Storm Mushing!

[Glacier]

It didn't look this bad at home, but it was nasty out on the trails. This was really early in the run and the dogs were still having fun! That didn't last long. At about the six mile mark, Paxil started to act funny, like she didn't want to go anymore. I learned a long time ago the hard way not to argue with my lead dogs. So we turned around and went home. Well, as soon as I found a spot to turn in. Turning a dog team around is not as easy as it sounds! It was miserable heading back! The wind was howling!

Sundin was still having fun. He would have kept going quite happily!

"Storm, what storm? We don't need to come inside or use that dumb doghouse."(Delta and Antare) Why do I even bother buying straw!!??

[Dorothy39]

Your pictures and stories always astound me Glacier!!!

The wind was howling , and Turning a Dog Team doesn't sound EASY to me at all!!

Sensational Pictures !!!!!

[critter crazy]

OMG!! That last pic is just adorable!!! Looks like a scene from the movie "Eight Below" Love it!!

[RobiLee]

Brrrrrrr....it all looks sooooo cold!

Awesome photo!


The last pic made me giggle. I can see Tori doing the same thing. Although, I have to admit that this past month has been the coldest winter that Tori has seen and twice she has went out and did her business and came back clawing and scratching at the door...lol.

[GreyhoundGirl]

OMG!! That last pic is just adorable!!! Looks like a scene from the movie "Eight Below" Love it!!

That's exactly what I thought! lol!

Boy... your hands must have been cold while you were taking those pictures.

[chocolatepuppy]

What a great storm picture. I can't believe your dogs laying out in the snow, my two would be heading for the house!

[Freedom]

I always enjoy your photos. Can you please explain, where are you, what am I looking at in the first photo? Is it a lake you are on? It is such a wide open space, I wonder what is there in the nice ("warm") weather! How do you stay on the sled and take a photo? I mean, in this photo it is pretty clear the dogs are still running full tilt. (Sometimes, you show us photos and the dogs ahave stopped, so that I can understand a bit better.) Is your camera around your neck, and you use just one hand for the camera?

When you turn the team and sled, that is making a wide arc, isn't it? So with all that open space, I guess I don't know what you mean "looking for a place to turn!?"

I love the one with them in front of the dog house, too, ha ha.

I hope you don't mind all these questions. Your world is so different to mine!
Sandra

[elizabethann]

Great photos. Must be awesome exercise for you & the dogs.

[Daisy and Delilah]

AWESOME PICTURES!!! Incredible as always!! It never ceases to amaze me how those dogs don't freeze out there like that. It does look like a scene from "Eight Below". That's exactly what I was thinking

[Queen of Poop]

We're having a Chinook here, so just keep that nasty winter weather up where you are!!! The doggies don't seem to mind it too much though. Hugs for all the doggies!!!

[joycenalex]

We're having a Chinook here, so just keep that nasty winter weather up where you are!!! The doggies don't seem to mind it too much though. Hugs for all the doggies!!!

gayle when your chinook gets down to ohio it's called an alberta clipper.LOL how curious is that?
great pictures, and please pass me a hot cup of tea..brrr

[Glacier]

I always enjoy your photos. Can you please explain, where are you, what am I looking at in the first photo? Is it a lake you are on? It is such a wide open space, I wonder what is there in the nice ("warm") weather!

Yes, that's a lake. A fairly small one, but a lake nonetheless.


This is what it looks like in early June from my kayak.

How do you stay on the sled and take a photo?

That camera is a point and shoot Olympus. I put it on the action mode before I leave. I keep it inside my parka so the battery doesn't freeze. I keep one hand on the drivebow at all times. If it's even a little bumpy, I hook my free arm around the drivebow. If it's really rough or a steep dowhill, I don't even try to take pics.

When you turn the team and sled, that is making a wide arc, isn't it? So with all that open space, I guess I don't know what you mean "looking for a place to turn!?"

Turning on the lake would have been relatively easy, but the dogs were still having a good time at that point. We didn't turn around for another four miles or so. That trail is wide enough for two sleds to pass and that's it. Turning a team in that situation is very difficult and requires a very good lead dog. "Come Around" is a difficult command to teach. Paxil can do it and does it well, but I prefer to avoid it if at all possible! The leader has to bring the team in almost a straight line back towards the sled, while keeping the other dogs from getting tangled. The musher has to stay on the sled as it causes a very sharp turn and a snowhook would likely pop out. Watching your team run off without you truly sucks. I waited til we came to a spot where a snowmachine had gone through the trees and followed that track to turn around.

[cyber-sibes]

Watching your team run off without you truly sucks.

I would imagine so! Do you have to round them up and walk them back to the sled to bring it home? wonderful pictures, as always. Paxil sounds like such a smart girl! Love the huskies in the snow - the amazing thing is how warm they are when you stick your hand by their paws & nose - they get downright steamy. Skritches to your pack!

[Glacier]

I would imagine so! Do you have to round them up and walk them back to the sled to bring it home?

Oh, no. They keep running sled and all. The musher has a long, cold walk home. If you're lucky, they just beat you home. Very bad things have been known to happen to sled dogs when their musher is no longer with the team.

[gemini9961]

That last pic made me giggle. Since I am in Florida any little bit of cold weather and my dogs don't want to step foot out and there yours are just enjoying the storm.