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Dog Of The Week: Granger

Sarah · June 29, 2015 ·

We named her Granger because she was smart from the beginning. She reminded me so much of Hermione from Harry Potter — always eager to solve a problem. True to her namesake, Granger is one tough, smart little dog. She is energetic and is always ready to face a new challenge. She has been working hard at becoming a leader, like her sister Krum, and has shown early success. She ran as a leader-in-training throughout most of the winter and now helps as a leader on our Godwin Glacier dog sled tours. She is a sharp, feisty little dog who filled in as a last-minute replacement on our 2015 Iditarod team and ran approximately 250 miles of the race. We were excited by this young dog’s early success.

Thanks for your continued hard work Granger! We look forward to watching you learn and grow at our kennel.

photo courtesy of Glacier Guide Andrea Langefeld

Finding Balance: What Racing Sled Dogs Has Taught Us About Rest and Relaxation

Sarah · June 17, 2015 ·

In sled dog racing, it’s important to find the right balance between running and resting so that your team is as strong and efficient as possible. Not enough rest, and a musher risks wearing their dogs out but too much rest is equally problematic as too much rest can put you far behind the competition. Finding a good rest and run schedule for your sled dog team is essential to being a competitive long distance dog sled racer.

One of the most interesting things about the 1,000-mile long Iditarod sled dog race is that very little rest is actually structured within the rules of the race. There are only 3 mandatory rests throughout the 1,000 mile long race: a 24 hour layover to be completed at any checkpoint, an 8 hour layover to be completed at a checkpoint on the Yukon river, and an 8 hour layover at White Mountain 77 miles from the finish line. A musher cannot combine their mandatory 8 hour layover with their 24 hour layover.

It should go without saying that 40 hours of rest is not is not enough to get a dog team the full 1,000 miles down the trail. Mushers must decide their own rest and run schedule to suit their teams needs. This is what makes Iditarod so fascinating: mushers have to figure out how to structure their race to maximize their dog team’s capabilities.

Every Dog Team Is Different

Every dog team is different so ultimately we see many different rest and run strategies emerge throughout the race. Mushing dogs competitively means finding what works for your dogs. Some dog teams are better at going fast for short distances and taking longer rest. Other dog teams excel at running longer and farther than the competition at a slower pace; the slower pace is less taxing on the dogs and, in theory, these dogs need less rest. A main component of training is figuring out how you as a musher want to run your team and what your dog team excels at.

Young dogs learn to camp inbetween dog sled tours — Young dogs, Wrangler and Carhartt, learn to camp inbetween dog sled tours. Wrangler finished 11th and Carhartt 10th in the 2015 Iditarod.

Of course, there are personal considerations to take into account as well. In long distance racing, having adequate sleep helps mushers make crucial decisions and avoid costly errors that could put them out of the competition. It is just as important for the musher to train to their rest and run schedule as it is the dogs.

Making Rest Count

In order to make rest beneficial for the dogs, there are a number of things that we as mushers do. The most important is that we provide them with a warm, relaxing, and familiar environment that puts our dogs at ease. While we can’t necessarily go out and run the race beforehand, we can practice the basics of camping with our dogs in training so that they know what to expect.

Although each musher may have a different “order of operations” we generally all do something rather similar. First, we make a comfortable bed for our dogs to sleep. On the trail, we do this by laying out straw and making “nests” for the dogs. The straw provides a layer between the dogs and the snow, helping to insulate the dogs and keeping them warm. It is also a good signifier to the dogs that the team is going to be stopped for awhile

Straw is great bedding for sled dogs — Sled Dogs Resting on Straw near the Finger Lake checkpoint in the 2013 Northern Lights 300

The next thing we do is feed the dogs. This can be a chore if we are out on the middle of the trail as we have to melt snow to make warm water for the dogs. We feed a warm wet stew-like meal full of beef, chicken, fish, different types of fat, and kibble. The meal is loaded with high-energy fats and proteins to help our dogs stay warm and to help them refuel their bodies. Sled dogs consume roughly 12,000 calories during racing and training to help them stay warm and fuel them down the trail.

After eating, the dogs then curl up and go to sleep. As a musher, we then began working on each dog, one at a time. What we do for each dog varies, but generally it includes rubbing their feet and putting any necessary ointment on. We also like to massage our dogs wrists, shoulders, and lower back. We can spend upwards of twenty minutes on each dog. We use massage ointments on our dogs to help relax them, increase blood flow, and to help prevent injury.

Amazingly a dog team is rejuvenated and ready to head back down the trail for another run after their rest which can be as short as 2 hours or as long as 8, depending on the musher’s strategy. The dogs are excited to get back out on the trail and continue running.

Planning Rest

Believe it or not, when we prepare for a race, we prepare by planning where we will rest and how long. This helps us figure out how to pack our drop bags for each checkpoint. Drop bags are bags of gear located at the checkpoints along the race trail. It’s how we resupply crucial gear like dog food and human food. Having checkpoints allows us to use dogs bred for endurance rather than strength. Not having to haul our own gear allows us to use a faster “race” dog rather than the hefty weight-pulling dogs used during Alaska’s gold rush era.

What We’ve Learned From Our Sled Dogs

When you own sled dogs, you stay busy. When you own your own business, it seems you stay even busier. Between our kennel responsibilities and our work responsibilities it seems like we never stop working. The trouble with that, however, is that no human can sustain that pace. Just like a sled dog needs time to rest and recover after a long run, it’s important that we, as people, take time for ourselves to recuperate and to rejuvenate.

We’ve learned that just like we have to plan rests for our dogs, we also have to plan rests for ourselves. If we don’t, we run into the same problem our dogs do: we burn out.

This summer we are making a commitment to taking more time off to be with each other and relax together. We’ve worked on finding new hobbies. Travis has begun mountain biking and I’ve started painting again. I also have started a chicken coop and have 8 laying hens.

The chickens should be fun and give us something new to do. I’ve enjoyed watching them in their temporary coop and have also enjoyed working on painting their new coop.

We spent a few blissful days watching our friends house. It was so soothing getting toleave the kennel and stay down the road from our house. The peace and tranquility that allowed gave us some much needed time to reconnect. We woke to beautiful mountain views and got to enjoy listening to loons at night. We also went kayaking one day and jet skiing another.

Our good friend and fellow Iditarod Wade Marrs and his girlfriend, Sophie, came to visit and Travis was able to show them our glacier dog sledding operation. Wade had previously worked in Skagway; getting to share that with him was great.Travis took him and Sophie snow machining. We had great weather while Wade and S0phie visited and are looking forward to them returning in a few short weeks with Sophie’s family.

My family also came to visit and we spent a great week hanging out. My parents filled in where needed, helping us in the office and at the kennel. We redid our kennel office while they were in town, enjoyed some scenic flying, and just enjoyed each others company.

Planning rest is important not just for sled dogs but for people too and we will be doing more of that this year for ourselves!

Dog Of The Week: Handsome

Sarah · June 8, 2015 ·

Handsome is, well, handsome. He is a very beautiful dog who likes to remain aloof. He is not a fan of people and has taken his time in warming up to both Travis and I — though he has made himself right at home with his teammates. When not running, Handsome enjoys playing with other dogs.

Despite his timidness, Handsome began training this winter as a lead dog alongside Wrangler. Although he may act like the Cowardly Lion around us in the kennel, on the trail he is anything but!

Handsome is a an all-star dog who we are excited to watch develop over the next year. This year, a last minute injury kept him off of our Iditarod team. We expect, however, that he will be one of the 16 strong next year!

Dog Of The Week: Ray

Sarah · June 1, 2015 ·

We don’t know how he does it, but this old man refuses to give up his position on the main team. We were pleasantly surprised in January to see him back again as one of our go to all-star dogs. Ray never seems to be out of energy. Even now, at 8 years old he still acts like a puppy in the dog yard. He is always willing to play with his neighbors, eat kibble, or run.

He is the only dog, besides Fidget, that has finished every Iditarod Travis has been in. Despite all the young talent in our kennel, Travis is certain that Ray will be back in the top 16 again next year.

“I don’t know how he does it,” Travis says whenever he talks about Ray. “I mean, he certainly is a little lazy at times but when the going gets tough, there is Ray, digging deep for his teammates.”

Ray is fun dog to have on the trail and is notoriously good at finding items that have been dropped along the way. He’s found gloves, booties, and even wallets out on the training trail. On a fall training run he once came back with a tennis ball that he proceeded to keep in the dog yard for a few weeks.

Thank you for all your hard work Ray! We are so glad to have you as part of our kennel.

Running A Remote Glacier Dog Sledding Tour And Camp

Sarah · May 27, 2015 ·

Our summer job is beyond awesome. We get to hang out with our dogs all summer long and introduce people to dogsledding either at our kennel in Seward, Alaska or on our home away from home, Godwin Glacier. It’s a lot fun sharing our passion with guests to Alaska and our glacier dog sled tours help us train a competitive race team.

Running a remote dog sledding camp and tour is no easy feet. We are in our third year of running tours on Godwin Glacier and each year we assemble our remote camp in May and disassemble it in September. Lots of careful planning is involved because we strictly adhere to leave-no-trace camping skills: everything that goes onto the glacier must also come off the glacier — including dog poop!

What Is A Glacier

Glaciers are the result of snow accumulation that is greater than the amount of snow that melts during the summer. This snow eventually compresses into very dense glacier ice. As more snow compresses into ice, the glacier begins to flow in the path of least resistance which is generally downward causing the glacier to expand. The underside of the glacier travels slower than the top of the glacier due to friction with the ground. These changes in speed result in the ice cracking, forming large crevasses. Although crevasses can be found on any part of a glacier, they are mostly found at areas where the glacier is under stress. The accumulation zone generally has very few crevasses.

Although at 3700′ feet we are likely to have snow at our camp until the end of June, the hot summer sun beats down on the the glacier causing snow to melt at a rate of 2-6 inches a day. Godwin Glacier is currently receding. This means that the snow falling in the accumulation zone is not producing enough pressure to continue to push the glacier ice outward. Although we still have lots of snow in the accumulation zone, the toe of Godwin glacier has moved back approximately 30 feet in the last three years.

Glacier Dog Sledding: Camp Overview

Our dogsled camp is located at 3700′ feet elevation in the accumulation zone of Godwin Glacier. Godwin Glacier sits on the edge of Chugach National Forest and Kenai Fjords National Park. Nestled quietly among mountains, it’s very easy to forget an outside world exists! It is approximately a 10 minute helicopter flight from the Seward Airport to our dog camp.

We receive a tremendous amount of snowfall throughout the winter because of our local geography. Godwin glacier is located on a mountain that rises dramatically out of the ocean quickly gaining elevation. This sudden rise of land pushes weather systems up into the colder part of the atmosphere. Last year, our last recorded snow fall was on June 27th. During the month of June, we had approximately 3 feet of snow fall while we were on the glacier.

We often expect snowfall as the main form of precipitation until late June and expect it again in early September. Because of this, we are able to run our glacier dog sled tours late in the season. Last year, we were the last glacier dog sledding operation to close and anticipate once again claiming that title. This year, we estimate that we started the season with over 60 feet of snow and have steadily been gaining more snow.

Our dogs enjoy their time on Godwin Glacier immensely. For a sled dog, there is simply nothing better than getting to run on snow. For our guests, glacier dog sled tours mean a chance to experience the epitome of Alaskan culture without having to visit during the frigid winter months. Living in a remote environment, however, requires many careful considerations.

Living On Godwin Glacier

Our guides generally live on Godwin glacier for 4 to 7 days at a time before being flown off the glacier to have a few days off. We have a rotating staff of well qualified guides who are all in their second season working with us. Additionally, we have another guide who joined us from another company. We feel pretty blessed when it comes to our coworkers: we have a really great crew and love to have fun together.

While living on the glacier, our guides have many important duties to attend to besides giving dog sled rides. Although providing a great customer experience is their number one job, in this post we are going behind the scenes to share what their other job duties entail.

Glacier Communication

Being able to communicate with our dog camp is incredibly important to us. We have used a combination of different methods in the past with limited success. This year, we purchased a satellite phone for a no-worry system of being able to communicate between dog camp and the ground. Good communication is important for safety reasons. We communicate with our guides a minimum of two times a day.

Flying To Dog Camp

We use Robinson 44 helicopters that seat 3 passengers and a pilot. Our pilot, Michael Culver, is back for his third season with us. Our helicopters require good visibility for flying. If weather conditions are not optimal or their is limited visibility, we cannot get to camp. In those events, we do not fly. We work with our guests to reschedule their trips, if possible, around any other activities they have planned. Because of this, we always recommend people booking us for their first day in Seward.

Taking Care of Sled Dogs on A Glacier

One of the most important parts of our guides job is to take care of our sled dogs. Our sled dogs are competitive racing athletes. Their care is of the utmost important to us. During the summer, our dogs work hard — glacier dog mushing is a great strength training program for the team — so they eat a minimum of two meals a day.

Dog Food

Our guides prepare a mixed meal with either beef or chicken and dog food. We currently feed a blend of two different dog foods: one is fish based and another chicken based to ensure an all around balanced meal. The dogs will also receive snacks on busy days where they are running more to help keep them energized.

We are constantly resupplying our dog food levels on the glacier. During guest flights, we may store a bag of dog food under one of the helicopter seats or strap it to an exterior cargo rack so that we can have plenty of extra food in camp. It is important to stock up on things such as dog food so that in the event the helicopter can’t get up to camp, our dogs can still eat. We keep a minimum of 7 days worth of dog food in camp at all times but often have more.

Dog Poop

With eating, comes the aftermath — dog poop! Dog poop must be scooped on a regular basis up on the glacier. We always want our dog yard looking pristine for our guests and because a clean dog yard is part of good dog care. In addition to scooping our dog yard, we also scoop the trail our dogs run on. Anyone who has been mushing before can attest to the fact that dogs will “go on the go” so at the end of the day we snow machine the trail and scoop poop. The poop is put into 55 gallon drums that are then flown off the glacier, pumped by a local outhouse company, and are then flown back up onto the glacier.

Dog Hair

Additionally, our guides must rake up our dogs hair. Our sled dogs shed throughout the season. Because we are leave-no-trace that means we must rake up their hair. It’s amazing how much our dogs shed throughout the summer. Raking up dog hair is a daily chore for our guides.

One of the reasons we like keeping our dog sled camp small is because of all the expenses of having to fly dog food up to the glacier and dog poop off the glacier. Fewer dogs means fewer flights and ultimately less work for our staff which means they can focus more on providing quality tours.

Managing Camp

During warm days, the snow on the glacier obviously melts and it doesn’t always melt evenly. When we place our dog houses or tents on the glacier, the snow around them melts faster. Our guides need to constantly level their living quarters and our dogs houses so that they provide a good home and so that camp is kept looking tidy.

As the season progresses, our guides will also work on moving camp. Throughout the summer our usable area of the glacier shrinks. At the start of the season, with 60ft of snow, we can travel almost anywhere we want as snow melts, however, we reduce the area we run our tours in because of the potential of crevasses.

Although we operate in the accumulation zone of the glacier, crevasses can occur anywhere on a glacier. One of the most important jobs our guides have are to ensure the safety of our trail and camp by probing for crevasses.Crevasses are formed by ice moving at different speeds or coming under pressure. Because of this, we move our trails inward and operate on only the flattest part of the glacier.

It is common to see small cracks along the surface of the snow, even in the accumulation zone of the glacier where our camp is set up. These small surface cracks generally do not have crevasses under them. It is our policy, however, to probe and investigate each crack that arises. Towards the end of the season, when we probe our camp and trail, we will actually hit glacier ice. If we do find crevasses, our guides carefully mark them off and immediately move our trail. Safety is our number one priority as a company!

Having Fun

Our guides have a number of options for entertainment while living on Godwin Glacier. We have a generator in camp for our guides and for safety reasons. We need to be able to charge our satellite phone and our aviation radios. Our guides also like to charge their computers and DVD players for rainy days when they don’t want to do much outside.

On beautiful days after tours our guides may hike, ski, snowboard, or dog sled. Living on a glacier is the perfect place for the active outdoor enthusiast who is good at entertaining themselves. Generally, our guides enjoy also enjoy serious games of cribbage and, our new favorite, Monopoly Deal to pass the time. It’s a very relaxing place to live as, with limited communication, the stress of modern life disappears.

As a company, we have an annual staff barbecue on the glacier where we hold summer dog sled races, go sledding and play trivia. Providing a fun work environment is important to us because our crew is our family.

10532925 1008366222523955 4189461625238079902 n — We operate in the accumulation zone of Godwin Glacier where it is extremely flat.

Why Choose Our Glacier Dog Sled Tour

Although there are glacier dog sledding tours located throughout the state of Alaska, our dog sled tour has some unique things that truly set it apart. Our dog sled camp is the smallest in the state.

Our kennel is located in Seward just a short flight from our dog sledding camp allowing us to easily adjust the number of dogs in our camp to our schedule. Although we specialize in small hands on tours, we are able to handle large groups. We can quickly adapt to meet the demands of a 30 person tour and frequently throughout the summer do a few large tours for corporate groups or large family reunions.

Unlike some of the bigger dog sled tour companies, we are not affiliated or contracted with the Alaska cruise ship industry which means we are able to keep our tours affordable. We have the best rates on glacier dog sledding in the state of Alaska because we want to share our passion with you!

We like being small for several reasons:

Small tours mean you can have as hands-on an experience as you want.
Our guides are 100% dedicated to your experience.
Our R-44 helicopters allow everyone a window seat.
Dog sledding is about enjoying the serenity of nature and the bond between musher and dog; small tours allow this.
Small tours mean we do not have helicopters constantly running so you are able to enjoy the quiet beauty that our secluded glacier has to offer.

Whereas other glacier dog sledding operations lease sled dogs from mushers not associated with their operation, we use our own dogs. We know everything about our sled dogs because we have raised many since birth.

We are also very proud of the fact that our dog camp is home to 23 year old, 11th place Iditarod Finisher Travis Beals. Travis oversees the care of our dogs and we routinely rotate our dogs on and off the glacier so they all get time-off. Travis has been given awards for best-dog care by two different dog sled races: The Tustumena 200 and The Copper Basin 300. Travis runs tours on Godwin Glacier part-time to evaluate dogs but spends a majority of his time operating our kennel tours.

Other Glacier Dog Sled Tours in Alaska

Not everyone is fortunate enough to travel to Seward, Alaska but this doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun and excitement of glacier dog sledding. There are glacier dog sled tours all across the state, allowing you to experience the magic of winter in the summer time.