Around the Lodge

A holiday wish for snow!

Gunflint Lodge decked for the holidays

Still unsafe ice.

Pine Grosbeaks

Resident Gray Jay

12/15/07 *Internet service has been unavailable for the past few days so am posting this from a few days ago.

Temps have been below zero for the past few days; cold and crisp with clear skies. Temps changing to teens with chances of snow.

Around the lodge folks have been busy decorating for the holidays. The inside of the lodge is quite a sight with a Christmas tree set up right in front of a window that views the vast expanse of Gunflint Lake.

As of a couple of days ago, the Canadian side of the lake was still wide open. This morning, however I noticed the entire lake covered with a light dusting of snow indicating at least a thin layer of ice had formed over the remaining open water last night.

Bird feeders are located along the lakeside and are attracting Gray Jays, Blue Jays and my favorite, the Pine Grosbeak. Pine Grosbeaks have a beautiful ruby red head and breast and are almost as large as the Jays, however, unlike the Jays, the Grosbeaks hang out in small groups, dotting the snow with their beautiful scarlet plumage.

We received a couple inches of light fluffy snow the other day, adding to the much needed base for the dog sled trails. Erik, the third Points Unknown team member, arrived on Thursday and brought the spruce poles for the Tipi that will be used as a warming area for one of the adventures. The Tipi trail also had to be made and packed which was done with the snowmobile. He also set up his dog yard, packing the outside of his dog house barrels with snow for added insulation and attaching the chains. He will return next week with the canvas for the Tipi and we will put it up before our programs begin on December 21^st.

Puppy Play

The Hedlund pups are now 11 weeks old. Sammie pups are 4 weeks older. You can tell by the big smiles that fun was had by all.

Big feet and long legs.

Helen and her pups.

Family Reunion

Journey and Flint reunite

Helen and Prairie Isle Kennel

Prairie Isle "Sam Boys" pups

When Helen arrived she brought Journey's brother Flint with her. Helen's husband Bob had driven back from Alaska with Flint the end of July, before my arrival in Alaska to retrieve Journey and we hadn't met Flint until his arrival. The two didn't seem to remember each other at first. Journey was a bit defensive with him but after much nose touching, tail wagging and play body language, they got along wonderfully.

Settling In

The puppies in their new pen with Tuloon

Cozy sled accommodations for our clients.

Our first run at the lodge. Klaus taking a big yawn to calm his excitement

Temps have been in around 15-18 degrees the past two days. It was lightly snowing this morning with no real accumulation.

Yesterday Helen and Prairie Isle kennel arrived at Gunflint Lodge. They are one of the team members this winter for the Points Unknown at Gunflint Lodge Adventures. They are settling in nicely. Four Prairie Isle Samoyed puppies spent the morning in the large play area with the three Points Unknown pups. After such a long ride in their boxes they seemed to have an overabundance of energy that needed to be channeled. Seven pups in a pen together did the trick.

This morning, with the help of Jason and Don of the lodge maintenance department, larger holes were cut in the dog house barrels that were previously used for smaller racing style dogs. We were noticing that many of our traditional sled dogs were not even attempting to enter the barrel houses due to the tiny holes.

Chains were reworked as some were too long and others too short. Three small dog teams were run and we are in the process of running more. After yesterday’s treacherous run with 7 dogs under the current conditions, we decided that its best to stick with 3 to 4 dog teams until we get more snow. Programs at Gunflint Lodge officially begin on December 21^st so we have our fingers crossed for snow.

Yesterday the freight sled was outfitted and tested on our run. A seamstress in Watertown, MN made custom sled bags for the sleds as well as Cordura covered 4” foam pads. The pads will be placed in the sled first, then the sled bag will be on top of the pads and attached to the sled ropes. A caribou hide I picked up while in Alaska to retrieve Journey will then be placed in the bag for clients to sit on and wrap around themselves. Wool Army blankets will also be supplied to place under feet and where ever needed. Riders should stay toasty warm.

Where are the Points Unknown mascots, Copper and Blue, in all of you this? Their day begins with a walk. If it’s too cold, Copper needs his boots and coat. Then its meal time and a rest in the warm and cozy apartment room while sled dogs get fed. Mid afternoon the two little guys get out again for a walk down to the lodge to say hello and to pick up the mail. If there’s time, they spend an hour or so running around in the conference center as their person (me) checks email if the wifi is functioning and throws the ball over and over again for Blue because that’s what he has trained his person to do.

Arrival!

A portion of the dog yard

Puppy pens and the "dog shack" to the left

Puppies all snug in their pen

Another portion of the dog yard

Framework for the wall tent in the dog yard that one of the musher will live in this winter.

Points Unknown kennel arrived at Gunflint Lodge on Saturday. Thankfully, we have a caravan of wonderful helpers driving behind the dog truck. Chris, the Points Unknown dog handler, drove the Subaru filled with items that couldn't freeze along with his two dogs who will be working at the lodge this winter and Marilyn drove up in her truck filled with dog food and her dog. Conan is just along for a little vacation and will travel back with Marilyn when she leaves on Tuesday.

It took us most of the evening to unload the dogs, their gear, as well as the musher's gear. A four month stay requires a lot of "stuff", especially when the entire business is moving. That evening we had dinner at the lodge's Bistro. They serve a gourmet menu to include walleye and wild rice quesadillas and duck spring rolls. After dinner I think its safe to speak for the other when I say, we just collapsed for the evening.

The dogs took to the stake outs right away. This was a concern as the dogs live in kennels at home and have been on picket lines during adventures, however nothing similar to their accommodations this winter. It helped that as we hooked each on to their chain, we handed them a large knuckle bone.

The puppies, Tuloon, Journey and Zulu have pens side by side. The adults will get rotated in and out of these pens to given them a break from chain living. The puppies don't seem the least bit upset by their new surroundings and spend the morning playing in a 50x20 pen provided by the lodge for the dogs to run and play in groups during our stay.

Our first run was this morning. We had a seven dog team and a passenger. This particular trail out of the dog yard is hilly(understatement) and it was tough going up the hills and due to the lack of a good snow base, too dangerous to take clients yet, down those hills. The brake was catching on all of the rocks right below the surface of the snow and the drag pad wasn't slowing them down enough. One bad tangle, where the point dogs ended up back by the wheel dogs because one of the dogs tripped was enough to make me take the tug lines off of four of the strongest dogs as we continued down the "hill". Thankfully there were no dogs injured. We will just wait for another 12 inches of snow to accumulate on those trails before we take clients out and before I go back on the trail with more than four of our powerful freight dogs.

One Day Left!

Another new beginning on Oake Lake

Its hard to believe that back in September Points Unknown submitted a proposal for the Gunflint Lodge dog mushing program contract and here we are...... one day left before we load up the dogs to spend the next 4 months in the great north woods of Minnesota.

The past three months have been a whirlwind of activity; designing a dog mushing program, getting the dogs in shape for the winter, helping Tuloon raise her puppies, preparing list after list of items to pack and things to do before December 8th, 2007 and then executing those lists, making enough beeswax candles to get wholesale customers through the winter and finally, transferring my real estate appraisal business over to the new firm, CVS, Inc., I have joined(which, by the way, is very supportive of my winter months off with the dogs and many of the members are dog folks and outdoor enthusiasts themselves). Needless to say, I could use a vacation! The next 4 months at the lodge won't be a "vacation", however it will provide a much needed rest for my soul and I am looking forward to doing what I love best; spending time in the wilderness with my dogs.

Three Pups in Their New Homes

Q was the first to leave at 8 weeks old. He didn't go far. Q is living with Brian at his working sled dog kennel across the lake from Points Unknown.



Wahya left at 8 1/2 weeks. Sandy and Mark drove from Colorado to pick her up and she has now joined Alpine kennel.



Zorra was the last to leave and flew off to Lidia in New Hampshire to join Uktousa kennel last Saturday morning. Her flight just missed our big snow storm by about an hour.