6/1/2007
Well the kennel is spending another summer on the glacier in Juneau, Alaska. The humans of the kennel like being able to work with the dogs through out the summer and keep them in shape. Also, the dogs are having fun being able to run every day and meet new people. We will add an update soon with our projected race schedule for this season. Hope that summer is going well for all!
4/10/2007
Happy Spring everyone! It is definitely starting to look like spring around here. The snow is melting and there are puddles everywhere. After getting done with Iditarod we had a couple weeks of good trails and we used that time to start training some new pups and work on training leaders. Now everything is too slushy for sleds and we will have to wait for it to melt to get out on the four wheelers again.
2/24/2007
Sorry for the lack of updates lately, once again we have gotten very busy here. Food drop was sent out on time, we totaled 1776 pounds of gear being sent out to the checkpoints. Erin has been repairing gear, normal wear and tear on dog and people equipment can add up over the course of the season and it is important to make sure that everything is in good working order before the race. Ryan has been busy training dogs, in order to keep them set for Iditarod and be able to pick up out the final 16 team members. Once the team is chosen we will be sure to let you know. Just 1 week until the start of the Iditarod, everyone
2/8/2007
Ryan is the winner of the 2007 Goose Bay 120! He beat out a competitive field of 24 mushers to become this year’s champion. We are very proud of both dogs and musher!
It is starting to get even busier than normal around the kennel. While Iditarod is the only remaining race of the season, there is still a lot of training and of preparation before the start of the Iditarod. Ryan and team will continue to put on the miles, some long runs and some camping trips, in order to stay in shape for the big race. When he is not training the team, we have been busy packing gear for the Iditarod food drop. Everything that he is going to need on the trail is packed up into bags and then sent out to each of the checkpoints to be used when needed. Everything that he will need, from musher food to dog food and dog care items must be included in these bags and they will end up totaling close to 2000 lbs by the time they are complete. It is a big job and we can’t wait until next Wednesday when they bags are turned in we are one step closer to the big race!
1/22/2007
The Klondike 300 was a great race. Congratulations to Cim Smyth, the winner of race for the second straight year. We decided to scratch from the race at Tug Bar, the halfway point. Actually, Ryan drove the team home, about 11 miles from Tug Bar. The reason we pulled out was that the trail was soft and very tough mentally for the dogs. We had lots of fun and we will be back for sure to run this race.
Erin and the rest of the dogs have been doing quite a bit of running together as well. Once a dog is cut from Ryan’s race team they join Erin and the puppies on shorter training runs. These teams don’t generally go very far, on average less than 15 miles, and mostly work on teaching puppies how to behave, not play with their neighbor and focus on their job, while running. This year the puppies have been very easy to work with and only required a few runs before they were running like champs, so we have been doing a lot of leader training. Pictured below we have Yentna up front with Rain teaching him what to do. Yentna is the experienced lead dog and hopefully she will teach Rain how to lead well. The more times a dog can get out on the trail the faster they will learn. Even with a few tangles and potty breaks associated with training young dogs, we all still have lots of fun and enjoy the view
1/8/2007
The Knik 200 race seems to have finished just in time, with most mushers finishing sometime on Sunday. We woke up here Monday morning with temperatures around 20 below! Ryan and the team finished the race in 9th place out of a starting field of 36 mushers. It was a cold and snowy weekend here in Knik. The temperatures stayed just below zero all weekend and somehow it still managed to snow lightly the entire time!
The trails on the way up were a little soft, due to all the snow we had gotten just a few days before, making it slow going at times. Ryan had a nice run up and was in fifth place at the halfway point. On the run back from Skwentna, the trails were a little firmer than the previous day. Ryan said he took off feeling that he could hold his position in the top five, but half way back two of the dogs started looking a little sore and he put them in the sled bag to keep from injuring them.
Despite having two extra passengers, the team still made it back to Knik in good time and everyone looked happy coming across the finish line. The team will take a few well deserved days off and then head out again to keep on training for the Iditarod.
1/2/2007
Hello and Happy New Year! It has been a very busy and snowy holiday season here at the kennel. The weather has been cooperating very well and we have around a foot of hard packed snow on the ground. With temperatures staying above zero, Ryan and the team have been training hard for the Knik 200. Right now, he has been taking the team out on 40 mile runs in order to get them ready for the race. The really neat thing about this race is that it starts about ½ mile from our home and runs on the same trail that we train on! Makes it exciting for the dogs on the run back in because they know that they just keep getting closer to home. With the race starting this weekend, Ryan will put on another run or two and then give the team a day off before the race so that he can prepare and the team can rest up.
12/19/2006
This past weekend we finished the first race of the season, the Sheep Mountain 150. Ryan and the team placed 12th and he received the Sportsmanship Award! Ryan was chosen for this award because of his general positive attitude and willingness to help out during the race.
The weather was pretty nice for a race, a little chilly sometimes with temperatures around zero but the snow help off keeping the trails nice a hard. Ryan said that the race trail was tougher than last year, more bumps and icy patches. There was also a large water hole in the creek that you had to be careful to avoid. Given the name of the race it is not surprising that there are a lot of hills during the race; hard work for dogs and musher.
The dogs did great. Ryan is very happy with the team; they worked well together as a group and they improved on last years finish time. Overall everyone had a lot of fun.
After a few days off to let them rest after the race, Ryan is going to head out on a 40 mile run on Thursday (12-21).
12/8/2006
The team has been going on 40 mile runs most of the time now in order to get them ready for the Sheep Mountain race. The team is really looking nice and Ryan can hardly wait to compete. Ryan and the dogs are having lots of fun out on the trails. Lately, they have been running with Ryan’s Dad, Raymie, and friend David. The dogs always like seeing other teams on the trail, it seems to make it more exciting for them.
12/3/2006
Well, winter has officially arrived, a day or so ago we got our first real snowfall of the season! With about 8 inches of snow on the ground now everyone is very excited. We are now able to hit the trail on sleds and that is much more fun for both people and dogs. Currently, we are training two teams of 12 dogs and making runs of 20 or 40 miles depending on the day. The dogs are looking good and we all are enjoying the beautiful scenery out on the trails.
11/26/2006
The team went out on their first 40 mile run this week. We are moving right along getting ready for the race season, which is now less than a month away! The weather around here is not cooperating though. It has still been very cold, temperatures staying right around zero, and no more snow. We do actually have snow in the forecast for the end of the week so we will just have to wait and see what happens.
11/14/2006
Training has been moving right along. Right now we are working with two teams of dogs, one 12 dog group and one 14 dog group. We have a very small amount of snow on the ground but the temperatures have been cool enough to freeze all the lakes and rivers. So, despite still having to train on four wheelers, we have a few more trail options now that we can run right over the tops of rivers and lakes. We are definitely keeping our fingers crossed in hopes of getting some more snow soon!
11/8/2006
Sorry for the delay in updates, even mushers go on vacation once in awhile. After spending a week in sunny Florida, swimming, fishing, and playing on the beach, its time to get back to training. We now have a couple inches of snow on the ground and nice cold temperatures, sometimes below zero, to freeze up the lakes and rivers. Winter has definitely arrived here in Alaska!
10/17/2006
Training is going well here. We are now training 2 14 dog teams. Everybody is looking good. We are also finally starting to get some cooler weather around here, the last few mornings it has been in the 20's! Hopefully it will snow soon!
9/30/2006
Well we have started fall training again here at Callin’ Trail Kennel. Right now Ryan and Erin are training three 10 dog teams. From these 30 dogs we will eventually pick Ryan’s team for this year’s Iditarod! Today was the coldest morning we have had yet, when we woke up it was just 30 degrees! Winter is definitely on its way here in Alaska!
7/01/2006
Well - it's been a long time since we did an update. Summer is a busy time in Alaska! We (Ryan, Erin, and the dogs) are working up on the glacier. The weather has been pretty nice and we are having a lot of fun and meeting tons of new people. The dogs seem to really enjoy all of the attention they get from the visitors!
Ryan is signed up for the 2007 Iditarod. Yes - we think about next year's racing, even in summer. The first day to sign up was June 24th, and Ryan mailed his entry in to make sure he gets a good starting position. We'll be doing more posts soon. Hope everyone is having a great summer!
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