make it home in time to get back to work we need to leave Thursday - which probably means we will be forced to leave alot of gear up
here. Jamie is too kind and has no issue with that, but I hate having to have her sort, clean and store all my stuff.

Then I discovered that there is a 300 mile race starting at Wolverine Lodge on Lake Louise on April 2nd and wheels began to turn in my head...

It would be VERY nice to end the season on a positive note - AND that would enable me to gather up most of my gear before heading home. The problem is Mark has to head back home. So in order to make this happen, we need to find a handler for me for the Taiga 300 race and someone to drive home with me.

Time is pushing hard on this plan - as we need to book Mark a flight home ASAP, but there is no point in doing that if I can't find a handler/traveling companion.

So, Mark will be home later this week, but at this point, I'm really not sure when I will be home!

Follow the race - http://www.dogsled.com/taiga-spring-break-300/taiga-300-4.html

Karen