That makes sense, thanks Lani.

Training run 12/04/2013 and demo of a new tracking ap!  It was a brisk, clear, 23F day and team just loved it! A lot of very solid ice on the trails. Team worked on a lot of hill climbing and technical turns- overall a very consistent run.

What a cool app! Looks like it would be really helpful to figure out who's best for which positions in team and for what distances and weather conditions. Pups look like they had a good time, too!

I'm really excited to use the ap more- should make team management a bit easier and mileage and progress tracking.

I like that ap also, I hope you can post more with it. Other business, it will take a couple days to get to Spokane and then I'll pick -up Enya! Enya on one side and Maya on the other and I should have no trouble keeping warm this winter!! They are all gorgeous and handsome dogs, Enya just happened to catch my eye.

Awesome pictures as always! Still have such a soft spot for Mason.

They are all absolutely beautiful though and they look like they have such a great time!

I'm really looking forward to getting more acquainted with the app- it seems like it has a lot to offer.  Unfortunately I went out with a non-charged phone and when I got back I saved the trail map and the phone powered off losing the data I hadn't saved.  So next run I'll have to be sure my phone has a full charge!!

On a side note- you may have to fight Megan for Enya LOL she has first dibs on her I think

Training run 12/08/2013

Finally home from West Yellowstone & family holiday celebrations- some pics from the race in which we placed 4th in the class and 1st in purebred All race photos from the sled were taken by the Contour camera so I could concentrate on running my team not the camera


Day 1 was a beautiful day sunny day! Great snow conditions and brisk temps!

Day 2 was extremely overcast, high winds, humidity was up, and some intermittent flurries. Still a great day on the trails!

I like the two windy photos, should have the caption "you should be here!". I know my limits, one more husky and that's it, uhm, my limit, my wife's might be less. Do you use different glide waxes on the runners depending on the snow temperature or are they just polished and what will be will be?

LOL my husband has limited me to 20. I'm hoping to be able to build a nice 12-16 dog team and keep working toward the ultimate dream Yukon Quest and Iditarod. Thank God my hubby is understanding

As for waxing, you can wax modern runners. And there are a variety of plastics that are designed for various conditions and temperature ranges. The runner plastic on this sled is old and not wax accepting material. Waxing would help until the wax wiped off in about a mile- I did just order a new set of runners and rails to attach to my current rails to be able to use modern runners on my sled. So baby steps forward!

How is Harvest doing with the team? I think you mentioned she had a phantom pregnancy and I didn't know if that was something she would have to recover from. That app is really cool to see how you went and I love the action shots! Also how is managing 12 dogs different from just having two or three? Do they all have outside kennels or are some of them inside dogs?

Harvest is doing just fine, thankfully it was just a false pregnancy and she was able to get right into harness. With a diet and the added exercise she is coming right back into shape. Had she had been pregnant we would have had to wait until she had weened to start her in harness.

Having 12 really wasn't too much of a 'shock' to the system once we got past having 3. Of course the food bill is the biggest difference beyond grooming time. The only dogs that are inside full time are Aspen (mini-Aussie that is my husband's dog) and Diamond (who has surgical plates in her legs from her past). Everyone else is in shared kennel runs with rotating house time. I prefer to keep them acclimated to the temperatures we run in vs. shocking their systems.

Great photos! I love the point of view shots from the sled! Best of luck this season!

Back home and back on the trails of WA/ID! Had a beautiful 5.7mi run with the team today. Snow on the ground, but not enough for the sleds, we opted to run the carts instead- lots of work for the kiddos! They were amazing though!

We received a disc of photos by Nikki O'Connor from our first Dryland race of the season Spokane Dirt Rondy day 1 November 16 2013 second place finish in the 6 dog sprint, 1st in purebred class.

Looks sort of icky, like a stop by the car wash and hose 'em down on the way home kind of race!

LOL it was muddy but they really enjoyed themselves so did I! Thankfully once they dried it just fell out of their coats

First run of the new year took us into Northern Idaho to find enough snow to put the sleds down. Ran the usual team, minus one Denali who broke a nail (no I'm not kidding) plus a 'loaner' from Jill Wilson's Dashing Kennels named Gael. Harvest and Kenna tried their hand at leading the team, Enya and Gael ran point, and the boys Mason and Weaver ran in wheel. We started our run in Idaho and turned around at the WA border, a total of 9.3 miles with a top speed of 17mph! The newly modified sled performed as effortlessly as the team, very pleased with the start of the new year.

Been wondering when you would post again. I was looking on SDC through the races/results but didn't see anything current. Sorry about the toenail, I dealt with a high cracked one a few years back with a hunting dog, amazing how much they use nails when they move.
Anyway, when is your next race?

Nothing real current, the race we were supposed to be in this weekend was cancelled due to lack of snowfall across the region. We're hoping to enter Darby in a couple weeks, if we can get our mileage up another 5 miles. If not we'll race again the first weekend of Feb in Priest Lake. Training has been at a complete standstill for the past couple weeks, most of our trails are jagged ice covered between foot traffic and the frequent melting/refreezing and freezing rain we've been getting. Just an awful winter so far! We were lucky they started grooming Priest Lake area this past week so we could put some mileage down.

Second team out- Jill Wilson's 'second' team broke into 2 teams so Jill and I each ran 4 for an additional 6 miles- I ran Roper and Cooper (Mason's parents) and Echo/Sonar

How is the training going this year? we are having a warm and snow less December and it sucks I hope you are having better luck farther up North.

Team Keahi has had a couple hiccups getting out on the trail this season. Yes the weather not cooperating being one of those reasons! Our main leader Weaver also fell sick, we thought it may have been a blockage but thankfully it wasn't! Though now he's quite shaved and a belly blanket had to be ordered, so now that's here one step closer....but the MAIN reason we've been absent-

The building of our brand new dog box! We are now capable of transporting 12 dogs and a lot more equipment! Hitting the trails this weekend for our first runs of the season!

The dog box looks great! Good job! Also I am glad Weaver is doing better sounds like you had a rough start to the season.