tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29719135089515859142024-03-13T16:55:27.809-07:00run4theredblog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-835415669405602892013-10-28T17:52:00.005-07:002013-10-28T17:58:01.138-07:00The Dogs Of Run4TheRed......<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I thought it might be nice to introduce some of our key canine athletes. After all, they are the stars of the show, without which we would not be on this crazy adventure. Here are a few of our babies, in no particular order!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is Elvis. He is a steady worker, happy to run in any position on team. He will lead when needed but prefers a life of less stress in point. He is quite the love, too. Always happy to give smooches and climb in your lap. Below is a picture of him doing just that with his good friend, Ron (at a much younger age, of course)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is Tori. Tori will be joining the team in the future, for now we just use her as ballast! Tori is short for Torrent, and we named her that because she was born during the flooding that SW Colorado experienced this fall.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xRWm5BIvRX3g93hytHDwZ7oBmzPRaGRucd1VVqfi0jkiq6UfpkqwInV8zAmU8or1rLh8_WR6nCrJflHDNb-VnhmVhmSMuPzgNVPjtIzxjweeI-GimCgEjNHG-yBuOrIUlrp0g-HPT6EH/s1600/IMG_4943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xRWm5BIvRX3g93hytHDwZ7oBmzPRaGRucd1VVqfi0jkiq6UfpkqwInV8zAmU8or1rLh8_WR6nCrJflHDNb-VnhmVhmSMuPzgNVPjtIzxjweeI-GimCgEjNHG-yBuOrIUlrp0g-HPT6EH/s640/IMG_4943.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And here is Boss. Boss is, well, Bossy. But that's not where the name came from-he is named for Bruce Springsteen. His fancy name is Ch Quinault's Born To Run WTDX, but we just call him Bossy-Boss. He is the hardest working dog on the team, always pulling and never happy to be still. He is the first one to be ready to go after a rest period, and the last one to want to stop. He is also the sire to many hard working dogs, both for us and on other musher's teams.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And BTW-Boss is available for sponsorship! <a href="http://www.run4theredlantern.com/Team.html" target="_blank">http://www.run4theredlantern.com/Team.html</a> </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Boss-hollering, which is his "default" when he is not running</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Boss wearing his crazy-face at the start of a race</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKFC3SSOYzGaTsVdvscYN4sjJFwZBU5pzib99OvxG6sLcMbkcGDaWW131mLLC8PN8tpiJVCwyBjjCNfKlYcg1-A-SBYSTVbfOJiqH3tjcuJeyRtZyX6-TVkbcGqhn13BiM0j8X6ujwYG1/s1600/_DSC9823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="526" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKFC3SSOYzGaTsVdvscYN4sjJFwZBU5pzib99OvxG6sLcMbkcGDaWW131mLLC8PN8tpiJVCwyBjjCNfKlYcg1-A-SBYSTVbfOJiqH3tjcuJeyRtZyX6-TVkbcGqhn13BiM0j8X6ujwYG1/s640/_DSC9823.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">And here he is, all cleaned up so you can see that he can look pretty too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">More later....I will try to feature one or two dogs each week.</span></div>
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twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-86799074805648096922013-10-21T10:40:00.002-07:002013-10-21T10:40:53.421-07:00Still Training.......<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">What happened to “The Run 4 The Red”? The answer for the past 18 months has been the same, still training... But we did need to take a break from the schedule, an interlude for us to take care of some emergent family needs, including but not limited to an epic move of 1200 miles with a semi trailer full of possessions plus 5 other vehicles with dogs and other livestock. So now we are here in SW Colorado, near where I started running dogs 25 years ago. Our break from the schedule is over, training is in full swing, and the dogs are stronger than ever.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The team taking a water break on a recent training run</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I was never really sure of attaching a firm date to our dream of running the race, I knew that 2014 was optimistic, but completely out of the question now since we were not able to get our qualifiers in last season. This season seems to be a stretch as well, especially now that they cancelled The John Beargrease Marathon, one of only 3 qualifier races in the lower 48. So our focus this year will be to run some 100 and 200 mile races to get the young dogs some race experience, and possibly get one of our qualifiers out of the way. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A beautiful & sunny but cold morning in SW Colorado</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Some of our tried and true older dogs that ran the longer races in 2011 will be retiring over the next couple years, allowing the youngsters to develop and get some race time. I do not ever want to forget what these dogs did for our team!! Boss, Kinky, Eve, Marsh, and Kaos-the core of our A team, and ALL of our current A team dogs are direct descendants from these dogs. Even though they will be retiring over the next 2-3 years and not be directly involved in the race, I will be leaving them on our sponsor list because without them not only would we not have finished any races, we would not have a race team now! These dogs are the reason that we are still running, and it should be considered the highest honor to be one of their sponsors.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Morgan and Ashley returning from a long run-tired team!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Morgan is our amazing head guide and lead musher, but we also have a new young apprentice that we are very excited about. Ashley Thaemert has been involved in mushing and the malamute breed for over half of her life. She started at 10 years of age with an interest in sled dogs and a home made wooden sled that she crafted with her grandfather. By the time she was 13, she had 4 malamutes and was running them in team. She has since added three more malamutes on her own team, and is currently training with us to learn how to run larger teams. We are thrilled to have her join us-her passion for this breed is obvious to everyone who meets her.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Ashley holding one of her young charges</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We are shooting for a 2016 entry, but this time I am not being talked into setting a firm date. We will run it when the dogs are ready, with the expectation that it wont be the only time we run it!</span></div>
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twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-59702212989119955202012-10-31T18:47:00.000-07:002012-10-31T18:47:12.011-07:00Taking Care Of "Business"<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Ok, so now that I have introduced myself and you (my blog readers) and I are no longer strangers, let’s skip the courtesies and get into the nitty-gritty, the not so glamorous side of mushing. Hollywood epitomises sled dog mushing as a somewhat glamorous sport, but we all know there is a lot more to it than just standing on the runners and looking pretty while our brave and loyal companions bound through the snow, frolicking. When I was introduced to distance mushing last winter and we were beginning to up the miles and start spending much of the day on a sled, there was a rather insistent concern I had regarding logistics: how does one go to the bathroom? With a handler, the problem is much simpler – one person holds the brake and keeps an eye on the dogs, while the other goes and takes care of business. Sounds simple, right? Well, the other day I realised that despite the number of measures we take, the dogs always manage to catch us with our pants down… quite literally.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Take my run from a few days ago. Conditions were a little hairy – we had 4 inches of snow on the ground from the previous night which was just beginning to melt, and the road was SLICK. I had just amped up my team from 16 dogs to 18, and they were raring to go. I know the trail well and the turnaround at the end of the loop is not too technical, but preferring to take the safe route, I brought my handler, Dean, along with me for the ride, just in case I got myself into any awkward situations. Oh boy, did I ever. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Cali is our new leader and at 3 years old she is just beginning to tap her potential. She shows a lot of promise, but generally we run our young leaders with a more experienced leader to show them the ropes. I had her running with Sumo, one of our Alaskan huskies, who tends to be a little… innovative... when it comes to taking directions on the trail. We approach our turn-around at the end of the loop and prepare to run up to the front of the string in case I need to deal with any ‘funny business’. Sumo takes the corner nice and wide and the whole team completes the manoeuvre with a 10.0 score. Perfect - couldn’t be more proud of them... I’m happy (and relieved!) with the result and of course I make a big deal out of this and the team is inundated with praise and affection before continuing our merry way down the trail. By this point we have been on the trail almost 2 hours and of course… well... nature calls. I call a “WHOA!” and stop the team – it’s a good chance for them to take a break for a few minutes and allow me to do what I need to do, and I have Dean there to keep an eye on them for me. No dramas. I choose my tree and make my way down the bank to assume the position. Just at that point, I hear Dean call out, and he’s saying something along the lines of, “Uh oh… uh oh!” I look up, and I see my team completing a perfect 180-degree turn in double file, led by Sumo with Cali trotting alongside because she simply doesn’t know any better. Not one disagreement, not one tangle – just my team lined out on the trail silently waiting for me to get up there and drive them forward… EXCEPT THEY’RE FACING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Honestly, I could not replicate a more perfect about-face even if I tried, and I would never even DREAM of turning my 18 dog team around on such a narrow section of the trail unless I absolutely had to. I am still replaying this scene in my mind and shaking my head in disbelief. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading out with 18</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now that my team has turned around perfectly, of course there’s no way I’m going to be able to replicate this again without any issues. Driving the ATV around is the easy part, and fortunately there is a clearing not too far down the road where I can improvise my own trail and get them back on the road, facing in the correct direction. With some creative driving and just a little ‘encouragement’ from myself and Dean, I get the team back on the road, facing in the correct direction, without any terrible snafus. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Now, on top of all this… I still need to pee. So I march right to the front of the team, drop my pants and assume the position while staring my leaders right in the eyes. “You guys aren’t going ANYWHERE!”</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Of course right at that moment a truck full of hunters comes around the bend…</span></div>
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twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-2439961498475961612012-10-17T06:07:00.000-07:002012-10-17T06:07:31.301-07:00<br />
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G’day, everybody!</div>
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First-allow me to introduce myself… my name is Ashlin and I am a true-blue Aussie musher! Yep, all the way from Down Under. This is my second season of mushing/handling and I am absolutely thrilled to be involved in Quinault’s Run for the Red Lantern. Even though I spent all of last season training at a racing Siberian husky kennel in Minnesota, malamutes have always had a special place in my heart (and my home!) and I simply cannot wait to show the world how amazing these dogs really are. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0F4uY_dVALkZNsbUbMvkYqBkZmNGWedd4R6QkhHU1PwS8heZO29L1VMkaFBNG2PNCugMaIUd2x5Rb7pKrZmiwYyQQ-9g9EopGPzweW7rwSJZ0gBxn5RU4pnzuE-r3KXpvFcHuL0y2B6T/s1600/IMG_2306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr0F4uY_dVALkZNsbUbMvkYqBkZmNGWedd4R6QkhHU1PwS8heZO29L1VMkaFBNG2PNCugMaIUd2x5Rb7pKrZmiwYyQQ-9g9EopGPzweW7rwSJZ0gBxn5RU4pnzuE-r3KXpvFcHuL0y2B6T/s640/IMG_2306.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I met Twila last February at Race to the Sky held right here in Montana. I was handling for my musher for the 350 mile race and had heard rumours that there would be a working malamute team also competing. Of course I had to check this out for myself and went investigating; sure enough I found them. I mean, they’re malamutes – they’re a bit hard to miss! I really had to struggle to talk to Twila though – I had to fight my way through the masses of people who had come to pet and play with the dogs. I can’t exactly blame them though; puppy Gracie, Ozzy and Alanis were absolutely irresistible. In the end I think Twila found me, contentedly playing with the dogs amongst all the chaos. We didn’t get a lot of time to talk – preparing for a race is a stressful time for both mushers and handlers, and I didn’t want to neglect my duties for too long. Fortunately I ran into Twila again at the local bar and grill (where else!) and we hit it off almost instantly. Races are a lot of fun in that way; they give you a chance to meet new dog people and talk about dog people things. At a dog sled race almost everybody there is “the crazy person with all the dogs”, so we’re all on an even footing!</div>
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Anyway, at that point Twila invited me out to her kennel in Garrison, MT at the end of the season to attend Malapalooza. I had no idea what a ‘Malapalooza’ was (“Is that some weird American thing?”) but when she put it to me as a whole bunch of malamute people getting together to camp, run trails and train together, why WOULDN’T I go! So I made plans to road-trip out to Montana at the end of the season for Malapalooza, and of course had an absolute blast, met some amazing people and gathered an invaluable array of information. I had intended on spending two weeks out there… a month passed and I was totally disinclined to leave. Twila and I had become very good friends by that point and when she offered me a position at Quinault for the following season, I did not hesitate to snatch it up.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCjV10Xxc-6a6NKpBYem0g8RVwznyMbOm8XXrFCVDr1Q-xAnqZ1ybteLS56Ut0RgqGJncwnrPvLk79lQZtbeCyPbZcWLkZ245Wl5ixmL-9i3klDCw68_1ikZUy_lGJu3PiEbgjhWmF2Nu/s1600/DSCF3460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCjV10Xxc-6a6NKpBYem0g8RVwznyMbOm8XXrFCVDr1Q-xAnqZ1ybteLS56Ut0RgqGJncwnrPvLk79lQZtbeCyPbZcWLkZ245Wl5ixmL-9i3klDCw68_1ikZUy_lGJu3PiEbgjhWmF2Nu/s640/DSCF3460.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Cass and Slayer at Malapalooza</td></tr>
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Thus began my frenzy of returning home, finding a job so I could earn enough money to get me back to the USA, and fast-tracking my visa application to allow myself to get back to Montana ASAP. 3 months and 42 hours of planes and airports later, I made it back and nothing was going to stop me from hitting the trail – not even jet lag! </div>
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I have been here 2 weeks now, and it’s been on the go since then. We have had our first ‘Learn to Mush’ camp for the season and I believe it was a huge success. It really is satisfying being able to help people understand and grasp the fundamentals of running their dogs – we were all in that position at some point and I know I would have LOVED to take advantage of the wisdom and invaluable experience of someone like Twila if I had the opportunity to do so. We have steadily been putting miles on our teams (weather cooperating) and focusing on our individual ‘one-on-one’ training sessions (weather not cooperating). The next few weeks are going to be very exciting with the arrival of the Eve x Boss litter due in the last week of October, our second Learn to Mush camp in early November followed by our Fall edition of Malapalooza, which I know will be equally as fun (if not more) than our previous one. We also have a few other exciting plans in the works to be revealed once the details have been ironed out.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAmWFsZy2AOoKdyGIjsdNc3WOG7kkQfGAbk-NTFRFWehoJ_1n7fzJDmaYlh-9JvCjAzzJ5yT9cLfvqUsH4p3bgJlRkhzURyE5gQypvKcnACZZ8xUK9e-CZmtazHzZp_q5lwoWefhFLoqf/s1600/IMG_2331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAmWFsZy2AOoKdyGIjsdNc3WOG7kkQfGAbk-NTFRFWehoJ_1n7fzJDmaYlh-9JvCjAzzJ5yT9cLfvqUsH4p3bgJlRkhzURyE5gQypvKcnACZZ8xUK9e-CZmtazHzZp_q5lwoWefhFLoqf/s640/IMG_2331.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working with a leader prospect at my first Learn To Mush Camp</td></tr>
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In the meantime, we have a lot of preparation to do before winter hits us. Twila insists that we are not ready for snow, but personally I can’t wait to get back on the runners of a sled! We are gearing up to do some tours in the Kalispell area, something I haven’t yet had a lot of experience with, but will be an invaluable (and essential!) opportunity to nurture our Run 4 the Red savings fund. Not only that, but it’s always fun to meet and talk with new people and have the chance to show off our beautiful Alaskan malamutes.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0ZLEVD6QhSo6M80KvHi39tkhQxjnqCci3dyQ3w1lCviBfnXW2ey2SlePLsgngqUos0UT5PZdq_KyxwDYACnlYkJuGgKhk_8gYOXR8SRc-00OQvkxqt-o8Zd4GQVhcIUySplL5tu5SUzV/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0ZLEVD6QhSo6M80KvHi39tkhQxjnqCci3dyQ3w1lCviBfnXW2ey2SlePLsgngqUos0UT5PZdq_KyxwDYACnlYkJuGgKhk_8gYOXR8SRc-00OQvkxqt-o8Zd4GQVhcIUySplL5tu5SUzV/s640/IMG_2351.JPG" width="482" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running the main string!</td></tr>
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I would love to hear some feedback from you, our loyal supporters! If you have any questions, please forward them on to me and I shall endeavour to address them in my next blog… I’ll be stuck for a topic otherwise!</div>
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Ashlin</div>
twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-53029122997570736882012-09-13T15:41:00.000-07:002012-09-13T16:11:49.664-07:00Crazy Summer!!<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So-what a crazy summer it has been! First of all, we moved. Yep, all dogs, goats, sheep, cows, horse, chickens, turkeys, ducks, goose, cats and humans. Our new place is not quite as far off the grid as the last place, but pretty close. Incredible trails here, and since the terrain is a little more level we have more options for running dogs.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One of our new trails runs along this waterway</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Summer has been spent trying to get set up here; we put in a new dog yard, remodeled a cabin for the handlers, installed our own energy system with new solar inverter and batteries, and fenced off about 35 acres of pasture for our livestock. We put in a new chicken yard and coop, and we still need to build a barn.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our New House</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span>nterestingly enough, even though we are much closer to civilization at the new place, we have been having our first ever predator problems. A grizzly has been terrorizing the area chicken coops and finally made it over to our place. He carried off my favorite rooster before the guardian dogs got on him, but he has been taken care of now. We have a very active wolf pack nearby. Fish & Wildlife have been trying to trap one or two of the pack so they can collar them to track their movements. We've been told that the pack has pups this year, denned up about a mile from our house. We have seen a couple lone wolves but no pack sightings, winter will be better for wolf viewing.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running the trails near our new home</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have a new guardian pup, an Akbash male named Simon. He is a cutie, and is living & sleeping with the chickens and piggies. Also joining our pack is a malamute puppy from Nancy Russell of Storm Kloud Kennels. He is out of our boy Havok so he is family too. He is supposed to have a name that begins with an “X” (thats how Nancy keeps track of litters), but I am not having a lot of luck finding an X name that I like. I discarded Xavier, Xan, Xander, and Xanadu-they just don’t fit him. If anyone has suggestions, please forward them along.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Simon and X Puppy resting in a kennel after a play session</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The next big news is that we are going to run tours this winter! It has been many years since I have run tours, but we have to feed the doggies and put money into the Iditarod fund. What better way to make a living than to run dogs?? </span></div>
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More to come....I will try to keep up better this fall!!</div>
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twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-29599789313694421922012-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:002012-04-27T19:48:56.778-07:00End of April<br />
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Well
another big chunk of time with no update. I’m afraid that this one will be
relatively devoid of mushing material, as the last couple of weeks have been
packed with plenty of other action. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Towards
the beginning of the month, I spent a week at home in Chicago for family
reasons, and as soon as I got back, Morgan and I took off for a few days of
camping and hot springing, which was a pleasant surprise. Our friend Scott came
up for a week to learn the lay of the land from Morgan, and then took on the
ranch by himself so that we could get away. Even though it rained throughout
our trip, we were both excited about the relaxing (and free!) vacation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Once
we got back, we managed to get in a few days of running the dogs. We ran teams
of 16 on quads and got some good, slow miles on almost everyone in our yard. I’m
starting to see how the increased level of control on quads plays into some
pretty strenuous training for the dogs. Hopefully the high expectations we’ll
be asking of them this off season will make a big difference once the snow
starts sticking again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This
past weekend, a friend and former employee of Twila’s came up to show Morgan
and me the finer points of grooming the dogs. With Shandi’s help, we managed to
groom nearly 30 dogs, which was quite a feat. I never knew how involved the
process of grooming Malamutes was, much less an entire yard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since
then, we’ve taken several days to prepare for two upcoming events here on the
ranch. The first is a mushing boot camp with our friend Gery Allen, which is
going to be put on by musher extraordinaire Jamie Nelson. I’ve gotten to hear
quite a bit about Jamie and her expertise, so I’ll be looking forward to lots
of learning while she’s here. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Immediately
after boot camp will be Malapalooza: a chance for people from around the
country (world, possibly?) to come together to run their Malamutes, share secrets
and enjoy each other’s dogs and company. I’m not sure how many people will be
on the ranch all at once -- latest number I got from Twila was around 20 -- but I’m sure the cabins will all be past capacity. It
will be a different scene from the usual four person party up here. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On
top of everything I’ve just covered, we’ve been adjusting to the barn morphing
into a nursery. Almost all of our ewes have had their lambs, and three of our
four goats have had their kids. In addition to the 20 or so adult stock in the
barn, we now have over 20 young’ns running around, as well as the
rescued Great Pyrenees that still remain. That’s a lot of energy happening
under one roof right now. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Hopefully
that should catch you up to speed. I hope I’m caught up too; Jamie is arriving
tomorrow evening, which is when the real work will begin. I’ll be sure to post
some pictures of the babies (including more of the puppies, which I forgot to mention
amidst all the other babble – they’re doing great, getting cuter and squirmier
by the day). Until next time!</div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Peter <o:p></o:p></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-1018014842707246752012-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:002012-04-15T13:56:26.055-07:00Puppies and mud!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Well, Kinky had her babies and they are finally ready for their blog debut. Presenting the Eagle Cap Extreme Litter: (da da dada daaaa)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwUGXHf00luHg_gCgGHOeKMGPqn7sKuguTln5FY88HK_ohxmwiKIOcoXtFXLwIIgMprtj_sqyodkiOLBYVxR6_nC1puZAX-fWpHIJuYl2U5nHDj0p8o0OpRrmtIA9ATBCrospRpQBm8vM/s1600/IMG_7980.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGwUGXHf00luHg_gCgGHOeKMGPqn7sKuguTln5FY88HK_ohxmwiKIOcoXtFXLwIIgMprtj_sqyodkiOLBYVxR6_nC1puZAX-fWpHIJuYl2U5nHDj0p8o0OpRrmtIA9ATBCrospRpQBm8vM/s400/IMG_7980.JPG" width="356" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's Bite Me "Tasty"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVX4okSkg3rk56F9cS6CMT3_Kuefi74bKr4m4CHT9vcCXsOczrBSZt74FsC5baxF3WqKF-eQRGr3lykGMWfUkk2kr-djC93gbXF_Vo_iro-k-9Z3X5BpYRaB__EKRzvjAsNFMlGFmgasKk/s1600/IMG_7982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVX4okSkg3rk56F9cS6CMT3_Kuefi74bKr4m4CHT9vcCXsOczrBSZt74FsC5baxF3WqKF-eQRGr3lykGMWfUkk2kr-djC93gbXF_Vo_iro-k-9Z3X5BpYRaB__EKRzvjAsNFMlGFmgasKk/s400/IMG_7982.JPG" width="351" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's Squeeze Me "Juicy"<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4wrCqGerMK8NAqcLDki4A5Pm8aA705it39DrV9icvWCCDiJy3bWy14W2R7vSe2gHg5GvP0td_zR1yKbGXGX9nlGyLHlrNEu22zmOqH9BRgp0E7jx2UTsbkcXKydcTtmK_DfKEYNdIeqe/s1600/IMG_7986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4wrCqGerMK8NAqcLDki4A5Pm8aA705it39DrV9icvWCCDiJy3bWy14W2R7vSe2gHg5GvP0td_zR1yKbGXGX9nlGyLHlrNEu22zmOqH9BRgp0E7jx2UTsbkcXKydcTtmK_DfKEYNdIeqe/s400/IMG_7986.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's Lil Bit O' Feel Good "Floozy"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's Playing The Field "Hef"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGtERMQtDqWtx1gQUx_HWuAhzNCbqAIjALjxkEjxzXvFjjHUnPjTul7HNO5rSJRA-hle-cJyoLie_tO1FRGUQdfj64vQxGQyKTihEyCddh54tP6OfA0st-aqS1XXH7DOKWYe0Sg7XelHV/s1600/IMG_7945_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGtERMQtDqWtx1gQUx_HWuAhzNCbqAIjALjxkEjxzXvFjjHUnPjTul7HNO5rSJRA-hle-cJyoLie_tO1FRGUQdfj64vQxGQyKTihEyCddh54tP6OfA0st-aqS1XXH7DOKWYe0Sg7XelHV/s400/IMG_7945_2.JPG" width="383" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's If Looks Could Kill "Slayer"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmv3G566Nb2ePyMFCgeXSbDDko_BflfQDcN-ykjiKA4uW1It9N1dbiaE6KnPrWJ_NqJOD-Z4zpH5d-iEhV0KmTupB3Zq5PEiA6tvn1z5z5RuiUlFAdmcAtgXEEdFGwsJpOfh4n8yDyQZR/s1600/IMG_7949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmv3G566Nb2ePyMFCgeXSbDDko_BflfQDcN-ykjiKA4uW1It9N1dbiaE6KnPrWJ_NqJOD-Z4zpH5d-iEhV0KmTupB3Zq5PEiA6tvn1z5z5RuiUlFAdmcAtgXEEdFGwsJpOfh4n8yDyQZR/s400/IMG_7949.JPG" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quinault's Come To Papa "Cass"</td></tr>
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And it is officially muddy season here at Quinault!! Check out our latest training run video:<div>
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<br /><br />Still getting some miles in, I love spring training. It is where you get to correct all the bad habits you let your team develop over the winter:-)<br />
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</div>twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-55476331049799946852012-04-04T14:07:00.002-07:002012-04-04T14:10:15.761-07:00April Slide Show Hi all. Here are some pictures I've taken over the last couple days, just so you have some context with all the information that's being thrown at you.<br />
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Here's all of our expectant mothers, with one of our guardians, Zaire, in the middle.</div>
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This is the first stall of Pyrenees, the friendlier group. Originally there were five, but two were sent to homes and the puppy, Ivy, is out with our ewes. These two have a home lined up. </div>
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Here's the second stall of Pyrenees. You can see that they're not as comfortable with me being in the stall with them yet (there's one hiding in the manger). Two of these dogs have a home, and three will probably be staying with us. </div>
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Our three guardian dogs in the barn: Ivy, Dolly, and Zaire in front. Oh, and there's Wrinkles, who's always nosing his way into things. </div>
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Yesterday, Morgan and I went up the mountain to do some repair work on our snow cat, which broke down on the trail. Because of where the Bombie ended up, the only viable way we could get to it was by dog sled. We thought it was pretty fitting, and exciting, to have a true working team for the day, so I took some pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHqIusWPWgzcv6jqYOD1djmIs3t3F2c1yqppsA396pV_QSQNxlThegpIamKJfajSbiSAGIhP6NemNXCfIdRZx_CYNOdffPDNx879YOpV2zs3pYJ1SGBpAYNiNS46327r2VVJaTJknW_XM/s1600/IMG_1879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrHqIusWPWgzcv6jqYOD1djmIs3t3F2c1yqppsA396pV_QSQNxlThegpIamKJfajSbiSAGIhP6NemNXCfIdRZx_CYNOdffPDNx879YOpV2zs3pYJ1SGBpAYNiNS46327r2VVJaTJknW_XM/s640/IMG_1879.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Havok got to sit in the back seat of Morgan's truck for the drive up. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9bGpDHdGLHSlreUxeu4JDLqH9uOBkrAwZ7HSrZcLFFyDlbizKtZznae4_4dplSn9lCc2XN7stc8-VbIqiUkjEvNi1LP5wJtdptG5e3IKcneXQDFRMbVHIu12a0kDCNUGxql0iKGHr_Dz/s1600/IMG_1880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw9bGpDHdGLHSlreUxeu4JDLqH9uOBkrAwZ7HSrZcLFFyDlbizKtZznae4_4dplSn9lCc2XN7stc8-VbIqiUkjEvNi1LP5wJtdptG5e3IKcneXQDFRMbVHIu12a0kDCNUGxql0iKGHr_Dz/s640/IMG_1880.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's our setup for the excursion. </div>
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Enrique and Rayon in lead - we hooked the team up to the Bombie while we worked. </div>
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Finally, puppy picture. Morgan had trouble holding on to them because they were squirming so much. You can see a concerned Kinky in the background. </div>
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Hope you enjoyed the slide show!<br />
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- Peterblog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-14786269667678932912012-04-02T19:03:00.001-07:002012-04-04T13:42:28.842-07:00Back to Blogging<br />
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Hi all! First, allow me to explain
my hiatus. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After working hard this winter,
Morgan and I were able to take a week off and head to Salt Lake City to be with
our friends. It was a fun week filled with concerts and movies and electrical
heating and a lot of civilization. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Once we got back,
it was time to say goodbye to Craig. Craig came here in October to work through
our busiest time, and now that spring is upon us, he’s left to explore other
things. Specifically, he’ll be exploring the entire west coast of the United States,
as he’ll be hiking 2000+ miles from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest
Trail. This is yet another leg on Craig’s Great Adventure, having spent two
years teaching for the Peace Corps in Ghana before coming to work here on the
ranch (you should know that Craig had never seen snow before mastering the art
of mushing). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Craig taught me more
than I’ve been able to retain since I’ve gotten here, not least of which was our
first meeting in which he showed me the intricacies of running a snow blower.
We’ll miss his uncanny knack for solving our everyday ranch puzzles, his
tendency to giggle at cat videos, his undeniable charisma whilst performing karaoke,
and of course his constant sense of humor. Happy trails Craig. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Once we’d
tearfully sent Craig on his way, it was time to host our first ever Learn to
Mush Experience. Stacie, Drew, and Caryn came out for five days along with
Stacie’s malamute, Jasmine, who was a working dog here once upon a time. We
couldn’t have asked for a better trio to be our guinea pigs. Over the course of
the week, they were involved with feeding and taking care of the dogs, one on one
training, driving the team on quads and on sleds, and even helped out around
the barn for a spell. Through it all,
they were good natured and enthusiastic, and I’d imagine all of us would be
more than happy to host them for a repeat visit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the same time
that Stacie, Drew, and Caryn were staying, we also had a different group of guests.
Twila and her friend Luana Reed teamed up to rescue 30 Great Pyrenees from a
farm that were at risk of being put down. Altogether we had 11 staying in our
barn for a few nights, and now that 3 have been given to homes, we have eight
left. One, a puppy, has already graduated to guardian dog status, and she’s been
learning quickly from veterans Zaire and Dolly. I picked the name Ivy for her,
since she stuck to the wall her first few days here. Now she runs up to us
every morning, tail wagging. We’re hoping for similar results from the other
Pyrs: they all came to us deathly afraid of strangers and certainly confused
with their sudden change in environment. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As an extra bonus,
Kinky had her litter of puppies while our guests were here! Ever gifted with
her timing, Kinky went into labor on Friday evening, and by late Saturday night
we had three big boys and three big girls. They’re now two days old, and as
soon as I’m done writing I’ll be helping Twila assign their names (pictures are
sure to follow). Mom is doing great, and her pups are all strong and wiggly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, with all that
explained, I hope you’ll forgive me for my break from blogging. Until next time!
(Which should be much sooner.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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-<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span>Peter <o:p></o:p></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-6579115569683763432012-03-21T09:10:00.000-07:002012-04-02T09:26:47.878-07:00Malapaloosa 2012!!<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Montana Malapaloosa Information and Registration </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Malapaloosa is a 7 day recreational dry land mushing event focused on Alaskan Malamutes and other large breed purebred teams such as Canadian Inuit Dogs. This is a camping trip so you need to bring everything you would need to have to camp with your dogs. It is very important to note that this event is for fun and is NOT a competitive event. This is a “dry land” training event so you will need a cart or quad. Some loaners may be available. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We have fantastic well water available, as well as tent sites and a dry cabin for sharing. There is an outhouse and we will rent a porta-potty, but shower facilities are not provided. Showers are available nearby.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgK8BpP6SmogduVvOwhFQy99Dxo7-uuG9F463y0-CqislNcP40xlbmcQsBPv6fu-U36JsJwndRwS8aqtznA3oTDyL6LnZzKkNWzypJwLZAkNIMiMMByv2lEKjomG3ffSiTS7OPtvc4M6VX/s1600/ph-10160_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgK8BpP6SmogduVvOwhFQy99Dxo7-uuG9F463y0-CqislNcP40xlbmcQsBPv6fu-U36JsJwndRwS8aqtznA3oTDyL6LnZzKkNWzypJwLZAkNIMiMMByv2lEKjomG3ffSiTS7OPtvc4M6VX/s640/ph-10160_2.jpg" width="612" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Malamute Teams Working Side By Side</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Team size is not important. Anything from a 2–dog team to an 18-dog team has enjoyed Malapaloosa. This year we will begin on Monday 5/7 through Sunday 5/13. You can come for any part of this week, but I expect the majority will show up mid-week through the weekend. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K38is1OBVELyF-pYjfvSfpGRq3ecpCYpAUtjHZM2s1T5QWb9kzFh7FRh-EOUDyrsQlN8aaeM-wdjXguxSj71_mbWaVXByPGjH5n45GcFjS1znGkrwwyKHLRcUmx-dL7c7R0HbuQowTHh/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-K38is1OBVELyF-pYjfvSfpGRq3ecpCYpAUtjHZM2s1T5QWb9kzFh7FRh-EOUDyrsQlN8aaeM-wdjXguxSj71_mbWaVXByPGjH5n45GcFjS1znGkrwwyKHLRcUmx-dL7c7R0HbuQowTHh/s640/IMG_0040.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some teams from Malapaloosa 2011</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We will provide one big celebratory barbecue on Saturday, May 12th, featuring our home raised lamb stew & slow roasted pork, as well as assorted side dishes. The rest of the meals will be either pot-luck or on your own. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This is also a fund raising event for the Run For The Red Lantern 2014 Iditarod Team. As such we are asking for a donation towards the team fund, on top of the mandatory registration fee of $100 to cover the costs associated with hosting this event. Donating (beyond the registration fee) is TOTALLY optional and will not be mentioned again!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Payment must be submitted with registration:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Registration cost $100 per team . You are 1 team if you are a pair of people/family attending together & you share a group of dogs that usually run together and sometimes run on separate teams. You are 2 or more teams if you are 2 or more people attending together and each person drives their own dog team. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Bring a little cash to pitch in for food and supplies. This should be minimal as we are doing meals “pot luck”. Food costs will be decided between camp participants.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Depending on the size of the teams and the size of vehicles, participation may need to be limited.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Please make sure your dogs are current on vaccinations, and do not bring any sick dogs (or humans:-)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Please use paypal under account run4theredlantern@gmail.com You do not need a paypal account-you can use your credit or debit card without signing up for paypal.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You will receive a confirmation email, directions and list of supplies upon registration. I will also hook everyone up via an email chat group so you can talk amongst yourselves regarding the pot luck and food prep, carpooling, loaner carts, etc.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Don’t delay! The deadline for registration and payment is 4/15/12. Registration is subject to approval by camp host.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Please register via email to run4theredlanter@gmail.com and include the following information:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Name(s) of participants, Email, Phone (home & cell), Number of adults & children over age 12<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>, Number of children under age 12, Number of teams, Breed of dogs, Total number of dogs you are bringing, Any dog aggression issues that you may have with your team (please, this camp is not appropriate for dogs that are aggressive to humans), Type & size of vehicle, What are your camping arrangements? Tent camper share dry cabin other</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-30873053808941083922012-03-16T14:22:00.000-07:002012-03-16T15:12:33.648-07:00Where We Live-a Photoblog<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpDcnkNdpdHEeVFHEgRmVjI72zx1MkAdldUgndKpXf2krfdei6uHvv6li5vTdVPFxZ5YKaLIuUUxrtghMpa-YjCK7gR7QDW3RC7MbmWp0R4gesCVB5idAKlTvs8nPd1GR9t7Hnir0F7En/s1600/CIMG0458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpDcnkNdpdHEeVFHEgRmVjI72zx1MkAdldUgndKpXf2krfdei6uHvv6li5vTdVPFxZ5YKaLIuUUxrtghMpa-YjCK7gR7QDW3RC7MbmWp0R4gesCVB5idAKlTvs8nPd1GR9t7Hnir0F7En/s640/CIMG0458.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powell Mountain</td></tr>
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</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We live in a beautiful place. This view is what made us build on the side of a mountain-probably not the easiest place to live but.....</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-uCfYZhVele1TG5eWbI0xbFoK0XGgpidz0UIy54zVuH_K21438rWrT2BrJzh_nUdVjdylVXfj5Q92lg-b3ux7OQJ3T7aZsiFbkl0o0ZV9eQIIqLhqnQcxGk8Bl12DP9TiMckItX0-Mf1/s1600/IMG_0771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-uCfYZhVele1TG5eWbI0xbFoK0XGgpidz0UIy54zVuH_K21438rWrT2BrJzh_nUdVjdylVXfj5Q92lg-b3ux7OQJ3T7aZsiFbkl0o0ZV9eQIIqLhqnQcxGk8Bl12DP9TiMckItX0-Mf1/s640/IMG_0771.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Mountain Home<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Here is a picture of the cabin we live in. We have an odd style; part shed, part industrial, part modern, part rustic. There are so many log homes in Montana that we wanted something a little different.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">1 bedroom/1 bath, all of 600 square feet. Tiny but it fits us for now. Eventually it will be our guest house, when we are able to build our main home just to the east of this site. To see drawings of our upcoming home, click the link below:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a41314e6a63794f54673d0d0a&blogview=true" target="_blank">http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a41314e6a63794f54673d0d0a&blogview=true</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Standing on the deck of the cabin above-below are the views that you see each season. I could look at it forever, in fact, I plan to:-)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFTEx0CiTBngjptTL1IvSIyph2X4KN0I36YUBB_3OWKNtAMGOyKa7NTI7uZX7aIYio72gDiTvSzv7XGapC9lOYuXjNgLaatlbXEzPWKzI5sguOF5-hlyN66eXxLdL0cgmZDurrld4w2Ne/s1600/CIMG0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKFTEx0CiTBngjptTL1IvSIyph2X4KN0I36YUBB_3OWKNtAMGOyKa7NTI7uZX7aIYio72gDiTvSzv7XGapC9lOYuXjNgLaatlbXEzPWKzI5sguOF5-hlyN66eXxLdL0cgmZDurrld4w2Ne/s640/CIMG0460.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtoY83HeW7lNq_4t7UYaYeoFuqRo1vx_pWRaP1xmluxX8vT9rlec6RieJvtpxpJu6aXZ5TsBYeaU8_dZaSOuPuZ4TjvaYWaywR4zWtH-gYd1EUtq-SHYNJDnSVQrUwN5e2mZgj4Esz8tD/s1600/IMG_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtoY83HeW7lNq_4t7UYaYeoFuqRo1vx_pWRaP1xmluxX8vT9rlec6RieJvtpxpJu6aXZ5TsBYeaU8_dZaSOuPuZ4TjvaYWaywR4zWtH-gYd1EUtq-SHYNJDnSVQrUwN5e2mZgj4Esz8tD/s640/IMG_0205.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Spring</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU04LqkyxhGeBBuwajvwZeFYnQEyKp-4Oys6tiT8nAL6b42-I9m0iCcStveP-5yxU-KwDdLX6sjrSgzUDV7fXg_NSUb4TmoRt37rNH4JkGLZBVLwnUWLYXkWdgW_Wt9s5rnjZKYcYLwMIQ/s1600/IMG_0257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU04LqkyxhGeBBuwajvwZeFYnQEyKp-4Oys6tiT8nAL6b42-I9m0iCcStveP-5yxU-KwDdLX6sjrSgzUDV7fXg_NSUb4TmoRt37rNH4JkGLZBVLwnUWLYXkWdgW_Wt9s5rnjZKYcYLwMIQ/s640/IMG_0257.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Summer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSJa-hOrEXnO8CDkE6RnQFRPDZY6pryKHtumZsFVWd2_QgtDflRrlXrUewb-_Bt9AfQonk9pHIQjHZwf-S_NqZDyH_lTZKyPxwBWDOMIQzSWRsZXi94JJdEYWBefWcHc8YOd1U63gJaSF/s1600/montana+oct,+nov+08+113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSJa-hOrEXnO8CDkE6RnQFRPDZY6pryKHtumZsFVWd2_QgtDflRrlXrUewb-_Bt9AfQonk9pHIQjHZwf-S_NqZDyH_lTZKyPxwBWDOMIQzSWRsZXi94JJdEYWBefWcHc8YOd1U63gJaSF/s640/montana+oct,+nov+08+113.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Fall</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Below are some pictures of our dogyard-always a work in progress. Last year we added some shade shelters-even though our weather in summer averages 70 degrees, the sun is so intense that we have to put sunscreen on the dogs!! Our plan for this summer is to put in even more shade.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-kHRQCPR1Ym_afXuV3uDp5ebC23yvifNpD4Z8Nc2g653g3UZd1Ld7pO-JLFCCbf7g8_Tg251S2o1oMCeWWlj_cPHSzFDjOvklno8plBt6lXDIFSNXcutIiY84MfY3uZq-zktjylx2wUC/s1600/155284_486713712566_515002566_5660819_2606049_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-kHRQCPR1Ym_afXuV3uDp5ebC23yvifNpD4Z8Nc2g653g3UZd1Ld7pO-JLFCCbf7g8_Tg251S2o1oMCeWWlj_cPHSzFDjOvklno8plBt6lXDIFSNXcutIiY84MfY3uZq-zktjylx2wUC/s640/155284_486713712566_515002566_5660819_2606049_n.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our dogyard in summer-from the top of Baldy Mountain</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpmrWIS-bQQ9E7_TY1grEWX2-xuCbqJZZ5ey4UN3LWgpwkW16ZQvAMbVBDcPTFFYUE-8mtlwpuPYqbiOMbLgIFA_pDddVwmM5Lp88Ph0SznG0fyDwqJsMnjhxgH11hGaXLJIzb6CC9lvRU/s1600/CIMG0182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpmrWIS-bQQ9E7_TY1grEWX2-xuCbqJZZ5ey4UN3LWgpwkW16ZQvAMbVBDcPTFFYUE-8mtlwpuPYqbiOMbLgIFA_pDddVwmM5Lp88Ph0SznG0fyDwqJsMnjhxgH11hGaXLJIzb6CC9lvRU/s640/CIMG0182.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Top tier of our 3 tiered dogyard</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The poultry have it made too, a secure winter pen of about 1/2 acre, free-range on unlimited acreage in the spring through fall, 2 full time guardian dogs to protect them from our many predators.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5XZY478wGFGipdURy_sdZ6q-InMSj0wlXlEZL3TAf5mUaXrnCW_v5twzcK4bHmfwQFTC-us0bWdcSMZ4jliIuq7i7-FhC5zRI5qvMl_FHzSppBh_PyGQyQn8bPZYN3uiXJWvEWtKxXJ5/s1600/CIMG0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif5XZY478wGFGipdURy_sdZ6q-InMSj0wlXlEZL3TAf5mUaXrnCW_v5twzcK4bHmfwQFTC-us0bWdcSMZ4jliIuq7i7-FhC5zRI5qvMl_FHzSppBh_PyGQyQn8bPZYN3uiXJWvEWtKxXJ5/s640/CIMG0022.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our poultry coop-from the back of our cabin<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Sights you may see on the way up to our house. Our road is not for the faint of heart-especially in the winter:-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It sometimes takes us over an hour to get the 9 miles down our road to the highway. The up-side? We know our "true" friends, they are the ones that have actually made it out here to visit us....and then chose to come back even after driving our road. :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">TB</span></div>twilambakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921391163118245181noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-16159600133229844322012-03-14T12:24:00.000-07:002012-03-14T12:24:05.228-07:00SPRING-TIME FOR A BREAK??<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Awww-spring is upon us, time for rest and relaxation after a long winter on the trails? Um, NOPE!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Getting ready for lot’s of happenings here over the next few weeks. First of all, and very exciting for us, Kinky is expecting her 2nd ever litter at the end of this month. For those of you that have followed our race stories, this is the litter that was conceived via ravishment of poor Havok on the Eagle Cap Extreme Race, so for-after it is to be known as the Extreme Litter!! </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAW5WdBVWwosPQjSkAolP_tZwCgdR7DbDpVWX87UyB151f8H4kZAlUuYxev-6WRDKkTyZJ9NEZP77duaxqcpNYN8FzyfPYlEarBnMpfoCHex8hXg34KPK2jmYiSA0X7gffQhE7gwVIKUso/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAW5WdBVWwosPQjSkAolP_tZwCgdR7DbDpVWX87UyB151f8H4kZAlUuYxev-6WRDKkTyZJ9NEZP77duaxqcpNYN8FzyfPYlEarBnMpfoCHex8hXg34KPK2jmYiSA0X7gffQhE7gwVIKUso/s640/IMG_1144.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kinky's Baby Bump 3/14/12</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I you want to get in on the fun, we are having a “Pick Of The Litter” lottery on our website:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://run4theredlantern.com/PickTheLitterLotto.html" target="_blank">http://run4theredlantern.com/PickTheLitterLotto.html</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Guess the whelping day, number of pups and how many of each sex. Closest guess wins one of our great t-shirts!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Secondly; lambing season is upon us. Pretty soon we will have between 20 and 30 baby baa-baas here-which means we will be plenty busy taking care of these tasty, oops, I mean cute, little guys!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTMtg66NV3hPMvgnXLBAtqUrMTjSwtZCEDcCbRSASF4m82Nea1nagJdgImVRcqEu84a7lQ_4TGMzTmNXmmBOZVXNFN8twAG2bjH5rqi5t7jxjqEJrl8kKo1Acg2yqJXD8xtHc93xx5UGu/s1600/IMG_3787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTMtg66NV3hPMvgnXLBAtqUrMTjSwtZCEDcCbRSASF4m82Nea1nagJdgImVRcqEu84a7lQ_4TGMzTmNXmmBOZVXNFN8twAG2bjH5rqi5t7jxjqEJrl8kKo1Acg2yqJXD8xtHc93xx5UGu/s640/IMG_3787.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It also means a new supply of sheep milk!! Sounds icky, you say? Nonsense..ewes milk tastes a little like half-n-half (it is 8% fat after all) and makes the most wonderful brined feta, gouda and bleu cheeses. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStfxRbqYd8_j7G7irD5R_DF8taJCYd2A4H_Zii8RLCPpB40SDDG-GenCtaDCUsQUR4YuEfzBk-WvvxtvNNNASv5JFRCwOA7psEffwYhFyPTpbhWS_RFxxMSq3NZkks80-oljidinSxVW7/s1600/photo-27.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStfxRbqYd8_j7G7irD5R_DF8taJCYd2A4H_Zii8RLCPpB40SDDG-GenCtaDCUsQUR4YuEfzBk-WvvxtvNNNASv5JFRCwOA7psEffwYhFyPTpbhWS_RFxxMSq3NZkks80-oljidinSxVW7/s640/photo-27.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home Made White Stilton with Blueberries</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Oh, and Shirley (aka-the best cow in the universe!) is expecting a calf in a couple months too.....so fresh cows milk, butter and cream coming too. Yummmmm-life is good, literally!</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">On top of all this we are hosting our annual Montana Malapaloosa here the 7th through the 13th of May. So far there are about a dozen malamute teams signed up, and it looks like the mallie count is around 100. Yep, 100 WORKING malamutes....it will be a sight to see (and hear!). Thank goodness our nearest neighbor is 9 miles away:-) </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the teams at last year's Malapaloosa</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you are interested in joining us for this event, check out the details here: </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/171349252982999/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/events/171349252982999/</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I bet you guys that thought everything would slow down with spring??</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-15947417818866155362012-03-10T15:31:00.001-08:002012-03-10T15:31:46.159-08:00And So Begins Mud Season<br />
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> It’s
been almost a week – time for another update. The first is a sad one: it seems
that our litter of four baby goats arrived too early – of the three premature kids
that survived the first night, we now have only one. It was hard to watch such
cute animals struggle to survive and fail, but at least we know that we did
everything we could. The good news is that our kid, Jelly, is thriving. He’s
finally learned to nurse on his own, and he seems to be handling the milder
temperatures outside well. </span><span style="line-height: 32px;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> realized that, with so many births on our ranch, death will also play its part. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I
had a couple more firsts this week – a few nights ago we took two teams out
just as the sun was setting, and did 20 miles by star and moon light. I ran six
dogs for the first time, and also ran my own team at dark for the first time. It
was a little unnerving not being able to see everything that was going on with
my team, and I had several moments where I was sure I saw a limp or a hitch
that wasn’t actually there. Even with the added stress of the dark, it was
still extremely enjoyable – I could have never pictured that experience a few
months ago. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We
also ran on quads for the first time this season. The weather has been warm and
sunny, which has taken away much of the snow on our roads, so today found us
sloshing through the mud with two 12 dog teams. Since we were on four wheelers,
we were able to have much more control stopping and correcting any mistakes or
undesirable behavior. After 3+ hours, our mileage wasn’t nearly what it would
have been with sleds, but we got lots of valuable training in, practicing
passing, stopping, turning around, and geeing over among other things. We also
got plenty of pull training in: I was amazed to see 12 dogs pull 1000 pounds
five miles up the mountain; it gave me a new respect for their strength. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Right
now it’s at least fifty degrees outside, the sun is shining across the Sapphire
Mountains to the west, and I can think of nothing better to do with my evening
than to sit on my porch and enjoy the view - I trust you'll forgive me for stepping away from the computer. I hope the warm weather and
sunshine is finding you too – I’m off to enjoy them. Until next time! <o:p></o:p></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-13510080219418161082012-03-05T17:45:00.002-08:002012-03-16T12:10:29.486-07:00First Birth of the Spring The news for today is babies! One of our dairy goats, Jeri, had four -- that's right, four kids this afternoon. Unfortunately, one was stillborn, but we still have two boys and a girl down in the barn getting used to goat life. For the time being, Jeri isn't producing much milk, nor is she letting her kids suckle, so we're going to be bottle feeding them three times a day. We got to teach them to suckle, and give them some instant energy, by giving them honey off of our fingers, and since they're all so small and it's still pretty chilly up here, we cut up some socks and made pretty stylish cardigans. Here's some pictures -- I got excited.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgue6vLaQFBcHeQr5yedpdoEsULBAE-KzECL8I8nbgjmmynJPb7F_cu7_yw7ye6rIx9XULDSfMuUSt0saA9iqeey_WdYnLUiFJlinCQkqri-VrIjlzemmKDA9wcUli-05hkF6Ffecsvyrr3/s1600/IMG_1850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgue6vLaQFBcHeQr5yedpdoEsULBAE-KzECL8I8nbgjmmynJPb7F_cu7_yw7ye6rIx9XULDSfMuUSt0saA9iqeey_WdYnLUiFJlinCQkqri-VrIjlzemmKDA9wcUli-05hkF6Ffecsvyrr3/s400/IMG_1850.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drying off the babies</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2abn8BaitP0BjPgUzqu31quKrfPQtyXjhkKFScZOze5fKokrrF0yKR44R0gRw2ll7sa6ipMqqgWlMUOuAB5pOP7_CJs6hh5KsNUfpRCLupW1yArsbtoi6tHBKWcHtatNEZaxbfgx23QM0/s1600/IMG_1853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2abn8BaitP0BjPgUzqu31quKrfPQtyXjhkKFScZOze5fKokrrF0yKR44R0gRw2ll7sa6ipMqqgWlMUOuAB5pOP7_CJs6hh5KsNUfpRCLupW1yArsbtoi6tHBKWcHtatNEZaxbfgx23QM0/s400/IMG_1853.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out her new arrivals</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglos8-phu_NXMPFGtLw9zW2GQ0IXaNyQ53yNoqgo_54p_wUj7Btp1tadQ5XJVWCGqLbjsDbqxRC_CsdiISlQaHE_PqfRUmrWDoZggR3cadASFyDLxXCwjrWBWXC4uc20KXJFYXqRfbIA0O/s1600/IMG_1860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglos8-phu_NXMPFGtLw9zW2GQ0IXaNyQ53yNoqgo_54p_wUj7Btp1tadQ5XJVWCGqLbjsDbqxRC_CsdiISlQaHE_PqfRUmrWDoZggR3cadASFyDLxXCwjrWBWXC4uc20KXJFYXqRfbIA0O/s400/IMG_1860.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and a kid</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdiy8ehqFYwq7sLtLwLaTaKHkVw80hChKgY_Re2xceRDTdesoItFpZXR3tJ9zH6SbycFQedVf6Hg6qQRc4olehHVA_tdNaleGb1bspNMoh5w0GHyNny4Emom9A3kl9xNz5kw57VvE1XQW/s1600/IMG_1863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdiy8ehqFYwq7sLtLwLaTaKHkVw80hChKgY_Re2xceRDTdesoItFpZXR3tJ9zH6SbycFQedVf6Hg6qQRc4olehHVA_tdNaleGb1bspNMoh5w0GHyNny4Emom9A3kl9xNz5kw57VvE1XQW/s400/IMG_1863.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting fitted for his sweater</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjALaAHI6XjU06dqcycE3UF1ADeHxQSxqq2hSy-GDwY6PhcuVxsSAPouRyycgyA-L7_xH_couQ2bp5_tvztkM97eqipOlcUwdu_ZViBYNfAhUm63TgMKSYDGm0al6_M9QFUGzZtMtoo3I/s1600/IMG_1866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjALaAHI6XjU06dqcycE3UF1ADeHxQSxqq2hSy-GDwY6PhcuVxsSAPouRyycgyA-L7_xH_couQ2bp5_tvztkM97eqipOlcUwdu_ZViBYNfAhUm63TgMKSYDGm0al6_M9QFUGzZtMtoo3I/s400/IMG_1866.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think he looks like an ivy league rugby player</td></tr>
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<br />
This is the first birth of any kind that I've gotten to be around, and I already feel protective of all three of them. Maybe when they get older and less innocent I won't feel like such a parent, or maybe when there's 20 other babies running around this place I won't dote on them so much, but for today they're pretty special.blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-52119285015644317582012-03-04T11:44:00.001-08:002012-03-04T11:44:30.705-08:00Wow-Hellish 56 mile run!!<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Yesterday qualifies as the toughest run of the season-I don't think anyone who was there will argue that. Here was the plan: Morgan and Craig were going to run the race team while Peter and I took the Bombi a different direction to break open some trail that we knew had a lot of drifted snow on it. The mushers ran up to Hansen's Park, an area about 20 miles up that they had broken open 2 days prior, and they were to meet us at the tops of the lower loop after we were done breaking it open. Well, best laid plans always seem to go stray around here, mainly because of that beotch, Mother Nature! Due to our nearly constant spring winds, the Hansen's Park trail had drifted in again and the team had to forge through chest deep snow for most of their early run. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Peter and I fared no better on our trail breaking expedition! Early on the going was reasonably easy; deep snow and some avalanche areas that were moderately "puckering" but overall we made good time through the first half of the 18 mile loop. That all changed when we approached the saddle at the top of the ridge we were climbing. 4-5' new snow plus drifted areas along the "trail" made going very difficult, even with the Bombi. We lost the trail a few times but regained it pretty quickly, most of our wasted time was backing up and getting enough speed to blast through or over very large drifts!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3H97RnvnYIC3c6b5NjANjcK-6GwwVx80YWxF2bX_GsmYIK3ysa0-hZp1lPcbfl6p2iFXBtZDvO_eT1rnPo36oDhDNQYhg5d8joykA-pnSQFdEnhoGs8UNoUkb0qjN6fr6EdKOcyTqWEJ/s1600/IMG_1095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3H97RnvnYIC3c6b5NjANjcK-6GwwVx80YWxF2bX_GsmYIK3ysa0-hZp1lPcbfl6p2iFXBtZDvO_eT1rnPo36oDhDNQYhg5d8joykA-pnSQFdEnhoGs8UNoUkb0qjN6fr6EdKOcyTqWEJ/s640/IMG_1095.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of saddle from inside Bombi<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There were a couple areas that Peter even had to get out and shovel-they were too much even for the snowcat to get through. On top of that, the wind was relentless! </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxrxbaG4GvizcF2rNvp2er69bBlj4wveFrqRTQz48NyjZhxUgqqDY9M_5r2wOyCF35C7PaXMx8dlcztjxx7fA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We broke through about 1/2 mile of trail, decided to go back and re-do it because we weren't happy with the results of the first time through, and the wind had already blown it all away within about 30 minutes! All-in-all we spent about 2 hours on that one mile section of trail at the top of that saddle. Once we got to the other side, going got easier and we were able to blow out the rest pretty quickly.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The mushers had to wait about 45 minutes for us at the top of the loop, we had no faith that the mile at the top hadn't totally blown in again so we wanted to be on hand in case, and we were right! By the time we got back up there the trail was invisible again. Sheesh, talk about disheartening!! All that work for almost nothing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The temp had risen and softened the snow enough that for about a mile over the saddle the dogs were breaking through up to their chests again, very slow going. Young Enya led all the way through the tough stuff and was happy to be relieved by Copper once we were over the top. She welcomed a break back to point for the remainder of the run.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Then once we go through all the snow and back to the logging road it was to find that the loggers had scraped all the snow off so with the warm temps it was all mud for about 3 miles. More tough going, but we unhooked the second sled, picked up Craig and let Morgan go on herself to lighten the load and make it easier on both the dogs and the sled runners. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Through it all the dogs kept going; proving that they are in it regardless of conditions, proving that they trust their musher(s) to get them through whatever comes along, proving that they are malamutes!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Tough run. There will be more tough runs in the future. But we hope not soon:-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">TB</span></div>
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<br />blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-28173945254184500742012-03-01T17:09:00.000-08:002012-03-04T11:06:00.338-08:00Happy March!<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">From Peter - </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxSsceMmQ8bVOhQK5izbJ6lkKwHqwxeLOE0Spd7ojonlZjW7cEbVFjIZhDPJ1-uKAJJx4JJ7SB9ulGiD9_iYj1U0f620mRVQxp0mrXvrmkEYr2tKsNK_r7cnWoZ7pQfGgGgttBII-rGaK/s1600/2012-03-01+12.38.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxSsceMmQ8bVOhQK5izbJ6lkKwHqwxeLOE0Spd7ojonlZjW7cEbVFjIZhDPJ1-uKAJJx4JJ7SB9ulGiD9_iYj1U0f620mRVQxp0mrXvrmkEYr2tKsNK_r7cnWoZ7pQfGgGgttBII-rGaK/s1600/2012-03-01+12.38.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Mission for the last few days: groom out a big chunk of our trail system. Altogether we now have about 50 miles of trail that we can run on without repeating ourselves, which I have to think is pretty rare for most mushers in the lower 48.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxSsceMmQ8bVOhQK5izbJ6lkKwHqwxeLOE0Spd7ojonlZjW7cEbVFjIZhDPJ1-uKAJJx4JJ7SB9ulGiD9_iYj1U0f620mRVQxp0mrXvrmkEYr2tKsNK_r7cnWoZ7pQfGgGgttBII-rGaK/s1600/2012-03-01+12.38.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxSsceMmQ8bVOhQK5izbJ6lkKwHqwxeLOE0Spd7ojonlZjW7cEbVFjIZhDPJ1-uKAJJx4JJ7SB9ulGiD9_iYj1U0f620mRVQxp0mrXvrmkEYr2tKsNK_r7cnWoZ7pQfGgGgttBII-rGaK/s640/2012-03-01+12.38.00.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Me doing some serious trail work</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> If you’re wondering what we use to groom our trails, we’re driving a little snow cat dubbed “The Bombi”. If you’ve seen the 1980’s campy horror flick “The Thing”, it’s those yellow tank-like things they drive around while they do their darndest to run away from the…thing. It’s our new favorite vehicle, and so far it’s done everything we’ve asked it to, from scaling steep slopes covered in feet of snow to busting through drifts to climbing icy berms.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-lIGuoDGkYrXmmilav4Ns35oBM5akPwGvJgTj4u-wnuL2_cuHeSAaEg3Y_mArZENZGxmev-WIKiCPhc-mPLt1dwQTPfB0_1vC5RG8r3GYbt3CMOAbP9V2WkJUG90r3OKcVvhghfWghDV/s1600/2012-03-01+12.38.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-lIGuoDGkYrXmmilav4Ns35oBM5akPwGvJgTj4u-wnuL2_cuHeSAaEg3Y_mArZENZGxmev-WIKiCPhc-mPLt1dwQTPfB0_1vC5RG8r3GYbt3CMOAbP9V2WkJUG90r3OKcVvhghfWghDV/s640/2012-03-01+12.38.11.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Proof that the Bombie is awesome </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> We
also did some good running today. I got my second go with a four dog team
(working my way up to six). It was also my first all Malamute team, which meant
that I had more power to control but not quite as much speed. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJ5IAXmffsyquvUupXXNZT2eigwuLlIOzEcCqE45WJ2T4i4P4AL8JvIlIhPLA1-uhIKzgL6vGJ6Oti0hoyIt7IdR7uEakrrun6sx-EDzJT93Fn7fQVJdmxBpwduysQu8SPS6QYWtt5hZ0/s1600/2012-03-01+15.56.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJ5IAXmffsyquvUupXXNZT2eigwuLlIOzEcCqE45WJ2T4i4P4AL8JvIlIhPLA1-uhIKzgL6vGJ6Oti0hoyIt7IdR7uEakrrun6sx-EDzJT93Fn7fQVJdmxBpwduysQu8SPS6QYWtt5hZ0/s640/2012-03-01+15.56.03.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mother/daughter Eve & Enya. Enya is distracted by the puppies up top. </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> In
other ranch news, we’re expecting a true spring this year – that means lots and
lots of babies. We have three goats that are due any minute now, a cow that’s
looked ready to calve for months, and a pasture full of pregnant ewes. Maybe
most exciting, Kinky is due with a litter of Havok’s pups in a little over two weeks. If you haven’t heard, this litter was conceived during The
Eagle Cap Extreme Race; Morgan had to wait 30 minutes on the trail while they attended to
business. This will be my first batch of newborn puppies, and I’m looking
forward to all the cuteness (and work) that’s coming our way. March is gonna be
a lively month! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx6xDIAM10-JJ6PyfCeDdRbwlcXn2DjLtKf0Qqa-oqhNr8VaLn5ux3-bRFAFF-DXqqDTKZ_QHI6kujZOtsQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> Well
I guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print. With the loggers off the roads
for the weekend we’ll be able to run even further up the mountain. Hopefully we
can get close to 100 miles in between Saturday and Sunday, so I’ll have some
good reports coming in. </span><o:p></o:p></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-81676543019878938552012-03-01T16:08:00.002-08:002012-03-16T12:14:04.749-07:002012 Race Season-A Look Back<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Flathead Sleddog Days</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">January 7-8, 2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.flatheadsleddogdays.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">www.flatheadsleddogdays.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">We started the season with a fun and friendly 80 miler-the Flathead Sleddog Days race. The people hosting this race were wonderful and the event was very well organized. Jack Beckstrom was the race marshal this year, a real class act! The race is set up as two 40 mile legs, one to run each day. Gery Allan came from Flagstaff to run with us, and borrowed Elvis for his team as he was one dog shy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Since the crowds appear later in the day, the race marshall suggested that we leave 2 hours earlier than the alaskan teams so that we could finish with them. How nice was that? even though not necessary. We have to become used to finishing last:-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">We brought our 12 week old puppies along to win friends, and boy did they! There was a crowd by our dog truck all day long!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">We ran 12 in this race; Copper, Rayon, Enya, Enrique, Piggy, Havok, Kinky, Marsh, Kaos, Cali, Janis, Jimi.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">The team finished strong @ 7mph average and without injury, or even stiff or sore joints. Feet looked great and we did not run booties.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ3XQok_iJzVTwhHqwVyu9dqDJZutMe2IQQVINOjZ_-OuLuN7vCFtHyyPaalxjySuaF2_W-ySCpJbVNT8mb3NC2JkaT26TOVKsz_dPeWsPjjEt_ltF8SuWlRWsj88O-I-CVWH_EuQflKO/s1600/409328_280851851972238_126684410722317_791164_1368560810_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFZ3XQok_iJzVTwhHqwVyu9dqDJZutMe2IQQVINOjZ_-OuLuN7vCFtHyyPaalxjySuaF2_W-ySCpJbVNT8mb3NC2JkaT26TOVKsz_dPeWsPjjEt_ltF8SuWlRWsj88O-I-CVWH_EuQflKO/s640/409328_280851851972238_126684410722317_791164_1368560810_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Coming in on the Flathead Race</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Eagle Cap Extreme</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">January 26, 2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.eaglecapextreme.com/">www.eaglecapextreme.com</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Our next endeavor was a much more challenging race, The Eagle Cap Extreme 200. This is in a continuous race format, meaning that you run the 200 miles with only one mandatory 6 hour layover, and choose your other rest breaks at your discretion. This race was exceptionally well organized, the towns people are very involved in the event, the trail is marked so well you would have to be sleeping on the runners to get off course. Our intrepid musher took off with 12; Copper, Rayon, Eve, Enrique, Enya, Elvis, Havok, Kinky, Cali, Marsh, Piggy, and Jimi. Kinky was in full blown standing heat on this race, and managed to get herself “taken care of” by Havok along the trail on the first leg, a planned event-even if we had hoped for her to wait until the checkpoint:-) Morgan had some difficulty with control on the first 50 mile leg; there was an alaskan team that had a lot of trouble passing and in the process of trying to help him get by she nearly lost her team, then got drug and beat up pretty badly. Thankfully the other musher helped her regain control, and they both got back on the trail. She pulled into the checkpoint barely 30 minutes after the last place alaskan team.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">She spent more time than she had planned in the checkpoint, recuperating and deciding to drop a couple dogs so she would have better control on the soft deep snow. Right before she was ready to leave the checkpoint the race officials approached her and strongly suggested that she “run the 100 mile course” instead of proceeding on the 200. Because of her inexperienced, beat-up and tired status and because the officials were pushing so hard, she agreed to do so-without understanding that changing course equated a scratch. </span>It was a disappointing and bitter end to what otherwise was a superbly organized event. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">BUT-we did learn a lot from the experience; the dogs did fantastic on the course and finished the 100 miles healthy & strong, and our musher learned checkpoint time management (& maybe to be less trusting:-) so it was not a wasted effort! When we tallied her time on the trail, she averaged 6.7 mph, which included a 30 minute break for Kinky to have her way with Havok, and the 30 minutes that Morgan spent heping a fellow musher, being drug, and recovering her team.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Will we attempt this race next year? I don’t know, we would really love to but it will depend on some things, mainly the Race Marshal. This year I think he was hasty in “force-scratching” our musher. He said after the race that if she had not agreed to switch to the 100 mile course (or effectively scratch) he would have disqualified her. Really? 50 miles into a 200 mile race? There is a saying that I really like; Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. That is the last word I will say on this subject:-)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG57tj1hRLaWClNb6atm6KfrGoDWClGkLHWQXRzoBKUy7v4hyphenhyphenvuuxMWTCOF_N4fRUsthfKwk812Qsdqp28b3KIPk7Xd7vE0MsQ3NQ2pl5SEudkckk0d4D91eBATwab9XdlHHZeI_ro04D/s1600/IMG_7256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG57tj1hRLaWClNb6atm6KfrGoDWClGkLHWQXRzoBKUy7v4hyphenhyphenvuuxMWTCOF_N4fRUsthfKwk812Qsdqp28b3KIPk7Xd7vE0MsQ3NQ2pl5SEudkckk0d4D91eBATwab9XdlHHZeI_ro04D/s640/IMG_7256.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Getting ready to take off on the ECX</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.racetothesky.org/">www.racetothesky.org</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">The third race of the season was the Race To The Sky. We cannot say enough about how wonderful this experience was. Montana people are the best! :-) </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYpMf5zbp1_PMoJ9rouONR2PeRQmyettJNIT5Bjr23TuX0fFjRfAYiZP_SD8t_RnpngCwrQ-2tMIaU6cX9BFRn9tgYhAa4zYqiAhBYF4dAiy4W4fDOxSmdsKGgrOAV-jB8dgfqk01Ea89/s1600/RaceToTheSky20120211_DSC4794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYpMf5zbp1_PMoJ9rouONR2PeRQmyettJNIT5Bjr23TuX0fFjRfAYiZP_SD8t_RnpngCwrQ-2tMIaU6cX9BFRn9tgYhAa4zYqiAhBYF4dAiy4W4fDOxSmdsKGgrOAV-jB8dgfqk01Ea89/s640/RaceToTheSky20120211_DSC4794.jpg" width="424" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Getting dogs ready for RTTS Vet Check</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This is also a continuous format, and Morgan took off around 4pm with 8 dogs; Rayon, Eve, Marsh, Piggy, Havok, Cali, Enya, Enrique. We had 2 girls in full standing season for this race-Cali and Piggy-and they were making spectacles of themselves!! </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vAdnxSuJAlFOLveuvQ8cJnM338qHw_7NhDAzu5ZgK69wC3TYUOlaYL63YToOXWKTDws9kc27nxxMQPV5HcuDp6QYrasaEQfhfUTKpH11Z4p9Xyc1_fbvL2_Ml1BnIzVkuzsDRUjid8cq/s1600/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vAdnxSuJAlFOLveuvQ8cJnM338qHw_7NhDAzu5ZgK69wC3TYUOlaYL63YToOXWKTDws9kc27nxxMQPV5HcuDp6QYrasaEQfhfUTKpH11Z4p9Xyc1_fbvL2_Ml1BnIzVkuzsDRUjid8cq/s640/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5827.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team getting bedded down and snacked</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It was terribly warm on the take off, and never really cooled off that night. Morgan</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> got into the first checkpoint around 11pm, got right to dog care and then slept for a few hours. Feet all looked great, no splits or fissures, and no limping or stiff joints.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uEVnDnUsii18240UJP4wgylcA_UbGnx55xSj8CWDUsdn1O2KEMItyst2Gaq1ZIGlPx0phYX6DtVgbsv4SSbBLJgfdjnFi7JdciItRkj6lGJEP51lBG9ZJoOJUlh8eEARWUAdPKIblX3b/s1600/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9uEVnDnUsii18240UJP4wgylcA_UbGnx55xSj8CWDUsdn1O2KEMItyst2Gaq1ZIGlPx0phYX6DtVgbsv4SSbBLJgfdjnFi7JdciItRkj6lGJEP51lBG9ZJoOJUlh8eEARWUAdPKIblX3b/s640/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5821.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking care of Marsh's feet</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">She decided to drop Piggy due to MSP syndrome (Miss Sexy Pants), got on the trail again and finished with 7 dogs, just 3 hours behind the alaskan teams!! Not bad for 100 miles, average speed for this race was 7mph.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUTD0O3pKiyqfrTCBLsm9NMBdNvmTpvKnEBjBl3gEeGXPqHt8w0PLeb8c-WrrOoKBKXj0TvXJIAXpV-HOtBOUkuaeguJaPJDs4568oDPWGALlpNp4Ud2sz5kKSVVO3NTNg7-ToRbP2wmx/s1600/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUTD0O3pKiyqfrTCBLsm9NMBdNvmTpvKnEBjBl3gEeGXPqHt8w0PLeb8c-WrrOoKBKXj0TvXJIAXpV-HOtBOUkuaeguJaPJDs4568oDPWGALlpNp4Ud2sz5kKSVVO3NTNg7-ToRbP2wmx/s640/RaceToTheSky20120213_DSC5796.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miss Piggy & Enya rest at Whitetail Checkpoint</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">The dogs all looked great, this was one of the best finishes of the year. No injuries, lameness or foot issues. This was another race that we did not run booties in, (except for Havok who "accidentally" got the hair trimmed out of his pads for a dogshow 3 weeks earlier).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">This is one of the races we will definitely do next year-the 350 mile version-which we plan to use as one of our Iditarod qualifiers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>American Dog Derby</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">February 17-18, 2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.americandogderby.com/">www.americandogderby.com</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Last race of the season was a 100 miler less than a week after finishing Race To The Sky! A fun one in Ashton Idaho, the American Dog Derby. This was another race in stage format. We chose 10 for this race, even though we could have ran up to 12; Rayon, Eve, Enya, Enrique, Elvis, Jimi, Marsh, Havok, Sally & Liddy (their first race)! This is another event where the town gets very involved, and it was well organized too. She finished with an average speed of 7 mph again, and won her first ever purse, $300!! She was so excited to actually get a check:-)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54DKnbNelZpnaqJ_QHQABP_-TMoJFgkROPeYDxwm2fb5AiRLwXfjp_Ba5IMqfzlw2bWSH697hzm4uMsdAKFLOixh4y7xN96tFgyFe2-e-RscX0KEyeCG0O4K_4SsIrJYYQS9vE0H2GmCJ/s1600/419599_2734207873743_1213693532_32063464_1554959586_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi54DKnbNelZpnaqJ_QHQABP_-TMoJFgkROPeYDxwm2fb5AiRLwXfjp_Ba5IMqfzlw2bWSH697hzm4uMsdAKFLOixh4y7xN96tFgyFe2-e-RscX0KEyeCG0O4K_4SsIrJYYQS9vE0H2GmCJ/s640/419599_2734207873743_1213693532_32063464_1554959586_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Derby Start</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">We also ran a second team in the shorter 24 mile race; Craig Davis got in on the fun with a 5 dog team. He ran great times-with 2 alaskans (Copper and Sumo) and 3 malamutes (Boss, Izzy and Kaos).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Craig taking off</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">What a great season! Everyone had fun, even with all the work. The dogs did amazingly well. They were fantastic breed ambassadors; never a single issue with passing or being passed, and they were always the crowd favorite. Our biggest problem was control-holding them back so they did not over do it and incur injuries. This is such a young team; we have 3 yearlings, five 18 month olds, and three 2 year olds on this team. Next year we will have 3 more yearlings to bring along...so the cycle continues!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">TB</span></div>
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<br />blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-70418923797513691322012-02-27T23:10:00.001-08:002012-02-28T17:13:55.918-08:00What Do We Do Now?<div style="text-align: justify;">
So...we tried to get into the Copper Dog 150 in Calumet, Michigan....1st team on the wait list....but is looks like the remaining teams that are signed up are all showing up. Sigh...a 150 miler would have been a good way to end the season, and a road trip where we could stop on the way back to see our friends Ann Stead and Jamie Nelson (and run a few days on Jamie's wonderful trail system!) would have been fantastic. We were also incorporating a visit to Maryann and Jim of Prairiebilt Dog Sleds on our return visit, need to try out some prototypes and talk sled design for our upcoming adventure. Side note-for those of you that have never driven a Prairiebilt sled-these are primo distance sleds IMO, and in the opinions of many others too. </div>
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So, since we're not heading east we thought about going to Idaho for the Stanley Sleddog Rendezvous, but that is a lot of hassle for 60 short miles. Other than that, racing season is over...</div>
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But back to What Now?? We have tons of snow here, more than anywhere else in the state, maybe anywhere else in the lower 48. Our trails are actually all snowed in right now due to it snowing 13 out of the last 14 days. We took a week off after finishing the last two back-to-back 100 mile races, the musher and her handlers needing the rest much more than the dogs did. The team is at an average of 2800 miles for the season so they are well conditioned and really don't need a ton more mileage this year.</div>
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We ran short miles yesterday and today, and tomorrow the goal is to re-claim some of our snowed in trail system. After that? We could aim for more training rather than mileage...we could head down the hill and have some longer runs on the quads...try to work out some of the bad habits that the team picks up over the winter. Or maybe another long run is in order, with some winter camping? Start March out with a nice 100 mile camping excursion......while we still have 6' of snow out here. Or maybe what we need to do is stay closer to home and get Peter out more with his own small team. Hmmm...decisions....</div>
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Signing off...TB</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkwSrKXXR5XtJEHHUZ3keZOmem0FtcpIKS2iaWdvWpHwCoLPdbQj9wYKB9DSWW1-AynAZIHpwf2lu7RyNIRvuH6YcQCCe5EKTKnLoaIvT1IzLjv9fDcMjxnLjPzBXbf8GlypyJmiqilsf/s1600/IMG_7306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMkwSrKXXR5XtJEHHUZ3keZOmem0FtcpIKS2iaWdvWpHwCoLPdbQj9wYKB9DSWW1-AynAZIHpwf2lu7RyNIRvuH6YcQCCe5EKTKnLoaIvT1IzLjv9fDcMjxnLjPzBXbf8GlypyJmiqilsf/s640/IMG_7306.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-21928686348988746952012-02-26T19:25:00.002-08:002012-03-01T17:10:09.002-08:00First Solo RunFrom Peter -<br />
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Big day today people! Even though
the weather didn’t cooperate and settle down like we’d hoped it would, we still
managed to get a couple teams out this weekend, which meant that I got to run
my own team for the first time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Up
until now, I’ve served mainly as the resident utility man on our training runs,
which means that I’ve spent a lot of time on a tow sled behind Morgan or Craig’s
teams, helping out however I can (Twila is fond of her nickname for me: Ballast).
Today though, I graduated to solo sledding. While Morgan and Craig rode ahead
with eight dogs, I took out my own little four dog team, and it was a good one.
For leaders, I had two experienced Alaskan Huskies, Copper and Sumo, and for my
wheel dogs, I ran two of our young and speedy female Malamutes, Enya and Liddy.
Needless to say, it was a totally different experience riding solo – having Copper
and Sumo actually “gee” or “ha” when I asked them was new and exciting. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzufP2CBXlyNqWjJAmfa2YebBVgCe7OYMzDOk1sJpgXPTu1IZIUCMIjdQFY1DUFBybnQVnWhKaYzv0tCW1CJcmm_0AtIrTTSJNZm4u_QScOwSsakUv8EbOito7nJLgLneUpwGOv8pxaWX/s1600/photo-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzufP2CBXlyNqWjJAmfa2YebBVgCe7OYMzDOk1sJpgXPTu1IZIUCMIjdQFY1DUFBybnQVnWhKaYzv0tCW1CJcmm_0AtIrTTSJNZm4u_QScOwSsakUv8EbOito7nJLgLneUpwGOv8pxaWX/s320/photo-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First Solo Run</div>
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It
definitely felt good to be back on sleds after almost a week, which is the
longest we’ve gone without running since I’ve been here. I’m pretty hooked, so
over dinner tonight I’ll be trying to convince the ladies of the ranch to let
me take out another team tomorrow (six, maybe?).<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3K67GXhpMk42VhUKFsgyCtF4ZqZe8bIPXsAQu4Fp-lC_dbZK8KA8sV3SQUNwkWWmX07kPu7bfpUDypM-HYBbZE43J-bxRib68OqerIUHvYC0nAyG4bth_RbbwYLLc44f1dWcGtQlXDER/s1600/IMG_0942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy3K67GXhpMk42VhUKFsgyCtF4ZqZe8bIPXsAQu4Fp-lC_dbZK8KA8sV3SQUNwkWWmX07kPu7bfpUDypM-HYBbZE43J-bxRib68OqerIUHvYC0nAyG4bth_RbbwYLLc44f1dWcGtQlXDER/s320/IMG_0942.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Twila thought this was a much better picture.</span></div>
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<br /></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-71463077266289065642012-02-26T14:04:00.003-08:002012-02-27T22:11:14.074-08:00Why “Run For The Red (Lantern)"?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>From Twila, affectionately (sometimes) known as the Alpha B:</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A lot of people have asked me why we chose this slogan, many think it is silly to aspire to take last place in anything, and others think we are eliminating our team’s potential for success by announcing to the world that we hope to finish last. Maybe a brief history of the Red Lantern would help?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">In the early years in Alaska and the Yukon, supplies and mail were mainly carried by dog team. Dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses and outposts along their routes between villages. These early mushers carried their cargo regardless of time of day, weather or trail conditions and since this was incredibly dangerous they developed a safety system. When a musher was on the trail between roadhouses a kerosene lamp was lit, hung and not extinguished until the team(s) were in safely. Not only did the lamp help the dog drivers find the outpost, a lit lamp also signified that there were team(s) out on the trail somewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">In the mid 80’s the tradition was revived by hanging a red lantern on the burl arch in Nome. The lantern is lit at the beginning of the Iditarod every year, hung at the finish line and not extinguished until the last musher has crossed the finish line. That musher crossing the finish signifies the official end of the race, and that musher is the winner of the “Red Lantern Award”.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19HELmzJUACY31VwhmTg2jVEnDilTfcYtZl0BZEAR3zuxMH4wcV9FzC4k0j2DmjZfq6JS3F47moPVeCnvufW8srenjZkgSxX_Vr89FFSLVbX2WlxC2nhDkroQ_3wVy3YhJfUg1smp_Gpb/s1600/IMG_7184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi19HELmzJUACY31VwhmTg2jVEnDilTfcYtZl0BZEAR3zuxMH4wcV9FzC4k0j2DmjZfq6JS3F47moPVeCnvufW8srenjZkgSxX_Vr89FFSLVbX2WlxC2nhDkroQ_3wVy3YhJfUg1smp_Gpb/s640/IMG_7184.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team climbing one of our many hills</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Modern “Take” On The Red Lantern</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Modern day Iditarod rules allow the elimination of teams that are not <i>“in a position to make a valid effort to compete”</i>. Specifically; <i>“If a team has not reached McGrath within seventy-two (72) hours of the leader, Grayling/Galena within ninety-six (96) hours of the leader or, Unalakleet within one hundred twenty (120) hours of the leader, it is presumed that a team is not competitive.</i></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: normal;"><i>” </i></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Winners of the Red Lantern Award in this day and age may NOT even be the last team on the trail, they might be the last team ALLOWED to finish the race. In 2009, Rob Loveman was withdrawn for non-competitiveness, in 2010 Hank Debruin was forced to scratch or be withdrawn due to non-competitiveness, even though he was well under the Unalakleet time limit. What a shame these mushers were not allowed to finish! I do understand why the ITC put this non-compete rule into effect; volunteers were being kept extra days at the checkpoints for the last couple stragglers to make a camping trip out the the race. That being said, it is a painful end to a life’s dream to be withdrawn when you are making sincere effort to finish the race in a timely fashion. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGrSyshFSjIoy27-G3MAlj9dUPXs3I7uQgO6PbEdbi7CmpWpE51230f4GfVtW8-jhYPfcnCeMfYDNCncQV-cpgbcXDCDAqhWL5QdvR8ZkDjGXEZHkBTbMJrKzkiIPUV0aNtrlYO3sAK4J/s1600/404726_333424710014324_299093943447401_1070214_2132781589_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGrSyshFSjIoy27-G3MAlj9dUPXs3I7uQgO6PbEdbi7CmpWpE51230f4GfVtW8-jhYPfcnCeMfYDNCncQV-cpgbcXDCDAqhWL5QdvR8ZkDjGXEZHkBTbMJrKzkiIPUV0aNtrlYO3sAK4J/s640/404726_333424710014324_299093943447401_1070214_2132781589_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morgan taking off at the Eagle Cap Extreme</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Chances are....</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">So let’s take a look at our chances of actually finishing the “Last Great Race On Earth”. It can be done by a malamute team. In looking at the average speeds of some of the back-of-the-pack teams over the last few years, it is possible to finish before being dq’ed. Possible-IF the team is at their physical best, IF trail conditions and storms keep the leaders of the pack slower than normal, IF there are no serious gear malfunctions, etc. In other words, if EVERYTHING goes our way, we will finish. We are determined to leave as little to chance as possible, training hard, making sure our dogs are as fit and healthy as possible, making certain that our musher is as experienced (as well as fit and healthy:-) as possible, and using every possible tool at our disposal to increase chances of success. With all of this, please understand that this is a huge undertaking for our breed; to be able to finish a race of this magnitude, even coming in last to win the widow’s lamp, would be a great honor. It would be the culmination of decades of breeding, tens of thousands of miles of experience on the runners, and thousands upon thousands of miles of training on the team. It will take over one hundred thousand dollar to get there. It will mean that we eat, breathe, sleep (not much) and live this dream for the next 2 years. We will sacrifice much; money, rest, vacations, fancy coffee drinks, new clothes (except those that help us get down the trail better:-), date nights, having any life outside of dogs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>So....bringing home the official “Red Lantern” of the 2014 Iditarod? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Priceless.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sf7Z8klwfqye-jfivWMBrW68JLwp69htFQRcG4Nub8ofCEaaXj2jMA0vViEVLcYciIfU_TNyGlYoZfgnfeJG9baGbmq_ZSiTbLEK-Or_WAtTsNFH7FbCFSFYUSpYsO4J4dL2iOLr5Zb-/s1600/FreeVector-Antique-Lamp_JPG_r2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sf7Z8klwfqye-jfivWMBrW68JLwp69htFQRcG4Nub8ofCEaaXj2jMA0vViEVLcYciIfU_TNyGlYoZfgnfeJG9baGbmq_ZSiTbLEK-Or_WAtTsNFH7FbCFSFYUSpYsO4J4dL2iOLr5Zb-/s320/FreeVector-Antique-Lamp_JPG_r2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-41729339833808777162012-02-25T17:38:00.001-08:002012-03-16T12:15:03.514-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny6JNAXG_gNN21KWhENThiTNrJEk6JDel7Jb6FvMVHmFFpU9XuNY0JVCvncG_CF-oEvS5ioqBO5z-fSrdR0osWUOZIWbjXuCSySUr24Ez9DZzmm2R0_8s6B2Zw7YCTrJEYL5NcIeHWym2/s1600/RaceToTheSky20120211_DSC4797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny6JNAXG_gNN21KWhENThiTNrJEk6JDel7Jb6FvMVHmFFpU9XuNY0JVCvncG_CF-oEvS5ioqBO5z-fSrdR0osWUOZIWbjXuCSySUr24Ez9DZzmm2R0_8s6B2Zw7YCTrJEYL5NcIeHWym2/s320/RaceToTheSky20120211_DSC4797.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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The vet check at Race To The Sky. Aren't I cute? :-)</div>
<br />blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-76757915583160927862012-02-23T17:22:00.002-08:002012-03-16T12:15:19.314-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXkRr7aV3NoIZRZXKyXOJSvnL8-O3Vce4Evccy3Vwg0Io3S46Q5HDfdvy4i-HwaLbmcEuqcaKcv7Hp1HCEepGYY-0PL9WVsAwPGgOeSeNAu-_48xWYX8z6WuqTEmoWvAWLvgV-m8viN6f/s1600/419599_2734207873743_1213693532_32063464_1554959586_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnXkRr7aV3NoIZRZXKyXOJSvnL8-O3Vce4Evccy3Vwg0Io3S46Q5HDfdvy4i-HwaLbmcEuqcaKcv7Hp1HCEepGYY-0PL9WVsAwPGgOeSeNAu-_48xWYX8z6WuqTEmoWvAWLvgV-m8viN6f/s320/419599_2734207873743_1213693532_32063464_1554959586_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nice picture from the start of American Dog Derby. Photo courtesy of Jill Wilson.</div>
<br />blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2971913508951585914.post-79177891029448983382012-02-23T17:10:00.001-08:002012-03-01T17:10:33.393-08:00Inaugural BlogFrom Peter -<br />
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Welcome
everyone! (If there is anyone at this point). Today, our website,
Run4theredlantern.com, got off the ground. Its aim is to keep you, the masses,
informed of our progress as we work towards our goal of competing in the 2014
Iditarod with a pure bred Malamute team, and naturally, the best way to keep y’all
current on our progress is through this brand new blog. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since
I have been asked to write this blog, and since a blog is another name for a
public diary, I should probably start by introducing myself. My name is Peter,
and I’ve been working here at the ranch since November, at which point I knew nothing
of the skills needed to work in such a setting (I now know a little more than
nothing). I came here because I wanted an opportunity to learn those skills, to
work with the dogs, to live off the grid, and yes, to be with my girlfriend,
Morgan. I’m 24 years old, less than two years out of college, and learning more
here every day than I ever did in 17 years of student life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now,
to get you up to speed, the bad news first: For three days, it has been
steadily plopping wet, heavy snow on us, and apparently that’s the go ahead for
me to find every possible way to create more work for everyone around me. In 24
hours I have managed to get the plow truck stuck…three times, break the plow on
another vehicle, and while tromping around on our roof during 50 mph snow gusts
(long story), stomp a hole through part of the ceiling. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now,
the good news: Evidently, everyone else here has both more patience and a
better sense of humor than I. This week marked the end of race season, and has
therefore been unusually restful. The season was all of our firsts, and I’m
comfortable calling it a success – Morgan completed all four races she competed
in, running approximately 100 miles in each of the last three. Both mushers and
malamutes piled up miles and experience, setting us up for bigger and better
things next season. Most immediately in the good news category: it seems to be
clearing up a bit, which is great timing seeing as some good friends
are coming to visit this weekend, and we’re antsy to get back to running dogs
while they’re here. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Well
I think that’s enough for an introductory blog. The first of those
aforementioned friends should be rolling in any minute now, so I should be off.
If y’all have any questions I’d be happy to answer them (it’ll give me fodder
to fill my blog). Otherwise, I’ll try to write up another update within the next
couple days. Until next time!<o:p></o:p></div>blog4theredhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03625713106058770544noreply@blogger.com8