Epic New Year's - Dogsledding - Why can't we be France?
Lets go lets go lets go!
This was the best New Year's I've ever had, hands down. The last 5 years I've had to work the holiday overnight but this year celebrated coming into my first year ever as fully self-employed. I can't believe it's only been 6 months since I took the leap!
mbala, kenket, blackteagan, and I decided to go dogsledding in nothern MN for the holiday. Ket and Teagan drove in from Denver and we headed up - I love northern MN so much and was thrilled to be able to share it with some of my closest friends. It's really an enchanting, amazing place - very wild, extreme, secluded, and beautiful.
We were hosted by Kathleen of Wintermoon SummerSun Adventures in Brimson, MN. It was a truly wonderful, unforgettable trip for all of us! The weather cooperated (only 20 below at night and getting into the teens during the days) - the snow was perfect and conditions were ideal.
Me with one of the lead dogs, Balto. Kathleen had 47 dogs, many of which she bred and raised from pups.
Roman and I with two more.
This one found a warm spot by the woodburning stove and didn't want to leave.
One of the neatest aspects of the trip was the fact we were staying there at the cabin (no running water - here I am pumping some! and electricity completely from solar panels) - we got the chance to be involved in all aspects of the care and working of the dogs, as well as living out there off the land.
Here's Mbala taking his turn with the water chores - you can see the 100 year old Finnish cabin behind him. Kathleen has lived there for 35 years!
The dogs were all amazingly friendly and well behaved. It was obvious the care and love Kathleen had for her pack.
Kathleen showed us her methods of rotating the dogs so they all get exercise, as well as harnessing and hitching them. When you harness the dogs you have to lift their front end (put them in 'rear wheel drive') since they are insanely excited to go and very powerful!
Mbala and I driving sleds.
Kathleen did an awesome job of teaching the sledding skills - we started off as a human dog team running, pulling a sled while the musher learned to control the sled, brake and set the snow hook. After just running up and down her long driveway I have that much more respect and amazement for what incredible athletes the dogs were. We started off riding in the sleds then progressed to driving and trying out different trails. It's exhilarating and addictive.
It's inspiring how much the dogs love what they do! When they are harnessed they are pulling and jumping straight into the air, barking and wagging, they want to GO!
One of my favorite dogs in the yard, Uno-tuk. I just love his wolfy face!
Another really pretty dog, Lichen - you can see the wolf influence there really well! Obviously wolf hybrids don't make good sled dogs, persay, but a lot of the Alaskan huskies have a mix of breeds (including wolf blood) to help with their endurance, speed, and strength.
Each dog has its own house and space, they certainly use those to get out of the wind. Here's Hund.
Another of my favorite dogs - Trondheim. He was just gorgeous! He was closely related to the puppies as well, I bet they will grow up to be charmers.
One of the resident malamutes, Sparky. Woo woo!
The lodging itself was a beautiful little handbuilt cabin the four of us shared. We had to get up at night to add wood to the stove, it was cold enough while you slept to see your breath most of the time. Running to the outhouse at 20 below makes you really appreciate running water! It also makes the traditional Finnish sauna, which is about 200 degrees, feel absolutely awesome.
The dogsledding was wonderful, and I can fully see why so many people who do it end up with 50 dogs and a cabin themselves. Ket and Teagan are already planning a trip back to do some more - when you go back you get to work on more advanced things (more dogs, longer trips, etc.). I know Mbala and I are unlikely to ever have sled dogs of our own but I'd really, really love to have a small group of reindeer someday. Then I can take people out for sleigh rides and use them to pull sledges with hay/fencing/etc. around the farm. I guess I really am Saami down to my core.
We had a delicious dinner at a steakhouse/grill in town and stayed at a tiny motel outside of Gooseberry State Park. In the morning we hiked the few mile long trail down the frozen river to the shoreline of the Great Lake.
We headed home after that for what has become our tradition of movie-watching-uber-food-slumber parties. I also made mimosas with fresh-squeezed clementine juice and a lot of kick (no wimpy breakfast drink mimosas for me ;) and plum wine spritzers. Super for goofy-movie-drinking-games.
I had purchased some north woods cookbooks up in Gooseberry and was eager to try them out. I made creamy chicken wild rice soup which turned out to be divine and berry-stuffed french toast (from homemade, fresh honey wheat bread) the next morning. I love to cook and host so much, it makes me full of happy. :) Ket and Teagan got us an amazing knife set for xmas - it is AWESOME! They were horrified at the old crummy knives I was using before (which couldn't cut through butter). Slicing hard parsnips like they were marshmallows... I'm in heaven.
The Czech tradition says 'on the new year, as all year' - if this is true, I couldn't be happier. Awesome company, awesome adventures, a great start to 2009. I know this year will be hard - the economy is in shambles and there's so much to get back together but I trust that things will get back on track and in the right direction. I've decided to really bed down and work on some long term projects I've been meaning to do while I have the time to do them. In the future, when we do get land, that sort of time is going to be nearly impossible to find. So now, while we're in this smaller place, seems the right time to do this.
Wow! Looks like you all had a really awesome time up there sledding. Might have to try that some time m'self.
Glad your new year holiday time was awesome!
Happy new year to you too :D!
So much fun to look at those wonderful photos :) Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful snowy adventure with the dog sledding! It looks like so much fun and what a charming way of life out there with the dogs. It would be nice to sample a bit of it. Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing this!
Good luck with your projects this new year, very happy new year to you and your household!
Thank you! :) Same back to you and yours!
If you're ever interested in a dogsledding adventure I'd highly recommend Kathleen - she's amazing and a really good teacher/mentor. The whole trip was really inspiring.
AAAGHHH PUPPIES. And by that I mean all of the dogs. I'll take two to go. :D Great photos!
MN = Minnesota, it's the state abbreviation. :) Sorry you haven't gotten good snow - the last few years we had very little, to the point where we couldn't even cross-country ski - which is very weird for this area of the country!
I really like the shot of Superior. Also the one of the dog closeup with the watermark on it.
Oh, you should! The coastal area with the cliffs in Duluth where you can look down into Superior and see these bizarre mini-icebergs crashing against the rocks is just gorgeous! Plus Duluth itself is really neat - the moving bridge, the old, grounded boats, the train tracks (check out their train museum if you like trains at all!), the steep, sloping roads, I think it's a photographer's dream up there!
Such beautiful dogs, and nice photos.