Valley Funale

Temperatures this past weekend were very warm and made it difficult to run dogs in the day time. Saturday we decided not to go out for a long run in the hot sun, but instead to head out to Two Rivers for the Valley Funale. We entered 2 teams in the 6 dog/ 10 mile race. The short distance is very doable without them overheating... of course we had no hope or chance of winning a sprint race like this, so we had a good time taking our time and doing some amazingly clean head on passes with all the teams.. Great race training for next year! The race was followed by a potluck grill out and kids 2 dog race that was very entertaining. Thanks to Two Rivers Mushers for putting on so many fun events that help get people started in this great sport.

the sleds getting set up and ready for the dogs

Macyn on her first solo run

Eureka!.. it's spring break in Eureka!

So we decided to load up all the dogs and all of Thomas and Megan's dogs (~40) and head out for spring break. Since we had the old and the young we decided to base out of the Wild and Free Mushing camp in Eureka, AK. Thanks to Brent, Kyla and Casey for the Hospitality! Here we were able to do some great runs with all the yearling integrated into the teams to get them out on some longer days with some short race style camping.  Here is a little abbreviated recap of spring break.



the view on Eureka Dome



On the first day at Eureka, Thomas, Cody and Paige took 3 teams and headed out for the trip to the village of Rampart. Rampart is located on the banks of the Yukon river and has only a handful of year round inhabitants. It is used mostly as a seasonal fish camp now adays. The run was 30 miles up over Eureka dome and down through the beautiful Minook valley. We ran into Rampart, took a quick look around as we scooped the loop and headed back out of town to let the dogs rest. Here we caught some zzzzs of our own. After a couple hours rest the dogs were ready to continue the 30 miles back. All the yearlings did great!

Thomas's team in Rampart on bank of Yukon River

the whole team is resting.. including Thomas in his sled. That blue thing is a person.

The next day we ran puppy teams on the extensive zig zagging mining trails in Eureka. It is great to get the pups out on new trails with lots of options so they learn to be excited to go anywhere! That night we hooked up 4 teams for a night expedition to Hutlinana hot springs. We had a great run into the hot springs under an almost full moon. We snacked and camped the dogs near the springs and enjoyed a nice soak and beverage.. now that is the way to train dogs to camp! After a couple hours at the springs, we loaded up the sleds and continued the loop back to Eureka. It was an awesome night all around.

hooking up 4 teams for blue bird run

We spent the next day recouperating and running puppy teams. The following day we did a nice loop toward Manley with 4 teams quick before M & T had to leave. Paige and Cody stayed around a couple more days to watch the Wild and Free dogs left bhind as the rest were running a large expedition in the Brooks Range. The temperatures warmed up.. way to warm to run dogs so we did lots of puppy runs and free runs before returning to normal life. I talked to dad after returning and mentioned that I was trying to adjust to normal life again... he said, "is your life ever normal?"... normal to us I guess.

Spring is springing in the Northlands!

Spring is coming fast. We have a little over a month left to run the dogs before the snow leaves so we are getting out there and making the most of it. The days are getting longer with about 11 hours of daylight now and it is getting quite warm in the afternoons.

This past weekend we finally got back out to Minto Flats since all the snowstorms. We took our tent to set up spring training camp. Here we can run the yearlings from home and get them dialed in to camping and doing multiple runs. Along the way, we ran into one of our neighbors that decided to come rest the dogs with us. You can see the three teams above and tent all set up in the photo above. On our way back home we ran into another neighbor who was on a little solo trip with his dogs.. he spent the night at the camp. We plan to do a few trips out here before the snow and ice melt next month. It is a great opportunity for the younger dogs to get used to the rest/run schedules of racing in a less stressful setting than an actual race.

We spent the rest of the weekend running the puppy teams and they are turning out to be some great dogs.. Thanks to Cim & Corrine, Aaron, and Brent for splitting these great litters with us.

On Monday we got  a vist from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.. seems they are still after Paige.. not really, but we made friends with the RCMP officers in Pelly and one of them, Mitch and his wife Merl came for a visit and to bring us a cd of photos from the Quest.. We had a nice visit and took them out to see the country side by dog team. Thanks for stopping in to visit and thanks for the donation towards the kibble fund.. we and the dogs appreciate it! If your reading this Mitch, please send us your contact info so we can visit when we come through Whitehorse!

So spring has many possibilities ahead, we may run a race at the end of the month in the Yukon Flats, we may do the Denali Highway, we may be running to hot springs, and we definitely will be following the caribou herds up north. Check back to see what the next month brings... plenty of at our own pace adventure!

When motors fail.. drift busting the old fashioned way...

All winter long we have been begging for snow.. and we finally got it. In fact, we got a whole winter of snow in less than a week. We received about 2 feet of snow in 3 different storms in less than a week. The first storm left some nice fluffy snow for the dogs to break through and was very enjoyable for all of us. The next storm left deep snow which was still passable, but also was quite windy leaving some challenging drifts. Cody decided to use the snowmachine to break through some of these drifts to make things easy on the dogs, but a mile into it, the dang thang broke down as motorized vehicles do. Dog teams however rarely completely break down if you take good care of them, so we broke out a bunch of trails, only to get them all filled in again by another substantial snowfall and 50+ mph winds. This last storm brought down many trees on the trails and has placed some human chest height drifts on our local trails. Armed with a chainsaw and some bad ass dogs, we have been slowly opening up the trails. Between the Karsten and Laurie's teams, Clint and Sarah's teams and ours, the trails are now back in order around here. The video below show a little of what the dogs have been doing...

Elizabeth Taylor (ET, the swing dog on right) is actually responsible for leading both teams through this in single lead with an assist from the free leader Stout. Elmer, the dog pictured in lead was just put their as a line holder because he does such a great job at that.. Good dogs!

After about a week and a half, most main trails are back to normal. Last night we decided to take a little side trail that wasn't broken. So there we are at 9:30pm with headlamps and the Husqvarna clearing trees off trail and then busting through drifts lke this again.. are we crazy? maybe so, but we sure love this life!