There is something soothing about the fall, the way the sun starts to trickle through the yellowing leaves. There’s something soothing too, about the routine of change that it brings: the tourists leave, children return to school, and, everything, even the Earth, seems to let out a great deep sigh. It’s over, it seems to say. It’s time to settle down. The heat slowly fades away and the dark returns and, sometime when you aren’t looking for it, the mountain tops begin to get dusted with snow. Most begin to prepare for the long hibernation that winter will bring, but not us.
We shake off the heat and welcome the cold that has begun to linger in the morning air. We look forward to days when our windshields are frosted and we have to blow on our fingers to keep them warm as we run out to the car. We are dog mushers and, with the cold, we welcome back a way of life we’ve had to let go of over the summer.
Fall training starts well before the heat leaves, but it never truly begins until the first cool morning when the cold catches your breath so that you can see it when you exhale.
This is the start of my favorite time of year. The beginning. For most, it comes later when the snow is on the ground and we are running on sleds but, I like it all. The fall brings a raw excitement to the dogs and to us: there are so many possibilities that are always present at the start of something new and it’s exciting to discover them.
To be perfectly honest, we do not know what this season will bring. So far, we’ve seen nothing but changes, both big and small. I’ve become a part of Turning Heads Kennel in a way that seems as if I was never not a part of it. Our routine here seems so familiar, so inherited. We’ve seen many dogs come, perhaps too many, because in a few short months our kennel has grown to about thirty dogs and we’ve seen a few good dogs go too, who we’ve entrusted to friends for the season and who we will lovingly welcome back in the spring.
But so far, our days have been peaceful. The teams look good when we run them: they are always eager to go and do every thing we ask of them. We run them through rivers where they have to swim, up hills where they have to pull extremely hard, we make them pass side long and then head-to-head and all the while they simply never stop going. Their feet don’t tire, their heads never hang low — they are always ready, always wanting more.
Sled dogs are amazing animals. All they do, all they want to do, is run. And here it shows. In the morning they sing to us, wanting to run and in the evening they sing to us, joyous, after they’ve run. And while they are running they smile. And if we stop running for a moment they’re anxious and eager and pulling and trying to run again.
When we finish, there are plenty of wagging tails. Everyone is let loose, one at a time, and we watch as they go back to their house, some go fast, anxious to get home and to get fed, others meander casually about, stopping to sniff and say hello to their neighbors. But they all get there, each in his own time, each ready to settle down. That is, until their evening meal is brought out. It’s devoured before it’s ever entirely in their dish — their heads get wet from plunging in so furiously.
At night, The dog yard smells of sweat and fish and, overhead, now that the summer has faded onward the stars have come out again and we are reminded once again that the days are not endless. Winter is still a long ways off but, in these moments under the electric lights of the dog yard, our breath and the dogs breath steaming out we can begin to feel its fingers wrapping around us. It will be upon us soon enough.
So far this fall, Travis and I have stayed busy. He’s has been travelling again for work, but we managed to make it up to Willow recently for the Sled Dog Symposium and to see old friends. We spent the evening at Dallas Seavey’s house, drinking beers, feeding dogs, talking about dogs, and making mac and cheese. In the morning, we ran dogs with him and helped get him going on his fall training. It was a good time. After, we shot targets before heading to visit with Team Ollie, whom I used to work for when I lived in Massachusetts and who recently moved up here. We got to see the house they are building, visit with my old dogs and old friends.
Then, we went to our friend and fellow musher, Wade Marr’s house to pick-up some of our dogs – Zema, Madori, Guiness and Mary. They spent the summer with him in Skagway and they finally came home. We got to run them up in Knik, where Wade lives and ended up coming home with two other dogs: Naboo and Bayou. All-in-all, it was a busy day but we enjoyed running dogs on other trails with other people
Well, that’s all for now. I will try to post more. My goal is to try to find time to post once a week. It’s been hard between work and running dogs and all the normal chores we have to take care of. Hopefully, we’ll find our groove and get to posting more.
