Wolf Moon Siberians

Location: Glenrock, WY
Time - 8:17am
Temperature: 32 degrees F
Conditions: Partly cloudy, windy
Forecast: Rain or snow showers today, partly cloudy tomorrow. Lows in the 20s or 30s

Well I don’t have too much time to blog right now but I’ve got a lot to tell. The past two days I competed in the 4-dog 4-mile class of the Casper Mountain Sled Dog Races. I ran a loop trail with four Seppala Siberian Sleddogs named Misty, Smarty, Boogie and Judy. They were great dogs but they wouldn’t take my commands the first day. They kept wanting to pull into driveways on the righthand side of the trail. And I hadn’t been on a sled in a while and kept tipping over, getting dragged and crashing. Once I slammed into a snowbank and nearly lost my team. Fortunately there was some race help there and it wasn’t a disaster. Then I got sort of lost because the trail wasn’t marked very well. My time on day one was about 46 minutes, which put me in 5th place.

The second day was much better. The dogs knew me better by that point and I knew them better. We really were a team on day two. I drove the sled better and didn’t wipe out a single time! The dogs wanted to go down the same driveways but I told them not to and this time they DID obey my commands! It was great! We were smoking along and passing teams right and left. My time on day two was about 28 minutes which put me in first place.

The combined time of my 5th place finish on day one and my 1st place finish on day two put me in third place overall. So Judy, Boogie, Misty, Smarty and I did well. We won a hand-painted dog bowl and $20. That brings the amount of money I have won in sled dog races up to a whopping grand total of $45! LOL

The trail was nice but tough. A lot of uphills and downhills. There was one really steep hill - all I could think of was roller coaster!!!! The trail climbed pretty high and we could see a sweeping Rocky Mountain panorama! It was beautiful with the clear sky and dry air. Unreal. There was also a very challenging section of trail that was narrow, bumpy and twisty. Strangely enough, that was my favorite part. It was so much FUN!

No Comments »

Location: Glenrock, WY
Time - 11:17am
Temperature: 32 degrees F
Conditions: Clear, windy
Forecast: Partly cloudy and windy today and tomorrow. Lows in the 20s.

Well, the last day has been very busy. Most of the snow blew away before the wind died down yesterday afternoon. In the afternoon, Allan hooked 14 Seppala sled dogs to an ATV and went for a great 10-mile run through the desert. The country around here is just so different from what I’m used to in Georgia. Here there are rolling treeless hills and lots of dirt. We saw birds, rabbits, a coyote and pronghorn antelope. The dogs wanted to chase the antelope - it was like 14 Calypsos all hooked up. Was a very good run though.

This morning I’ve spent a good deal of time outside in the dogyard. There is one dog in particular that I like -Timber. He was my lead dog in the Casper races last year.

This year I have entered the 4-dog 4-mile class. That should be fun. We’re supposed to take out another team with the ATV today. So far I’m really enjoying my stay!

No Comments »

Location: Glenrock, WY
Time - 8:37am
Temperature: 20 degrees F
Conditions: Cold, windy with ground blizzard
Forecast: Wind and snow showers today, windy tomorrow

Woke up yesterday with a tornado watch for North GA. Oh fun…NOT! Seriously, the day I’m supposed to be flying out of Atlanta there is the possibility of tornadic thunder storms. Fortunately things cleared up in time for my 4:30pm flight out of Atlanta. And amazingly (this is the ATL airport remember) we were only delayed a half hour taking off! The flight was okay but a little rough and bumpy.

Made it into Salt Lake City after dark, ate supper in the airport there and then got on a prop jet to Casper. A tiny little plane - I bet if I stretched out I could touch both sides of the thing! It seemed more like a toy than a jet. Prop jets are not designed for human comfort, they are designed to get humans from point A to point B ASAP. They are loud and they vibrate annoyingly. That said, they can be fun and I thouroughly enjoyed my flight into Casper.

There was a couple of inches of snow in this area of WY last night. It’s all blowing away now - winds may gust up to 75mph. It’s high desert here and there are no trees. It’s cold too - this morning before I got up it was 2 degrees!

Anyway, I’m staying with my friends at Deer Creek Sled Dog Kennel. There is a mother dog and her three pups here in the living room right now. The pups were born last week. They are tiny but loud. When the mother dog spilled her water, the pups all started screaming until we mopped it up.

Anyway, we’re supposed to take a team out with the ATV this afternoon so that should be fun although cold.

Calypso is with my parents in GA. I miss her and would have liked to bring her but there’s no way I would/could put her on a plane!

More coming soon.

2 Comments »