Follow our quest for a more simple lifestyle living off grid in the remote north woods of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, working with traditional sled dogs.
This was Dr. Jackie's first time actually IN a sled as she has only been on the runners, so half way around the lake, I took to the sled and she ran the team.
Neil and team with Tanya in the sled
Although all of our guests are special, those visiting today were extra special as they provide the veterinary care for our furry family members. Dr. Jackie Piepkorn, who is and has been the vet for various major races, including the Iditarod, lives right in our back yard and we weren't even aware until recently. Another special guest was Tanya, a vet tech intern who is learning at the clinic for several weeks. We can't tell you how happy we are to have found such a wonderful resource. Having someone who has seen thousands of sled dogs over the course of her career and has very similar values about dog care and training makes us feel as though we are in good hands. Not to mention the excellent personal service we've been given since we began bringing our dogs to the Westonka Animal Hospital.
We wanted to show our appreciation by inviting them out on an Oake Lake Experience this afternoon. Temps were in the 20s and the skies were bright blue with only a few pale white clouds. With several inches of fresh snow, the trail was a bit "sandy" under the dogs' feet but we managed just fine. Since there was no base to sink a hook, our teams kept a good stopping distance apart. No tailgating today!
Westonka Animal Hospital, thank you so much for your kind, thoughtful and expert service.
Olive lounges with one of her Grand Dogs, Copper as he lays on her lap in a liquid state. Blueberry would have nothing to do with photos at this moment as he was busily chewing his favorite Nylabone at the other end of the house.
Copper and Blueberry weren't left behind on our weekend get-a-way. They lounged around the hotel during the day while we were out on the trail and spent the evenings being pampered and hanging out with us while we cooked our food in the closed-for-the-season restaurant at the hotel. They are, however, glad to be home where they can run free in the yard and do things a little more on their terms.
At the half way point during the run we drop down on to a scenic lake
Sharing the trail
Neil's team makes their way down the "mountain"
Vast views
How beautiful is THAT?
Beautiful scenery can be found by running on the various Forest Service Roads around our northwoods hide-a-way. Sometimes, they also double as snowmobile trails which can create a few hazards so picking the best time of day to run to avoid these hazards is a good idea. Although, we did run into (not literally, thankfully) quite a few snowmobilers, we found them all to be very cautious, courteous and genuinely interesting to see us on the trail.
"What did you say?" says Wimzi while Topa just patronizes me but is thinking, "Oh, give me a break."
Ari turns his head away from the camera as usual as Journey just stares into the distance hoping to get moving down the trail soon instead of stopping to take photos again.
Bright blue skies
Towering Fir trees
The trees appear to swallow the trail
We have the most beautiful northwoods bush trail with vast variations in topography and scenery. The trail is just wide enough for a sled with towering fir trees on either side for much of the way. It drops down into a moose pond, through a hardwood forest, a pine forest and a birch forest and across a river then back again. The terrain is rolling and windy with short steep descents and ascents. The dogs love it because of the mystery of not knowing what is just around the corner!
This has been the location of our remote women's adventures and I would imagine that although the trail is generally memorable due to its beauty, the portion that is the most ingrained in their minds is the 90 degree turn and how each one eventually mastered it. Am I right?
Neil on our building pad preparing the snowmobile to maintain trails
As it was the last weekend that Olive and Rebecca would be in Minnesota, we planned a long weekend with the sled dogs at our northern Minnesota hide-a-way. We are in the planning stages of a structure on our property so until then, we either camp or stay at a hotel owned by a friend in Grand Marais. Olive was up for most anything but we thought that winter camping might be pushing it a bit so we "camped out" at the Grand Marais Inn in Grand Marais.
This type of adventure calls for even more dog related management items such as loading and unloading dogs a total of 27 times throughout the weekend, bringing in fresh snow each day where the dogs are dropped in the hotel parking lot and a lot of driving back and forth but it was all worth it in the end with memories of us and the dogs on our breathtaking northwoods trails.
In addition to running the dogs we spent some time scoping new trails and doing maintenance to others. It had been the first time we had been up to our property since the new driveway and building pad was complete so we had fun looking at the opportunities the new open area created. Olive and Rebecca also got in some snowshoeing!
We received the news that Canyon, the female Hedlund Husky in Big Lake, Alaska that was to be the long distance receiver of Phoenix's "genetic material" was likely to be the most fertile over the weekend. Last weekend; when we were to be out of town and at a time when Fed Ex does not ship packages over night. The timing still appeared right, however, because we would bring the boy in on Thursday on our way up north. His chilled donation would be shipped out shortly thereafter to arrive on Friday. At which time, Sharon, from the Wasilla Vet Clinic planned to separate the semen and do an AI on Friday and then another on Sunday which would be day 16. Day 16 has been an historically prominent number when it comes to our female Hedlund Husky fertility as both Tuloon and Daisy were bred on Day 16. The chilled specimen lasts, text book, up to 72 hours. Day 16 would be 72 hours for our little wiggly friends.
Thursday came and we loaded all of our gear and the dogs into the truck. Since we've been having trouble with the truck lately, we were keeping our fingers crossed that our departure would go off without a hitch. We had a bit over an hour to reach the vet before she would then be unavailable for the next two hours and we would have to wait with truck loaded, for the next available appointment. It would take one hour to get there so we had very little time to spare.
Truck started. No problem. Warmed up. No problem. Put it into gear and coasted down the hill onto the flat portion of the driveway and then we glided to a halt. And yet again, that pesky transmission problem appears to be holding us up. I called my mechanic to run the symptoms by him. He assured me that the seals on the transmission just needed to warm up a bit longer then it would easily go into gear and we would be on our way. I have never heard of half of the ailments that a vehicle can suffer from before this truck. Don't get me wrong. I love the utility of my 24' cube van. Each dog gets a medium to large size crate filled with straw and I can bring anything and everything my heart desires on a trip because there is just so much room back there! A diesel can be a problem in the winter but we've overcome that. Leaf springs, engine fire and now a transmission issue. Yikes! When will it end?
Sure enough, another 15 minutes and "Milton" popped right into gear and off we went. We arrived at 10:45 on the dot, Phoenix, Rebecca and I went into the exam room and wham bam it was over and we were soon looking at billions of little swimmers under the microscope. Apparently there is a rating system for such extractions; Excellent, Good, Average, etc. We're happy to report that Phoenix scored an "Excellent" for motility and another "Excellent" for count which was in the billions! If you recall from a much earlier post, McKenzie was also taken in for the same purpose and he also had excellent ratings. It's nice to know that the "men" in the Hedlund Husky line appear to be so capable. And McKenzie was 8 years old when he made his deposit. Right now, we've got nine potential McKenzie breedings sitting on ice.
After a full day on the trail with the dogs on Friday, we received word that the package arrived at the Wasilla vet clinic as expected. Sharon was extremely happy how it traveled. Typically, when shipped, the score can drop one or two levels. Not Mr. Motility's sample! It remained at an "Excellent" overall score. She commented that she rarely sees such a high score even when she is extracting it herself and it isn't being shipped.
What more can I say? We've been calling Phoenix "Mr. Motility" all weekend.
We just got the exciting news this week that this little cutie was chosen to be one of the two pups coming to Points Unknown! Her name was Grayvy but will now be Aise (Eyesha), which is Arabic for "she who lives". This is a fitting name for a pup so full of life. It's funny how we seem to have a slue of names picked out, and in the end, we get hit by one at the very last minute that seems to top them all. We attended the Audubon Center for the Northwoods Family Event last week. One of our guests was a striking and sharp young teenager named Aisha (Eyesha) who did an excellent job of holding on to her sled when it tipped over upon take off. I was so taken by how she carried herself, by her name and its meaning, that the name stuck with me.
The beautiful and mellow Fruitcake has very classic Hedlund markings
Honey is apparently a mischievous pup just like Aise, but oh so sweet.
Pear is still the largest of the girls and the most mellow. The look in her eyes is the same look I see in her grandfather McKenzie's eyes as well as her Aunt White Feather; inquisitive, mild mannered, kind and thoughtful.
Pepper is the most massive pup with the mildest temperament of the bunch and an excellent coat.
Turkey Jim (TJ) has got us all curious. He's mild mannered yet there is something about him that we don't recognize and it will be so fun to watch him grow. He looks like a little elf of some kind in this photo.
Wishbone has the same markings that our Phoenix had at his age, however, this beautiful boy has blue eyes! Since there is Siberian Husky in the Hedlund line, blue eyes do appear now and again but not too often.
Please visit the Uktousa website for more updates on these beautiful Hedlund Husky puppies.
Me with Dr. Jackie and those two goofy lead dogs
This was Dr. Jackie's first time actually IN a sled as she has only been on the runners, so half way around the lake, I took to the sled and she ran the team.
Neil and team with Tanya in the sled
