Car collides with dog team, musher injured

TALKEETNA — A car left the Parks Highway Tuesday evening, colliding with team of sled dogs, sending the musher to the hospital and the dogs scattering into the woods.

As of Wednesday morning, announcements from both the injured musher — Karin Hendrickson — and the Willow Dog Mushers Association indicated that all 16 dogs had been rounded up.

“Looks like I’m going to be out of commission for awhile. At Mat-Su Regional emergency waiting to be transported to Anchorage. Broken back and leg,” Hendrickson posted to Facebook at around midnight Tuesday.

Hendrickson, of Talkeetna, is a well-known presence in the mushing community. She’s a four-time Iditarod finisher who made it into Nome in 36th place twice and in 40th place twice. She runs her own business, Blue and Black Kennels — named for a Kenny Wayne Shepherd song and the bruises mushing leaves on its adherents — and was signed up to run this year’s race.

At the time of the accident — 7:26 p.m., according to an Alaska State Trooper report — she was riding a four-wheeler with her dogs tied to it. This is a relatively common training practice for mushers. ATVs with a team strung out in front are a common sight in mushing hotspots like Willow and Knik.

At about Mile 91 of the Parks Highway, a vehicle piloted by Mabel Quilliam, 68, of Talkeetna, left the highway and hit Hendrickson and her team. Roads in the area and across much of the Valley had been slick that day and for most of the week.

An ambulance took Hendrickson from the scene to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Meanwhile, the Willow Dog Mushers Association’s Facebook page sprung into action almost immediately.

Mushers were combing the trails looking for the dogs that had broken loose from Hendrickson’s team. Very quickly the bulk of the dogs were in hand. By about 10 p.m. two were still missing. A post on the association’s page at around 7 a.m. Wednesday states that the final stragglers had been rounded up.

Hendrickson’s status updates on her own page were buried in a deluge of people offering prayers and encouraging thoughts.

“Thank you all for the many, many messages and positive thoughts. It was a tough night and I’m currently waiting to talk to the neurosurgeon,” she wrote at around 9 a.m. in a post that was also soon buried under a pile of well wishes. “Have received many queries — instead of flowers would love dog food!”

She directed people interested in helping with food to Underdog Feeds at 907 373-6852.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.