End of the Sledding Season

April 7 was the end of our guided sledding season, finishing up with a family of three from California going out on a day trip. Just prior to that, we did a three-day trip with three people: a climate change professor from UC Santa Cruz up in Alaska giving seminars, her 15 year old son, and a member of Alaska Coast Magazine out of Anchorage. We had little snow, and it was disappearing fast while we were out on the trail headed to and from Sushana Cabin. But the trip was successful, even with a team member CATCHING AIR down the second Sushana Step. An amazing sight to see, and I apologize for not having the helmet cam on for that event. All survived. Justin, from Alaska Coast, plans on an article in that magazine coming out in the fall, in time to generate some enthusiasm for our trips next season. Had some nice conversations about climate change. Remember, all you people who saw a cold snowy winter back East: Climate and Weather are NOT the same!

Now we are closing up things in the gear room and around the dog yard, putting sleds away, and slowly getting ready for the summer. JJ, our assistant, will be around the rest of the month, and will focus on getting the pups out for walks. Karin and I are heading to Homer for a few weeks, to see how much of that seven feet of snow in our front yard is left.

As for the dogs, they deserve a bit of time off. After a few weeks, they will likely be missing the trail, and if we have any snow left, we may go for a run or two. Patrick, Brucie, and Lyman are all at about 14, and in fairly good health. We expect to be looking for a pet home for 8 year old Gretchen, the mother of half our yard. Her work ethic is a bit poor, and we have gotten enough pups (5 litters) from her. So anyone out there in a cool climate that wants one of the sweetest sled dogs around, let me know.

That's all for now, I hope to be in my sea kayak within the week. More about the pups to come.

Happy trails!