Location: Northwest GA
Time - 9:08am
Temperature: 37 degrees
Conditions: Cloudy, damp
Forecast: Mostly cloudy with up to three inches of snow tonight, snow tomorrow

You can see from the forecast what’s causing me to go crazy. For once, there is actually a good chance of snow here at Wolf Moon…and we won’t be here.

The good news is, we’ll be in VA where there is a good chance of snow accumulation too. But it’s gonna’ kill me if, for instance, we get more snow in GA than in VA!

But anyways, we are insanely busy packing and getting ready to head out at noon. It’s all kind of a whirl but I don’t mind. We’re going to a weekend of dog mushing! Find out more on http://www.siberianhuskyassist.com/

Wish us luck!

Oh, and check out this article from: http://www.gotricities.com/content/article.dna?idNumber=5209

Winterfest a recreation of 1925 serum run
By Jessica Fischer

Event will feature dog sled races, lumberjack contests and a ‘Meet the Mushers’ dinner

Years before the birth of the Iditarod sled-dog competition, 20 mushers teamed up for a relay race in which first prize wasn’t a Dodge truck or a big check; rather, it was saving the lives of children in Nome, Alaska, where an outbreak of diphtheria threatened to sweep through the small, isolated town.

On Jan. 27, 1925, a railroad conductor in Nenana, 674 miles away, handed a 20-pound cylindrical package wrapped in canvas to Wild Bill Shannon, the first of 20 mushers to move the diphtheria antidote closer to Nome.

Near midnight, Shannon started his nine dogs on the 52-mile trip to Tolovana, where he would hand the serum to another musher. The temperature was 35 degrees below 0.

Shannon and the rest of the mushers, including champion racer Leonhard Seppala and a wiry native known as “Jackscrew” who carried the serum 40 miles from Kaltag to Old Woman Cabin, successfully transported the package to Nome in five days, seven-and-a-half hours.

The weather won’t be as harsh and the stakes not nearly as high, but competition will be just as fierce at this weekend’s second annual Winterfest, featuring a re-enactment of the 1925 Alaska Serum Run and the Blue Ridge Dryland Challenge, sponsored by Eagle Pack Pet Foods and organized by the rescue group Siberian Husky Assist.

“The reason we are hosting the event is as a fund-raiser for our rescue, to educate about the Siberian Husky breed and to promote rescue, volunteerism, pet care and so many more good things that come with the historic serum run,” said Siberian Husky Assist founder Marcia Horne.

“We like to promote rescue and volunteerism in our events, as this is what we do,” she said.

The re-enactment will begin at 10 a.m., Saturday at the Virginia Creeper Trail head on Pecan Street in Abingdon, Va. Creeper Trail president Link Elmore will be aboard a steam locomotive when he passes the “serum” to Jim Kaser, the relay’s first musher, who will drive his sled team to the Watauga parking lot for the hand-off to musher Jeff Blewett of Paducah, Ky.

Blewett will pass the package to Fayth Smith of Gastonia, N.C., around 11 a.m., and her team will deliver it to the Iron Horse Campground, where all of the mushers will set off on the last leg of the journey in a parade of dogsleds.

The mushers and their precious cargo are expected to arrive at Damascus Park in Damascus, Va., between noon and 12:30 p.m., where Mayor Creed Jones will accept the arrival of the “life-saving serum.”

After catching the finish, onlookers can enjoy a day full of demonstrations, instructional seminars and other winter-related events at the park, including Alaska Lumberjack competitions hosted by the Virginia Tech Forestry Club; a winter hiking and survival talk by Steve Webb of Sun Dog Outfitters; and, at 1 p.m., a Doxie Derby — a race just for Dachshunds — sponsored by Pet Partners of Bristol.

Registration for the derby must be completed by noon, Saturday; to pre-register, call 276-591-5730 or 423-968-4126. Entry fee is $10 per dog.

“Since last year’s event was so popular we added more rescue groups and excitement to what was already an exciting educational event, with other rescue groups for pets and even people rescue groups, such as Intermont Search and Rescue, with their ‘Hug A Tree’ presentation for kids on what to do when you get lost in the woods,” Horne said. “Also, K-9 Jake, who is a cadaver search dog, along with his trainer Cynthia Bales, will show how he does a search pattern.”

Folks can also compete for several winter-related items up for grabs in the silent auction, including a T-shirt autographed by Lance Mackey, winner of the 2007 Iditarod and Yukon Quest.

At the inaugural Meet the Mushers dinner later in the day, Iditarod veterinarians Al Townshend and Sonny King, who’s also an Iditarod musher, will give a slide presentation on the storied relay and discuss extreme canine sports medicine.

The cost to attend the dinner, to be held at 5 p.m., Saturday, at the Iron Horse Music Hall, is $12 a plate. Tickets can be purchased Saturday morning at the park.

“We also combined in the weekend a dryland sled dog race that we had last year two weeks after the re-enactment,” Horne said. “Several of the mushers would have liked to be in both, and to drive a great distance twice was not easy with the price of gas, so we combined that all in one weekend.”

Mushers from across the Southeast are expected to drive their dogsleds down the Virginia Creeper Trail as part of Sunday’s Blue Ridge Dryland Challenge.

One- and two-dog teams will run two-and-a-half miles from Iron Horse Campground to Damascus Park, while the four- and six-dog teams will race a five-mile route, from Straight Branch to Damascus Park.

Both races start at 10 a.m., with teams expected to reach the finish line at the park between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Admission to both days of festivities is free.

For more information, visit siberianhuskyassist.com.

Second Annual Re-enactment of
the 1925 Alaska Serum Run
and Blue Ridge Dryland Challenge
WHEN: 10 a.m., Saturday and 9 a.m., Sunday
WHERE: Damascus Park, Damascus, Va.
COST: Free admission
CONTACT: siberianhuskyassist.com

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 10:08am
Temperature: 36 degrees F
Conditions: Cloudy, wet, drizzly
Forecast: Wet and cloudy today, cloudy tomorrow. Lows in the 30s

Well the snow is pretty much all gone. It was pretty while it lasted though. I thought the way it was snowing yesterday evening that maybe it would keep doing that all night and we’d get enough snow to use the sled this morning! No such luck. Around 8:30pm the snow changed over to rain and everything turned to slush. But hey! We did have a little bit of snow!

I’ll try to get some pics up soon.

In the meantime, here is the forecast for the area of VA that the Blue Ridge Dryland Challenge will be held, with the days I’ll be there in bold. From: http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=tn&prodtype=zone

…WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON…

.TODAY…SNOW…LIGHT FREEZING RAIN…RAIN AND LIGHT SLEET IN THE
MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON…THEN CHANGING TO ALL RAIN LATE IN THE
AFTERNOON. SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES. TOTAL SNOW
ACCUMULATION 1 TO 4 INCHES. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S. SOUTHEAST WINDS
5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NEAR 100 PERCENT.
.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE
EVENING. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S. WEST WINDS 10 MPH OR
LESS.
.FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. SCATTERED FLURRIES IN THE MORNING AND
EARLY AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S. WEST WINDS
5 TO 10 MPH.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER
MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. LIGHT WINDS.
.SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. BRISK. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S. WEST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH
INCREASING TO 15 TO 20 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE EVENING. COLDER. LOWS 8 TO 11.
.SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 13.
.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID
30S.

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 5:04pm
Temperature: 37 degrees F
Conditions: Cloudy, snowing
Forecast: Winter mix tonight, cloudy with freezing rain possible tomorrow. Lows in the 30s

Well. It’s snowing like crazy here! I haven’t seen it snow like this for YEARS! Unfortunately it’s supposed to change to rain tonight but it’s pretty right now. It’s snowing faster than it’s melting so we have a dusting already.

Calypso and I had a good run this morning but I am irritated because it seems like a bunch of people decided to hold the Lets Throw Our Fast Food Wrappers And Bags All Over The Side Of The Road Festival. Calypso was already bored with that trail and today there was a KFC bag every eight feet. I kept yelling “oh by!” “on by!” “on by, Calypsos!” “oh by!”

We’re hoping that nothing (like freezing rain/ice) stops us from going to the race in VA this weekend. Check out this article about one of the other people who will be competing in the race.

From: http://www.morganton.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=MNH/MGArticle/MNH_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173354198797Â (check out the picture on the link)

No snow poses no problem for dogsledder

By Heather Sanders

[email protected]

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Morganton - She hasn’t quite gotten to the Iditarod Great Sled Race, but it may be in her future.Jessica Osbourne, 17, will compete Jan. 20 at her first dry-land dogsledding race in Virginia, sponsored by Siberian Husky Assist of Virginia.

Osbourne left for Virginia on Friday to start preparing her dogs for the race.

So far, Osbourne said she has only practiced on dry land, although she has thought about racing on snow.

“But there’s no snow around here,” she said.

Although Osbourne has 10 huskies and five rescue dogs; she has four main canines pulling her along.

Ceasar, 3, and Zorro, 5, are the wheeldogs. They are the closest to Osbourne’s cart because they are stronger, she said.

Her two female huskies, Storm, 5, and Satin, 4, lead the team.

Osbourne said she has had all of the dogs except for Zorro, who she got from Friends for Animals, since they were puppies.

It is best to start training the dogs when they are 7 months old.

“It’s very hard training puppies,” Osbourne said. “They want to go everywhere. Sometimes they just don’t listen.”

It is still better to start with younger dogs, though, Osbourne said.

Osbourne’s family has had huskies for about 10 years, but she only started running them about three years ago.

In the cooler months, Osbourne, Satin, Storm, Ceasar and Zorro can be seen running the Greenway Trail.

Osbourne’s cart is a three-wheel bicycle with a basket on the back.

She said they typically don’t train in the summer because it is harder on the dogs. Even in the winter, Osbourne always carries water and bowls.

Eventually, she thinks she’ll move up to Alaska and open her own kennel.

“I look forward to doing more races,” she said.

So what is the weather supposed to do for the race? Here’s a forecast from http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=tn&prodtype=zone with the days I’ll be there in bold:

…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO
10 AM EST THURSDAY…

.TONIGHT…A CHANCE OF SLEET AND SNOW BY LATE EVENING…THEN SNOW
AND A CHANCE OF LIGHT SLEET AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW AND SLEET
ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 3 INCHES. LOWS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S.
SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NEAR 100
PERCENT.
.THURSDAY…SNOW IN THE MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF SNOW EARLY IN
THE AFTERNOON. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW
ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION 2 TO 4 INCHES.
HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 MPH OR LESS.
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 80 PERCENT.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S. LIGHT WINDS.
.FRIDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN
THE MORNING. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 40S. LIGHT WINDS.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 20S. LIGHT WINDS.
.SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. BRISK. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 30S.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS IN THE EVENING. COLDER. LOWS 7 TO 10.
.SUNDAY…MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 13.

But I must calm down and not become hysterical even though we are having THE BIGGEST SNOW WE’VE HAD IN YEARS! THERE IS ENOUGH OF A DUSTING TO MAKE THE GROUND A SORT-OF OFF-WHITE COLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, took some pictures which I’ll try to post soon.

Cheers!

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 8:02pm
Temperature: 30 degrees F
Conditions: Clear
Forecast: Partly cloudy tonight, chance of rain/sleet/ice/snow tomorrow night

Calypso and I had an excellent run this morning! It was wonderfully cool and she ran hard and fast. She REALLY wanted to go this morning! I’d go so far as to say it was our best run in a while! The sun was coming up and you could see it as a big orange ball through the pine trees.

And now for the weather forecast. It keeps changing. They are saying that tomorrow night through Thursday we will probably get some “stuff.” What exactly that “stuff” might be is the question. At best it could be snow. At worst, freezing rain (aka ice, aka glaze). Freezing rain wouldn’t be that bad except that I have to go to that race this weekend and ice could easily interfere with that!

Here’s to hoping it’s something easier or that there will be snow farther North. It would be funny indeed if the Southeast’s only sled dog race was actually run on snow!

Here’s what http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=tn&prodtype=zone had to say about the weather where the race will be held. The bold text is when I will be there:

.TONIGHT…MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS 16 TO 19. LIGHT WINDS.
.WEDNESDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 40S. LIGHT WINDS.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT…A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE EVENING. SNOW
LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT…THEN SNOW EARLY IN THE MORNING. SNOW
ACCUMULATION UP TO 2 INCHES. LOWS IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S.
EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF SNOW NEAR 100 PERCENT.
.THURSDAY…RAIN…A CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET IN THE
MORNING…THEN A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID
30S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION NEAR 100
PERCENT.
.THURSDAY NIGHT…CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE
EVENING…THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN
THE MID TO UPPER 20S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH. CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.
.FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY. A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW IN THE MORNING…
THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID
TO UPPER 30S. CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION 20 PERCENT.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW.
LOWS 18 TO 21.
.SATURDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW.
BRISK. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. BRISK. LOWS 7 TO 10.
.SUNDAY…SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S.
.SUNDAY NIGHT…PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 14.

Yep, looking interesting. It’s coming…

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 10:13am
Temperature: 30 degrees F
Conditions: Clear, damp
Forecast: Sunny today and tomorrow. Lows in the 20s, highs in the 40s!

Well, we had a good run this morning, though we only went 1-2 miles. The temperature was 24 degrees but there was no frost, despite the fact that everything was damp. It was interesting. Calypso did well, although she kept wanting to dash off the trail to investigate things (someone had dumped a KFC bag in the ditch and that resulted in another line tangled round the front tire).

This weekend is our first race of the Season and it looks to have good weather. Here is the forecast for where we will be (from our favorite forecast site - http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=tn&prodtype=zone )

.FRIDAY…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS.
HIGHS IN THE LOWER 30S.
.FRIDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF SNOW
SHOWERS. LOWS 15 TO 18.
.SATURDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. BRISK. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 20S.
.SATURDAY NIGHT…MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS 10 TO 15.
.SUNDAY…PARTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S.

Does that sound like a good mushing forecast or what?

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 6:45am
Temperature: 35 degrees F
Conditions: Clear
Forecast: Mainly sunny today, partly cloudy tomorrow. Lows in the 30s

Well, check this out. Mushing IS becoming more popular!

From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22620875/

Dog-sledding, like climate, heating up

Racers, tourists follow snow north or join the sport’s dry-land aficionados

By Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan

updated 2:37 a.m. ET, Sat., Jan. 12, 2008

JUKKASJARVI, Sweden - Sixty Alaskan Huskies yipped and yelped and howled on a frozen river 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle, itching to run.

The dogs, five teams of 12, tugged impatiently at harnesses tethering them to wooden sleds, where 20 tourists — from Britain, Portugal, Denmark and the United States — sat in insulated snowsuits, bracing themselves against subzero temperatures and wind. Then the sled drivers shouted, “Hike! Hike!” and the dogs started pulling and fell silent.

“They are happy when they run,” said Kalle Leissner, a bearded Swedish musher whose dog teams are part of a global boom in sled-dog racing and tourism that stretches from the snowy woods of Alaska to the sandy Outback of Australia.

Tens of thousands of people in dozens of countries compete in dog-sled racing on snow and, farther south, in proliferating events known as “dry land” races, in which dogs pull bikes or scooters — or even runners, according to the International Federation of Sleddog Sports. Warming climates, thinning out the snow, have helped drive interest in dry-land competitions in places not normally associated with dogs and sleds, such as Argentina, New Zealand and Mongolia.

Tens of thousands more people, meanwhile, are traveling as tourists to the world’s far north — including Alaska, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Finland — to spend a few hours or days being towed by teams of dogs.

Rising tourist interest
Dog breeders and tour operators said the rising interest comes in part from the bull market for environmentally friendly vacations. “There is a kind of beauty in it — it’s environmental, and the down-to-earth part of it attracts people,” said Kenth Fjellborg, Leissner’s boss, a local dog breeder who said he takes at least 5,000 people on dog-sled tours a year, up from 200 people in the early 1990s.

Fjellborg said his clients have ranged from honeymooners to children to royalty — in 2006, he led Prince Albert II of Monaco on a dog-sled expedition to the North Pole.

“People are fed up with sitting on a beach and frying like a lobster,” said Gill Kilbey, part-owner of dogsledding.co.uk, a British tourism company. She said travelers like the “dogs, the snow and the peace — there are no iPods, no television, and people say it gives them a chance to really think.”

“I don’t have to advertise. People just come,” said Grant Beck, a former champion racer who runs two dog-sledding companies in Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, and had 7,000 customers last year.

Prices for dog-sled tours vary by region — a four-hour trip in Canada can cost $100; four hours in Sweden costs more than twice that much. “It’s definitely important to the economy. It’s become very, very popular,” said Harald Hansen of Innovation Norway, which promotes trade and tourism.

He said budget airlines have made long-weekend international getaways common in Europe.

“We have been focusing on other activities than just alpine skiing to help compete with France and Switzerland,” Hansen said. “We want to carve out a niche that is unique to us. People can go dog-sledding and see the northern lights, and it seems like that’s succeeding.”

New generation embraces mushing
Alaska’s famed Iditarod, a 1,150-mile race widely considered one of the world’s greatest endurance tests, has drawn a record 111 mushers this year who will compete for nearly $1 million in prize money, said race spokesman Chas St. George.

St. George said more than a third of this year’s racers are younger than 30, which he called an indication that dog-sledding is growing in popularity with a new generation. About 4.3 million people visited the race’s official Web site last year.

Globally, 40,000 people competed in races in 2003, the most recent estimate, said Sally O’Sullivan Bair, an official with the International Federation of Sleddog Sports, a rise from 25,000 in 1997.

Norway and Sweden have traditionally been Europe’s most active dog-sledding nations, followed by France and Germany, said Lars Svanfeldt, president of the European Sled Dog Racing Association, which has clubs in 19 countries. The fastest growth has been in Poland, the Czech Republic and other Eastern European nations.

But changing climate conditions bedevil the sport. Poor snow conditions have forced the Iditarod’s organizers to modify the race course in seven of the past 10 years, St. George said. Unreliable snow cover has forced cancellation of up to 40 percent of the International Sled Dog Association’s competitions in recent years.

Svanfeldt said the growing emphasis on dry-land events is largely because of climate change. Other people respond by moving farther north, to places where snow and ice are more reliable.

Swedish town’s canine majority
One such place is this town, famous for its canine majority — 630 people, 700 dogs.

Jukkasjarvi is one of the northernmost villages in Sweden. Elderly people push sleds loaded with groceries and walk with ski poles. It is surrounded by dog-sled trails crisscrossing frozen lakes and forests filled with pine and birch trees.

Leissner, an experienced musher in Jukkasjarvi, stood at the back of his sled one recent day and guided his huskies down narrow trails as gusting winds drove the chill deep. Even at midday, the artic winter sun cast a weak, bluish-gray light; by about 3 p.m., it would be fully dark again.

The dogs pulled the sled at about 20 mph, with no sound save for the sled’s skis gliding over crusty snow. Leissner, 26, had no reins and steered simply with his voice — using “haw” for left and “gee” for right, directing the dog team with the traditional Alaskan commands.

Cutting through the vast forest, where elk tracks occasionally crossed the trail, Leissner said people are sometimes surprised by the look of his dogs. They expect them to be Siberian Huskies, which have the classic blue eye most commonly associated with the breed.

Alaskan Huskies come in brown, black and yellow and white, and are smaller and faster than Siberians, he said. “Siberian Huskies are bred to look like sled dogs,” he said. “Alaskan Huskies are bred to be sled dogs — we don’t care what they look like.”

‘The dogs love their jobs’
Animal rights activists have occasionally targeted the sled-dog business as cruel. But people in the industry say dogs are treated with care and respect — and they insist that the dogs enjoy the sport.

“The dogs love their job, and that’s why I love my job,” Leissner said. “In the morning when I harness the team, all the dogs are jumping, like, ‘Take me! Take me!’ ”

Without breaking stride, the dogs dragged their open mouths through snowbanks alongside the trail, using their tongues to cool themselves. For many delighted children riding the sleds, the highlight was not the tranquillity, but the dogs pooping as they ran.

An hour into the trek, Leissner and the other guides stopped their teams in front of a wilderness cabin, a round wooden hut with a peaked roof and a big wood fire crackling inside.

“It’s not a metal, modernized, mechanized machine,” said Jo Lees, a teacher from Liverpool, England, admiring the old-fashioned wooden sled on which she had arrived, its parts fastened together with twine. “It’s so peaceful, and it’s something new.”

After 20 minutes’ rest, the dogs started howling again, demanding to run.

Special correspondent Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 7:07pm
Temperature: 45 degrees F
Conditions: Clear
Forecast: Partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow, lows in the 30s

Yes! After being down for a couple of weeks, my blog is back up! Time to celebrate! Big thanks to Christian Hollingsworth for getting these blogs back on track! Three cheers!

 Yes, I’m happy. And goodness, there is SO MUCH going on right now. Training has been good. We had several really cold days where it dropped down to 12 degrees! These were followed by several warmer days - in the 70s! Which is just ridiculous.

You’ll be happy to know that Flurry was pulled from the shelter by a rescue group! Turns out he was a she! LOL

I’ve been busy with racing/travel plans for this Winter. I’ll update you on things as I think of them!

 It’s so great to be back.

Location: Northwest GA
Time - 7:55pm
Temperature: 27 degrees F
Conditions: Clear
Forecast: Clear and cold today and tomorrow. Lows in the teens to single digits.

If this doesn’t break your heart, nothing will. From http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9960254 :

This Husky was brought in covered in some kind of skin condition and open wounds. We think he is a male but he was so uncomfortable that I hated to touch him anywhere to check. Now at least he is warm and dry and has food to eat - Something that he probably hasn’t know in his short life. As miserable as he is, he came over and touched his nose to mine. Can someone please help him before it is too late. Let him know that not all humans are cruel!…………. Animals at this facility are subject to euthanasia after a 3 day holding period. Owner turn-ins have no required holding period. The shelter has only 19 dog kennels. PLEASE call the shelter at 706-857-0679 ASAP if you are interested in adoption or rescue.

Below are pictures of the pup, named Flurry. Click photos for larger images:

This is the saddest condition of any husky I’ve ever seen

This is pathetic. This makes me mad at the humans who abandoned him.

What kind of future does Flurry have?

Please help any way you can. Contact the shelter. I have heard (although this hasn’t been confirmed) that they still use gas chambers at this place. It makes me sick to think that Flurry might perish that way.

Please help Flurry.