WINDWARD KENNELS

2007-10-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

We are welcoming our newest members to WINDWARD KENNELS! Snoopy and Surf have a beautiful litter of 5 boys and 1 girl! Jody, Guy, Tully Mars, Joe Merchant, Push Rod, and Willet Rainer Snow are almost 3 weeks old, and turning into a fun bunch! We were also lucky enough to get 3 puppies from 4-Time Iditarod Champion, Martin Buser. Rhonda, Leisa and Tamara are quite a handful! They are now 10 weeks old, and love to go for puppy walks! Pictures and Sponsorship availability will be posted soon!

We also welcome the Alaska Aces, Keith Poppert and Mill Direct Textiles to our sponsorship team!

PICTURE THIS!

2007-10-23T15:29:00.001-07:00

IDITAROD 2008

2007-10-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

We are presently preparing for Iditarod 2008!
After Matt's successful 2007 run, we decided to enter two teams into The Last Great Race. Thirty-two out of our 45 dogs will be on 4th Avenue in Anchorage, on March 1, 2008, for the start. Iditarod is a great adventure, and we need your support to help realize this great dream!

Corporate Sponsors will receive excellent publicity, including signage on the dog truck, patches on the sled bags and parkas, mention at all fundraising events, and feature in a full length documentary being filmed on our 2008 Iditarod bids!

In Kind or financial donations are welcome!

Booties - 1800 @ $.73 each = $1300
Shipping for drop bags = $1800
Vet Expenses = $1000
Dog Food for Iditarod = $4000
Traveling Expenses = $2000
Dog Jackets = $500

IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SPONSORING OUR KENNEL, PLEASE CONTACT US AT firemusher@yahoo.com

2007-10-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

Windward Kennels is in the process of changing our design! The new website will be easier to navigate, and we will be able to keep you updated better! Stop back soon to see our new and improved website!

Photos From Godwin Glacier!

2007-07-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our wonderful summer home! What a great way to spend the summer... Hope these pictures give you all a good idea of the spectacular surroundings we wake up to every morning and go to bed to every night (even if it's so foggy you can't really see!)

2007-07-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

We just received a new digital camera, and I am in the process of uploading pictures. They should be up by tomorrow morning! Thanks Mom!

Well, a great deal has happened since our last post. Both Matt and I are on the Godwing Glacier, in Seward, Alaska. We are taking advantage of a unique opportunity to run dog tours on snow during the summer! All of our dogs are with us, and we are having a great time running all of them, especially the puppies! More to come with the pictures!

Thank you to all of our sponsors; an updated list will be up soon!

A VERY BUSY SPRING!

2007-05-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome Back!
Many wonderful things have happened to us in the past couple of months, including Matt finishing the Iditarod! This year was touted to be one of the two toughest Iditarod races in history! Out of 82 mushers, 24 mushers did not complete the race. The lack of snow in the interior of the state was a grueling challenge for the racers, and many sleds and human bones were broken en route, but the real test was in Rainy Pass. It was here, during a horrific storm, that many mushers decided to call it quits. One of the biggest challenges in mushing is to be brave enough to trust your dogs and yourself, and to head out into a storm. The winds were up around 80 mph and the snow was blowing so hard that Matt wasn't even able to see the front end of his dog team. While ascending the pass, Matt came upon a musher who was unable to get his dogs to run into the wind. Our leaders went on-by, and led the other musher's team out of the scariest and most challenging part of the storm.

After dropping Ocean in Ophir, due to sore feet, he traveled with the remaining 11 dogs for the final 600 miles to the finish line. He also ran such a schedule that he didn't see another musher after Kaltag! That is nearly 400 miles! Matt ended up finishing in 13 days 1 hour 59 minutes and 40 seconds. After the dogs crossed the finish line, they each received a big sirloin steak! Check out the photo on the official Iditarod photographer, Jeff Schultz', web site. Go to www.iditarod.com and click on the link.

The finishing team included:

Dale (Ran every step of the 1,100 miles in lead!)
Nutmeg (Split leading 50/50 with her mother, Kandik.)
Kandik (Split leading 50/50 with her daughter, Nutmeg.)
Venus (Will be having Idita-puppies around May 18th!)
Chewie (The daddy of the Idita-puppies; borrowed for the season from The Deloach Family of Trapper Creek.)
Dune (The suprise finisher! He really stepped up his game!)
Linus (Performed as well as we expected, which was AWESOME!)
Eowyn (Now a two-time finisher, and a seasonded veteran.)
Pigpen (The big pig Never lost his appetite!)
Alice (The little hound that never quits.)
Twist (The escape artist.)

Becca decided that flying to Nome is no longer an option, so we've decided to both run next year! Matt is very excited to not be a rookie any more, and is looking forward to taking the puppy team to Nome.

Becca finished the Taiga 300 Spring Break Race, and now only needs a two hundred miler to be qualified for Iditarod 2008! Even running a mellow pace with the dogs just off Iditarod, they finish in 60 hours for a 4th place finish. Go to www.dogsled.com for video and race results.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

A very special thanks to all of our sponsors for the 2006-2007 mushing season!

Alaskan Illusions Productions

North Sails

Kinder Industries

The Calore Family

The Kipp Family

T-Spheres

Lucky 55!

2007-03-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Iditarod Banquet was held last night in Anchorage at the Sullivan Arena, where Matt picked his starting number for Saturday's start. The lowest available number was Matt's choice, and 55 was the one! We were very overwhelmed, being from an extremely unpopulated area, and were relieved when it was all over. We aquired a new sponsor as well! Thank you to Everts Air Cargo for agreeing to ship some well needed equiptment to Nome, for free! We are doing well, although understandibly a bit stressed and nervous. Matt is dealing with everything like a champion, and everyone agrees, this is where Matt should be. Thank you to all of our supporters. You're the ones getting our dog truck to the starting line.

IDITAROD DROP BAGS ARE DONE AND READY TO BE SHIPPED!

2007-02-10T15:25:00.000-08:00

We've finally finished packaging and packing about 2,000 lbs of gear for Matt and the dogs on the Iditarod Trail. Unfortunately, my camera is on the fritz and it will be a few more days before I can get pictures on. The drop bags include:
Dog Food
Meat for dogs (Beaver, Tripe, Turkey, Lamb)
Socks
Handwarmers
Batteries
Runner Plastic
Supplements and Fat
Food for Matt (Snacks, Burgers and Pizza)
Brownies from Matt's Mom and Sister
Linament and Wrist Wraps for Sore Wrists
Booties

We're very excited to drop off these bags on Thursday. This week we are also bringing the dogs to Wasilla for ECG's (done on every dog in Iditarod) to be sure that all of their hearts are strong and well trained. These dogs will also get a full vet check, drug test and microchipping done later in February.

We are all doing well and the training is awesome. It looks like it will be tough to pick the final sixteen, as everyone is healthy and running like champs!

Officially Qualified For Iditarod!

2007-01-31T14:23:00.000-08:00

Matt is officially qualified for Iditarod after finishing the Don Bower's Memorial 300 mile race. He ran the team conservatively, and still managed an outstanding third place! The dogs are looking good, and the warm weather has been very nice for the dogs' 3-day vacation. We have gotten a lot of work done on the Iditarod drop bags, which are a major part of the Iditarod. The veteran racers say that 90% of Iditarod happens before the start! It is taking a lot of time and money, but our sponsors have been outstanding with helping us get everything we need. Because of you we feel thoroughly prepared for the journey of 1,049 miles.
Thank you to our sponsors,
North Sails and Danny Calore for 2,000 booties
Kinder Industries for a beautiful sled bag
The Kipp and Calore families for the support, both financial and emotional
and also to our newest sponsor,
ALASKAN ILLUSIONS PRODUCTIONS
who will be putting together a movie of our preparation and performance in the 2007 Iditarod Sled Dog Race!
THANK YOU ALL

Cantwell Classic Junior Race

2007-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Mac May-Bears, a sixteen year old Junior Musher, has come to Windward Kennels to train his dogs for the 2007 Junior Iditarod. He brought along 13 of his dogs, some of whom were from our dog yard. Mac entered his first mid-distance race and last weekend, we made the 2.5 hour drive north, into the mountains of Cantwell. The Cantwell Classic Junior race coincided with a 200 mile race for the adults, and followed the hilly Denali Highway for thirty miles to the junior division turnaround. There was a mandatory 1 hour break, and then teams made the 30 mile dash back to Cantwell. Mac's finishing time was around 11.5 hours, and he came home with the red latern award, a coveted symbol in dog mushing that honors the last team home.
Congratulations Mac!

Knik 200 is a Success!!!

2007-01-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Matt arrived at the Knik Bar on Sunday afternoon at 3:10 Pm in 11th place out of a VERY competitive field of 36 mushers! The dogs performed even beyond what we expected, and they pushed hard, not only to complete the race in about 27 hours, but also to stick with the top Iditarod and Yukon Quest contenders. He was able to tackle the 200 mile race in two long runs, with a six hour break in between.
The dogs looked strong, and 11 out of 12 crossed the finish line. Pearl, one of our sprint to distance dogs, was dropped out in Skwentna, due to a sore rear end. She was in a group of about 31 dogs, dropped between all 36 teams, who recieved an airplane ride back to the road system in Willow. She is doing great, and doesn't appear sore at all this morning.
The Knik 200 is a fantastic race. Matt and I really appreciate the fact that we are in this area this year, as the races are put on magnificently and the teams are ultra-competitive. Our dogs competed against an Iditarod champion, many top 5 and top 20 Iditarod finishers, and a few of the extra tough Yukon Quest mushers. The dogs' performance proved that they are strong and ready to compete!

We would especially like to thank the Knik 200 folks who helped us out when our truck broke down on the way to the finish line. Jeff King was kind enough to give us a bale of straw to bed our dogs down after the race, since our dog truck was absent.

The BIGGEST thanks goes to CRITTER AND JULIA for bailing us out, yet again. (At least it wasn't 2,000 miles this time!)

Knik 200 is Underway!

2007-01-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

Matt is finally out on the Knik 200 race course, starting 13th at 11:24 Am Saturday morning. Updates have been posted as the racers have been entering and leaving the halfway checkpoint at Skwentna, and Matt is presently in the front of the pack! He arrived into Skwentna at 9:07Pm last night after a 9 hour and 43 minute run. He then had a mandatory 6 hour break during which the dogs were fed, massaged and thoroughly checked over. He departed from Skwentna at 3:53Am, in 11th place out of 36! I'm expecting him to finish around 2 pm this afternoon if his times are comparable to the first half of the race. Follow the coverage at www.knik200.com .

TOKOSHA CAMPING TRIP

2006-12-27T19:26:00.000-08:00

Matt and I had a fantastic camping trip yesterday. We ran north towards Denali National Park, and ended up at the border in a place we call Utopia. The dogs have been doing a fantastic job and have brought us to many new places in our area, especially since we've been increasing our runs to 50 miles. We are ready to see how the dogs fare in an extremely competitive field in the Knik 200 on January 6.
Here are some pictures from what Matt and I call "the best dog run...EVER!"

MEET THE DOGS! (Part 1)

2006-12-13T13:48:00.000-08:00

Of course the stars of the kennel are definately the dogs! We have 40 sled dogs, 24 of which are competing for one of 16 spots on the Iditarod team.
Not only are these dogs our race team, they are also our kids! We love them very much and are proud to have them all in the kennel!

KANDIK (aka Candy Cane)
This 6 year old girl is an awesome leader! She helped Becca win the Chatanika Challenge, a 100-mile event, by over two and a half hours! She was bred by Susan Butcher, a four time Iditarod winner, and was purchased from Eric Butcher of Two Rivers, Alaska (Butcher has completed both the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest). She is a sweet girl who loves to give kisses and GO FAST! She has a beautiful smile!

SARA and TAJIA
Sara is a four year old, 35 lb. spark plug! This little girl NEVER gets tired! Last year she did an amazing job as a new leader, and we look forward to seeing her get to Nome this year. She was also in the winning Chatanika Challenge-100 team. We raised Sara, her sister Snoopy and many other puppies for John Baker, a top ten Iditarod musher, and recieved them as thanks. Sara loves to climb in our laps and snuggle.
Tajia is now almost five years old, and is one of the biggest girls on the team, at about 50 lb. She is a strong dog, and has an beautiful, thick coat! She is also a member of the winning Chatanika Challenge-100 team. Tajia loves her belly rubs!

URSA (aka Ursa Bear)
Ursa is two year old girl who is showing awesome potential, and has been training with our A-team. She is not easily distracted and has matured beautifully. Her mother is Abbi, a member of our A-team, and her father is Cirrus, an excellent racing dog. Ursa's favorite hobby is barking at her neighbor and pulling really hard!

PEARL (aka The Black Pearl)
Pearl is six years old, and was a sprint dog, until she was given to us last year. Now that she is a step slow for 20 mph, she's perfect for the 12-16 mph speeds that we average for up to 120 mile straight! She has a great personality, always a cheerleader, barking and jumping.

LINUS
Linus is a big sweet boy, who is turning into one heck of a leader. He is almost perfectly voice command trained at four years old. Linus plays a pivotal role on the team and played a big part in the team's win last year in the Chatanika 100. His favorite things are a challenging trail and a good back scratch.

SURF
Surf is a rising star! He is a two year old who is showing true promise. He is friends with everyone and loves to pull. We have little doubt that surf will make the Iditarod team, and look forward to his performances through the future! Surf has a funny habit of swinging his head around like Stevie Wonder, and is a true goof ball!

PIGPEN (Aka The Big Pig)
Pig a big strong 4-year old, who is one heck of a wheel dog. His main job, besides pulling, is to run in the very back of the team and steer the sled around obstacles. He is probably the strongest dog on the team and he eats just like his name implies. Whereas a normal Alaskan Husky can eat about 12,000 calories a day in the winter, he probably pushes the 14,000 calorie mark! Pig is also a big sweetheart and loves to chase mice behind the feed shed when he's not barking to go for a run!

MILK AND SNICKERS
Milk is our oldest dog competing for a spot on the Iditarod team. She is 8 years old, but doesn't look a day older than four! She is a sweet, mellow, very intelligent girl, and was our dog of the year in the 2005-2006 mushing season. She gets so excited when she's going for a run, especially when she is running next to Snickers, her best friend!
Snickers is a six year old male, who, like Pearl, was a sprint dog until this past winter. He is a speed machine, and pulls as hard as any sled dog I've ever seen. He is a sweet, dopey boy who is always smitten with his partner, Milk. When these two aren't running, you'll find them playing together!

VENUS AND NUTMEG
Venus is a beautiful little white girl with blue eyes and a calm disposition. She came to us last year and has been a member of the race team ever since. She ran lead for the entire Chatanika 100 last year and was a big part of the win. Venus is 5 years old and is a very gentle and sweet girl. She is an excellent command leader, as well as a strong team dog.
Nutmeg is a shy little girl with a big attitude. She is fast and a hard worker, but she knows how to push our buttons! She is extremely smart; sometimes too smart for her own good! She is an excellent command leader as well, and finished Iditarod two years ago with Eric Butcher. She is going to show Matt the way to Nome!

WISH LIST FOR IDITAROD

2006-11-27T18:06:00.000-08:00

We are getting ready for 3 qualifying races in January (2 for Matt and 1 for me), and are slowly getting everything together for Iditarod. Be sure to check out the links to the races!

Here is a list of what we still need, and if anyone can help, in kind or financially, it would be greatly appreciated. Your assistance will be an important part of a great adventure!

Dog Jackets (16) - Racing style with belly blankets [$30 each]

25 Prs. Wool Glove Liners [$3 each]

2 Fur Ruffs for Parkas (necessary to prevent frostbite)[$200 each]

30 Prs. Socks (Wool) [$5 each]

Runner Plastic - 6 sets [$40 each]

Shipping Costs for Equiptment and Dog Food [$1000]

-40 degree Sleeping Bag [$400]

New Harnesses - 16 Taiga Collared H-Backs [$18 each]

Dog Snacks and Supplements [$600]

Human Food [$300]

Please contact us at firemusher@yahoo.com if you are interested in joining the Windward Team! Thanks for your support!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!

2006-11-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

The clouds rolled in last night and the snow has arrived! We already have a few inches, and are hoping to get enough to sled soon! The dogs spent the day outside of their houses, playing and eating the snow. Four of our puppies haven't every seen the white stuff before, and they were going crazy, running in circles, jumping and leaping and carrying on.

It's a bit different around here compared to just yesterday, as we ran towards Denali.

Windy, Snowless Days

2006-11-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hello again! We're still waiting for it to snow, and have started to wonder if we'll ever see the white stuff. It looks like sunny, 0 degree weather for the next ten days. We've had some awesome winds lately, and have to be sure we don't leave anything lying around outside!

The dogs are ready for longer runs, but we are still working them around 7 miles in order to get them traveling fast and surefooted on the slick glare ice that covers all of our main running trails. The area we live in is pretty much a floating sponge (muskeg) so when it freezes in the fall, the sponge sinks from weight and water seeps through and freezes. Without even a dusting of snow, it can be very challenging for the dogs, but with consistant training on the rough terrain, the dogs have learned not only to keep their footing, even around ice patched windy corners, but also to do it quickly. We have decided to stay at this mileage until we achieve the goal of running this trail at an average speed of 10mph. Right now they are traveling around 9mph average, so it's not too far to go!

Here are some photographs of the area where we live and the dogs out on a run. The first picture is of the first clouds we've seen in nearly a month! It turned out to be nothing. The second photo is of our dog team taking a break during a midday run.

Here is our dog team just coming back from a run, about to get a drink of water and a snack. Each dog gets as much water as they want and a handful of kibble or chunk of meat as a reward. The picture on the right shows you why we need some snow! It's really bumpy!

Our ponds are frozen solid, and we take this opportunity to train the puppies that ice is fun. We skate around and play with the puppies as they gain confidence on the weird surface. We bring the puppies and pet dogs on lots of walks, and they have a great time. Once the snow flies we'll harness break the puppies and have the pets pulling firewood and water.

And of course, Denali is always looking over us. Although it's beautiful, we long for the day that it is hidden by snow clouds!

THANK YOU NORTH SAILS!!

2006-11-13T18:39:00.000-08:00

We want to thank North Sails for their support, with the donation of thousands of high quality dog booties and sled bags, to get our team started on the way to Nome. THANK YOU NORTH SAILS!!

Running the Dogs!

2006-11-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

The past week has been extremely exciting! We have been working day after day to clear new trails for our dogs. We actually had to build a bridge! We're living in an area where not many dog mushers live, so we set out to establish a basic trail system. We succeeded in bushwhacking a two-rut through huge fields and thick groups of young trees, and connected our yard to the Safari Lake Trail. We now have access to hundreds of miles worth of trail.
We have run 4 teams of dogs in the past two days, and have had quite a bumpy ride. The trail we are running is not yet worn in and has many windy turns, needless to say the terrain has our dogs working hard, and thinking on their feet. We also have to deal with lots of glare ice, which sends the dogs skidding around corners. When watching the team, you can really tell who the experienced and inexperienced dogs are, the young ones unsure and clumsy, the older ones confident with their steps.
Matt and I, and our 4-wheeler, "Bob", took a 40 mile ride yesterday, scouting out trails for once it snows, and we found the most beautiful pass through the Peters Hills, and out to the Alaska Range. The trail had lots of overflow, which is ice that continues to form throughout the winter from running water (it can be frozen or up to a couple of feet deep), and made it treacherous in some areas. We were at about 2000 feet, and in a couple inches of snow when we decided it was time to go back. We are infatuated with wanting to know all of the trails, and can't buy gas quick enough to go on another adventure!
Since we are extremely prepared for the winter (wood and dog food in the shed and plenty of people food), we have started cutting firewood to supplement our income. We still have plenty of expenses for Iditarod, such as dog jackets, meat for snacks, and shipping fees.

Join us again soon! We'll be coming out of the bush in about a week to update you, and we are sure to bring stories of adventure!

Operation "Ice Hole" is a Success!

2006-11-05T18:45:00.001-08:00

The word got out about our misadventures, and folks from as far as Indiana were at the annual "Find the Sunken SnoGo" festival. Five of us assembled bright and early yesterday morning, on the hopefully safer ice than the day before. (Refer to previous post for in depth coverage of the aforementioned misadventures...)

I was not so optimistic about our chances of success, and really dreaded the fact that the chainsaws and a bunch of tools were gone for good. It seemed an overwhelming task as Critter and I walked across the lake.

The four wheeler in the picture is secured to one of the pole anchors that Martin had set in the ice the day before. Thankfully Martin had latched something with a snowhook and we were able to start winching it up, very carefully.

After heaving and twisting and almost going for a swim again, we all finally lifted the tail end of the tow sled out of the water.

The snowmachine is still attached to the front of the sled at this point, and we had to be very careful not to tweak the sled so much to have it separate. And good news... All of the tools and chainsaws came up from the depths intact! Amazing!

Notice that at this point we are standing on the same spot we went through the previous day. It's phenomenal how quickly ice can go from questionable to less questionable.
We hooked the snomachine and winched it up towards us... finally seeing the Arctic Cat Sticker!!

And a few big lifts from the guys and the winch, we were able to get the track onto the ice!

"What Not To Do" or "This Would Make a Good Reader's Digest Story"

2006-11-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Matt and I are truly enjoying being out in Trapper Creek, and have been doing extensive four-wheeling to ensure that we know the main trail systems. The approximately 45 miles we covered in a couple of days helped us get to understand our new surroundings better and allowed us to find sufficient trail for the beginning of sledding season.
We are still waiting on snow, but at least everything in Trapper Creek is frozen pretty solid. Big Lake, on the other hand, has a couple of inches of snow that has kept the ground insulated from freezing, which is a very dangerous thing in these lowland areas.
I'm spending a couple of days here in Big Lake, helping out my buddy, Critter, and we too decided to go trail marking. Martin warmed up the snowmachine and we hooked up a dogsled by a rope to haul Critter, myself and all the tools, including two freshly filled chainsaws, Martin's favorite spudbar, a rope, a prybar, 3 shovels and trail markers. Martin was also sure to remind us to put a pair of extra mittens into a plywood box on the sled because "they'll stay dry the longest." Ok. This didn't alarm me. Martin then inquired if I was a good swimmer. Oh yeah. (I thought he was kidding, still no alarm.)
And off we went! It was great... for about a half a mile. We cruised on out of the dogyard out onto a lovely little lake, where we we successfully made it about 3/4 of the way across. Critter started bragging that if we went down into the lake he would have the easiest time jumping off, and not 5 seconds later, the snowmachine proceeded to drive / sink into what we later determined was about 10-15 feet of water and muck.
Critter had the easiest time getting out, although soaked to his neck, and scrambled out onto the ice we had come in on. I dove to the side and got about 3/4 wet while the sled sank from under me. Martin was to my right, in the same boat as me, both of us trying to work our way onto good ice, while literally floundering on ever breaking ice. We both successfully found good ice and were able to crawl out, followed by a big sigh of relief. Then Martin broke through again. His parka was so heavy with water that none of the ice would hold him. He shouted to Critter to get the rope, which brought the response from behind me of "Uh, I think it's in the sled." Well, we determined that wasn't an option. We then went for the hands on approach. Critter and I shimmied over on our stomachs and both helped pull Martin out. This time we all spread out and made it back to the good ice safely, although vehicle-less. "I guess the ice wasn't good enough yet." One of us said it, although I can't remember who.
We thankfully were all in good spirits and no worse for the wear. After drying off and warming up with a few cups of coffee in the house, we went for round two. (On Foot!) Martin succeeded in putting some posts into the ice around where the machine and sled went in. These will freeze and will be good winching posts. He also was able to hook onto something with a snowhook. Apparently we are going back out tomorrow to try to pull it out.
The incident was a good learning experience, and also raised some very pointed and interesting questions, such as:
1. If Critter were to dive in to find the sled, would it be better for him to be wearing a speedo or heavy duty winter gear?
2. Would Reader's Digest publish this story if we all drowned?
3. Will any one steal the items in the tow sled?
4. How many times has Martin done this? (He really didn't seem all that upset and knew just how to go about recovering the machine... )
5. Are the mittens in the plywood box still dry?

Well, tomorrow I'll bring the camera, and hope it doesn't go for a swim!

Home at Last!!

2006-10-30T15:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we're out here in Trapper Creek, and are watching the snow fly! Hopefully we'll get more than six inches so we can be on sleds! We moved out a few days ago, and have gotten an amazing amount done! We really feel ready for winter...
We had a great time getting the dogs out to the dog yard. Because it's only a moderate walk, we just let all the dogs loose and free-ran them into the yard. Everyone behaved beautifully, although a couple decided they were going to run back out and check on the truck. We hauled in a ton of dog food, cut more firewood, fixed the generator, built a refrigerator / root cellar, cleared trails and went on a four mile puppy walk with our 5 little monsters! Here are some pictures of before and after we jacked the house up, our dogyard, the trail (Mount McKinley and Foraker are in the distance) and our power source.
THINK SNOW!

Sorry it took so long!!!

2006-10-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe its been over a month since we left Skagway! Thanks to all of you who wrote to say hello and sorry for not staying updated on the page! Hi Maria and Tammy and everyone else who has stopped by!
We have been living at Martin Buser's home in Big Lake (He's a four time Iditarod champ who not only holds the fastest time on the Iditarod trail, but is also one of the nicest people I have ever met!) We are learning a great deal here and are evolving our mushing quite a bit, including getting rid of the necklines and training at a much faster speed than normal.
The dogs are doing awesome and I realize that I still need to post the pictures and bios of the rest of our team! That will be coming very soon. We have a few new additions to our kennel, courtesy of Martin, including the cute little China Cat Sunflower, who was born on the Denver Glacier this summer, Dale, her mom, and Eowyn, a spunky girl who is a bit small for Martin's "Rah-Rah boys" (as he calls them).
The weather situation here in Big Lake, AK isn't much improved from Skagway. It's WET! We have had only a couple of nice days in the last month and it has been in the 40's, which is unseasonably warm for this area. No snow yet (BOO-HOO), and we are earnestly waiting for freeze up so that we can move into our training place up in Trapper Creek. It's beautiful there, but it's prime acreage of spruce swamp, so it's a bit too wet to bring the dogs there yet. The half mile trail into the cabin is quite muddy right now, but with much effort we have been able to get a great deal of supplies hauled in and lots of chores finished. The shed is full of cut, split firewood and the pantry is stocked with about 3 months worth of food.
All of our dog food for the winter is purchased and is being stored at the Animal Food Warehouse in Wasilla. They gave us a great deal on the dog food and are one of our sponsors who we greatly appreciate. We have also received word that we are going to be sponsored by North Sails. They will be providing 4000-6000 booties for free!
Our Iditarod dream is coming true!
See you soon!
We hope all is well with you all and keep in touch.
If you are unable to comment here, please email us at firemusher@yahoo.com

First Training Run!

2006-09-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

The Windward Iditarod dogs went out on their first real training run of the season, last week. We did a few miles out on the tidal flats, in Dyea, where we run our tours. They are looking great and now that the weather is cooling off, they are sensing that fall training is swiftly approaching. We are down to 20 days until the end of tour season!
Matt and I went hiking with Chuck (our german shorthair pointer), up to a two places called Upper Dewey and Devil's Punchbowl. It was gorgeous. We went up for the opening of black bear season, but we didn't see anything. Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery, and the little cabin we stayed in. And of course, Chuck!

Snow in August!

2006-08-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

What a wild weekend! We were fortunate enough to get up onto the Denver Glacier, just outside of Skagway, for an overnight and some mushing on snow! We had a beautiful helicopter trip up and took a ride about a mile upglacier in a snowcat. We were able to mush our own teams and visit with some old and new friends.

It was quite a tease, though, and boy are we ready for winter training and racing. I've finally got some pictures for you all, and as you can see it was very white up there! It was extremely foggy and it was really almost sensory deprivation. Everything, including dog houses and buildings (always movable wall tents or arctic ovens) have to be white to reduce the melting of the glacier. I was told that we were on about 6 feet of snow, on top of anywhere from 200-800 feet of ice! It is a frozen river, so it flows anywhere from 6 inches to multiple feet into a Valley the chopper pilots call Paradise. We had an amazing time and hope to go back next summer.

We're back to work today and had some awesome tours. Not only was our A-team looking absolutely outstanding, but our B-team was doing exceptionally as well!

Above is the helicopter pad (on the left with the orange cones), the "toe" or end of of the glacier is in the right photograph. To the left is a view of Skagway from the air.

Summer Training

2006-08-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! Matt, the dogs and I are in summer training right now, in beautiful Southeast Alaska. We're not only able to run our dogs all of the time in cooler temperatures, but we're also making a pretty darn good living here! We run dog cart tours in Dyea, which is just 9 miles outside of Skagway. Boy are these dogs strong! The dogs are pulling a 700 lb cart, not to mention the 6 tourists and two mushers on each cart. We run 16 dogs at a time, which is the same number that Matt will be starting with at Iditarod. We have two teams of dogs and each team runs 4-6 miles per day, 4-5 days per week. We are all having a great time, but we're ready to get back to Fairbanks to start doing longer runs. All of the dogs get a paycheck every month, and we're saving them all in order to purchase the 7 tons of food we'll need for the next seven months. We'll get 2-3 tons of kibble made specially for sled dogs (National CompX), 4-5 tons of whole ground meat (everything from beef, liver, salmon, chicken to turkey and lamb), and then approximately a ton of fats and oils. We're in Dyea for another month and a half, then the dogs, Matt and I will make the journey home, about 700 miles, through Canada and back into Alaska. We hope to get some photographs up later this week so stop back by! Something's always going on around here!

Welcome Friends, Family and Supporters!

2006-08-06T13:16:00.000-07:00

Matt Calore, Becca Ross and their 40 wonderful sled dogs welcome you to follow us on our Iditarod Dream!

Matt and I have been mushing our own dogs for 6 years, with our roots in New England. We have traveled thousands of miles over the years to finally end up in Two Rivers, Alaska, the dog mushing capitol of the world. We've been here for three years now, and won't ever move back to the crazy world of the lower 48. The people and events that got us here have been amazing, sometimes even unbelievable, and I'm sure there is more to come, especially with Matt being signed up for the 2007 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The preparation started years ago and will continue for years to come, as we plan to compete in at least one 1,100 mile sled dog race per year.