I had to take a picture of Julie and Jessica’s “train” of how they get their dogs and gear up here for Jessica to train with Mark. Their train reminds me of how we used to get all our gear and dogs up here before this was our year round home. Add to this photo 8-12 more dogs and an Otter sled full of gear in-between the snowmobile and dog sled and you pretty much have it.

We have another busy day planned with Jess running her team again and afterward, a little fishing. We haven’t fished once this winter so hopefully we’ll wet a line and reel a couple in!

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 25 seconds longer than today!!!

Takum never quits making us laugh with the things he does. His latest “thing”? Climbing on top of the sauna roof and acting like he’s on post.

The photo above was taken through the window of the cabin as The Sentinal is camera shy.

As soon as Mark would come out the door to try to get a photo, Takum would run away!

What’s on today’s agenda? Jessica is coming out to run her Mush For a Cure team. She’s borrowing dogs from us as her dogs will all be doing the Skijor for a Cure. We’re also busy working on costumes for the weekend. Our house is turning pink!

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 25 seconds longer than today!!!

We’ve always said that our dogs are the true athletes at our home. Now science proves it. The following is from an article in the March issue of Outside Magazine…

It’s the Dog In You by Brian Alexander
An Oklahoma veterinary scientist named Mike Davis says there’s no doubt about it: The world’s greatest athletes, of any species, are the canines who pull sleds at the Iditarod. Now, in a project funded by the Pentagon’s research arm, he’s coming up with ways to make us more like them.

It’s 6:15 A.M. as I approach the home of one of the world’s greatest athletes. His name is Tony, and he lives in a tiny plywood shack about 30 miles outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. By all rights, he should be exhausted. He got up at four and ran 22 miles in a mid-September, pre-dawn chill, and he wasn’t running on nicely paved roads. He ran across fields and through muddy ruts on dirt trails while he and a few teammates tugged against harnesses attached to an ATV. By any measure, it was an absurdly tough workout, and it was even more remarkable because this was Tony’s first hard run in months. So I’m amazed to see him standing outside his door, looking refreshed and eager.

As you may have guessed, Tony is a sled dog, which means he’s a mutt, with a little Siberian husky in the mix, who’s been specially bred for speed, desire, and resilience. When Tony’s in peak condition, his VO2 max—a measure of his ability to take in and use oxygen in the bloodstream—tops out at more than 200 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. (Back when Lance Armstrong was racking up multiple Tour de France wins, his famously high VO2 maxed at around 85.) Tony may be a little flabby now, but in a few months, when he’s competing in the Iditarod, he’ll be able to run an average of 100 miles a day over eight or nine days, working at 50 percent of his VO2 max for hours on end. As part of a team, he can run sub-four-minute miles for 60 or 70 miles.

“When it comes down to sheer capacity for prolonged exercise,” says Ken Hinchcliff, an Australian veterinary physiologist who’s done more research on sled dogs than any other scientist, “there is no other animal, including humans, that comes close to competing.” more…

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 23 seconds longer than today!!!

For the most part this winter has been pretty mild and the last week or so has been spring-like during the day. So when I went outside to warm my truck up this morning the near-zero temperature was almost shocking. My fingers are still trying to work properly! I can’t complain tho as the forecast is only calling for it to be around for a couple nights, only the nights as the daytime highs are predicted to be in the 20′s and by the weekend, 30′s again. I could take this weather all winter, every winter.

Our former dog, Scooter, isn’t minding the colder temperatures. According to his new dad and mom, Mark and Lisa Luttinen, Scooter wasn’t too sure of sliding glass doors or hardwood floors at first. Looking at this photo that Mark L. posted on Facebook yesterday it appears he’s adjusting quite nicely. No more cold nights thinking to himself “brrrrrrr” from the inside of a dog house in the dog yard.

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 24 seconds longer than today!!!

While we still have plenty of snow Off The Beaten Path, we really haven’t had many snowfalls. We’ve had two big events that dumped 2+ feet each time and a couple of other snowfalls, but that’s about it. There is the possibility of a couple inches of snow today and tonight, which will be nice to make things winter-white again. We’ve been experiencing some nice snow-melting days in the last week and we need to make sure we keep the snow around for at least another couple weeks! Mush For a Cure is 2-1/2 weeks away and after that, I’ll be ready for spring!

Here’s the current forecast from Weather Underground:

Today
Light snow likely in the morning…then snow showers likely in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around 2 inches. Highs 22 to 27. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.
 
Tonight
Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow showers. Lows 2 below to 3 above zero. North winds 10 to 20 mph. Wind chill values 10 below to 20 below zero.
 
Wednesday
Partly cloudy. Highs 13 to 18. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 10 below to 20 below zero in the morning.

Wednesday Night
Mostly clear. Lows 3 below to 8 below zero. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill values 10 below to 20 below zero. 

Thursday
Mostly sunny. Highs 18 to 23. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Wind chill values 10 below to 20 below zero.

Thursday Night and Friday
Mostly clear. Lows 3 below to 2 above zero. Highs 25 to 30.
 
Friday Night
Mostly clear. Lows 6 to 11.

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 21 seconds longer than today!!!