Hovland Camp Out

Neil cooks our dinner

The sled dogs were attached to the drop cables attached to the truck and to nearby trees.

Cozy camp

Copper and Blue were NOT impressed with this outing at all; being hooked to sled dog drop lines. Geez!

We arrived several days before the driveway contractor was expected so that we could flag some dog sled trails on the property for him to help clear, as well. Rebecca, our handler from the UK, and Neil left the night before the dogs and me so that they could set up camp and so that I could finish some last minute work items at home. Darn appraisal deadlines.

We were fortunate to be able to spend some time with some dog friends while up north. We were invited for dinner and a shower at their home north of Grand Marais which is what all campers appreciate! It became a bigger party when a couple other dog friends arrived. These folks have been running the dog sled trails in our area for years and were willing to share their trail "secrets" that mushers hold on to so tightly. This was greatly appreciated. So, in between flagging trails, we ran the dogs on our newly found trails. Beautiful! It was a tad warm so we went slow and thankfully, there was plenty of water along the trail to help keep the dogs cool.

Our nights of camping out ended when Copper and Blueberry decided they had enough of trying to keep warm by burrowing in our sleeping bags and that this "pretending to be a sled dog thing" was just too hard and simply beneath them. It was below freezing at night and a Poodle/Dachshund mix and a Beagle/King Charles mix aren't the hardiest of dogs when it comes to cold. So we spent the next two nights at a friend's hotel in Grand Marais which has always been a super dog friendly place and returned home the day after our driveway demolition began.