PUWWA 2010; The 90 degree Turn!

Lisa's team with Phoenix in single lead, on the turn around loop

April's team

Jenny's team

First of the 90 degree turn series of photos. Leaning way to the right or into the turn

Wonderful shot of me as I brace for the potential impact with the tree on the opposite side of the trail.

Still bracing but no impact! Wonderful execution by Lisa!

The wheel dogs do their job and straighten the sled out to head down the trail.

The looks on our faces say it all....

The 90 degree turn is the biggest challenge for our new mushers and they did beautifully. The technique sounds fairly simple, however executing it can be a challenge.

The idea is to go into the turn slowly with your foot on the drag pad. As the point dogs(dogs behind the leaders) enter the turn and pass the tree on the corner, you quickly remove your foot from the drag pad, squat down, thus lowering your center of gravity and lean. A "crack the whip" effect happens and you are safely brought back on course by your burly wheel dogs as you then quickly place your foot back on the drag pad to slow them down. What happens, however, is your gut instinct tells you to keep your foot on the brake as you enter the turn so it can be taken slower and so that you don't hit the tree at the corner. This action however, will provide you with the opposite effect and you will run directly into the tree unless you allow the dogs to take you around the tree without resistance.

Since I managed to catch a few participants off guard (Lisa) and posted some very candid photos, I thought I had better then post a few of myself as I was the passenger in Lisa's sled going around that 90 degree turn.

PUWWA 2010; The Heat

50 degrees on March 6th?!! Come on!

It was so warm that Sweet Pea laid in her straw bed spread eagle

Here she is embarrassed by the "spread eagle" photo I just took.

No gloves or hat in early March!

PUWWA 2010 - The Chef

Lisa served up braised venison on a bed of beautifully prepared kale and pumpkin puree.

The intense concentration on the back of the sled runners.

Yikes! I can't believe she just took my picture!

Our wonderful chef, Lisa, joined us at the very last minute when our friend JD couldn't make the trip. She came highly recommended by JD and met all of our culinary expectations. She also made a great participant and took part in all of the activities, even though she is allergic to dogs. (What?! She did jump at this opportunity and I only saw her breakout once during her stay!)

She quickly learned that dog mushing is not a necessarily a leisurely activity where one stands on the back of the runners for an uninvolved "ride". It can be an intense workout, both mentally and physically, as you can see above by the look in her face on the above photos. Just had to post them, of course!

PUWWA 2010 - The Fun!

The setting

The hosts

April practices stepping on the hook and wrapping her quick release.

Jenny and Klaus

Jenny

April and team

Jenny and team

Snowshoeing

Our winter season appears to have ended but not before one last adventure at our remote location in northern Minnesota. Our Points Unknown Women's Winter Adventure 2010 was held March 4th-March 7th. Temps became very warm toward the end of the adventure so early morning runs were necessary to keep the dogs comfortable. It reached 50 degrees! The snow soon turned to slush but we sure did have fun!

A Few of the Dogs

Phoenix in single lead

Hedlund Husky bunch

Klaus

Oken

White Feather

Topa

Ilu

Topa

Oken

Klaus

Icoa

Phoenix

Minnesota BOW Winter Event

We had three courses over a two day period of between 8 and 9 women

The participants bond with the dogs prior to working with them.

Zodiak can't contain his enthusiasm for meeting new people

Ilu becomes jelly when there is a good belly rub involved.

A detailed introduction to the sled is given.

Our guests harness the dogs in pairs.

Klaus enjoys an ear scratch.

We slowly hook up three teams at once and hit the trail.

Klaus

The first team consisted of five dogs with a participant mushing and either Haily or I in the sled as a passenger.

McKenzie can't get enough.

We love to see big smiles!

Hailey in the lead sled with Oken and Klaus in lead.

Three teams on the trail.

One of our guests with a three dog team and a big smile.

More smiles!

Ilu and Icoa in wheel.

The last weekend of February, the Audubon Center of the Northwoods hosted the DNR's Becoming an Outdoors Woman Winter Event. Points Unknown was there to provide the dog mushing instruction. Three courses were filled with between 8 and 9 women over a two day period.

Since time was limited, we provided a small taste of dog mushing with the hopes that the participants will join us down the road for a more grand adventure. The three hour course included instruction in proper interaction with the dogs, harnessing and sled safety and operation. Those things learned where then applied as the participants ran a 3-5 dog team on a one mile loop with our full support.

Temps were in the upper 20s to low 40s, at times. The course was short enough that the dogs were able to quickly recover from the heat and seemed to enjoy their job of helping to introduce dog mushing to our guests.