Today

Pristine snow on Gunflint Lake

Karen investigates the wolf kill remains. This spot will be some good "on by" training for the sled dogs!

Open Dog Yard

A guest gets a big wet kiss from one of Karen's dogs prior to her departure

Sandy, our guest musher, gives a client a lesson in sled dog harnessing

Temps were below zero over night, making the trails set up nicely. Four guests were taken out on the trails with the dogs today while I took to the lakes with the snowmobile to see how the conditions were after our rain earlier this week. Only a few days ago, a day after the rain and one day of snow, Gunflint Lake was entirely slush. Not one section passed along with the snowmobile was free of the nasty stuff. It seemed unlikely that the lake would be ideal for dog team travel any time soon.

To my surprise, I found Gunflint Lake to be relatively slush free today and the new track laid will be runnable for the dogs tomorrow as temps are below zero again over night. Also a surprise was the wolf kill in the middle of the lake. As usual, nothing was left but a few bits of hair.

In the dog yard today, our guests enjoyed their adventures; so much so that two others who came along to watch their friends take off, quickly booked adventures for tomorrow. We also hosted over a dozen people at our Open Dog Yard event. I think it was a record number for toddlers in attendance! Parents were asked to keep close tabs on the toddlers and educated to the behaviors of some dogs with regards to loud high pitched noises and awkwardly "toddling" small objects that can quickly engage the dogs' prey drive. The toddlers viewed most dogs from afar with an occasional "up close" moment with some of the more toddler friendly dogs such as Sweet Pea.

Tomorrow brings another busy adventure schedule with six guests heading out on the trails with us.