Arrived in Whitehorse

"Arrived at Muktuk OK last night. Frank very pleased to see me.

Air flights went OK, seats OK food OK.

Sat next to a couple from Cairns. They are doing a guided canoe tour from Whitehorse to Carmacs over  days.

Had a run this morning, got eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Going shopping this morning for matches gas etc

Love Tom"

 

Tom eventually left Sydney on Friday afternoon. Flying all the way to Whitehorse. He is carrying a Spot GPS Messenger again and this is his message from Whitehorse

"TomSimmat
Latitude:60.84151
Longitude:-135.29997
GPS location Date/Time:06/23/2013 02:51:11 EST

Message:Team 20 "On the Way to Maine"      Tom Simmat, Urs Mader

Click the link below to see where I am located. http://fms.ws/CauCE/60.84151N/135.29997W

If the above link does not work, try this link: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=60.84151,-135.29997&ll=60.84151,-135.29997&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

TomSimmat

You have received this message because TomSimmat has added you to their SPOT contact list.

Ready for Adventure
FindMeSPOT.com"




No big road trip this time as Arnie and Urs have collected the kayak from the shipping terminal in Vancouver, driven to the Alaska Ferry Terminal at Bellingham and boarded a ferry to take them to Skagway, Alaska, where Tom will collect them on 24th June. A 3 hour drive from Whitehorse.

Skagway, Alaska

A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of  “gold in the Yukon” still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail.  That place is Skagway!

http://www.miningswindles.com/html/klondike_gold_rush.html 

http://skagway.com/jigsaw-puzzle/

Tom is staying at Muktuk again to prepare for the race

The Story of Muktuk

Mutkuk is an Inuktitut word meaning whale blubber.
Frank Turner named his dog kennel Muktuk because his friend Victor Kisoun of Inuvik brought him muktuk to feed his very first group of dogs. As with the whale hunt, where the work must be shared, so is the harvest where nothing is wasted.
Muktuk is the outer layer of fat found in Beluga and Bowhead whales which are hunted along the Arctic shores of Alaska, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories. This part of the whale has the texture of egg whites with a nutty flavor that dogs love.
Mutkuk was traditionally set aside to feed Inuvik sled dogs as a highly nutritious treat for these hard-working and vital servants who provided the primary means of transport to their first keepers.