The longer days and warmer temperatures are so welcome after the cold and darkness of an Alaskan winter. Record warm temperatures should be "stalled" north of the Alaska Range for the next few days, bringing with it massive melt off of what little snow we did get this winter.
Spots on the trail prone to the phenomenon of overflow will be filling up with the slushy, cold mess. Thus the trail is no good for sled dogs and dog sleds. We begin to pack away our equipment for next season and make long lists of things we will change and do differently next season.
Summer projects begin to come to mind: building new dog houses, terracing more area on our hillside ranch to make a more level dog yard, puppies (the start of our racing bloodline), mending and repairing all the gear and organizing the many trips to summer fish camp to catch the best sled dog food that God ever created - salmon. This list will become long.
Caring for sled dogs takes year round planning and doesn't stop with the storing of the dog sledding equipment for the warm months. The work continues 365/24/7. Every dog musher will tell you they continue on with the work of caring for these great athletes because they love the dogs. When you recognize how great it is to train, travel and work with sled dogs, how can one help themselves?!?
No comments:
Post a Comment