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We've dropped into an unseasonable cold snap here in the upper Susitna Valley. Our temperatures hovered between zero and freezing most of last week. Anchorage even had a couple of big snowstorms but we didn't see much real change up here. The clouds moved off by the end of the weekend and things started cooling off. Tuesday morning I had 15 below (-26 C) at my cabin and a few degrees cooler out in the dog yard. The high Tuesday was barely above zero and as soon as the sun went down, the temperature headed down as well, reaching 15 below by midnight and 22 below (-30 C) by four this morning. Tonight it's already ten below at eight in the evening, but there are clouds moving in from the southwest and we probably won't be as cold in the morning.

These are the temperatures we usually don't expect until Thanksgiving or later, although they're certainly not too unusual this early in the month. Fairbanks has already had some of this, but they've also got a foot or more of snow. We're still waiting for our white stuff, and if the cold continues more than another week or two we'll start worrying about pipes freezing as the frost penetrates into the unprotected ground.

The reason we get so cold is really very simple: we're down in a river valley and away from the ocean. The cold air settles in and doesn't move very much and on clear nights its remaining heat radiates away into the sky. It's like going to sleep without a blanket--you may start out fine, but you'll get cold later on. If clouds move in, it's exactly like pulling up the covers in bed, and the heat doesn't go away as fast.

This happens all winter up here, and is really prevalent in the broad valleys of interior Alaska. Because they're so big, and so far away from the relatively warm oceans, pools of cold air can become very deep and long-lasting. This is why places like Fairbanks can sometimes get temperatures down to minus 60 F (-51 C) that can last for days and even weeks. Here in the Susitna Valley our cold spells don't normally last as long as in the interior, and usually don't get quite as cold, although we were actually colder than Fairbanks for much of last January and February.

We run into this kind of intense cold on the Iditarod and other races and even on ordinary training runs all winter. Going from an overland run down into a river bottom, it's not unusual to go from balmy temperatures of zero or ten below very abruptly down to 30 or 40 below or even worse. A couple of years ago we started the Knik 200 at 10 above zero just across Knik Arm from Anchorage and hit 62 below down on the Yentna River only 40 miles away. Every musher learns quickly that it's not a good idea to stop and rest in a low area on a clear, calm night because it might be like camping at the South Pole. I can say from personal experience on the 1999 Iditarod that it's very difficult for musher or dogs to get any decent rest at 50 below out in the open without straw for the dogs and some kind of heat source for the human.

Non-mushers worry about the dogs when it gets this cold but they shouldn't. Distance sled dogs are bred for cold and their coats are far thicker in the winter than most people realize. Also, sled dogs have the capability to convert huge amounts of food into energy and heat. Their metabolisms are nothing short of amazing, and when they get into the cold-weather mode they can withstand temperatures that would make a veteran Arctic explorer head for Hawaii.

Somebody has figured out that a dog can burn up to 2,000 calories a night sleeping on bare cold ground. In the dog yard or in checkpoints we always make sure they have straw to insulate them from the ground, and even the ones with the not-so-thick coats do just fine. It's been well proven over the years that good, old-fashioned straw (and on the trail, spruce boughs or even loose, dry snow) can allow a sled dog to sleep quite comfortably at 60 below zero. They will shiver a bit, but that's perfectly normal for northern-breed dogs and is part of their internal heating mechanism.

It's when they don't shiver a little we get worried because it means they might be getting hypothermic. That's why we make a special effort when it starts to get really cold to make sure the dogs get all the high-energy food they need. They need enough not only to let them pull the sled but also to stay warm at night. Fat is the best food for extra heat because it contains the most calories per pound and the dogs can convert it directly to energy. I always try to keep a bucket full of soap-bar-sized chunks of ground turkey skins or other fat-rich meat to toss to the dogs as snacks in addition to their meals.

Common sense says anything that reduces the amount of calories needed to keep warm means less food will be required, or that more energy will be available for running. Straw can actually take the place of a lot of dog food on a cold night, so we try to keep plenty of it around.

I put the winter's first big load of fresh straw in all of doghouses Saturday night when it looked like it was going to start getting cold. You'd have thought I'd given every one of them an early Christmas present. They played in it, tossed it around, and finally curled up and went to sleep. Unfortunately, some of them also decided to eat it. This normally isn't a problem, but anything can be done to excess.

Big Mac apparently ate quite a wad of it. Monday I noticed he was throwing up some bits and pieces of straw, and when I fed him late Monday night he ate everything in a hurry but then threw it all up within half an hour. He really looked uncomfortable for awhile, and the first thing I thought was that his stomach was blocked. This can be a serious problem for a dog, and I nearly lost his brother two years ago after he ate part of a carpet and plugged himself up. (That led to a $700 operation.)

I took Big Mac to the vet first thing Tuesday morning and the x-rays showed no gas or torsion (twisted gut), and his stomach was full but not distended. The only thing we could figure was that he'd just eaten a bunch of straw and had the ultimate case of constipation. Actually, nothing was moving in his entire gastrointestinal tract, apparently because something like straw had caused enough irritation to cause the assembly line to shut itself down.

This morning I picked him up and took him to another vet in Anchorage for a possible operation. The new vet decided to give him some drugs designed to get the G-I tract moving again, plus give him lots of fluids, and see if that solves the problem. I hope it works, because I'd like to avoid an operation if I can. No musher likes to have a dog go under the knife. If nothing else, it takes at least a couple of weeks before the dog can resume training, and there's always a certain element of risk involved in the procedure itself.

And there's always the financial consideration for many mushers. There's no such thing as calling up an insurance company and enrolling in a health plan for dogs, at least not for sled dogs. Every musher learns to do as much vet work as he or she can, including first aid, giving shots, and even some minor surgery. But sooner or later it's necessary to take a dog to the vet, and it's not cheap. Just walking in the door for an office call can be $35, and that doesn't even include treatment or x-rays or medicines. Any kind of internal surgery can easily exceed $500. Some mushers can't afford expensive treatment, and they can be faced with very difficult decisions when a dog has a problem.

Over the past five years I've spent several thousand dollars on vet care for my dogs, over and above normal examinations and shots and other routine stuff. In some cases it hasn't been easy, but I've always managed to find the money somehow. When Maybelline had problems having her pups this summer, I didn't even think twice about rushing her to the vet for what turned out to be an emergency Caesarean section (and bill of almost $600). It meant I ended up with a cheap oil stove for my cabin this winter instead of a good one, but that's the way it is.

Some mushers are lucky enough to have friends or sponsors (or spouses) who are vets, and they can get their work done for free or at cost. Some mushers are vets, which may be the best of all worlds. There's no question that mushers who can afford good vet care for their dogs, or otherwise have access to it without breaking the bank, have a significant advantage. So far, I haven't heard of any dog health plans for mushers. It would be nice if somebody invented one. I'd gladly pay a couple hundred bucks a month for good coverage.

I'd like to get Big Mac running again because he's one of my leaders. In addition, he's one of my "Iditapups" from my 1995 rookie attempt to get to Nome; he and his brother Shorty are the only two survivors of a litter of seven. The rest didn't make it through the terrible parvo epidemic that took so many of my pups that summer. He's plenty tough and I think he'll come through all right. I'll check on him Saturday; it's up to the vet for now.

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