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Fall Training Has Begun

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Travis and I started fall training today by running two dog teams. The first run, we went five miles. We left the yard with Hope and Rally in lead and were off. It was good to get back on the four wheeler to train. I’d gone out two or three times prior to this, but inconsistently due to mechanical errors (flat tire, replacing parts, etc.) but now we have the four wheeler back (and Travis!) and are good to go.

The start of the season is always hard. You don’t go fast. The dogs look out of shape. They haven’t found any semblance of a rhythm and are just sort of moving.  But, hey, that’s something. Isn’t it? And these dogs look amazing. To say we’re excited about this season is an understatement.

We ran down to the river only to find it was completely flooded. Still, we gave it our best. We aren’t exactly the quitting type. Poor Hope was trying to swim not run, swim, upstream to get us to the trailhead. If she could have done it, she would have. We ended up giving her a “gee” command to turn her off course and follow down river because it was clear the current was just too strong. The whole team got sopping wet, including Travis. He’d gone into the river to try and lead them across and sunk up to his waist before we decided to take them a different way. Still, the dogs seemed a little disappointed that we’d been defeated. But it didn’t last long. We let the wet dogs stand for only a few minutes before they were back barking like mad, trying to get us going.

We’ll give it a day or two to quit raining before we try crossing the river again. Still, it was an impressive battle. Next time, once the river calms down, we’ll try and bring a camera. (Which may be a struggle because we haven’t got a functioning one at the moment). We’ve got some pretty intense lead dogs and would like to show you. After that, we ran through the sub-division. The dirt roads are good on their feet and there are enough puddles to keep them cool.

After five miles, we took the first team home, hand a quick drink of cocoa, then hooked up the second team. This time, with Jane and Hatchet in lead. We went four miles with these guys making loops around the neighborhood. Travis was impressive with Jane… when he left this summer she wasn’t a lead dog. I hooked her up front a couple times because I see some real potential — good attitude, great appetite.

We also hooked up Moe. This was only his second run and he blended right in with the team. That is, until we shut the lights off on the fourwheeler. Then he balked on his line and seemed to be seeing “Oh my god! I can’t see! What’s going on!” We turn the lights on and he’d start pulling again, we turn the lights off, and he’d get unsure of himself. Eventually, he seemed to learn that running in the dark wasn’t going to kill him.

Well, it was a good first run and a great way to open up the season. We’re looking forward to tomorrow and getting to take the teams out again!

 

 

 

A Note On Blogging

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Well, our goal for the summer was to get a website up in time for the fall. So far, so good. We’re on track to be done. We have a few more pages to iron out (our sponors’ page and how to sponsor, as well as a our dog section) but for the most part, Travis and I are happy with how things are looking.

We’re starting to try and figure out how we want to do our blog/updates. So far, they’ve proven to be a challenge: summer has kept us busy and, for the most part, away from one another. While Travis is working in Anchorage, I’m down in Seward taking care of the dogs and working full-time. Our dog adventures have been somewhat limited in the summer months due to heat and trying to get weight on the dogs in time for fall training, but we’ve gone on some really great hikes / free runs with the dogs.

Bud, Pilot, Apache, Weiser, Hatchet, Larry, and Curly all enjoyed spending time at the Seavey’s tour kennel in Seward but are happy to be back lounging around in the yard eating yummy kibble and  fish, digging lots of holes, and getting lots of love and attention. Hatchet recently travelled up to Anchorage and is keeping Travis company while Travis works at the WildRide Sled Dog Rodeo.

In terms of updating, we’re going to be updating at least once a week when training officially begins. We’d like to provide more of a behind-the-scenes look into how we do things and will be posting as many pictures as possible. We’d love to post some videos too but right now the only way we can do that is on our point-and-shoot camera. We’re hoping to eventually require a GoPro camera so that we can take HD videos while mushing and not have to worry about holding on to the camera but…they’re expensive. Right now, we’re pouring our money into buying dog food…

Speaking of, we just picked up a half-ton of Eukunuba.  We’ve been really happy with it so far. The dogs coats are looking absolutely incredible and we’ve gotten a nice deal on it though the bill is still pretty hefty. Anyways, I picked the dog food up last Tuesday when I was up visiting Travis. This probably sounds like no big deal, you know, all in a days work, except Travis’ truck is a manual and I don’t know how to drive manual.

“Here,” he said and tossed the keys at me. “You’ll figure it out. It isn’t real far. You’ll be fine.”

I was less than excited at the prospect of learning to drive a manual on my own in the middle of Anchorage but we needed the dog food and he couldn’t take the time off. So I obligingly hopped in the truck and…wait? How do you start a manual? It took me a few minutes to figure out then I popped her in reverse and…stalled. I proceded to pop along until I finally got to the feed store. Pulling into the lot, it was clear I had no idea what I was doing: everyone stared.

Still, we got our dog food and will be able to feed the dogs for another month or so. We’re heading up to Fairbanks tomorrow to visit Lance Mackey’s kennel and to look at some dogs. We’re not too sure what we have planned but it’s been awhile since we’ve really been able to spend time together without work butting in the middle of the two of us — really, since July 4th — so it’ll be nice to have a few days to ourselves.

We’ll take pictures and post them when we get back. That’s all for now…leave us a message if you stopped by!

Puppy Walks

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While Travis has been up in Anchorage working at the Wild Ride Sled Dog Rodeo, I’ve gotten to raise the puppies… Bud and Jane had four boys: Chief, Micah, Chumley, and Big Haas. They all have such unique personalities and it’s been fun watching them grow. Calling them puppies is…well a little inaccurate. These days, they’re more like dogs.

I’ve really enjoyed taking them on walks and exposing them to all sorts of new stimuli. We walk the river beds and they storm through the water, we walk down trails and they run off into the bushes, we play in the back yard and they run around like maniacs — they’re a fun group.

They turn four months old on the 31st. To celebrate, I’ll be taking them on some sort of adventure… Though these days I can’t take them all at once! They are simply too big.

Here are some videos from when they were smaller:

July 4th

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This year marked my first 4th of July in Seward. Travis, well, he’s been doing 4th of July here for pretty much ever. Because of the late setting sun, the fire work display was actually held at midnight. Travis was driving down from Anchorage and ended up missing it but didn’t care. The morning of the 4th he hemmed and hawed about whether or not he actually wanted to do the race — he hadn’t trained a bit — but ultimately he decided (with a little poking and prodding) that he should do it.

In the end, Travis beat his time from last year. He finished the race 15 minutes behind the leaders. It took him 1 hour and 1 minute to get to the finish line. The Mt. Marathon race is described as “a climb and descent on Mt. Marathon – a mile and a half up and a mile and a half down, complete with cliffs, scree fields, waterfalls, and a spectacular view.”

It was pretty cool watching from down below. Although I couldn’t pick Travis out of the hundred of people up on the mountain, it was interesting watching them scurry up! up! up! As soon as the racers made it to the top, the descent was done with lightening speeds. Apparently, it only takes about 10 minutes to go down the whole mountain.

Travis’ trick for the whole thing was to never stop moving. It was a pretty amazing feet of athleticism on his part…but he sure will be sore the next week or two, I’d bet!

Mount Marathon Bushwhack

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Sometimes, we need a break from doggy things. The last several days off Travis and I have had off together all we’ve had time for was kennel chores: scooping, feeding, leveling the dog lot, draining the freezer, fixing chains, cleaning out the truck, organizing the gear shed…not to mention trying to get this website up and running! Needless to say between real work and dog work, we’ve stayed busy. So, when a good sunny day came along and our friends had some time off, we decided to go on a hike. But not just any hike — that would be far too easy. We embarked on a bushwhack.

We thought, stupidly, that it would be easier. To our credit, it probably was both easier and quicker than taking the hiking trails though we probably ended up with more scrapes and Devil’s Club’s stings doing it our way. Still, we had a good time. We set off from the local water tower up a partially beat in path. We gained elevation remarkably quickly.  We just went up, up, up. Hiking like that felt good — though I’d been on two shorter hikes the day before (once to Boy Scout Lake, the other to Tonsina Bridge) so I was a little tired. Still, I had no trouble keeping up with the boys. There’s something about strenuous exercise and wading through tall grass that makes you feel as if there’s lightening in your blood.

The narrow path we started off on quickly ended. Bear scat was a common “trail” marker and we’d heard rumors of brown bear in the area. We kept joking with one another, pretending there were bears up ahead. All I could think of was Peter and the Wolf. I sure hoped we didn’t run into Mama Grizz. I’m sure she would have been less than thrilled and it would have made our outing more adventurous than we intended. Lucky for us, she stayed clear. It probably had something to do with the fact that we weren’t exactly quiet as we stomped and plodded our way through the thicket. But For all our work, we were rewarded phenomenal views of Seward and Resurrection bay. It was the first real time Travis and I had gotten to go out and have fun without the dogs in a long while and, in some ways, the peace and quiet was nice. Still, there’s nothing I enjoy more than hitting the trial with a couple dogs in tow on a nice long hike. Especially sled dogs. I’m convinced that free running your dogs is the single best thing you can do for training.

In the end, we had to run down the mountain and then walk/run a mile or so back to our cars in order to be on time for a birthday dinner. All-in-all, I’d say it was one of the best days off in awhile. I’d give it a ten out of ten. Anyways, now I’m tired so I’m going to go to bed…