Spring Mushing in the Neighborhood

In Two Rivers, Alaska the conditions are nearly perfect for dog mushing. While our daytime temperatures are a little warm, that is only in comparison to our average daytime temps in January which were in the -30ºF to -40ºF range. Remember those days?

The dogs still have tons of energy and absolutely love to get out and run down the trail. When we have such willing and excited companions it is fun to get out there. I would almost say that I experience I touch of ‘dog guilt’ when a dog team doesn’t leave the yard on a gorgeous, springtime, snowy day. (NOTE: you will either understand ‘dog guilt’ or not. I’ll leave it at that.)

So since returning from Nome and the Iditarod finish line we have diligently taken of out small dog teams. Karolyn was the most dedicated and ran a team nearly every day. But with Alaska’s ‘Shelter in Place’ mandate, she no longer comes to the kennel. While we all miss her – probably Gravy misses her the most. She’ll be back. (I told Gravy that we could FaceTime her this weekend if he got desperate!)

But now Sam has stepped up and goes out on a dog sled a couple times a week. Two Rivers Elementary is closed. His school started a Remote Learning Online program on March 30 but that gives Sam more opportunity to mush and help around the kennel. The pluses and minuses of all this…

We took two dog teams out on the trail yesterday. We harnessed: five dogs who raced Iditarod – two that left the team early (Kodiak and Chevie) and three that finished in Nome (Dutch, Junior and Jefe). We also had three dogs who raced the Yukon Quest (Commando, Chipper and Scooby) and one fellah who reluctantly sat out those both of those of races: Nomex.

Upon returning to the kennel with those two teams, Bruno looked at us like: “What the Heck?!”

As many of you might remember, he was the first dog that left the Iditarod 2020 team in Rainy Pass. He has been out on a fun run as well, but for some reason he didn’t go yesterday. Sam thought it would be best if we showed everyone that Bruno looks great and no one needs to worry about how healthy or happy he is these days. Here he is: