Nothing like waking up to -30's and training guests for upcoming dog sled expedition

And the cold spell continues...-36F right now, with a trip taking two brothers from Wisconsin leaving tomorrow morning.  As I told them today, good thing they aren't from Arizona or Brazil, and have seen  some cold before!  Second straight day of great sun dogs, our winter rainbows.

On the sled dog front, it looks like Assam's lame leg is doing well.  Frodo also looks like he is past his injured shoulder.  Boomer, our problem child who is hypo parathyroid, should be going out on her first trip since her diagnosis.  As my vet told me today, it's time to fish or cut bait.  We hopefully now have her calcium and phosphorus levels under control, and she can go back to being a stellar leader.

We'll continue to try and stay warm, about seven weeks into the cold spell (although Karin believes it's been 12 weeks ...prior to Thanksgiving)  At least the dogs are digging it...
Happy trails,
Jon

Welcome to Winter 2012 in Interior Alaska

After a long blog vacation, I'm back online and here to welcome all readers to EarthSong in Winter 2012.  A lot of things have happened at the lodge and with the dogs, but first the weather...the one thing everyone from out of state ask first when calling.  From mid-November through to now, we have mostly been seeing very cold temperatures.  The thermometer has been staying most days between -10 and -40F.  In between the cold spells, we've had snow and winds, so the snowdrifts are everywhere.  Plowing has been a challenge, and soon we won't have places to push the snow.  But at least we are better off than Cordova, where they've already gotten about 25 feet of snow.

After another successful summer season, the lodge closed at the end of September, and Karin and I took the Alaska Ferry down to Washington State.  Always a better option than cruise ships.  We traveled with Karin's dog Bella, and toured the Pacific Northwest for about a month, and then returned home via the Alaska Highway.  Nice vacation, enjoying the coast and Puget Sound.

But now it's dog sledding season, and we've already done a few trips in December and early January.  Even with the cold and blowing snow, guests are testing their mettle on the back of our sleds.  In dog news, our oldest Nocturne is going on 13 next spring, and he still runs in team...but a bit slower.  In lead dog news, Boomer, our number-2 leader, had a seizure incident a few weeks back, and after many tests and a week in Fairbanks, she was diagnosed with hypo parathyroid disease.  Without the hormone from that gland, she is unable to get calcium into her system.  This is really unusual for a sled dog, and my vet has never seen it before...nor has his fellow vets in Fairbanks.  We're trying to manage the problem with oral meds, and so far she seems OK.  Starbuck and Kira are now running some lead, and we have great hopes for them.  Frodo, our master leader, is still plowing through snow and leading us when things get bad. 

We have trips going in January and February, and March is getting filled up fast.  I'll guide one ten day trip into the interior of Denali and to Wonder Lake, along with a variety of shorter trips.  Still time to jump on board, for all the dog and wilderness lovers!

On the personal front with the dogs, I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery last July.  Hard to do when you keep running dogs.  Karin and I will go up to Fairbanks tomorrow to watch our six year old grandson Teagan play some basketball, and they try to head to Anchorage later on to see our kids Sera and Jake, and our other grandson Mason.  Family is all doing well, and that's especially nice in this current state of our economy.

That's all for now.  We send our best wishes to all our past guests and friends, and all the new ones we'll be meeting soon.  Stay healthy and enjoy the New Year.

Happy trails,

Jon