March, 2003 - "Dean and Laura's Excellent Dog Sledding Adventure" -

"We've always said, if you live in the Northwoods where it's winter a good portion of the year you've got to really learn to enjoy it. Well, we really did it this year! After going up to the U.P. 200 Dog Sled Race in February, I couldn't get the dog athletes out of my mind. We'd gotten information on a weekend sled dog adventure and it just felt like something we had to do. We'd always wanted to winter camp and here was a chance to experiance mushing, the dogs and winter camping too. So we booked the trip. To some of us spring break means "sun and surf" to us it meant a trip up to the U.P. of Michigan for some "snow and woof.""

Here I am with Tasha and Ed Steilstra, our hosts from Nature's Kennel. I'm looking at the board to see who the dogs are on my team.

Our weekend began on Friday afternoon with the kennel chores. Here I am feeding "Joyce". Between feeding the dogs and giving each one a hug and a scratch I can see that this is a full-time job. Nature's Kennel has about 64 dogs in residence, that are being raised and trained for sled dog racing.

Saturday morning we each practiced with a four dog team, on a one mile trail. This allowed us to learn the basics of dog mushing and get our first falls out of the way. The other dogs loved watching us pass through the kennel. We were met with barks of excitement and encouragement.

On Saturday afternoon we headed out on the trail. This time we each had a six dog team. This is the view from Dean's sled. The dogs will run anywhere from 10-12 mph. They are so excited to pull. They seem to live to run!

Here I am with my team. We were bringing up the rear. My dogs were constantly wanting to overtake Dean's team. I'm not sure "passing" was allowed, so we just held back. We mushed about 15 miles to our overnight camping spot.

"Home Sweet Home". Here's our camp from a distance. We spent the night in an Arctic Oven tent, complete with a wood stove - it was quite comfy. It got to about 20 degrees, I would guess. We dined on "hobo dinners" straight from the campfire.

Here's my team of dogs "camping out". They were so happy when we got the straw out. Racing sled dogs are trained to know it's time to rest when they get straw, while on the trail. From L to R: Allie, Mole, Opal, MoMo, Maple (and Mouse hidden behind Maple).

Here I am with my lead dog Mole. She is a vetern racer, rumor has it she's retiring after this year. Don't tell her, she still wants to be the winner everytime she's out on the trail.

Here's Dean with my kennel favorite, Millie. Millie is a Jr dog (about eight months old) and is just beginning her sled dog training. The puppies only run about a mile in the harnesses right now.

Here we are the happy mushers with our lead dogs. From L to R: Sarah, Tasha, Laura and Dean. It was such an experiance. The world would be a better place if we could all travel by dog power!!