In about 5 weeks, my dogs and I will be traveling north to the 49th state. I have been exceedingly privileged to obtain a job at Jeff King's Husky Homestead, where, from May-September, we'll be living as I care for Jeff's dogs and help out with the daily tours. I am extremely excited and enthusiastic about this summer; as I'll be spending it in a northern paradise (Denali) and working with some of the best Iditarod dogs alive today. I'll be learning from the "winningest musher," Jeff, and have the opportunity to meet some really interesting people with all the summer traffic. And I'll be avoiding the summer heat of Idaho and finally get to stay in Alaska for more than a few weeks. A real adventure awaits.
Zorra, Bessie, Sprout, Hadrian, Mango, and Robin will be accompanying me on this Alaskan journey. Breena will remain in Idaho, as her breeding rights were more or less leased to my mother for the summer. At least some of my dogs may occasionally run on the tour team and as such I'm hoping to keep them in great physical shape over the summer, so we'll have a head start on training next fall. The plan is to pick up some new dogs over the summer, preferably from Jeff's lines. Any dogs Jeff decides to place elsewhere over the summer are possibilities, and I'll watch the sale pages of Wolf's Den Kennel (Mike Santos) and Apex Kennel (Jake Berkowitz) with interest as well. I intend to run a 12 dog team during the 2012-2013 season, and would prefer to have a couple alternate dogs additionally, so I don't end up short dogs like I did this past winter.
Bessie will be pregnant during the journey north (due date being uncertain since she still hasn't come into heat). I am very pleased to have the opportunity to raise a litter at the Homestead, as puppies raised there receive amazing socialization and are thus very friendly and pleasant to be around, as Sprout has proved to be. Since Bessie and Sprout are both from Jeff's lines, their offspring will fit in well with Jeff's litters.
Upon arrival in Alaska all the dogs will be switched to RedPaw Dog food, which I intend to feed indefinitely afterwards. I am looking forward to getting my team onto a top-notch feed.
We will be departing Idaho on the 23rd of April, and should arrive at our new home in Denali very late on the 27th, or possibly on the 28th if weather and road conditions prove difficult. It is indeed possible to encounter snow on the Alcan Hwy or even the Cassiar during April, although we would much prefer rain. Once arrived, I'll have a day or two to get settled in, meet Jeff, Carrie, & crew, spend some time with Aunt Valerie and cousin Demetri; before starting work on the 30th. The first few weeks will be spent with tour setup (also as I meet the dogs - all 30+ of them! :) ) after which tours begin on the 14th of May. At some point I'll be building doghouses for Sprout, Hadrian, Mango, and Robin, after the ground thaws enough to allow swivel poles to be driven in. Because Bessie will be expecting puppies, I am currently uncertain as to where she'll be; may spend my off hours building a nursery pen. We'll see. Zorra, the house dog, will be living out of my trailer.
This trailer is a camper trailer that Aunt Val and Uncle Jim have been kind enough to loan to me for the summer. Jeff and I have agreed to park it next to the dog yard, so I can be a watchman of sorts during nights. My trailer will have power so I can use my laptop and keep up with writing my novels and the classes they're involved with. I'll also have access to a general employee area with kitchen and laundry.
All in all, a very exciting summer awaits, possibly the most extraordinary of my life -yet! How wonderful that I can have what so few people possess - a job that I actually love and enjoy. So many people work their lives away at something that they've no enthusiasm for, no passion or desire, just plodding along until it's done and they can go home and await work's start the next morning. I chose a different path, where I can do what I love - work with sleddogs and share my love for them with others - and actually get paid for it. How lucky is that?
There may be some question as to what I plan to do after the tourist season ends. Actually, I have no certain idea of what will follow this summer. It's quite possible that I may return to Idaho for the winter and run some of the longer races here, such as the Race to the Sky 350 or the Eagle Cap 200. However, with the fragile state of being here, I'm uncertain that returning to Idaho will even be an option come September. If not, or if a winter job opportunity presented itself, I could very well remain in Alaska permanently. As with many things, time will tell.
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