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Ed and Tasha's Adventure Diary

  Note: Ed's journal updates are written in black, and Tasha's in purple. 

  For all journal archives click here.

May 4, 2008  After the traveling through the remains of a snowstorm in the Yukon, and soaking in Laird Hot Springs, we have arrived!  The trip was pleasantly uneventful, until our decent into Skagway.  We had to descend 3392 feet in 11.5 miles as we traveled down the White Pass.  The brakes on the front of the truck started smoking so we had to stop to let them cool off, and then crept down the last of the pass using only the trailer brakes.  It was certainly too stressful for us to enjoy the scenery much!  We'll have to get new front brakes in Juneau tomorrow before we climb up to Sheep Creek with the truck.  (Well, we could climb up, but getting down would be mighty exciting!)  We've had to wait about a day and a half for the ferry to Juneau (we arrived on Friday night and took the 4:30 pm ferry on Sunday).  We all decided that we'd rather be "stuck" in Skagway for a couple extra days, parked along the beautiful Skagway River, than having truck problems along the Alaskan Highway.  We were treated to a great dinner Saturday night with AIE owners Dan and Chris Turner, and even got to take a ride up the pass in one of Dan's vintage limousines.  It was much more relaxing taking a drive up the mountain in that!!  Skagway is the oldest city in Alaska thanks to the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1800's.  Thousands of gold seekers ascended White Pass or the nearby Chilkoot Pass.

The dogs are all getting quite restless and ready to be permanently settled.  Our "campground" is a great place to walk the puppies and play along the river, but it's definitely time to get everyone else to a place where they can burn off some energy.  We had a bug of diarrhea go through some of the dogs, but everyone seems to be doing better. We boarded the Fairweather Ferry this afternoon for the final portion of our journey.  Juneau, the capital city of Alaska, is only accessible via ferry or plane.  The weather today is typical for Southeastern Alaska: cold, damp, foggy, clear, bright, and damp (yes, I meant to say damp twice!).  We'll spend the night tonight at the TEMSCO heliport, with the hopes of sending Cindy and Meghan to the glacier with their dog teams tomorrow, and then we'll head up to Sheep Creek with the rest of the crew.  Hopefully the dogs know that the end is in sight. 

A couple more quotes from the trip....

"That sound could only be humping."--Meghan, as we listen to Ayn and Prancer in the back of the tuck (both females, and Prancer in heat) 

"Do we have any more chocolate?"--Ed, repeated 3-4 times daily

"Try to stay out of the water."--Meghan's advice to Ed as we head down the steep gangplank onto the ferry in a truck with minimal brakes

"Are you guys laughing at me?"--Cindy after her snort-snoring episode

May 1st, 2008 On the road to Alaska! Yes, we did get everything packed up, the house secured, the dog houses cleaned out, puppies packed, and the crew loaded.  A huge thanks goes to Aunt Lynne Witte, Michele Seng and her brother Mark, and Cliff and Darlene Henning for their last minute help cleaning all the dog barrels, raking straw, making final trailer preparations, and helping with miscellaneous spring cleaning done in the yard. Ed was busy making trips back and forth to the walk-in clinic in Newberry for a seriously infected leg.  He had to be put on several antibiotics, and final results concluded that he has MERSA.  The doctor said he as good for travel, but he has to keep the wound clean and covered.  He has no idea how the initial infection started, there was just a little spot on the back of his calf, that turned into a huge and swollen wound. 

We met up with Jake #1 (Berkowitz) in Duluth, where he delivered Meghan and her two dogs.  We had dinner with Louise and Greg Russel (owners of dogbooties.com) before heading into the wild west.  Jake is working at a YMCA camp this summer leading multi-day trips into the Canadian wilderness with teenagers.  He has worked there before, and I just don't see why he gave up glacier life for life with teenage boys.  Something must have happened to his brain along the Iditarod trail! 

Our motley driving crew consists of:  Ed, Tasha, Steve--Tasha's dad, king of fountain pop and combos, Cindy--the Canadian running one of our glacier teams, Meghan--the Minnesotan running the second glacier dog team (along with her two sled dogs Tina Turner and Charlotte), Jake--the kid who keeps showing up and is hitching a ride to work with AIE in Skagway.  We have made it with smooth travels to Dawson Creek, the start of the Alaskan Highway.  The weather has been perfect for driving with cool temperatures and generally dry roads.  The boarder crossing was pretty uneventful.  We had to wait outside the truck for about 45 minutes while the Canadian Border Patrol searched the vehicle, x-rayed a few bags, and visited the dogs.  Nothing was confiscated, and no dogs had to stay behind! 

We are traveling with 82 dogs, which includes 3 puppies who are 3 months old (Ukulele, Banjo, and Fiddle), one fat Momo and one lazy Tasha Canine in the cab, nine "Freedom Fighters" who were born in the truck on the way home from Alaska last September (they, along with Cindy, hold duel citizenship), the "Alaska Puppies" who were born last spring at Sheep Creek, and the rest of the well-traveled adults. 

All dogs (and humans) are getting along well, here are our thoughts so far:

"Family, friends, 87 dogs, 3,000 miles, same underwear, life is good."--Steve (Tasha's Dad)

"By far the best-smelling group I've ever traveled to Alaska with."--Ed

"Your real life experiences are stories worth telling"--Jake  (and quote #2: "Are you sure you want to keep Peanut Butter (the dog)?  He could go to Skagway with me.")

"Meghan, get to work, there's poop up here, and here, and more over here."--Tasha

"I'm not going to be part of any drama this summer."--Meghan

"I'll trade you Buckhweat for Captain."--Cimdy (when going over the "dog list" that we gave them for their glacier teams)

"Move over, there is not enough room on the couch."--Momo

April 21, 2008 Thanks to everyone who came out to visit the Iditarod team this past weekend at the 2008 Iditarod Odyssey!  The dogs LOVED the treats and attention!!  It was great to see so many familiar faces, old friends, and new dog lovers!  Well over 175 people attended the event.  Needless to say, both the dogs and Ed were exhausted by the end of the day.  A big thanks goes to Mike Varley for manning the "dog petting", to Katie and Jonathon Easter for serving cake, our moms for their organizing and planning, and to Mother Nature for sending good weather! 

We are madly packing for Alaska this week, with our departure date set for April 29th.  We will again be hauling 87 dogs with us.  Two teams will be headed to the glacier.  One team will be run by Cindy who is from Ontario and worked with Ed on the glacier last year.  The other team will be run by Megan who has worked with mushers in Minnesota.  Ed and I will both be working at Sheep Creek, the land operation I was at last year.   I'm going to be the musher for our team (running the dogs with carts) and Ed will be my "handler" (taking orders, scooping poop, and harnessing dogs).  We are definitely looking forward to being together this time!  It seems like the trip is coming up too fast this year though.  We still have quite a bit of snow in our woods, so cutting firewood will be a challenge.  We may just have to drop the trees and find them this fall when we return at the end of September. 

We have sold many favorite dogs this spring to make room for the trip north.  We were sad to see so many familiar faces leaving the kennel, but know that they are all going to great places.  Julie is baby sitting two of the youngest puppies this summer, Kazoo and Penny Whistle.  We may have to remind her that they are only on loan!  Many of  the "Fab Five", Vinnie, Maple, Mouse, Goose, and Mickey are also leaving us.  Maple is entering retirement in Houghton with an old mushing friend, Mouse and Mickey are headed to doggie retirement heaven with Darlene Henning in Wisconsin, and Goose went home with Julie to work with the puppies on an organic farm this summer.  Other favorites who headed out were: Butter, retiring in Frankenmuth, Pooh retiring in Pellston, Honeycomb who headed to a small sled dog kennel in Pennsylvania, Ontario who will be spoiled by George Rousseau in Belding, and Feta and Katie who will be racing with winter with Shaynee Seipke. Michele Seng will be "babysitting" our two oldies, Badger and Trapper this summer as they are both too old to make the trip to Alaska. 

We are also pleased to announce that we have found a wandering soul to run our 2009 Iditarod "B" team.  Ed's posting wasn't on the website more than four hours when we received multiple emails from people interested in the position. Tim Riley, who came highly recommended by several mushers, will be working with us this fall, and will be headed to Nome next March.  I thought I was a pretty patient wife, but I've found out that Tim's wife, Michelle, will be living in Kalamazoo for the winter and working hard, while Tim is up here playing with the dogs in the snow and spending all her hard earned cash.  Thanks Michelle!!  We are still seeking several guides for the touring business and will have those positions posted soon.  I have my "things to do in Alaska" file started, and I keep throwing things into that with the intention that I'll deal with it in a month or so!!  So be patient, the new touring schedule, new guide positions, new Boyne information, and all around good stuff is to come...once I get my house packed up and dogs on the road for the summer!!

April 12, 2008  No, we have not disappeared, we have just been spent a few days at the southern end of North America, in the warm, sunny, snow-free Bahamas!  We had a wonderful trip with Ed's older and younger brothers (and wife, girlfriend, and friends) on a 56' foot sailboat.  We are now rejuvenated and ready to embrace a few more weeks of mud and snow before heading to Alaska on April 29th.  More stories are to come as we are headed back to the dog world soon!!

March 30, 2008 "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master"  Ernest Hemingway

I will continue with the Iditarod recap in days to come but wanted to get this message out as soon as possible as I plan for next year.

 I NEED PEOPLE WHO WANT TO RUN DOGS AND ONE REALLY MOTIVATED PERSON TO RUN A YOUNG TEAM IN THE IDITAROD!!!

As my past young team runners; Jake (2008 Iditarod, finishing with 7 dogs in 13 days 4 hours) and Andrew (2005 Iditarod, finishing with 13 dogs in 13 days 11 hours) will tell you, I am not always the easiest person to work for.  I have no patience for repetitious stupidity, disorganization, sloppiness, and a lack of focus on the dogs.  But if you have the desire to learn, are organized, clean, and really want to run dogs 24 hours a day, like Jake and Andrew, then give me a call at 906-748-0513.  We have 31 young dogs that will be trying out for the team next year and I honestly feel it is the best group of dogs yet.

I was trying to come up with a recruiting slogan for dog people when I came upon these rejected U.S. Army Recruiting Slogans:

March 30th...I didn't realize that I hadn't updated this to let everyone know that the crew DID make it home safe and sound.   I had a couple of school programs last week in lower Michigan, so missed their arrival.  It's been a busy crazy weekend with the last of our tours, visits from friends, and lots of dog running.  We still have lots of snow, so it's been great to dog sled in the sunshine.  Ed's totally psyched to run dogs, so he's been taking many of the young guys out and giving his team some late season exercise as well.  We have a week to get things unpacked and organized, and then it's off to the Bahamas on April 4th for some real sunshine and relaxation! 

March 24, 2008  They guys (and dogs) are still on the road, somewhere in Canada I believe.  They had to wait a few extra days in Wasilla to get the second sleds back that were sent to one of the checkpoints.  Ed hated to leave them there as we'll need them next winter!  They were also able to get a few of the drop bags, but I think Jennifer will have to ship the rest of them back here.  The drive sounds less eventful than the trip up.  They had to wait 4 hours for an accident to clear just after they got into Canada.  Ed's message this morning was that a pickup truck ahead of them slammed into a deer last night, so they gave that guy a ride for a while.  Things are surviving here at home without them.  I think Ed will be amazed at the amount of snow we still have on the ground. We really haven't had much of a warm up, so everything is still here!!  There are no signs of flowers, grass, or robins.  I have a feeling we'll leave for Alaska on the 28th of April, and still have snow!

March 20, 2008.  Editor's Note: Ed is still in Wasilla waiting for the second sleds and drop bags before heading home.  He keeps sending me thoughts from the trail.  Instead of posting them here out of order, I'll just add to them on the main diary page, so scroll down for his most recent memories!  Oh, and for those of you wondering about snow, I'm back home and have well over 3 feet of snow on the ground.  The trails are perfect!

March 17, 2008  Thinking back to race start days, March 1 and 2, 2008..............................

The ceremonial start was perfect.  I had my "smile on my sled", Claudia Nowak from Traverse City, as my Iditarider.  My Uncle Chuck drove the second sled and did an incredible job.  The run was almost uneventful.  At one point, I was looking down talking to Claudia, when the dogs decided to not go over a bridge but instead decided to follow a single set of tracks onto the creek.  The creek was frozen but the route to and from the creek included some very bumpy terrain of logs and stumps.  Claudia and my Uncle hung on and I apologized several times.

The re-start also proceeded as smooth as can be.  The weather was incredibly sunny and almost too warm.  My bib-draw of 92 turned out to be a blessing as it set my start time at 5 p.m., just as the day was starting to cool off.  My team consisted of all males, ranging in age from 2-5 years old.  After talking with other mushers this was definitely one of the youngest teams on the trail in age.  I was fairly confident in the amount of experience at least half of the team had and was planning for a trip to Nome that would put me there in about 10 days and in the top 20.

My team consisted of:

I had wanted to start off with Luke and Arlo in lead as they are two of my steadier and slower leaders.  The Iditarod is very different from the UP 200 as it is not a game of speed, but instead it is a race to stay healthy, run long, and rest short.  Arlo, who I have labeled as my ADHD child, was off his meds and was giving the handlers a hard time during hook up so I changed plans and went with Ben and Bert up front.  Once on the trail, the weather was still warm but we took it easy.  I bet a stopped a dozen times in the first few hours to let the dogs dip and roll around in the snow.  We took a nice leisurely run to Skwentna that lasted about 7 and half hours.  The trail was hard packed, well marked, and we all relaxed.  The team looked as relaxed as I felt but something was up with Harry.  He is normally a trotting dog and he seemed to be having trouble settling into his normal incredibly smooth gait.  He showed this same problem on our first pre-race training run in Denali but he seemed to be back to normal on the second pre-race training run in Chugaik.  I made a mental note.  At Skwentna, the dogs all ate, I ate, and we all slept.

A huge improvement this year took place regarding my sleep.  I bought a new sleeping bag and a therm-a-rest sleeping pad.  In my past three Iditarods, I used my sleeping bag once. I had always just slept on top of my sled and when I got cold, I would wake up.  At Skwentna, I laid my therm-a-rest  on the snow, and just covered up with the sleeping bag because it was so warm.  Even though I only slept about 3 hours I woke up warm and incredibly well rested.  This pattern of sleep continued throughout the race and I finished in far better shape than I ever have.

March 3, 2008
The dogs slept well that night in Skwentna. When I woke the dogs to go, I had a gut feeling to leave Harry with the Vets. I could not pinpoint anything specifically wrong with him, he was just not right. So I dropped him from the race. This was a pretty big disappointment because I honestly felt I had a well conditioned race team and all 16 dogs should make it at least to Takotna.

The weather was still warm but we left the checkpoint at 6 a.m. and planned to run until the dogs told me it was getting too warm. The trail had plenty of snow and with the combination of warm weather and so many teams still ahead of me, it was a slow go. We passed a few teams and got passed by a few others. The run was uneventful until Jasper stumbled about an hour from Finger Lake and started limping. I saw the injury happen which is extremely unusual and it made me mad. I hate seeing my dogs injured, and I discovered that I hate even more to watch the injury take place.

At Finger Lake, I passed Jasper (diagnosed with an injury to a shoulder muscle) over to the Vets and picked up more dog food, Heet for my cooker, and straw. We traveled about an hour outside of Finger Lake and camped just off the trail. Finger Lake is a beautiful place but it is a beehive of teams, spectators, airplanes, and snow machines. The dogs would definitely rest better away from the madness. They did.

Once the weather cooled, we headed out to tackle the famed Happy River Steps and the Dalzell Gorge in the dark. I was really proud of the dogs during this run. It turned out to be an 8 and a half hour run, which is a lot longer than I would have preferred so early in the race. The warm weather had already changed my race plans though and I thought I should run longer at night when it was at least below freezing. I was also trying to get ahead of the majority of the teams in an effort to have a slightly harder packed trail for the dogs.

The only negative from this run was the loss of Erie from the team due to another shoulder injury. I was starting to see the pattern. Harry, Jasper, and Erie are three of my four largest dogs and the must be struggling in the heat and soft trail. Would Big Ben be the next drop?

I got into Rohn a little after 1 a.m. and once again the dogs ate everything in sight. This was how I knew that I did not run the dogs too long too soon. If the dogs don't eat, it is the first indicator that you let the dogs push themselves too far. More good news was to be found in the small cabin at Rohn, there was an open bunk to sleep. When I woke up, I found that Dee Dee had climbed in next to me. I thank her for being quiet and not disturbing my three hours of good sound sleep.
 

March 4 and 5, 2008
I am always a little nervous leaving Rohn. I rested over 7 hours in Rohn which put me running a little in the heat of the day but I felt my dogs needed the rest. The trail for the first 20 miles outside of Rohn consists of ice, rocks, driftwood, frozen dirt, and a little bit of snow.
This part of the trail is where I messed up my leg my rookie year which led to a very miserable race. The trail was like usual. I crashed a few times, swore a couple of other times, but managed to get through the bad parts with an intact body, equipment and dog team. I camped along the trail before Nicolai and waited out the hottest parts of the day for the coolness of night.

The rest was uneventful, as well as the next run that took me through Nikolai and into another campout along the trail. Then the next run took me through McGrath and into Takotna for my 24 hour rest.

Big Ben was not running right. He seemed sore in the front end but I could not pinpoint where. I had him checked over by the Vets in McGrath while I ran to my second sled to get my spare cooker pot. (My initial cooker pot had sprung a leak that I noticed the second camp of the race.)
The Vets could not find anything specific with Ben either so I kept him in the team, knowing a 24 hour rest was only about 3 hours away.

At Takotna, I had Big Ben checked by one of my favorite trail Vets. She thought that Ben had a slightly sore right wrist and right shoulder. I began treatments of massage and heat. After feeding and a three hour rest, Big Ben got up and would not put any pressure on his front LEFT leg. We were both stumped as I dropped Big Ben from the race.

This was a big blow to my confidence because I felt Big Ben was the only leader I had that I could fully trust if the weather got nasty. Up to this point in the race, Bert, Big Ben, Gimli, Clark, Arlo, Luke, Starman, and Bonfire had all run lead perfectly. But I thought I needed Ben.

Another problem I was having was due to a "bug" going through the team.
The dogs, one or two at a time, were getting sick and missing a meal or two. Bonfire had it bad during the 24 hour rest and would not eat at all. I gave him one last chance to eat with about two hours left and if he failed to eat, he would stay with Ben. He ate, thank goodness.

The 24 hour rest totally rejuvenated the team. The weather had remained warm (20-30 degrees), and the dogs had rested well. In contrast, two years ago, we rested in Takotna at 20-30 below zero.  (I'm sure there's more to come!)

March 16, 2008  Welcome to  Nome Jake and Rhu, Gus, Vinnie, George, Razzle, Tsunami, Ero, and Cupid!!  We went out about five miles from town to cheer Jake into Nome.  Well, we basically waved quietly as we didn't want the dogs to get distracted by us.  Rhu still smelled us and tried to cut up to the road, but Jake got them back onto the trail and made it into town.  We were treated to a celebratory dinner with Brian and Ann Blanford, friends of friends who live about 10 miles outside of Nome.  We were celebrating, but I'm sure Ann is re-thinking her offer to allow Jake to bathe at her house after the race!   Violet and Superior have arrived here by plane, Violet was dropped in White Mountain, and Superior in Safety...so close! 

Our good friend from Idaho, Trent Herbst, made it in just before the banquet today.  After a few days of autograph signing, the post-race musher meeting, finishers banquet, and playing with dogs in the lot, we are all ready to head home. The dogs are headed out on Monday afternoon.  Ed will leave with Krister and I tonight, and Jake will follow the dogs out on Tuesday (we figured he needs to hang around town for a while). Thanks to the Blanford's, we have the use of their truck for transportation to the airport for the dogs and mushers to the airport .  It's time to say goodbye to the fabulous hospitality of Nome, the great weather (it was sunny and in the high 20's today), and all the Iditarod groupies (like ourselves!).  Being here convinced me that I really don't have the desire to run this race, but I'd sure like to come back to hang around town with friends, and maybe even make my way to a couple of checkpoints.  Guess we may be back! 

March 14, 2008 "My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." (appendix to 'Atlas Shrugged')(I listened to Atlas Shrugged on my I-pod throughout the Iditarod)

Iditarod 2009 began this morning.  I walked down to the Nome dog lot and was extremely impressed with the appearance and attitude of the 9 team members that I am keeping there for the next few days. Eight more of my 2009 Iditarod team members should be arriving with Jake in the next 36 hours.  I spoke with Jim, who is taking care of the 2008 dropped team members in Anchorage, and he said all of the 2009 team members in his care, with the exceptions of Big Ben and Sebastion, are already recovered and set to roll in 2009. I have a lot of minor changes to make in training, equipment, etc in the next year.  Now I just have to make the income column at least equal the expense column.  Most of you are probably more interested in 2008 at this point though so I will think back to that time.

Our drive up to Alaska was too eventful.  We had minor problems such as a flat tire and trailer brake failure.  And then we had major problems such as a bad universal joint and a near 34 dog-death experience of welds failing on the frame of the hitch on the truck.  The picture at the left is of our angel in her welding outfit fixing the truck hitch correctly to make sure that our dogs would not go careening off of a mountain cliff.  The U-joint went bad near Whitehorse on a weekend.  We could not find a mechanic but we were able to find the parts and tools needed at a Canadian Tire store.  Cliff proceeded to take the driveshaft off the truck and fix the problem in the parking lot.

I had the perfect crew the week prior to the race start; Cliff-the mechanical wizard, Krister-dog man, and Jim-Mr.Attention to detail.  Due to our truck problems, we were only able to get two training runs on the dogs from the UP 200 until the start of the race.  We were able to get all of our equipment and race packing completed with ease though thanks to all of the help.  The picture to the left is us starting our training run in Denali National Park-WHAT A DAY! 

Note from Tasha...Ed kept getting distracted as he was writing this from the back of the community building...so I'll get him pegged down to do more!!  All dogs here are great.  Onyx is crying to run every time I putter around the dog yard.  Hoover is here from Jake's team (I believe she was dropped in Elim or Koyuk) and Violet should be coming in today on the drop dog plane.  Jake is expected around 4-5 pm Alaska Time this evening.  He called from the trail and seemed pretty discouraged.  I think he's still feeling pretty sick and I'm sure the dogs are getting quite tired.  He has a really tough run ahead of him today through the hills (or as Ed would remind me, mountains) and I'm sure he's going to be one sore puppy himself when he arrives!  Ed and I have been enjoying our time together in Nome, eating great food at the are restaurants--everything from veggie burritos with sweet potatoes and rice, to amazing Chinese food (the choice of restaurants put Newberry to shame) and have been spending lots of time playing with the dogs and walking around town.  Ed's at a musher post-race meeting today and then there is autograph signing with all the mushers this afternoon.  We are headed to a friend's house for crab dinner tonight, in between cheering for Jake of course!  Tomorrow there is a church service for mushers that Ed wants to attend, and then the banquet is at 2 pm tomorrow afternoon, and I fly out around midnight.  I can't believe how fast the week has gone! 

March 16, 2008

 Vinnie, Gus, Rhu, Razzle, George, Ero, Cupid and Jake made it to Nome!!!!!!  The team crossed the finish line last night

March 13, 2008  He's here!!  Ed arrived around 8:30 this morning, along with Luke, Starman, Bert, Bonfire, Clark, Gimli, Onyx, Jade, and Arlo.  Coach is on his way as well, via airplane from Shaktoolik.  I was excited that Ed was finishing in the morning so we could get good photos in the daylight, but forgot that it's not bright until about 9:30 am.  Then I was so excited to see him that I forgot to turn on the flash as he came across the finish line, so we have no "photo finish" photos!  I think the dogs were a bit surprised to hear my voice because they had crossed the line and were just standing and waiting, and then when I spoke to Arlo, his tail went crazy.  They are now parked in the "dog lot", sleeping in their crates on warm beds of straw.  The weather is pretty nice for them, about 15 degrees with no wind a little sunshine here and there.  We will probably keep them here for a few days so Jim (the Anchorage dog handler) doesn't get too overwhelmed with too many dogs.  He has Sebastion back with him now as he was very sick in Unakleet and dropped with signs of pneumonia.  By keeping this group here, we can take them for short walks and keep an eye on them.  (Not that they need much supervision as they sleep!).  We went to breakfast this morning and are starting to hear all the tales of the trail (some of them twice as Ed seems to forget what he's already told us!).  Overall, the trail conditions were good, the weather warm, and the dogs outstanding.  Yes, Ed did finish in the "official" prize money, and earned his first Iditarod trophy!  I'll keep prodding for information after he sleeps and try to persuade him to get an entry on here as well.  Don't forget to keep watching Jake, as he should finish within the next day or so. 

March 12, 2008 The excitement has begun!  The town was bustling last evening with fans as we cheered for Lance Mackey at 2:45 am!  Krister stayed out on the town for pre-celebration, but I choose to go to bed, get a few hours of sleep, and listen to the radio for the announcement that Lance was coming along the coast.  It was pretty exciting to be here live and in person.  Lance was a great champion and re-told some of his favorite tales of the trail.  His big break of the race came when he snuck out of Elim while Jeff King was still sleeping.  He and Jeff had arrived close together, Lance pretended to go to sleep, and as soon as he heard Jeff snoring, he got up and snuck out on the trail  He tried to keep his dogs quiet, kept the lights of the press at bay, and gained an hour on Jeff.  He mentioned that things like this rarely happen today so it was pretty fun to outsmart the fox.  Jeff arrived into Nome about an hour after Lance, I was back in bed by then! 

The third place team, Ramey Smyth arrived this morning about 10 am.  I sat with is wife, Becca, and one year old daughter, Ava, on the plane so it was fun to be there for his finish.  Ramey's sister, Mariah, was with us this fall training dogs.  In between teams coming in, I've been helping Jennifer with the merchandise sales and visiting with friends from the glacier.  I'm expecting that Ed should be in around 11 pm, so I'd better squeeze a nap in today as well! 

March 11, 2008  Nome, sweet Nome!!  Sorry for the delay in updates, but it takes a while to get here!  I had to drive 5 hours from Boyne Highlands to Detroit late on Sunday night, spend the night at Cassie and Mike's and then head to the airport at 6:45 am, to get the 9:15 flight to Anchorage, and then a 5:30 pm flight to Nome.  After nearly 24 hours of travel, I've arrived!!  I guess I can't complain, it's faster than the 11 days it will take Ed to get here!   I missed a short call from Ed in Koyuk.  He called to let me know that Sebastian was extremely ill coming into the Shaktoolik checkpoint so he had to take some extra time getting him stabilized.  The vets said he was doing well when he left, but they were going to wait a bit to transport him.  Our condolences go out to fellow Iditarod musher, Jennifer Freking for the tragic death of her dog due to a snowmobile accident.  The incident in still under investigation, and Jennifer is continuing along the trail.

Ed's report was that everything with him was gong well.  I'm really hoping he places in 30th or better, it's where the "real" prize money cut-off is.  Every musher receives $1049 for finishing, but if he finishes in 30th he can say he won prize money!! 

Nome is quite warm, about 25 degrees, with light snow (at least I don't have to plow it here!) Krister and I are staying with our friend Jennifer Ambrose at the Aurora Inn.  She was gracious enough to let us bunk with her as the musher host families are in short supply.  Ed and Jake will be joining our pajama party soon, so we are enjoying the peace, quiet, and non-smelly hotel room while we can! I've been helping Jennifer with Iditarod merchandise sales, and hanging out with all the other Iditarod groupies as we wait for the finishers to arrive late tonight.  The town of Nome is very interesting and fun to walk around.  There was a great craft fair with amazing Alaskan handiwork. Below are a few photos of our travels around town...with more to come after I finish my "work" shift!!

Notes to Photos Below:  The Nome Airport, The Giant Nome Gold Pan, Wandering Along the Streets, Iditarod Finish Line, Inside the Convention Hall (sitting under Ed's name), Signpost in front of the Nugget Inn (notice it's only 164 miles to Siberia), Fritz-Togo's running mate in the Serum Run to Nome

March 8, 2008.  I really have no more Iditarod information that all of you who are holding vigil at your computer screen.  I do know Ed dropped Big Ben, and I believe he may have dropped Bonfire as well.  Ben came into Takotna limping on one shoulder, and when he got up to start moving around, he was limping on the other.  I'm not sure which two dogs Jake last dropped, I was disappointed to see that he is down to ten.  It appears that both guys are moving along nicely, and as I piece together more details I'll pass them along. 

Our crew is down at Boyne for our last weekend of rides.  We had tragedy strike one of our dogs, Venus, late on Friday night.  Venus had eaten Friday morning, but she had thrown up in the afternoon on Friday and looked a little sick.  I brought her along to Boyne when we left Friday evening so I could keep an eye on her this weekend.  She was in shock (very cold and shaky) by the time we arrived down here, was vomiting a large amount of blood, and was in need of immediate veterinary care.  I called Dr. Tim in Marquette, who agreed that she needed to be seen as soon as possible.  Dr. McDonald met me at Bay Pines Veterinary Hospital here in Harbor Springs around 10:30 pm, where we did our best to get Venus stabilized and comfortable.  She survived the night, but was still quite ill this morning and needed morphine for her pain.  We debated about attempting surgery with such a sick dog, with hopes she would get more stable, but agreed that we needed to do something.  She was being prepped for abdominal surgery around 11:30 am, and passed away.  An autopsy revealed that she had a dog bootie lodged in her gut, the cause of all the pain and vomiting. She had turned two years old on Valentine's Day, was an awesome dog, and a great leader who had been one of our Boyne favorites.  She will be greatly missed.

On a brighter note, I'm off to Nome on Monday morning, so I should have lots of first hand Iditarod updates and photos soon!! 

March 6, 2008 4 pm.  "I'm off to take a shower."--the final quote from Jake today after talking to him from Takotna.  For those of you who know Jake, this really is quite an unusual activity...he must be sweating a lot as he's either running behind the dog team in the heat, or being nervous as he negotiates the trail!  He said it was 55 degrees while we were talking, the dogs were all panting as they were basking in the sunshine.  He has dropped Clair, Sprout, and most recently Dash and Martha.  No major issues, just soreness and heat related problems.  Otherwise, all his dogs are doing very well.  Razzle is the cheerleader for the group (a personal favorite of mine who neither Ed nor Jake thought would do this well), Rhu and Gus (siblings) are doing amazing, and I didn't ask, but my favorite leader of all time, Vinnie, must be holding strong too!

He said the trail was pretty exciting, especially the Gorge and the Happy River steps.  As he was going through that area, one of the footboards on his slid slipped off so it was dangling on the sled, making the runner very slippery to stand on!  I guess he made it through, but I'm sure there's more to that story.  He also came upon fellow musher, Rick Larson as he was searching for one of his dogs on a lake.  Jake asked if he needed help (thinking that he'd say no of course) but Rick said yes, so the spent about an hour and a half searching for, and finding, the dog.  Anyway, all sounds great with him.  I talked to Ed just before he left and he said Jake's team looks really good. 

March 6, 2008  "Hello from warm Alaska!"--Tell that to everyone back home!!  Ed called last night from Takotna, where he is currently taking his 24-hour layover.  If my math is correct, I think he arrived around 3 pm Alaska Time, which means he'll leave around 7 pm EST.  (That would be 24 hours plus the 4-hour time change, right??!!)  He does not need to take much additional time to make up his start differential, so he should also move up in the standings.  He said the temperatures have been REALLY warm.  He passed Matt Hayashida (a friend from Alaska) along the trail, Matt yelled to Ed , "Can you believe it, it's 41 degrees!" The high yesterday was 45.   What makes that even more amazing, is that about three weeks ago we were watching the temperatures along the trail plummet to -67.  That's a 100 degree change! 

Consequently, many of the dogs have had some heat-related stress issues.  Hairy Potter, Erie, and Jasper are the dogs Ed has dropped, all for those reasons.  They are all bigger dogs with pretty heavy coats.  He was really close to dropping Big Ben because he's so large and runs warm, but is going to see how he does on the long rest.  It's a great year for our lighter coated, thinner dogs like Gimli, Coach, Luke, Jade and Onyx.  He thought Jake's team was probably handing the heat a lot better because he has many of those dogs, like Martha, Hoover, Violet, Razzle, Vinnie, and Gus.  Speaking of Jake, he made the Fox Sports homepage!!  Way to go Jake.  I see that he is in Takotna today as well, and will stay there for his 24-hour layover. 

Ed said he's wiped out several times and had forgotten how difficult and challenging this trail is.  He said the conditions are really not much different from previous years, with everything from no snow, to rocks, to gravel, to too much snow.  His most prized possession is his new foam sleeping pad he's carrying along to get a more restful sleep.  More restful...if you combine the sleeping pad with the seat on the back of his sled (see photo) you'll conclude that Ed is definitely getting old!! (Or maybe just wiser!)

March 5, 2008  I don't have a lot of information from the trail yet.  Krister has picked up two of Jake's dropped dogs, Clair and Sprout.  The vet report was that Sprout had possible blood in her urine and Clair had a sore bicep.  According to Krister, they appeared just fine.  He slept in the truck with them the first night so they could have a slumber party together.  They are two of his favorite dogs, so I'm sure he's glad to have them back to play around town with!  I was quite surprised those were the first dogs for Jake to drop as they are usually pretty solid.  The dog back from Ed's team is Hairy Potter.  I was disappointed it was Hairy because I'd hoped this was his year.  His brothers, Gimli and Clark, are on Ed's team for the second year.  Hairy's never made the team but he tries so hard.  He was doing so well this season in training and I had really wanted him to make it.  We are still waiting for one dog to come back from Jake, and two from Ed.

It appears the temperatures are really warm along the trail right now.  I had thought Ed was planning to run straight through from Rohn to Nikolai, but it appears from his time between the checkpoints (15 hours) that he decided to rest along the way.  It may have to do with the temperatures.  You'll see that he only stayed in Nikolai 38 minutes, long enough to re-pack his sled and head back on the trail.  I'm thinking his next run should be around 7 hours, but since he didn't spend much time in Nikolai, he may be camping again.  It's often more quiet along the trail, so mushers choose to rest there instead of at the congested checkpoints.  (more)

There's a great article in the Alaska Daily News today about the the length of the Iditarod trail.  Check it out here! 

March 3, 2008  Thanks Sara Lynn for the great photos! 

As you watch the race progress on-line, there are a few  interesting interesting things to watch, and a few that can be confusing.  Here's a short primer..."Checkpoint" lists where the musher is currently (or where he/she just left).  If the musher does not have a "Time Out" listed, then he/she is still there resting.  To see how the musher's speed along the trail compares to others, check out the the "Time En Route" (You'll be comparing the "Previous Checkpoint" to the "Current Checkpoint").  For example, it took 3 hours, 21 minutes for Ed to get from Yentna to Skwentna, it took Ed Iten 7 hours to do the same run.  Why the big difference?  Ed Iten probably rested along the way.  Mushers do not have to take all their rest in the checkpoints, and often it's quieter along the trail.  It took Lance Mackey (last year's winner) 3 hours 4 minutes to do that run, so it took Ed just a bit longer than him.  "Rest" means that a musher spent some time resting in the checkpoint, if there is little or no rest, he/she is just picking up supplies for a camp-out along the trail, or they are planning to make it to the next checkpoint.  For the first several days, you'll see a lot of leap-frogging with times and positions.  Not until each musher takes his/her 24-hour lay-over do the start times get adjusted.  Remember, the first team on the trail started 3 hours before those at the back of the pack.  At the 24-hour rest, the start times are made-up (so the first mushers have to rest 27 hours, and the back of the pack 24 hours).  Jake will have to rest 24 hours, 53 minutes and Ed will rest 24 hours, 8 minutes.  Also, keep in the mind that these times are posted by volunteers doing their best to keep everyone straight...so be patient!! 

I did see that Jake dropped one dog already.  I don't know who it is, but as soon as I find out, I'll let you know.  Krister and Jim Koch are in Anchorage picking up and caring for the dropped dogs, so we should find out soon.  Many of you have also asked if Ed or Jake have one of the new trackers on their sled.  They do not.  I'm not sure how the mushers were selected, but they are just trying it out for this year, and in the future all may carry them.

March 2, 2008 The Iditarod Ceremonial Stat was held yesterday.  Ed and Jake report that all is well, the dogs were fantastic, and the second-sled drivers has their work cut out for them!  Each sled carries a passenger (an Idita-rider who bids for that seat) and is attached to a second sled with a second driver to help control the large team as they cruise down the city streets. Chuck Stielstra, Ed's uncle who lives in Wasilla, AK, drove Ed's second sled.  Chuck graciously hosts our team and crew at his house each year.  Krister Raasoch drove Jake's second sled, Krister has been with us for two years, helped drive to Alaska and has been helping the guys with preparations all week.  Driving the second sled is much more challenging than driving the first sled. If there are any sharp turns, the second sled gets whip-lashed around the turn.  Ed said that Kirster took a few diggers, but Uncle Chuck made it around every turn!  Ed is supposed to be emailing a few more photos, but so far the only ones I have are from Jake's mom...and she's a little biased and only sending pictures of Jake! 

After the day's festivities, the dogs and mushers all headed back to Chuck's where they got a good night's sleep.  They will be off to the official start today in Willow (about 30 miles north of Wasilla, or an hour and a half north of Anchorage).  The start begins at 2 pm Alaska Time (or 6 pm EST).  You can watch the start on the Iditarod website, www.iditarod.com. 

Read more from Nome, Ed's post-race interview with Jon Little. 

Who will win the 2008 Iditarod?--as quoted from John Little, www.iditarod.com   "But, boy, that sure leaves a field of deep, deep talent both among dogs and the humans who pilot them from the back of the sled. Who among these will have a magic run and surge into the top 5: Jessie Royer, Matt Hayashida, Aaron Burmeister, Aliy Zirkle, Jessica Hendricks, Sigrid Ekran, Hans Gatt, Jason Barron, Ray Redington, Jr., Ryan Redington, Rick Swenson, Louis Nelson, Sr., or Ed Stielstra?"--Yes, Ed's name IS mentioned, read the whole article here!!

February 28, 2008.  The crew has had a very busy week with Iditarod preparations.  Their arrival was a bit delayed by some minor truck "issues", making it to Uncle Chuck's house in Wasilla on Monday instead of on Sunday.  The group headed north to Denali National Park on Tuesday for a training run.  I've always thought it was crazy to drive four more hours north to run dogs when there are trails nearby, but Ed loves the scenery up there and wanted to share it with Jake, Krister, and Cliff.  On Wednesday all the dogs had an in-depth vet check and EKG.  No, the mushers aren't checked over for their well-being, besides, they would probably all fail the mental exam!  Any of the dogs who have not run Iditarod before, received a micro-chip.  The micro-chip is about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted under the dog's skin in the neck area, and gives the dogs a unique number for identification.  Today the mushers all had mandatory meetings to go over the trails and any last-minute issues.  Ed said the meetings were the shortest he'd ever attended, so that must mean that all is well!!  The banquet is tonight, where the mushers will draw for their starting position  Tomorrow (Friday) is a day of rest, and then it's off to the races on Saturday.

February 25, 2008.  They have arrived in Wasilla!   After a few minor truck mis-haps, major ingenuity by Mr. Fix-It-All Cliff, and a long bumpy Alaskan Highway, the crew is close enough to the starting line now that they could run the dogs there...except for the fact that there's no snow on the ground.  Ah, the minor details...

February 23, 2008   Ed called this morning with the traveling report.  They are somewhere in the Yukon Territory (near a pay phone at a gas station) and should cross into Alaska tonight, and arrive in Anchorage tomorrow.  The dogs' EKG tests are scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, but the appointments may have to be re-scheduled if they don't make it on time.  They are now traveling with 53 dogs, three Iditarod mushers, one Krister with good music, and one Cliff who can fix anything.  Ed and Jake both took 17 dogs with them, a spare dog for each of them in case a dogs gets injured or sick along the way.  They also picked up our friend Trent Herbst in northern Montana and his 17 Iditarod dogs.  Trent didn't have reliable transportation to the race.  He helped Ed drive up in 2004, so we saw this as a way to return the favor.  If you are counting dogs...that makes 51...there are two hitchers along as well, Kaitlynn and Miriam, who were purchased from a kennel in Gaylord and needed to get to Fairbanks.  Hence the number 53.  Well, there was almost 34 less dogs yesterday.  The welds broke on the truck where both the hitch and the safety chains are connected.  I don't know how it actually broke, but it was pretty scary. Cliff (the guy who can fix anything) was able to rig up a temporary hitch so they could move slowly down the road.  Ed said he would have never believed it unless he saw it, but less than a mile down the road was a welding shop.  The owner did a fabulous job fixing the hitch, charged them 100 bucks, and off they went.  All else sounds good...good roads, good weather, and good traveling companions.  More to come...

February 23rd...This just in...a trail report from the Iditarod trail breakers. I received this email fowarded from Mark Nordman, 2008 Race Marshall, it will give you an idea of what the mushers are up against this year. Warning...if you are Ed or Jake's mom or dad, you may not want to read this!
"I was dropped off at Rohn checkpoint on Feb. 21st. Picked up my machine there. I widened the runway and put in a larger turn around area for airplanes. Jasper Bond arrived there at 2:30 p.m. with one of the Iditarod planes.  I left Rohn at 3 p.m.  35 miles to Bison Camp. The trail after leaving Rohn is glare ice on the river, rock/gravel bars and driftwood logs for the first mile to the left hand turn-off into the woods trail. Some of the lath markers on that stretch were still standing but a lot of them were laying on the ground. Chinook winds ate most of the snow. The trail thru the woods after leaving the river has snow but there is a deep 6"-12" snomobile rut from the tracks of  machines with ski ruts on both sides due to warm temps and soft deep snow when the Iron Doggers went thru (Tasha's note: the Iron Dog Race is a snowmobile race that uses the Iditarod trail) . A lot of washboards. There are some bare ground spots. Coming back out of the woods and crossing the Post River there was running water about 12" deep. Back up into the woods to the left side again it is dirt trail frozen and icy with a rut climbing the hill. I next went over the hill and encountered the "glacier" which looks like it could be real nasty if pulling a loaded sled. I was on a 500 Skandic with no sled and full throttled it all the way up the glacier and made it okay. It is ice from side to side looking like a lava flow! Same as many years previous.
 The next leg before Egypt Mountain was then stretches of bare ground with rocks, dirt and grass eaten down by bison, with ice. The buffalo wallows are a twisting set of little black dirt mounds with glare ice patches. Several long stretches of grassy/icy trail and then back in the woods. Passing Egypt Mt. the rolling hills are bare on the uphill southern exposure side and snow on the downhill sides. Entering the Farewell lakes area all the lakes are glare ice clear enough to see thru! Old snogo tracks in the ice were visible for the most part. NO standing markers. There are good reflectors at the trail entrys into the woods at each lake. From the Submarine Lake (the last good size lake) going back into the woods heading into the Peloc Hills most of the climbing sides are bare ground/gravel with ruts and then good snow on the downhill sides again. Good snow cover on the flat stretches between hills.
 Bison Camp is set up and the 2 back tent cabins are open and available for use by anyone needing rest or shelter. That is the last hill and 40 miles from Nikolai. Good snow cover all the way from Bison camp to the bridge 15 miles and is usually wind drifted. Back in the woods past the bridge is good snow with ruts again but good trail the last 25 miles to Nikolai. There is pretty decent reflective markers all the way from Rohn to Nikolai. I left Bison camp at dark and used only a mushers headlamp as my machine headlight was out, so I know the reflectors are pretty good and spaced close to each for the most part. The trail into Nikolai is very well marked when mushers hit the river just 1 mile down from the dogyard. We put out a ton of lath so no one should miss the turn to the right on the river to town. There should be hot water for every musher at Nikolai coming from a giant boiler set up at the dogyard. The Iditarod tent you sent out last year will set up again. The Nikolai School students will have a cafe going again serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I believe the meals are free for mushers. Showers and a place to sleep will be free for mushers too. Lodging for others can be paid for at the school and will help the students raise money for a spring road trip in Alaska. The Iditarod checkpoint and ham radio location is ready, cleaned up and set up for the "crew", complete with a kitchen area. It is about 100 yds away from the dogyard which is on the big sandbar in front of the village. The trail leaving town to Mcgrath is a straight shot out on the main road. It is very well marked and there is usually always a local on hand to give directions out to McGrath.
Hope this helps everyone with this stretch of the trail." --Happy Trails, The Runkle Family
 

The team; Big Ben (5 years old), Bert (5), Gimli (4), Clark (4), Arlo (5), Chong (3), Harry (4), Erie (2), Jade (2), Onyx (2), Jasper (2), and Sebastion (5).

Everybody is looking great and ready for the drive to Alaska.  I dropped Chong at the halfway point with a minor hip injury and I dropped Sebastion at the last checkpoint because he had a sore wrist.  The other 10 dogs finished incredibly strong.  I filled Tasha in on the race and hopefully she will have time in the next few days to give you an update.  We are packing for Alaska right now so I better get back to work.  Thanks to everyone for cheering for us!!!

February 13th, 2008  "Dogs Always Welcome, People By Appointment"  Thanks to this weeks' tour guests, Cheryl, Vicky, and Kendl, for sharing this quote which appears on the front door of their salon in Port Huron! 

We've had quite a bit of eventful weather this week.  While Bouie and Joe were out with tour guests on Saturday night, the temperatures dropped over 30 degrees through out the night.  All was well inside the tent, but our four Texan guests were bit surprised by old' man winter!  In addition to the dropping temperatures, we received wind gusts over 50 mph, and a TON of snow.  I was with Jake and Julie at Boyne.  We had to spend Sunday night at the resort, as the bridge was closed to all traffic from 11 am to 5:30 pm, and "high-profile" vehicles like our trailer, were either banned or had to be escorted.  We were able to cross Monday morning, only to find out that US-2 was still closed (having been closed all day on Sunday) and M-28 was only open in a few areas.  We had a very slow drive home, and arrived to find over 18 inches of new snow at home!!  Needless to say, we've been spending a lot of time on the snowmobile and tractor just trying to keep trails open. 

Krister and Ed have been busy packing for the UP 200.  Their teams have been finalized....Ed has the "A+ team" and Krister has the "A-" team.  Ed will be racing: Bert, Sebastiaon, Arlo, Clark, Gimli, Hairy, Chong, Jasper, Erie and Onyx.  Krister will have:  Luke, Yooper, Boom, Bonfire, Starman, Violet, Kar, Coach, Art, Ero, and Cupid.  The weather is supposed to be ideal, the dogs are excited for new trails, and Ed will be thinking about narrowing those 24 dogs down to his "Iditarod Sweet 16".  Be sure to follow everyone this weekend at www.up200.org. 

February 8, 2008  Iditarod madness has begun...the packing lists are getting longer, the mushers are getting crankier, the dogs are getting stronger, and the plans are getting underway.  YIKES!!!  Ed and Krister will be running the UP 200 next weekend (February 15-17th) as a final training run for Ed's team.  Ed will use it to make the final decision as to which of his 24 dog will make the final 16.  Ed and Jake's team will then leave Michigan on February 20th for the trip to Alaska.  Krister and Cliff Henning (who has helped with the drive in the past) will be helping with the long trek.  In the meantime, tours here at home are still going strong and the snow is outstanding.  It's perfect dog-running weather, cool nights (about 0 degrees) and mild days (around 20).  It sure beats the current temperatures of -65 in the interior of Alaska.  Good luck with that, Ed!!

Here are a few Iditarod Facts to prepare you for the big race!!

Overall Prize Purse in 2007 $794,800 (payable to top 30 finishers)

First Iditarod took place in 1973 (Tasha was born in 1974!)

The only 5-time champion is Rick Swenson, his first win was in 1977 (Ed was 8 years old...and Rick is still racing today, that gives you an idea of the experience that is out there!)

The oldest finisher was Norman Vaughn, finishing his 4th race in 1990 at the age of 84!

The number finishers in 34 years...617  (this number includes people who are multiple finishers, this is a very elite group of people!!)

February 1, 2008  My post-retirement race turned out better than expected!!!  Big Ben, Bert, Clark, Gimli, Razzle, Boom, Sebastian, and Harry pulled me to a 5th place finish!!  I had no idea we had such a fast team who could compete with the speed at which this mid-distance race is run!  Krister was less than a half hour behind me, finishing in 10th place with Violet, Coach, Kar, Luke, Arlo, Art, Chong and Erie, and Tim VanderMeulen was about an hour behind him, finishing 18th with Bonfire, Starman, Yooper, Ero, Cupid, Jade, Jasper and Onyx.  We hadn't planned to stay for the awards banquet on Tuesday morning, but we decided to spend some of my race winning and treat ourselves to a wonderful, relaxing evening at the Bluefin Resort which was just too tempting!  Krister made a b-line for the pool and hot tub, I soaked in the whirlpool bath in the room, and Tim headed to bed.  Our one-and-only-all-star-handler Dave Monstroy nursed his broken ribs and vowed never to answer the phone again if we call for handler help :)  Dave is a friend of Tim's who drove to Alaska with us two years ago to help with Iditarod.  We called him last minute for help with the Beargrease, telling him, "we need a driver".  I think we forgot a few details like we need a driver to drive through the night, miss all necessary sleep, park the dog truck 1/2 mile from the checkpoint and drag all our supplies in by sled through knee deep snow in the wee hours of the morning, sleep outside on straw bales while we care for the dogs, re-load the dog truck, drive the truck to a second checkpoint and unload everything again, pull all the supplies through the deep snow again, and high-tail it to the finish line, where we expected him to be waiting with a smile on his face to lead us down the hill to the dog truck.  Oops...sorry Dave, minor details!!  I arrived at the first checkpoint only to discover not only was our one handler a bit overwhelmed but that he had also broken two or three ribs at the starting chute helping Krister get to the line.  Thanks for letting us abuse you, Dave!! 

Oh--and the saga continues...we left Duluth around 3 pm, arrived through the raging blizzard into McMillan around 1 am.  It was definitely U.P. driving at it's worst!  Dave and Tim were supposed to be at work on Tuesday, so they left about 1:30 am, heading for St. Ignace only to find out that Highway 2 and the Mackinac bridge were closed due to high winds and zero visibility.  They made it to the bridge, but ended up spending quite a bit of time in St. Ignace at the truck stop and library, and finally crossing at two in the afternoon. 

I've decided that I needed to spend my hard-earned race winnings on something exciting, and since I just haven't had enough of blistering cold weather recently, I've decided to book a ticket to Nome for the Iditarod finish.  Nothing like a week in the tropics in March!!!

January 25th, 2008.  Beargrease Bound...with Krister, Tim, and TASHA.  Yes, that is correct, I'm out of retirement and running the Beargrease 150.  Ed had planned to run, but has had a really sore back, so he persuaded me to take over for him.  I told him I would, but this is the ONLY race that he gets a free pass for.  I will NOT cover him for Iditarod!!!  He'd better sit home and heal up!  So, keep track of all the action this weekend, www.beargrease.com. 

January 22nd, 2008 A HUGE thanks goes out to our awesome Nature’s Kennel Crew for their incredible work this weekend. The weekend started on Friday with sled rides for twenty students and adults from the First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN. This is an awesome group of high school kids who come up each year and perform at the Yooper Youth Rally here in Newberry. Late Friday night, Jake, Julie and Krister headed to Boyne Highlands Resort, where they pulled off a miracle running sixty four tours in the frigid temperatures. Bouie and Joe led and amazing overnight tour here at the kennel with six guests in the blinding snow, keeping everyone warm and entertained around the fire. And thanks to Bouie, who pulled off double duty, he and I led some mini-drives minutes after he had returned from the overnight trip. Needless to say, we slept well on Sunday night (except for Krister, who spent the night in tears after the Packers lost).

Amidst all the madness, Ed has been working on the logistics of Iditarod drop bags and getting things prepped and organized for the thousands of pounds of gear that heads to Alaska this week. I had forgotten how much gear not only is required for one team, let alone two! We spent yesterday slicing six hundred pounds of beef, packaging two thousand six hundred dog booties, bagging six hundred pounds of dry dog food…well, you get the point! All the gear leaves here on Thursday where it will be transported to Tacoma, Washington and then put on a barge to Anchorage. From there, the bags are flown by bush plane to the twenty checkpoints along the Iditarod trail. Thanks to a sponsorship from Horizon Van Lines, we do not have to pay for transportation from Washington to Alaska. We do pay the freight cost to Tacoma ($1400) and then fifty cents per pound to be flown across Alaska.

After drop bags head out, Ed, Krister and Tim VanderMeulen are heading to Duluth for the Beargrease. They will all be running the 8-dog 150 mile race. Ed’s excited to see old friends, be back on some of our old trails, and do some traveling with the dogs. Hopefully there will be a warming trend…it was -40 there this weekend!!

January 8th, 2008Wow, I had no idea eight days have already passed in 2008.  I guess I'd better start paying more attention!  We spent most of the holidays at Boyne Highlands, enjoying the snow and giving dog sled rides.  The dogs covered about 50 miles per day for six days!   The guests LOVED the rides, and the dogs LOVED all the attention and hugs.

We returned just in time to prep for the 2008 Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race and to welcome Krister back to Nature's Kennel!!  Mariah decided that she was tired of sled dogs and snow, so she headed off with Kayne (the puppy) to "see the world".  We were disappointed to see her go, but understood that she wanted to find happiness elsewhere. We just could not provide that warm Florida sunshine she desired.  (Even though Ed did claim that his smile could brighten anyone's day...I guess it's just not the same!).  So, we quickly brainstormed a list of people who could drop everything and be persuaded to play with dogs for a few months.  Krister was the only one on the list.  So, we had Hedgie and Art make the phone call, begging and pleading, and two days later he arrived.  Krister will now be working with Ed (and his sunshine smile) and will run the Beargrease and UP 200, and help drive to Alaska. 

We had ten teams entered in the Tahquamenon Race...that means we hauled over 9 sleds, one set of skis, fifty two dogs, and an entourage of mushers and handlers!  All dogs and mushers were fabulous.  Our youngest musher was Damon Stielstra (age 10) and youngest dogs were Sheep Creek, Glacier, Tongass, and Juneau (aged 9 months).  The final results were:

Bouie!  in 11th place in the 12-dog pro, winning the Red Lantern with leaders Crocus, Happy, and Buckwheat.  As always, Bouie finished with happy, tail wagging dogs, and even spent a bit of time at the road crossings eating hot dogs. 

Joe Pawelek, in 20th place in the 8-dog pro, with leaders Mouse and Oz..  This was Joe's entrance into the racing circuit...I think he's ready to give up guiding for racing!! 

Erin Ramirez, in 14th place in the 6-dog sportsman, with Hedgie and Peanut Butter in lead.  This was Erin's first race EVER, she was given all of Bouie and Joe's "left-over" dogs, and she beat MJ's team of "Ed's dogs"--go Erin...next time MJ should run a little more!!

MJ Stielstra (Ed's brother), in 15th place in the 6-dog sportsman, with Big Ben and Arlo in lead.  Big Ben said the weather was a little warm for his bulky self, and Arlo took advantage of this "substitute teacher" on the sled. 

Amy Stielstra (Ed's sister-in-law), in 4th place in the 4-dog sport, with Violet and Boom in lead.  Amy was a bit disappointed that she got beat by three mushers all under 14 years of age! 

Julie Benda, 6th place in the 4-dog sport, with leaders Cupid and Ero...and superstars Sheep Creek and Juneau. 

Tara Simon, 8th place in the 4-dog sport, with leaders Tasha Caninie and Katie...and more puppy superstars Tongass and Glacier.  Yes, Tasha Canine got dragged off the couch so she could race, believe it or not, she was barking and leaping in the starting chute!!  

Tasha Stielstra, 4th place, skijoring, with Gimli and Clark.  If I hadn't spent so much time sprawled on the trail, I could have taken Aunt Lynne who was skiing with Gimli and Clark's mom, Raven.  I think I need to practice skiing a bit more!

Justin Stielstra (age 13), 3rd place (and a trophy), in the 2-3 dog youth race with leaders Bert and Yooper.  Way to go Justin...our only trophy winner of the race!

Damon Stielstra (age 10), 5th place (and the red lantern to match Bouie) in the 2-3 dog youth race with leaders Chong and Luke.

Ed was our head handler, and a big thanks goes to Mike Leflinger (Julie's man) for all his help.  It was great to see all our human and canine friends at the race.  If my caculations are correct, there were 27 ex-Nature's Kennel dog running on other teams!  It was like a sled dog reunion!  The only causality of race day happened to Momo while she was waiting at home...I think she tripped on her dog bed, and is now limping around the house. 

Jake and Jim Haibach are now trudging through the rain and sloppy trails as they participate in the Seney 300.  Jake is already qualified for Iditarod, but thought that this would be great training for him and his dogs.  He recruited our friend Jim (of Resha Sled Dog Equipment) to run his second team.  We didn't realize how great glacier training was until now...this weather brings back many Juneau memories...damp, drizzly, and foggy.  We know the dogs can handle it, and the good thing is that now they only have to do it for three days, they don't have to pull tourists in the sleds, they have straw to sleep on, and their feet should be used to sloppy and wet conditions.  We're just not sure how happy the mushers are!! 

We are now hoping for weather changes and snow...January mud is not fun at all...but rumor has it things should change here soon!   

Please support these fabulous Nature's Kennel Partners!   If you are interested in joining the Nature's Kennel Corporate team, please email Ed or Tasha.