Northwoods Arrival!

So much to write about, so little Wifi bandwidth. I am typing this from a nearby resort as Gunflint Lodge has been without internet access since December 7th. Prior to this issue, there was no phone service for 10 days! Such is life in the remote northwoods of Minnesota.

Neil, Chris, the sled dogs and I arrived on Monday, December 15th, a day late due to poor road conditions. The roads were still quite treacherous on our departure day so a 6 1/2 hour drive turned into an almost 10 hour adventure. We did make it to the lodge safely and just a day before our other staff were to arrive, as they, too, were running late due to weather delays.

Liz, driving from Oregon and Helen, traveling from Vermont, arrived on Tuesday. Since then we have all been trying to work out new routines with the dogs, pack trails, cut dead fall on the trails, adjust to our new winter surroundings, get the phone to work and go from place to place to try and access our ever so necessary email accounts. What did we ever do without email?

The Points Unknown dogs settled right in, most remembering their spots from last season and leading us right to them. With a new large pen added to the dog yard this season, Tuki and Isis are in heaven and seem to be so much happier than they did last season. This retired couple continues their "old married couple" antics. All dogs were given bones to keep them occupied until we could get out on the trail. And today was the first sled run of the season for Points Unknown dogs and Briar's Patch Sled Dogs.

The first sled run of the season is always, well....... interesting and today was no exception. It usually takes a lot more set up than anticipated so you can locate all of the necessary gear that has been packed away for so long. We would be running the new trail that we and lodge guests cut in November so in addition to the first sled run anticipation, there was an added feeling of the "unknown"

Written on December 20th and not published until today. The purchased one hour time limit on the wifi system of a neighboring resort ended as the Publish Post button was pushed.......