It seems like just yesterday we were packing up dog camp and getting ready for fall training. Everything comes full circle and it seems another winter has slipped by. This year was an exciting year for us. Travis set his sights on a top 10 finish in Iditarod and we were stoked on his 9th place finish.
We didn’t take a vacation after Iditarod in hopes of getting a lot done in preparation for tours but mother nature has certainly made it difficult to do much of anything. Outside, it continues to be an awkward mixture of snow and rain. It’s wet and cold but not in a way that inspires you to want to do anything except for curl up on the couch and read a book or watch a movie.
Still, we slip on our extra tuffs and spend time outside splashing in puddles (which freeze over half the time) and playing with dogs.Thanks to Ray Redington, Travis and I have gotten addicted to the show, The Black List and have been binge watching episodes at night.
We’ve accomplished a lot in a few short weeks. We did a major revamp of our dog lot. Last year the 8 acres of beautiful old growth forest next to us was cut down as new neighbors prepare to move in. We have been kept busy with trying to get a new fence built and making our own dog yard safer. We get a lot of wind where we are located and without the trees in the lot next door, we were afraid that some of the cottonwood trees in our yard might pose a hazard to our dogs. Controlled felling seemed like a much better option!
Now, we are working on projects to get our dog sledding camp ready for the 2018 season. It always seems like there is not enough time to do all we need to get done: build dog houses, paint old houses, groom the dogs, — We could go on and on — and then, somehow, before we know it the helicopter arrives in Seward and it’s time to go scout out the location for our dog camp.
There’s something exciting about getting ready for the first helicopter ride. This will be our 6th summer operating tours on Godwin Glacier and we couldn’t be happier. It’s crazy to think that Travis and I took this tour operation over when we were 20 and 24 respectively. Each year, we continued to further develop our business.
Seward has such dramatic landscapes; it never ceases to be beautiful. Each year I look forward to the slow progression as time marches from one month to the next. For now, the peaks remain covered in snow. But in a few weeks time they will morph into verdant green mountain sides. By the end of summer, the last of the snow will have melted and brilliant blue pools of water will form above tree line.
The tours we offer, the lifestyle we allow people a small glimpse into, and the magnificent place we call home all make what we do so rewarding. Our tour program is integral to our success as a kennel. Not only does it help us fund this crazy dog-centric lifestyle, but it also helps our dogs stay in shape. We actually wrote a blog post awhile back detailing exactly how it helps us. Check it out: how our summer dog sled tours help us as a competitive racing kennel.
In the end, our scouting trip to Godwin Glacier was successful. We planted our windsock to mark the location of camp for when we go back in a few days time with the first of our sling loads. We will have a lot of gear to move to camp over the next two weeks. Our glacier dog sledding tours are scheduled to begin May 18 and our summer dog sled cart tours are scheduled to begin a little earlier, on May 15.
We can’t wait!
