Wolf Moon Dogsledding

Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 7:44am Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 72 degrees F (22 C)
Conditions: Cloudy, damp
Forecast: Thunderstorms today and tomorrow. Lows in the 70s, highs in the 80s

As you probably know, the Wolftrack Classic Sled Dog Races run between Ely and Tower, Minnesota. The races began in 2008 and were run again in 2009. They consisted of a 30-mile, 6-dog race from Ely to Tower and a 60-mile, 8-dog race from Ely to Tower and back. I ran the Wolftrack 60 last year with the MCK puppy team (see picture above, which was taken in the starting chute) and had a blast!

In 2010 things will change for the Wolftrack Classic. I have just seen on their website that the longer race is being extended to a 130-mile, 10-dog race! It will run from Ely to Cook and back, with Tower as a checkpoint. The race is limited to 25 teams so it will be interesting to see how it fills up. I am very excited about it!

The Wolftrack Classic 30 will remain the same, running from Ely to Tower.

Both races start on Sunday, March 7th, 2009. Registration is not open yet.

More info at http://www.wolftrackclassic.com/

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 5:11pm Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 85 degrees F (29C)
Conditions: Partly cloudy
Forecast: Thunderstorms today and tomorrow. Highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s

Well, I finally got around to taking a picture of my new Subaru Outback. I’m quite proud of my little ‘Ru (I’ve started calling it Shuttlecraft. Don’t ask) and am very much enjoying it.

In other news, the dogs are very much enjoying the new lower yard. They are starting to wear little paths through the trees and digging holes and chewing on any underbrush they think looks fun or tasty.

The pack hanging out in the lower yard.

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 7:37am Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 57 degrees F (14C)
Condtions: Mostly clear, cool
Forecast: Partly cloudy, highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s

Above: Susan in Calypso in the newly-completed lower yard

Well we spent the weekend in South Carolina where it was SCORCHING. It was a nice surprise to come home to what feels like a preview of Fall. We are actually having a cool snap which I know won’t last but I intend to enjoy it while I can!

The dog yard expansion is now complete with only a little fine-tuning left to do. I’ve included quite a few pictures:

Susan bounds around the lower yard

Even April gets into the act!

The fencing itself. Welded wire on the bottom with an extra strip of chicken wire (don’t laugh!) along the top, just to be on the safe side.

Our fun has by no means been confined to the outdoors. The other day we witnessed (actually brought about) the return of a certain yellow and black object that has caused chaos in the past…

I am referring of course to the above-pictured yellow and black squeaky ball with which Calypso has had a long-running obsession. She hadn’t seen it in well over a year but she still remembered that it used to be on top of the cabinets. So when it *mysteriously* appeared in the toy basket…

It didn’t take long for Calypso to take notice. Her Precious was BACK!

Actually, she doesn’t seem *quite* as obsessed with it as she was. She does enjoy putting it under the sofa and making me crawl under said sofa to retreive the Precious Squeaky Ball. Susie got hold of Squeak for a little bit too! The passing of the torch (or black & yellow squeak)?

Hope everyone is staying cool!

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 10:02pm Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 82 degrees F (28 C)
Conditions: Mostly clear, humid
Forecast: Partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow. Highs in the 90s, lows in the 70s

Well I was going to write a post entitled “Red Stuff” that showed pictures of my new (red) car, as well as some leaves that were turning red. Unfortunately we had a thunderstorm and all the red leaves fell to the ground. I’ll still get the car picture up soon. In the meantime, an update on the dog pen expansion (see photo above).

What I have started calling the “Lower Yard” is great! It’s just about finished. Actually it WAS finished until we decided the fence should be taller. We had the dogs playing in the lower yard and they looooved it. Unfortunately we haven’t had them in there much but we will soon now that we have been adding an extra section of wire to the top of the fence!

More pictures when it is done!

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 10:02pm Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 72 degrees F (22 C)
Conditions: Cloudy, rainy
Forecast: Thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. Highs in the 80s, lows in the 70s

Things here are going well. I will post some recent pictures and news tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the (so far) 60 entrants in the 2010 Iditarod. Looks to be an exciting and interesting race!

From: http://www.iditarod.com/race/musherlisting.html

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 11:06pm Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 79 degrees F (26 C)
Conditions: Partly cloudy, humid
Forecast: Partly cloudy today and tomorrow. Lows in the 60s, highs in the 90s

Well, to “celebrate” Summer and our muggy temperatures, I am posting some pictures of something much colder! Jim Benson, who handled for me in the Beargrease 150 sent me these pictures the other day and I wanted to share them. I knew they had been taken but most of these I hadn’t seen until last week! They are of our finish in Tofte, Minnesota last January. Oh I miss the snow! The above picture is me and my team coming into the Tofte finish line.

Getting my sled stopped at the finish. I am braking and putting snowhooks in the snow. For those of you who don’t know, snowhooks are like anchors and (sometimes!) keep the dogs from running away with the sled.

Bag check at the finish line, to make sure I have all my required gear in my sled. The dogs looked great after running the 150-mile race!

From left - Jim, me and Dave at the finish line. Jim and Dave handled for me during the race and forced me to stay warm! Before I left the checkpoints along the trail, they insisted I wear every warm clothing item they could find! The result is that I felt like some giant jet-puffed marshmallow - but I also felt warm, even at temperatures that were reportedly down to -35 F. I am grateful to their help.

Erin, my other handler. Erin was a great help along the trail and always encouraging and upbeat. If I may say so myself, I think I had the best handler team on the trail! I could never have done this race without them. Race handlers are the unsung heros of sled dog races and the tales they tell are as crazy as the tales of the mushers themselves.

If you haven’t before, check out my original post on the 2009 Beargrease 150 at http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog/2009/01/31/red-lantern/ Be sure to read Dave’s comments at the bottom of that post!

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Location: Armuchee, GA
Time - 7:41am Eastern Daylight Time
Temperature: 70 degrees F (21 C)
Conditons: Cloudy, light rain
Forecast: Thunderstorms today and tomorrow. Highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s or 70s

Calypso and Susan chilling out

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July. We spent ours relaxing and doing a little work outside. I say a “little” work because the humidity really got to me yesterday. Even though it was cooler than it has been, the muggy-ness just saps energy and makes one feel cruddy.

And then, in the afternoon, I decided it would be a good idea to get a workout in. So I took my bike out and hit the hills. Excellent workout but once again, the humidity was terrible. I miss Minnesota!

So today I am happy to report that we are getting some much-needed rain. This year has been wetter than past years but when I rode by the creek yesterday, there was no water in it. Oh the joys of Summer in Georgia.

I have decided that I am not going to do this again. I am not going to do another GA Summer. Spring, Fall and Winter are OK here but next year this time I hope to be in Alaska or at least still in the midwest or somewhere that isn’t 90 degrees and muggy. I’m really aiming for Alaska though, at least for the Summer.

Speaking of Alaska, the sign-up for the 2010 Iditarod has started (see http://www.iditarod.com/race/musherlisting.html ). Blake has entered, which is great news! We were all incredibly disappointed when MCK had to withdraw prior to the 2009 race but we know it was best for the dogs. This year, however, we hope to avoid excess Vitamin A and to put a great team in the Iditarod. It is going to be exciting working with Blake, Jen and the dogs this Fall and Winter!

And last, but not least, I am verrrrry excited to report that I have a new car! Okay, it isn’t brand new but it’s new to me! I have a Subaru Outback (it’s red!) and I love it! I’ll try to get some pictures of it up soon.

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