Turning Heads Kennel

Alaska Dog Sledding Tours

2013

The Coastal Classic Train Ride — A Solo Traveler’s Perspecitve

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I took the train from Seward to Anchorage today. I waived goodbye to Travis, the dogs, hopped on board, got seated and prepared for some much needed “me” time. The train ride itself was scenic but uneventful. I’ve driven the Seward Highway in the summer and in the winter more than I care to admit and know the nooks and crannies of it. Still, the train doesn’t always follow the highway and it was neat to get a new perspective. It certainly seemed more “wild” taking the train and Seward, rolling through the train windows seemed quieter to me than usual. Travelling by train certainly changed my interpretation of the town and the countryside.

At one point I saw a moose lying down in a beautiful green field of grasses and wild flowers, which most people did not see. I’ve always been rather fond of moose. They are such big, clunky, awkward animals – who wouldn’t like that? Black bears were also spotted but darted in the woods before my rail car got to where they had been hanging out.  There were lots of scenic views, the best perhaps being Trail Glacier as well as Spencer Glacier. I learned on the ride that if you take a different train, you can actually get off at Spencer Glacier and go hiking or kayaking. I am definitely going to add this to our to do list.

What prompted this train ride? My parents made the decision to come to Alaska last the two weeks ago. They arrived today/yesterday and will be staying in Seward for about a week. It’s their third trip to Seward – the last trip they took was during the flood – and we are excited to share what we do with them and they insisted on renting their own car while in town. So I took the train up, so I could drive down.

The train doesn’t move quickly so if speed is your goal, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a scenic stroll through the mountains and the Alaskan wilderness then this is for you. The train goes a steady 30-40 mph for most of the duration of the trip and slows down whenever something scenic comes along or wildlife is spotted. At times, I found the speed frustratingly slow – but that, I noticed, was really only in the spots where the road parallels the train and I  am sure it had more to do with the fact that these areas weren’t new.

All-in-all I thought the train was an enjoyable experience and will be sure to do it again. I imagine it would be even more enjoyable if travelling with friends or family, but for the solo traveler this seems like a great way too: cheaper and less stressful than renting a car, lots of cool views, and the option to buy food/beverages.

– Sarah

Travis has signed up for Iditarod 2014

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It may be summer, but we are already preparing for Iditarod 2014. Saturday marked the first day of sign ups. Travis left our Seward tour business for a day to go and sign up while I manned the kennel and ran our summer dog sled tour.

We are more than thrilled with his performance this past year and are already working on putting together our team for next year. We are hoping that many of the challenges we faced in 2013 will not plague us — mainly flooding and warm weather.

Now that both the dogs and Travis have experience the trail once, we are hoping to compete. This past year, the goal was to familiarize both Travis and the dogs with what it takes to run the Iditarod. Believe me when I say, we learned a lot! From packing food drops to how to train, there are many things we plan on doing differently.

What did we learn?

Make a plan

Having a good plan for the race sets the tone — not only for the race but for training. The best way to train is to train the way you race, having a good plan early on will be key to our success this year.

Prepare Early

Figuring out what we need and learning to ASK FOR HELP will really improve our lives this year! Last year, we waited until the last minute to do our food drops. This was stressful and caused us to rush packing. Now that we’ve packed for Iditarod once, we have a pretty good idea of what we need and how much. We also have a much better idea of figuring out how much it will cost us and can better plan. As we really on our summer tours and our winter dog sled tours for all of our income, being able to financialy plan is key.

Fundraise

We are really excited to have the Breeze Inn located in Seward, Alaska on our side to help us plan some wonderful fundraisers. Last year, because of the flood, we actually had little time to prepare a fundraise. This year, the Breeze Inn has stepped in and will be hosting a few events to help us get to the starting line. We couldn’t be more excited! Want to help? We can always use items to donate at these events! Or you can sponsor us directly too! 

Train. Train. Train.

Last fall, we were really held back due to the flood. While most teams began training mid September, we really couldn’t kick things in gear until mid November. Repairing our house and dog lot took a lot out of us physically and financially. We started off behind. This year, we are going to start fall training on time!  In fact… our summer tours have allowed us the privilege of already starting! Every time we take the dogs out, we consider that a training run. It is AWESOME getting to work with the dogs day in and day out and see them grow in the sport!

We are really looking forward to another year of running dogs and chasing our dream of being the next Iditarod Champions!

2013 Iditarod: Meet Copper

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Travis introduces 2013 Iditarod team member COPPER. We bought Copper this fall. Copper is an outstanding cheer leader and has a really smooth gait — he runs beautifully down the trail. When you are watching sled dogs, you always look for the dogs that make it look effortless and that’s Copper to a T. He’s a lover at heart and enjoys running near the front of the team. He is not, by definition a “lead dog” but prefers to run one or two pairs back from the front.

Copper rests his head on his best friend and running partner Kermit

 

Copper can be a little grumpy but enjoys running next to his best friend, KERMIT. Copper and Kermit ran on Jen Seavey’s Iditarod team in 2009 and ran all the way to Nome together under her leadership. They will be doing the same this year with Travis.

Travis At the Start of the Iditarod

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The Anchorage Daily News stopped by the dog truck the morning of the ceremonial start to interview Travis. It was sort of an emotional thing for us. Chris, the guy who did the interview, came to our kennel in Seward, Alaska during the flood. We were really excited we had jut started doing our summer dog sled rides and were looking forward to doing a lot of work to our facilities to make improvements…instead we had to rebuild.

 

His interview helped connect us with some really wonderful people who helped us get to the starting line after the flood so it was nice to talk to him again at the start. He explains our dog truck, traveling on the road, and rebuilding.

Here’s Chris’ interview from the fall when our house and dog lot were flooding: Musher Undeterred by Seward Flooding

2013 Iditarod Team

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So the decision has been made. This is Travis’ 2013 Iditarod team. We’ll be posting more information about the individual dogs as the week goes on. Here’s the team in action and a quick introduction. After all the hard fought battles we’ve faced this season: flooding, no snow, more flooding, warm temps, hectic food drops…we’ve made it. Iditarod is only a few short days away and to say that Travis is more than ready is an understatement!

Travis shot this video yesterday on Exit Glacier Road in Kenai Fjords National Park, where we do a lot of our training and where we run our winter dog sled rides. It was really warm yesterday — 32 degrees — but that is typical of Seward. Our dogs are used to running in warmer temperatures which, given this year, may be a blessing as its been a warm winter throughout Alaska. Instead of the
30 miles Travis thought he was going to do, he decided to do 60 and came home shortly before dark. The dogs looked great when the got back to the yard.