A Snowy Adventure

     SNOW!!  We finally got enough of the white stuff to hit the trails and the dogs couldn't take off fast enough at the trail head.  They had me off the sled and dragging on the ground for a few good feet after the first turn.  Training a yearling wheel definitely has some drawbacks....like skating along the trail on your belly after your newbie decides to cut the corner turn too tight and you didn't anticipate soon enough to swing the sled wide.  I proudly faced down that tree and managed to avoid it, while still remaining in once piece along with our sled.  From the look of things, Mac and I are gonna have to get used to how to do things together and I have to remember he's not going to run like Tundra in wheel.  Thank goodness my leaders, Revvy and Tundra, decided to obey my whoa! command or I'd still be somewhere on the trail being drug along by my lot of overzealous Sibes.
     Now, while being drug along behind a sled team, belly down, clinging stubbornly to the sled might seem like a bad day to some, I'd still match my worst day on the back of the sled to my worst day at work and still choose a day with the dogs.  Lately, with all the bruises I've been sporting, I've been asked repeatedly, why do you do it?  Why do you mush?  My answer is simple.  Sledding is my zen when I'm having a rough week and need to recharge....being out in nature, removed from people, with only you and a team of your best four-legged friends is hard to put into words.  There are no judgments, just a simple bliss.  My dogs and I are a truly bonded team and I wouldn't change it.  To those who would challenge me that running dogs is cruel and abusive, I return your challenge.  Come out to the races and show me a dog without a smile and one that isn't jumping like crazy at the sight of their harness.  They love it!

Alum Creek State Park 2013
Lead: Tundra (L) & Revvy (R)
Wheel: Mac Truck (L) & Kamrie (R)

Cold Snap!

     Whew!  What a crazy year this has been and we are not even out the first month.  All FOUR of our vehicles quit running after the first of the year, the repair bills and the vet bills from Shelby are killing any surplus funds we managed to save last year, and we didn't even get to enjoy the first snow with our sled due to all the vehicle drama.  My Jeep is slowly being repaired after its accident last February, but it's a slow process because apparently I know how to wreck them.  We replaced three damaged fenders thanks to a local body shop guy.  Then with the help of friends, we replaced both axles, all four rotors, rear brake pads, the fuel pump, front and rear lights, front header panel, rear axle bearings and hubs, and the front shock absorbers.  In addition to all that, we still need to adjust the steering wheel so that straight is actually straight.  One would think that this would get a vehicle up and running for us, but no, of course not! Now, after all this, the Jeep develops a vacuum leak somewhere in the throttle body.  Crazy times to be sure!
     Needless to say we have been busy trying to keep up with life's drama and still have enough of ourselves left over to give to the dogs.  Sarge has been taking time off to recoup from a busy trial season, but now he's restless and rearing to go already for his next season starting in April.  Tundra has moved up from wheel into lead again until I can find another lead dog to run with Revvy.  Tundra's husky ADD is making things interesting and running next to a young pup just increases those "OOOO SQUIRREL" moments.  Mac is settling into wheel and his strength and work attitude are truly a thing of beauty.  Our old team member, Kamrie, has returned to the main team in wheel to show the young pup a thing or two about his new job.  Turning on a dime is no longer a problem and I have the scrapes and bruises to prove it! :)  Despite the circumstances we found ourselves in for November, we went out to the Dryland Challenge in Kirtland and ran some practice runs with the dogs both days after the competitors had raced.  Originally we had planned to race ourselves, but the young, upcoming team wasn't ready without an experienced lead in the front and our hearts wouldn't have been in it.

    This morning was probably the first morning in a couple of years I had to put on almost as much gear to take out the dogs as I do for a full day of trail running with them.  BRRR!! It was certainly cold enough to even make our hardened huskies stand at the door and whine to come back in.  At last check we were running at six degrees farenheit, which is not something we've seen in Ohio in quite some time.  It was definitely a shock to the system to get out from underneath warm covers and walk outside into the frigid air.  However, we have our paws crossed that hopefully this cold will bring some snow in and recover the trails.  Maybe, just maybe, the rolling paperweight that is our truck might be able to get us down the trails and back without breaking down.

Mush on!
SilverStar Kennels