yukonmusher

Cera

2009-10-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

The dog I love to hate and hate to love. This is Haydens dog. She is a border collie x northend Dawson (the father was a loose dog in the North end of dawson City). Hayden got her 2 weeks before I came along and had already named her sarah, so when i came along I just changed the spelling. She is super smart and driven like any other border collie. When I was doing obediance training she was my demo dog. She was so smart she knew at work was work, but when we are at home or any other place other than work, she is NOT my dog. At work she is great, listens and knows all the commands, but even after 9 years together, she prefers to kinda block out my "suggestions". Since she is nine and a half now, she is just starting to slow down. In the past 2 years I have discovered she has an amazing drive and talent to find moose that have been shot. If a moose goes into the bushes we sit and wait for the moose to lay down, keeps from having to pack them out further and keeps the lactic acid from making the meat bitter. The first time we took her out was a cold and dark night. Hayden had shot the moose and we let it lay down, we waited about half an hour. We could hear him in the bush so was not to worried about him getting too far. By the time we went in it was dark enough to take in falshlights. We took her in with us, only because there was a grizzly bear in the area waiting for gut piles from hunters. When we went in we were confused by LOTS of tracks everywhere, and I noticed she started tracking, so i took the leash from Hayden and started working her and incouraging her to "watch em", she led us right up to the moose who was laying down in the trees. What is great is she was never trained to track or find a moose. She found 2 more this year, one for a friend and then out moose this year. Although we knew where our moose was, it was another training session for her as we knew we could find it and there for she would find it with us. She was SO excited she pulled me through the tundra and onto my face (very unhappy at that moment). She does a great job keeping the ravens away from the tent and LOVES the toys and sticks she can find. A popular question is do I get confused by the dog and I havin ghte same name, NO. Everyone seems to have a different tone in their voice, when talking to Cera or Sarah.

I will try and do an intro to each dog here with updated info as training progresses.

caribou hunting

2009-10-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

there are 2 hunting trips worth of pictures here. The first trip was in Aug. and the the last on was last saturday. The caribou from the first trip was used at our wedding and then the next trip is for us and to give some meat to friends who are in need of some meat for the winter. I love going up and seeing so many caribou. CAribou are deffently my favorite of the deer family. We were also luck to see and mom wolf and her 2 cute and fluffy pups out looking for a meal.

wedding

2009-10-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our wedding. We were a hour late for our own wedding, It was really cold up there with the wind...brrr.
My maid of honor and I did most of the cooking and prep for the wedding and had to change in the campground cook shack up at tombstone campground, lol. Iwas a great day, the reception was amazing, but unfortunally we have no pics of it.
The picture of the beaded moose is the first time I have ever beaded an animal and certally the first time I have ever sewen any thing of this size. I have done some small flowers but that has been it till now. "Denyak Kezhe" is Haydens indian name "moose hunter".

quick update

2009-10-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well lucky us! We did manage to get some salmon after all. Although we did not get to go out and get it ourselves :( Hayden got a call from DFO and they had a seized net from a fisher that decided not checking nets was ok. So we went down and got the fish out of the net and came home with 186 fish! Great start! Then after my blog was read, another musher emailed me with a cheap source for chicken SWEET! (a BIG THANK YOU > MP!) So that is going to be in the works soon as well, hopefully after a bit more meat we will be ok, for the winter.
We have snow but not enough to run on yet. When we moved out from Faro, we did not have room to bring the training wheels with us, so I am stuck waiting for snow to start training. Its ok though, we have been so busy, with clean up and preping for the house, and hunting. I am more than happy to be spending lots of time in the yard with the dogs, they are sure getting restless and doing alot of howling now! We have been going for some loose walks, but not too many.
Where we bought land, has moose everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE! And for the past however many years, they have had the trails to themselves pretty much of the time, so with big angry horney bulls and aggitated cows, walks are kept to a minimum. It is great to see so many moose though! Unfortually they are out in the evenings when the camerea wont work :(
We are still in the wall tent, it is pretty warm though, and I hope we have another 2 weeks of half warm left. It seems like we always have enough snow to run dogs/skidoos at haloween, so hopefully it will stay warm as it should continue to snow. I have no idea about when the house will come, hopefully soon.
We took a drive up the road to try for another caribou or two, to give to family and friends that need meat and to make dry meat with and it was a wonderful day. Only -6 meant it was warm and there was a good number of caribout running around. We saw only about 300 caribou but it was still amazing! We also saw a big black mom wolf and her 2 brown pups, very NICE! I have pictures but for some reason blogger will not let me up load here, I can up load to other sites/programs but not blogger. So I will be going into town where hopefully there is fast and good connections, and try later in the week to get some pics up.
hope every one is having a good fall and heading into winter well!
happy trails!

No salmon..?

2009-09-23T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like there are no salmon to feed the dogs this winter. It is a record low for the salmon and they put a limit on how many are allowed to be caught.
This is a REALLY hard blow to us. Being that we have to build a place and everything else that is happening, I was really counting on the salmon. We even went and bought a boat to do salmon with...a boat that is no good this year, and would have caried us through the winter for dog food, if we didnt buy it.
We were going to share a fishwheel with another musher, but he vaery rudly informed us that we are not welcomed to use it now, since he has to catch as many as he can. . I will be calling around Whitehorse for the best deals on ANY kind of meats and fat. If any one has some good suggestions please let me know.
This is devestating, I almost feel like I might have to sell off some dogs and in my mind I cant, I have a great group of young dogs, and some older breeding dogs but thats it, no extras really, especially when thinking about having enough in 4 years to run the Yukon Quest.
So right now I have a head full of crap that is bouncing off the sides but not really prosessing very much. Not sure what is going to happen to the race plans. I know we will be in the Percy Dewolfe race , but other than that not sure what we will do.

whats all new

2009-09-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

Well I cant load pictures where we are due to too slow of internet, and I dont have internet at home.
So just an update.
we got salmon,caribou and moose in the winter food storage. We are still cutting the moose up.
We got married, very beautiful day, up at tombstone mountains. Pretty fall colors and it was a bit chilly, brrrrr... but it went really well and was a great day.
We are cleaning up the property and cleaning up where we are going to be building a home. We are getting things on the go starting on Sunday for the winter home.
We are also starting salmon fishing for the dogs starting Monday, so we are building smoke sheds for the meat and we will hang the salmon to cure for the dogs. We figure we will need about 600 hundred or more of dog salmon for the winter.
Then fire wood has to be gotten...
We will be very busy here for the next while getting every thing done. When I can get some slow time I will track down fast internet and get lots of pictures up and a few good stories too.
Hope every one is having a good fall season, hope those who are out braving the cold, fill their freezers, and yards full of meat and fire wood. All the mushers out there some wishing you some great runs!
happy trails :)

salmon fishing

2009-08-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

some pics of salmon fishing. We went for salmon so we could have salmon for the wedding!

new dog yard

2009-08-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

We got onto our acerage, 9 years it took us! no house, so we are living in a wall tent for now, and have been using the wood stove since we moved in due to frost, hard frosts too....brrrrr. I LOVE IT

pictures of the new dog yard. We had to bang out a bunch of dog houses in a really short time. Being summer we went with slabs (not cheap here... OUCH) and we spaced the boards, in hopes of a breeze getting through, since it has been a warm summer, they are sitting on the ground and the dogs have dug out in them a bit for cooler ground. These are just summer/ fall houses. More work will be done soon to them. They acomadate 2 dogs each, and all the dogs are able to socialize with 2 dogs one in/on the house and the other at the next year. We needed fast tie outs and used, used brake drums which is working great, they are heavy enough the dogs dont move then , but we can if we need to.
I love this set up so far. the males and females are spaced far enough to not breed. The dogs all love this set up to it seems, they love playing and running all around.
It is a temp. yard, maybe for the winter, and next year we will put in a nice dog yard in a different area, once we get it cleaned up.

all work and no play

2009-07-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Well no pics right now. I will try to add some later, just a quick note to fill in on some of the time here. Our landloard had the phones diconected, so not net at home any more.
We went salmon fishing and have 7 salmon for the wedding (sweet!) It was my first time out salmon fishing and we used nets. Really fun and learned alot. Hayden and his cousin did most of it as I was only able to get out on one run with them.
Work is awesome. I love counting salmon. We have a sonar in the water and we review all the file s and count the salmon as the go up or down stream. We are averaging over 300 a day in the klondike river for the past week almost. Very good! Where we are set up we have an amazing view. Clear shallow water to watch fish go by, eagles and gulls all over and we have a very handsome loon who fishes the grayling there, we watch him for hours swimming and diving. The water is so clear we watch him chase the fish under water, very neat. He has even had the nerves to chase some salmon.
We are up and down and all around with getting our acerage. We have been waiting more than 4 months to get papers signed and have to wait till Monday, hopefully everything can be done, and finnished soon. It is 3 acers and all open. Has dog trails right off the property and is prety private. We got a good deal, since there is a big mess to clean, but we have started and are doing good. Because of being so far behind and now knowing when thisgs would work out, we will be living in a wall tent for a little while.
Picked up the marriage license today. One month to go.....
All the dogs are VERY happy to have the salmon back in the dishes everyday. Right now its the ymmy heads and guts for them, next month it will be the whole salmons for them. Spit was tangling her chain and no matter what I did we she was always tangeling up , so I moved her with Aho, and went to get a different chain to put Aho somewhere eles and he decided it was his time to be a dad and caught Qween. Not happy it happened but so far Aho has been the best male out of the litter, so I am excited to see what we get. I did not plan to breed Qween again till next spring, but....dogs will be dogs, and I will have to take a full time job to support my sweet dogs and pups. I am undecided as to what we will do and how many we will keep. probly all of them, will stay with us. She is due this month so will update when they come along.
I am very excited to be planning the new yard, and house! the house should be next year, small cabin this year. New dog yard and houses. I cant wait. I have been waiting 9 years for our acerage!
Well gotta run we are off to do more work. Hope everyones summer is going good, we have had a few frosts all really :)

KENO a Klondike paddle wheeler

2009-07-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

around town

2009-07-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

@ work

2009-07-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

work...work...work....

2009-07-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

I scored a really cool job. I get to count salmon going up the Klondike river for the next 3-4 weeks. I am working 12 hours days , 7 days a week for the next 3-4 weeks. Between dogs work and home I will probly not be doing much if any posting.
We have been running dogs on the bikes working on one on one time and leader training. Really starting to see some potential in Aurora :)
Well had a long day and many more to come.
goodnight

summer ...;(

2009-06-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well nothing has been happening here too much. It has been stupid stink hot. Forest fires all around, some days its filled with smoke in the air. Water bomber planes in and out.
It has been way to hot for me. I am the kind of person who can NOT tolerate the heat, I dont much like a full hot summer sun, and the dogs have not blowen their coats yet, so a lazy summer crew we are. Since I am not a summer person and I fade out pretty fast in the heat, the most I have been doing is letting them run loose and splash in the creek, however they are more content to find a shadey spot and lay in it, so a non eventfull past few weeks here.
We have been out grayling fishing, and what fun that is, I SO love to fish, and the evenings by the river in the shade I can handle.
We FINALLY got our BIKES! SWEET! and it was cool enough to go for a ride last night, with some dogs. I choked on a HUGE bug, it flew right in as I was taking a big breath, and I choked and gagged for the rest of the ride home....I am so GLAD we have less than a month before we get shorter days again :D
I never talk about getting married, to be honest I am not very excited. I never planned on getting married and it was never a little girl fantasy for me. It took me 9 years to finally come around to being "ok" with the idea of getting hitched, but I must say I love planning the thing. We are hoping to do as much as we can on our own, since there is no one to make a cake, (I want a REAL wedding cake, not a out of the box cake ), so I dont bake and now and going to order up a wack of baking stuff and will be baking cakes for any ones bday this summer. NO one is around for flowers, I am not big on flowers so like heck I will pay someone to to put them together and drive them from Whitehorse. Whitehorse trips are for DOG FOOD, not flowers! SO I am growing all mine, I dont need alot, but have them all potted now, I might add more as I go, but am done with those for now. The dress is a BIG deal, I hate dresses! I wanted a winter wedding so I could get a fancy parka made, but winter travel is a concern for fam and friends :( ( I think if they are really willing to be there then travel in the cold...but I will let Hayden have this one) So my dress that I setteled on, was a web site order, and now the site is gone..yah FUDGE! Do you know how hard a dress hater has to look for a dress? My mother in law has offered to sew a deer skin dress with beadwork, which is super sweet and WOW, but I am not sold on the idea......
The roses are out and full bloom now, I have looked into freezing them and apperently you can freeze them fresh and they will hold, so I will give this a go, either way I will have rose petals at the wedding or compost for the garden, either way its a win win. Although I am not fancy or girly, I figure if I am going to allow myself to be taken off the "market" and do this wedding thing, I may as well have as nice of one as I possibly can. Check back as the summer goes on, and I will add my ideas and *freeish* tricks that I try here.
For food, we are thinking of a big BBQ. moose,caribou, salmon and other fish. We have a place that sells fresh produce out of their garden and will be using alot of what they have for the salads and other dishes.
Hope some one out there is injoying the hot weather, on the bright side of fires come morel musherooms, mmmmmmm. Yummy. I just used up the last of my orange top shrooms the other day and need a new stock of shrooms.
If you have any suggestions ot advise please fell free to share!

first close bear of the year

2009-05-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

HOW exciting, I was on my way up the dome road (driving) and saw a good size black bear, He (I am sure) was by someones little cabin as we drove by, so I backed up and shut the truck off. He came closer and closer and then he swatted the ground a few times and huffed at me! I have seen ALOT of bears and been real close to alot, but have never had one chalenge my presence. SO EXCITING!!! I love this kinda of stuff.
He wondered into the yard of the cabin dwellers and I thought I should tell the Mr. Fish cop about him (hiking trails right there and kids all around) so I went up the hill and turned around and he is now standing on the guys porch sniffing the BBQ. So I stopped for a few more minutes and he stood up on some junk in the guys yard and shook his big head, and there was slobber everywhere! (wonder what was cooking in the BBQ so far?).
He then wondered off into the direction of he popular hiking trails and I to the fish cop office. Got my fishing license! Had put off the fishing due to high water, went to the bluffs and the water is up alot and dirty again so have to wait a little while still I guess :(
I figure I need to find my self a pair of James Bond(ish) glasses, a set with a built in camerea, as it was sitting at home again grrr!
Cant wait for more encounters! So neat to see them close up!

Black hills and back

2009-05-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

We drove out to Black hills yesturday. My first time out there. I love to travel and see our country that is around us, and to see the history an wildlife.
We saw 3 bears,2 moose, 3 porcupines, 1 black wolf, cranes, geese, ducks, muskrats, beavers and many smaller birds.
We left home at about 5:20 pm and got out there at 8:30ish. We had to go out, because my father inlaws truck blew the transmition, this year he is hoping to make a go at gold mining. We didnt get home until about 2 in the morning, really slow drive out.
We saw alot of the old buildings, many are still along the sides of hills,creeks and the road. From the times of the gold rush in the Klondike here. I love seeing these old buildings and imagining what it was like to have walked or went in by dog sled into these parts, to leave everything you ever had behind in hopes of finding gold, only to end up for many hoping to find warmth and food, to get through to the next day, with nothing but gold holding you there.The building are old and weathered, most fallen or getting ready to fall. I love to think who was here...? What were the names of these people, how did they do, did they fair well?get rich? or die trying? Some day I will go in for pictures of these old homes and shelters, mine shafts and the memory of lost dreams...lost lives...and the gold that held them here. As I read more about the gold rush, it was harsh and not many made it out rich, if they made it out at all. I was not able to stop of pictures since we were late leaving to go in and the guys would not have been in a mood for me tromping around for pictures.
It is amazing, the roads which are made by modern day gold seekers and finders go ontop of the mountains and into the lowest creeks, it is beautiful , on top you can see for miles, in every direction, and in the valleys there is wildlife of all kinds everywhere.
And straw, I was wondering why straw was in spots along the road, and it is because the Yukon Quest runs along the roads as well, COOL!
I am not a fan of mining, I have heard alot of bad stories about mines and have seen some myself, of them ruining the land and dumping toxins in the earth. Not good. When I came up here and saw the gold miners, they are different (from what I have seen so far). The love where they are, they do their best to keep things right & clean. However, last year we went on a moose hunt and we went into a valley where the ground was upside down for miles, and miles and clear accross the valley, I thought to myself WOW an entire vally ruined for the greed of gold. As we went on it seemed to be a great valley for moose, and grayling (a northern fish). I was amazed at the amount of beavers and grayling. There were hawks, cranes,geese, and amazing amount of wildlife, and moose. I thought geesh what a waste of a perfect willife area, turned upside down, too bad.....
Then yesturday I was listing to my father in law ( who is a native of the area and has a amazing knowledge of the bush,wildlife and the area). As he talked he pointed out some really interesting stuff. The creeks, before the miners truned them up and the ground around, it was pristine, spruce (swampy sprunce) forest. No fish, not many if any beavers and not much for moose to wonder in and eat. Now the creeks are gravel, which allow for fish to spawn in , the turned earth grows willows, which feed the beavers, moose and muskrats. Grasses grow, the water birds come in and there are ponds everywhere. Although because the ground has been turned and there is verly little dirt on top, it does take a good while for regrowth in these areas. In the mean time it gives the bird a place to stop and relax on their migrations north and south. In the years to come there will be growth and many new wetlands (which is being diminished very fast). There are new ponds for beavers and moose, the open areas allow moose to be safe and spot preditors. The willows feed the rabbits, and when they are all doing well with lots of feed and water, the preditors do well. It all makes sense I guess as long as you can see past all the gravel and turned earth. The mining opens and recreates an entire new eco system, one that in turns feed the locals with fresh moose every year, puts fur on the markets which help some trappers out, creats new places for the fish to spawn, and keeps us going, Dawson is a town that is built and lives through gold and tourism.

some pics from flooding down Blind Creek

2009-05-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

pics by my friend Leithe (thanks)

MAN I AM MAD!

2009-05-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=75572369148&h=UA0UY&u=_aKI2&ref=mf
my link button wont work for me so copy and google the link for the story.

How can this not PISS me off? No help at all when they needed it! Doug lives just out side of Faro (where we were before Dawson). I do not know Doug very well, infact have only spoken a few times with him. I did notice though he is a very nice man and seems the kind of guy that would be there to help any one who needed it., regaless of it being "late".
Where Doug lives is down a dirt road about 15km. When the flooding hit, I dont know if he would have knowen it was coming then way it was. To get to his place there is a low spot where the water came up and flooded out the area they are in. Being that Doug does not leave the farm everyday , it could have been very possible that he did not see what was coming or how bad it was coming. His place has never flooded before either. As kids we use to be there alot (before doug bought it) and know that it has not flooded before.
Regardless of being able to get yourself out of trouble or not, when you call the Police or EMO (emergency measures operations, simular to SAR) there should be no time too late in the day to help someone who is concerned NEVER!
While in Faro I was thinking of joining EMO and talked to Shannon Woods, who bragged and bragged about how they do their training and how good they are. THEY ARE READY she says, about whatever they face. BULLSHIT! Why did Doug never get a call? WHY? Why did the cops say it is too late in the day? Did I miss something on emergancy hours? I was awake till 3am this morning and there was more than enough light out to be able to help any one who needed help.
To say I am pissed is an understatment. I hope the cops and EMO are ashamed of them selves!I hope they are repermended and.... (well let me quit here before I really say what I think)
Thanks to Leithe and the other locals and locals from Ross River (Henry Dick)( i do not know all who where involved and sorry if your name is not up here, but you are the ones who deserve credit) to those who were there to help Doug the best they could, god bless you guys and may you know you are awesome and better than those who claim to be there to protect and serve, and to help when they are suppose to!
I am waiting to get pictures and will load them when I get them.

better profile pics of the pups

2009-05-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

Butters (male)
Butters (male)
Barq (male)
Barq (male)
Bytz (female)
Bytz (female)

Taking pics of the pups takes time and a sence of humor. We went for round two hoping to get better pics of them tonight and we were sucessful ! YAY. So here are some more profile pics of our Pups. They are 6 months now! Harness training will start here real soon! Breeze did so well yesturday we didnt bother trying to get another one from her tonight.

Hmmmm....about that swine flu thing....

2009-05-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

How swine flu goes from pigs to people? too cute!

after the flooding

2009-05-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

more puppy pics from the walk.
the ice in the river is the Yukon River, this is after a river up river from the Yukon went out and ice is on its way down the Yukon.
the bride was washed down the creek about 2-300 feet and way up on the bank. There is a bridge before that as well it was washed out.

todays walk

2009-05-10T23:14:00.001-07:00

Barq (male)
Bytz (female)
Breeze (female)
Butters (male)

miner lost in flood

2009-05-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

During the flooding here, there was a miner lost. I dont know all the details but from what has been determined, he left camp on a 4wheeler, and got caught in the rushing water. His 4 wheeler was found and apperently it looks really really bad, like it was ran over by a truck. The damage is from ice, and trees it hit and was hit by. There was search for him with luck in finding him. They are waiting for the water to go down so they can cross the creek to search the other side.
It has been a full week now since he left camp. I hope he is on the otherside, and is ok....
I will update when I hear more. His name is Jerry Bride.

flooding, more down river

2009-05-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

after we got hit with some flooding all the ice went trhough and is making life bad down river. Eagle, Alaska has been hit very hard and there are alot of people still down river. out thoughts and prayers are with them.
http://www.adn.com/news/environment/flooding/story/784989.html

dogs available

2009-05-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

We have a couple dogs for sale and Glinda is free to a retirement home.
http://yukonsibes.tripod.com/dogsforsale/

spring

2009-05-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

my first flood

2009-05-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

This was my first natural disaster! Very exciting!
We knew it was coming. We had an amazing wet year last year so I knew the ground had frozen wet with as much water as it could hold, then we had an amazing amount of snow, how could it not flood this year? We have had 20+ here for 4 days in a row (and again today and yesturday) so how could nothing happen? It was coming and we knew it would, so we were as ready as we could be.
We are VERY lucky that we are renting this place from someone, it is not our junk that was moved and washed away and there are no mortgage payments coming off the check for us.
This place had flooded about 3 years ago they said and not too bad, so we knew we were in for water and I figured it could be alot. It is 2 story and when it flooded last time, they moved the living area up stairs only, so we were saef from the rising water. They also had a canoe here ! THANK YOU for that!! No paddels but a couple of shovels worked great.
When it first started to rise, I told Hayden we have 2 hours to move dogs, so we started moving them and got every one moved to the higher ground. When I went back for the dishes, the creek had flooded and was washing the pans down through the trees. So we grabbed them and I suggested we tie the canoe up to the stairs.
Woke up the next morning to being surrounded by water , not much about a foot, over the gum boots and enough to canoe in.
Cooked breakfast during breakfast the water dropped really fast for about 20 mins, then it started rising and FAST, really fast. With in an hour it had come up over 2 feet,then we went to move the truck to a bit more higher ground, when we were over there another part of the creek had flooded out and broke out onto the drive way, causing that to flood and that is where we moved the dogs to. Now we are really moving, we need to act fast and get the dogs to higher ground again. As we were doing this it became clear we needed to get out and get out NOW. Hayden went and borowed a dog trailer from his dad (Thank you Art!) and on his way back , driving up the road the water was coming over the hood of the truck (big dodge)and his brother with him to help (thank you James!!) As we were bringing dogs out to the road to put into the box, the water was over my knees and some dogs were swimming, in some spots.( none of the dogs we in water while tied thoug, but we went though the water so they would not be wraping the chains around trees and being tangled up while comeing out) During all this the creek up the road washed out and ALOT of water was moving fast down the road now. We got them loaded up and had to go back for the 2 house dogs and cats.
We half dumped the canoe going over to the house, so I left my camera there for fear of dumping it in the water (although perhaps I should have dumped it to get that new camera I want). The ride back went smooth, tied the canoe and got out. We shut the power off and went to stay at Haydens work for the night. I was not wanting to stay in the house since I have questions about the stability of the place.
We got out and put the dogs up, then came back to see it we could get in again for some food in the fridge and some other stuff, but no luck.
We figured the ice would go out soon since it was so increadably high. We tried calling some friends we know we trying to ride it out, and no answer on the phone, so we figured we would come out and see what was wrong, well the ice went, and it went with amazing force and speed. The main river channel was jammed and packed so hard, that the ice broke on the side channel, so all the water and ice started to pour through there, and through there it was easy for it to come up to the homes of people, and down the road. I think that the force of water going through the side channel could possibly make a new addition to the river with a really forcefull and possible to even become the main river channel, we will see and I hope it does not , if it did it might start eating the yards of the property of home owners.There was ALOT of river ice spread through out the neibourhood, and one friend found a fish about half a km down from the river on the road.Her and her husband had over a foot of water in their place, many were flooded out, but every one is ok and now clean up starts.
Although this was not too big of a deal for us, (only because its not our home or our life invested in it), and although It was about as bad as I thought it could be, it was fun to go though, it was an adventure and and rush the whole way though, but at the same time, it was sad, I got very choked up and felt so sad for those whos life is invested in being here, who have that huge mortgage payment and a family and now have to find money for renovations, and clean up, to have to search through the bush to find their stuff. Going though it has awaken a deeper gratification of getting though it, being thankfull for the time to be able to get out and all the dogs safe, for not loosing our life and investments(we almost thought of buying one of the hardest hit places and didnt buy last fall because we knew it could flood)It has defently been an experiance for sure.
On the plus side, my dog yard is AMAZINGLY clean! :) Now lets hope there is no more ice up river to block it bad enough to have to go through this again, the dogs are staying on the high ground for a while :)The canoe will styed tied to the front stairs for a few days as well :)
I will get some pics with the ice and water, when i can get them from friends. Hope everyone has a good spring!
I found the sign in the yard, it would have had to come through the trees, crazy force to knock it around the bush to get where we are, I cracked right up when I saw it!

flooding

2009-05-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

some pics of after the flood.
see the brown truck? it moved down the yard about 200 feet,amazinly the empty beer can never moved. see me in the canoe, I was trying to rescue someones lost 15 pack, only to discover it was a case of emptys. The ice by the trailer and truck the river had to come up over 6 feet to put the ice up there. the river had 3 huge ice jams in a short distance and the water kept backing up getting higher and higher, and then the side channel busted loose, causing the ice to rush through the rock creek area, where quest houses and camp trailers were pushe and moved around. One woman actually woke up from a huge chunck of ice coming in her living room!
the camper was a tourist camping and tried to get out, then the rescuers swaped the boat.
in the end everyone is ok, homes need repairs and vehicals need oil changes, but everyone was safe and ok at the end.

canoe in canoe out, OMG were flooded out

2009-05-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

woke up @ 7am to 2 loose dogs, one is a runner (who found a moose bone so was easy to catch) and the other does not come when called, but this morning he came happily.
what set the panic was having to canoe accross the drive way to hopefully capture them before they ran off.
Today it is apperant we will have to clean some bush to tie up the pups and mom.
The reason dogs were loose, CHEAP quick links oh when will I learn? To my defense it was all they had at the hardware store, so I bought them. I do not understand WHY they cant supply people here, and else where with quality goods, not cheap crap for us to buy and be pissed about, I hate teh cost of the stuff up here, but will gladly pay more for quality, now only if we could get it...
Last night I was suppose to go clean my caribou hide and soak it, but stayed home, good thing I did, today I was suppose to do it, looks like I am booked up for today to though...
pics to come later

SOS

2009-05-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

SOS, SAVE OUR SIBERIANS. We are flooding out here, had to move all the dogs and move everything to higher ground. Many of our friends are in a seriouse state of flooding and can only be gotten to by boat tonight. In the past 4 hours the water has come up at least a foot an hour. The river is full of ice and the water is flowing over the ice, and on top is more ice from where the river has broken up river and now is damming the river up really bad. We hope it goes good, if the ice breaks too fast it will flash flood, and if it holds people up river flood too.
We are ok though, we brought in a few days of water, and wood. We tied a canoe to the stairs in case we need it. We are in a 2 story building and the bottom is not in use, so we should be good.
Roads are washing out and hopefully we can get out with the truck.
So hopefully we dont get a flash flood here, tomorow we go t even higher ground and start clearing bush for the dogs in case it is needed. Hopefully we will be ok. I will try adn get some pics tomorow, depending on what happens. I will try to do an update, again depends on what we need to do and if friends need us.
goodnight....
our friends are in our thoughts and we hope no one looses too much, and everyone is safe and ok

grouse video 2

2009-05-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

i went in a cleared some branches out of the way and got alot closer this time, he is very trusting. :)

grouse

2009-04-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

rooster grouse

2009-04-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Although not clear, you can watch him do his dance. Turn sound off though as it is full of staic.

spring love, every one wants some

2009-04-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

The past 4 nights we have heard from our bed room window the thumping of a rooster grouse. I have been outside all day waiting to hear him, hoping for some pics on the camera. Waiting and waiting . Well today he thumped his heart out this afternoon. It took me about an hour to close in on him and although I was increadable close (about 30 feet) my camera was not up to the distance. I will try and get the video on but having problems right now. OH GAWD i need a new camera, deffently on the list for this year. In the pics of a mess of bush you can see why it took a while to zone in on him, since he wouls be quite for some time once I got in close. I promise you he is in the pics.
It is HOT HOT HOT here, SO stinkin hot, we have hardly any snow and the river and creeks are overflowing with water.
On a great up side FISHING, YAY! The spring run of grayling are moving and the rivers is full of ice still, and water is running over the ice, making all the rivers still clear, so guess whats happening this weekend....FISHING!!

one more video for you tonight

2009-04-16T22:19:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3n3IV_CMu8

fun site for active dogs and owners

2009-04-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

check out this site, really neat and fun! Its like facebook for people with active dogs.
http://www.myk9works.com/profile/sarahwesche

Go check this out! well worth your time

2009-04-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

check out the video to the left on the side bar!

attla desendent

2009-04-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

here is a picture of a attla dog, I know he came from the Attla yard and is about 4 years old. Hansome boy for sure, and a leader.

another day

2009-04-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well easter monday was interesting. Hayden had to work so I went ad spent the day with his mom. She is a sweet native woman who tans her own hides and sews everything. She has amazing talent with beads and leather. Whith moving back up to Dawson, I have asked her to teach me how to tan hides. Yesturday we fleshed off 5! yes 5! hides, we had already done 3 a few days before, so I got the hang of it and we did 5 yesturday, when I left the house I had me camera ready (like always) but left it at home (like most of the time). So I will try and really remember to take the camera and start with pictures of this dying tradition.
It was alot of work and that 5th hide was proving to be about as many as we could do in the day (4.5 hours to make us feel even better!) There is one more deer hide, a moose hide and 2 caribou left to do. I am sure I will be ready to throw a loaded sled any where next winter.haha. We are not sure what is going to be done with the hides,making drums, a dress? who knows we have to remove the hair now and will be working on that sometime this weekend or next week.
The way things are looking now we want to sell our place in faro and have land picked out here, if we get it it means a entire new start on everything, new house, new dog yard,new garden,new shop and we have to build everything form scratch! Also we are getting marrried this summer so busy, busy, busy we will be.
I added 2 slide shows on the blog, one with of course our dogs and the other with some crafts I do, if any one is interested in the crafts, please feel free to contact me for more info.
here are a couple puppy pics I dug up while organizing my pics.

07 pups 08 yearlings
asker
kisses
red

easter puppies

2009-04-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

here are some pics of the puppies on easter, they are all singers and movers, excpet bytz she is a singer but pretty calm. I will get more pics of them on the move soon, as you can see from their dirt coats they have learned to dig! Happy easter to everyone!

spring

2009-04-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

Spring I guess is here. Was -20 the other morning but one out of the past 2 weeks is not bad at all. The sun is in full shine and really letting it power out against the snow. The snow is still over our boots and knees, but melting non the less.
With spring here and well since Feb. I have been getting the itch to go fishing.Oh how I love to fish. However up here in the klondike, fishing is a camping trip. The river here is home to amazing numbers of fish, but they only run certain times a year, and there are not many lakes close by, none that I know of anyways.
In faro there are lakes, lots of lakes to fish out of, oh missing how I will miss Faro and its easy fishing.
Last time we lived in Dawson, we went camping with Haydens cuzin. It was to be a great weekend with lots of fish. So we loaded up the small (SMALL) van and took of about 4 hours out we hit our camping spot, and start setting up camp, hmmmm NO TENT! NONE! We are 4 hours out of Dawson and no tent the van is too small to fit 4 of us in , and its raining, HARD. Ok we are tough enhough to crash under a tarp, with small blankets (small, because it was suppose to be warm,sunny and sleeping in a tent) NOT WARM, SUNNY OR A TENT. Also this seemed like the place that every mosquito in the territory went to spend their weekend too!
Needless to say Friday and Saturday were trying days, wet, no sleep and mosquitos everywhere, well almost out on the lake there was a calm , but still very wet.
As sunday came along the sun came out, the clouds of mosquitos were no longer insain and we were due to head home.
On the up side the lake was shallow and amazinly clear, and there was fish EVERY where. We were fishing for Jacks and almost every cast caught a fish or two. They were so hungry there we would catch a small one and a big one would come up and eat it while on our line, and we got to watch it all. AMAZING!
So summer and fihing enters our minds, Hayden is not to keen on the camping bit ever since then and I dont really blame him, maybe if I get my dream job we will skip the fishing/camping trips and stick with making money to burn out the dogs butts come winter....
so I sit here wishing for winter, to cool, calm silence that comes with winter, and the seasons of frozen poops, oh how I already miss frozen dog poo...

klondike

2009-03-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well I have finally moved in, as much as I can here for now. We are in a shack, with extention cords for wirering, an outhouse and wood stove (which was also the cook stove until the other day), but it works for us and allows Hayden and I to be together again and to have the dogs here and is as cheap for rent as one can hope for here, so all is good.
The first thing I did when I got here was catch a nasty cold, so sick once again, now that I am over that, the dogs are sick. We caught a dose of ring worm somewhere and are not batteling that out. We have just gave up on running the dogs all together for the rest of this winter. This was the worst winter I can ever remember, but I love being back north and we will hopefully have a better winter next year.
I think we will be in for another move before winter comes along, we are hoping to sell our place in Faro and buy land here and build a small cabin for the first year or two, (fingers crossed) if not I dont know what we will do come winter, I really do not want to be in this place through a cold winter and not really wanting to stay in here too long. This we will have to wait and see how it goes.
I love the fact I live where there is stores again, we have 2 grocery stores and it is wonderfull! Fruit and vegtables that are not frozen, SWEET! lol. We also have the gas stations (never a big deal to me). One thing I hate about here is everything is expensive, and dog food is retarded here, we are paying over 57./bag for ok dog food, almost everything is over 60/bag. and we are feeding the last couple salmon that we have, so we are are hoping to figure a way to buy, by the pallet and get it here, the problem with that is we have a 6-7 hour drive (one way) to pick up the food, transporting it is too expensive by a freight company, and it is very short notice when a truck will be there with the food.
We came home the other day from town and are now expecting a litter of pups that was not planned, seems Ant magicaly unsnaped himself and we are thinking he may have bred with Kisses. Both are amazing so far, but are unproven on longer runs, so fingers crossed if the breeding did happen we get some great pups. Our 4 little Qween/Garter pups are doing great and growing wonderfully. I can not wait to see the dogs we have in 3 years. The last breeding we did (ant,anvil,ammi,arora, and aho, sure have turned out nice. We were going to sell Anvil, and I am glad we didnt.
I use to think I had an eye for picking out great dogs out of a litter and as they grew so did my confidence in picking pups, now though I feel I have none and have to wait to see what we have. I think almost a year is what it will take to see what and who we really want to keep. Ant was sold and I returned the $ because I thought we should try him out, and I am so glad he never went any where, he is a very nice, beautiful hard working male that is big, he is our biggest sibe by far. Hopefully his size is not to big to race, and if it is I cant wait to have him skijoring.
I will post pics of our 4 B (Breeze, Barq, Butters, and Bytz) puppys soon.

Percy DeWolfe Race Start

2009-03-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

PercyDewolfe Race

2009-03-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

klondike living

2009-03-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

made it up here, moved in , unpacked saw the Percy Dewolfe race, will do a big update and picture load tommorow while husband is at work!

on the move

2009-02-19T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well today is my last ost I belive, for a while. Tomorow Hayden will be here and we will be packing for the move to Dawson City. I am sad to leave FAro on the one hand as it is amazing, great fishing,wildlife and AMAZING trails that go every direction and so many that are perfect for running dogs, and the trails here are SAFE!
On the other hand, Dawson has alot of mushers and once I figure out the trails around there I should be good, hopefully Hayden will start coming out with me and the dogs. Also Dawson has store with food, mmmmm how I miss having a grocery tore with choices, haha.
A friend of mine is geting out of tours and has a bunch of dogs to place, so I might talk to him about getting a leader or two from him. We will see. We have placed all but on of the pups for pet homes and all are doing great in their new homes. Qweens pups are doing great and are so active and listen so well when loose, a huge bonus to living here you can train your pups so easy, because they are alound more freedom, which almost seems to not matter if they always have it. I find puppies who dont have to be leashed walked are so easy to have off leash as adults.
I have not seen our new digs yet, but Hayden says it is right up my alley, we can have all the dogs there and it is cheap rent so good. No running water though. Has power so all is ok.
The trip into Whitehorse for the quest was fast, it is a 4 hour drive one way and since we do not have stores here (in Faro) we had to fit in the quest and quest 300 and shopping, picking up gas and strw and another truck, so I didnt get to meet some of the mushers I wanted to or get to see their dogs close up, but I did get to watch everyone start, and it was a great day. It was a bit cold at -30, but after all our cold here this winter, I was warm all the way through it, so that was great. The quest 300 was fun to watch to, alot of people loved to see purebred teams and really thought they were great to see here, we dont get many around. I have heard many great comments on Mike Ellis dogs and how they run, some of the front runners have noticed how nice of a team he has, always nice to hear them talking about the sibes, and the comments were on the athetisim of the dogs, way to go MIKE you have every ones attention!
The dogs are running great. Jarvi has finally settle right in and what a hard working girl she is, I am amazed at her athetisim and drive. Buddah has been turning out amazing and is so great up in lead position, him and Red I belive will be a great front end pair when I get more experiance under them,Kisses is a great little working as is Asker. Asker I do not think has the speed to keep up with everyone over all, but is a true worker and is beautiful. I am thinking of finding her a recreational running home, and belive she will do best there. Glinda has went to some friends who are giving her a retirement home. Arora,Antherton,Anvil, and Aho are sweet dogs, how are maturing into nice hard working dogs. I have been very impressed with Anvil and am choosing to keep him around and not to sell him. I am VERY glad I did not sell him or Antherton, like I was thinking of. Arora is quite small , but is by far the prettist girl we have, she is a crazy bundle of energy though,and so far has beeing exceling at what I have asked her to do, with no problems. I really love the dogs I have in my yard right now, I find it very rewarding and exciting to have the dogs that I have, I trully belive as long as I can do my part as the musher/trainer, i will have a great kennel of dogs!
I have not even started to pack, yet, I dont think I will until tomorow, we are only taking what we really need and locking up our place here in Faro. I will be off for a while I belive, but will try to get some notes in here and there. Also will try more pics. I have a hard time getting pics while out on the trial, but will try to do better.
So everyone have a great rest of the season and good luck to all racing or enjoying the trails behind your dogs.

yukon quest 2009

2009-02-15T10:50:00.001-08:00

well we made it to the quet, it was cold -30, but with the sun out is was amazing and beautiful and didnt feel like -30. I will add more to the blog in a day or two, I gotta get out and cut fire wood, as it might get back down to -40 here soon. So here are a few pic, I got to meet Karen and Meanderin Michael, if only for a few senconds. (Sorry MIchael I missed your kid in the pic). One thing I know is I need a way better camerea and alot of practice, lol. so here is mike ellis team taking off and me & meandering michael and me & Karen.
Please go to Michaels blog and check out his video for the prefect job and please VOTE for him! Go to the righ hand side of his blog where you see a dude running towards the open water ! and VOTE! http://michaelpealow.blogspot.com/

baby slippers

2009-02-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

here are some baby moccasins that I have made, they are a pretty hot topic and I love making them. any one interested in a a pair, feel free to contact me. I can do different colors of beads and fur, I will have a few more made up next week. (the red/whites is NOT for sale)

dogs

2009-02-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

the dog at the top is Pincess (aka: cat killer) @ 15 years, she just past on and was the last of my original team, rest in peace girl. The rest of the pictures are of our siberians around the house, and yards.

2009-02-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

go here and vote,

2009-02-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

Meandering Michael
go check out his video for the best job in the world.... i didnt know there was something better than shoveling dog poo all day :O

http://michaelpealow.blogspot.com/2009/01/post-rate-and-win-1.html

2009-02-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

i am so tired. REALLY. Took a team of 8 out today
viva buddah
asker kisses
aurora glinda
garter jarvi
today I asked boo (buddah) to hold the line out and with his second time in lead, he did while I hooked the team up AMAZING! great, now I am pretty happy when some dogs just "get it". I have not trained him to do this, so am amazed at how great he was. Aurora was out for her first time ...AMAZING. Tight tugs all the way, hardly ever looked back and me and no tangles. LUV IT!
we had a few issues with a haw turn, and finally worked that out, if they dont turn haw, we dont move forward, that simple, I will NOT allow commands to be blowen just because they wish to go gee & there is no trail. We headed down a old road and busted trail for a bit before turning around. The bad part of the run today, was that Gater the only one wanting to go haw (so was promoted to lead) turned and jumped Boo. Boo then decided no way he was running lead, so had to be put back into team and did good there, hopefully this wont hurt his wanting to lead and he will be back to lead soon. I put kisses up front and put viva back in lead with her and she did ok, although not amazing, but we got home and that was good enough.
yesturdays run went good.
going cook something to eat and take a really hot bath...and crash out hard. have to go get firewood tommorow and that is always a hard days work there.

puppies needing a home

2009-02-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

we had the unfortunate accedent of a friends dog getting one of our females. I am looking to place them into loving homes. We can get them to Whitehorse for the start of the Yukon Quest. We will be in on the night of the 13 (feb). The 2 males are pretty big and I think will be big dogs, nice and tall. The female is also quite big, compared to our other litter.
any one interested please let me know.

time past and fresh starts

2009-01-31T11:14:00.000-08:00

Not much to say here. Another blow to running dogs. I have been looking forward to 2009 with hope, to find it not so fun so far.
I have been sick since new years eve. I have this cough that is so bad, I end up choking and cant breath, very scary so, with it getting worse i have only been out with the dogs 3 other time since the last post. I am starting to feel alot better, but still having the coughing fits, and dont want to be on the trial, if I black out so....
Another hardship was loosing Princess. She passed away on my birthday this Jan.29. I am happy to report however, she made it to be 15 years old and was in great shape until the last 2 days. She went in her sleep. She was my first all husky leader, she was a tough old school husky who came from a litter localy and was half turner/butcher lines. She was such a pretty girl, and was one of those dogs who everytime she looked at you , you knew your were her favorite no matter what. I have never seen a dog that looked up to me and said your great and i love you, the way she did, always smiling and happy just because I was there. At the same time I have never had a dog that frustrated me as much at the same time. But an honest worker and leader and friend right to the end. She is the last of my original team and is sadley missed. Hope she finds a field of declawed cats along her trail, luv you my sweet cat killer.
With her passing, I am now down to 2 mutts. Moke and Vader, who are her pups, with a special place in my heart for them. They are pets, as not much for the sledding thing, but who cares, the are great hiking partners and gaurd dogs. The rest of the dogs are siberians now, and so a entire new chapter is ready to be opened here in our kennel. We have ALOT of young dogs to work with and train, and I am very excited to have these dogs in my yard.
We are at the point of moving out of Faro, with no work or food store, and we can never get to Whitehorse to shop, we have been fighting for the past year and a half to stay, and it is not happening. So unless a awesome job turns up, we will be turning out. Out to Dawson City, Hayden has been working up there the past 5 months and is taking on a full time job, no more contracting. In the year 2008 he was away to work for 7 months out of the year, all wich were during the winter months, which is a bit harder on me alone. Dawson is a good spot, lots of dog mushers to train with, store with food, gasstations, restauants. Ooohhh how exciting,lol. I really wanted to remain in Faro, but dont want to be away from HAyden for such long stretches of time, he has been in Dawson going on 5 moths now, with a short visit here and there. I do plan on buying land near here and building a cabin on it, so I can come back and run my dogs, as I belive Faro is a awesome spot to be and run dogs, just not feasable for us.
So I am hoping everyone elses new year is going good. I sure hope it picks up for us, lord knows I would love to run my dogs and run them alot more often. I am still planning on going into see the start of the Yukon Quest and YQ 300, but if I need to be packing up, well that might not even happen.
Happy trails to everyone.

today

2009-01-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

lead garter viva
kisses glinda
buddah jarvi,
good run, got fire wood, now im spent.......

perfect runs

2009-01-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

I dropped Hayden off on the way out to the dogs today, so he could cut fire wood while I ran some dogs. It was warm, sunny and the dogs were well behaved. We went the entire run today with no problems.
I hooked Anterton (this years pup) in for his first ever run with his older sister kisses and he did amazing. tight tug all the way...LOVE IT!
We did a fast easy low stress run and it was so nice to have a perfect run on a perfect day. After the run I picked up hayden and half a truck of wood.
The mountains were amazing the sun rides behind them and lights up the sky with amazing colors and the mountins are highlighted from behind, so pretty. On days like to day were riding ontop of the world
lead glinda n viva
kisses n antherton
jarvi n garter

Todays run

2009-01-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

We went for our first run in way to long. It finally warmed here and is up to -23 today. aaaaaaahhhhh the warmth, it feels good. It was a "perfect" day to run the dogs, it was warm and snowing. We had about a foot of snow that was fresh and it snowed the whole day and was picking up when we finnished the run.
I ran Red and Buddah in lead. I do not think Buddah has ever been in lead, but he did very well there with red. He seems to like being out front, which is really good. Boo and Red should make a nice set of leaders, with the proper training. Towars the end of the run they begain to tie, as did the rest of the team. All in all there were a couple tangles, but everything else worked out great.
I had Hayden go down with the truck so he could take pictures, but the weather did us no good. Too dark to get some good still pics.

HOME 4 SALE

2009-01-10T14:05:00.000-08:00

We are ready to get moving again. We bought this place so we would not be paying mortage or rent. We would like to sell it this spring or summer NOT BEFORE. We are staying in the area, just moving out of town for more freedom, with our dogs and our life style. Please pass the message onto any one who you think might be interested, more info available on request, and of course more pictures when it warms up.
more info is on the website, go to the side of the blog -----> and click on siberians in the yukon

40 below

2009-01-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

weather update...still cold

2009-01-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

Yah it is frozen through...and of course I grabbed it cuz I wanted some...:(

getting fire wood at -35

2009-01-08T11:43:00.000-08:00

the cold is warming up

2009-01-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

I dont know how long for sure we have been in this cold "snap" for, I am pretty sure it has been about a month and a half now. We have had -30 to -50 here. We have been in it long enough that when we go out side, it seems not too bad at all. Infact it is now 'warm' enough to do chores and quick out side tasks in my PJs.
I am starting to worry about the possibility of it warming up too much, if it were to jump and hit -20 , WOW we will be everywhere in our t shirts and PJs. Also the dogs, can you imagine living through 2 months (not warming up soon) in -40 and then it hits -20 and it is time to run again, we will have to watch them for sure.
The dogs are doing great outside though, and seem to enjoy the weather. I have a few that curl up ontop of the dog houses and sleep outside no matter the tempature, silly puppys, dont they know how much trouble it is to get them straw?
Since I am still taking it easy due to my knee injury I have not been running them at all since the cold set it. The weather deffintaly brings it challenges, the biggest is fire wood, oh the beauty of easy to get fire wood. Which no longer exists. Hayden is currently working in Dawson City, about 7 hours north of here, he has the 4x4 and i am stuck with the truck that decided it does not wish to worken after -30. Flippin piece of s**t. So wood has been a challenge to get, last summer the truck was broke down while we waited and waited for parts from the US, because the canadians that had the part did not want to sell it. 30000 dodges here in canada (or something at least that) 2 parts in canada, and neither would sell the part...NICE.
The cold brings and increadable beauty to us here, the sky is usually bright blue, and clear, the trees are all frosted amd look set for a movie, the sunsets have great color and it is one if not my favorite time of the year it is peacefull and beautiful here. All the dogs and wild animals are in their full winter fluff, and are just so increadably beautiful, and now it is warm as well , for short periods of time :) One of my goals for next year is to save up for a camerea that can show how pretty it is, I find the small one i have does great upclose , but not much for landscapes.
I will try to get back on here and do more posting, even if it is just rambling on till we can get back out running. After all with the cold it is a great time to play with puppies and do inside time with the other dogs.
May everyones stove stay burning,hot chocolate flowing and warm times with friends and family while it is cool outside.

yummy frozen salmon soup...its a hit!

2009-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

the girls

2009-01-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

top is Breeze
bottom is Bytz

the boys

2009-01-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Barq and Bones

2009-01-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

well we have had a terrible training season here. Snow and temps have been perfect, but between vehical,sleds and my increadable talent to injure myself we have not been able to do much with the dogs. So all our plans to race this year fell apart, and it has been heartbreaking to just feed them and allow them to loose run and run as little as we have.
On the bright side we have found that Red is turning out to be a great dog, and better yet an amazing lead dog. With more training I can not wait to see how she does. The 2 yr olds we have (red,kisses, and asker) have proven to be natural sleddogs always working hard and always ready to go, what I really love also is they are so calm during hook up, nce on the line they seem to find their inner peace, lol. I love calm dogs during hook up.
We are hoping to start the harness breaking of this years litter of 5 (we have kept all of them)Once the weather breaks we can do more with them, and once my knee heals I will be adding them into the team again.
We are also very excited to have another litter on the ground, we have 2 males and 2 females DOB: Nov.30.08. The mother is Queen and father is Garter. http://yukonsibes.tripod.com/id1.html We were planning on no litters this winter, but we decided to go ahead with Queen and Garter after all. Again all the pups will be staying with us.
On a another note, we have decided to place some dogs, we are planning on placing glinda into a pet retirment home, although she is still running on the team and does good, she is starting to slow down and , she is a great pet in the house, (arnt they all?). I feel she should be able to get spoiled and live with a fam that can spoil and devote their time to her. We are placing 2 pups from this years litter as well. This is a part of dogs I could do with out, having to decide who stays and who is to go. Of course if the right home does not come along, they stay with us, so in the end all ends well I guess.
My knee is almost better and I should be back on the sled soon. (fingures crossed) So this year we are not racing as we had planned, we with trian and work on leaders and training the younger bunch, and have fun with the new litter.
Once the cold breaks I can get the camera out and take pics of the dogs, and do some up dating. I will try to be on here more as things hopefully get better here.
We wish every one a happy new years and best wishes in the race season this year! We will be in Whitehorse for the start of the Yukon Quest to watch that, and I hope to be in Dawson as a volunteer for the quest, but have not commited to Dawson as of yet. Safe trails everyone.

2008-11-09T19:36:00.001-08:00

2008-11-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

2008-11-02T12:26:00.001-08:00

here is a pair of mitts i made for the neighbours kid.

2008-10-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

lol. I found this while looking at another blog. I dont have it figured out how to upload videos so check out the link and scroll way down till you come to the moose in sprinkler clip.
http://runfromms.blogspot.com/

we had snow this morning, nice big fluffy flakes, I am so excited! I love winter and cant wait to see it here for the season. While in Dawson there was snow and cold, It had reached 12 below up there while we we there, and is some of the area we were huntinf had up to about 2-3 inces of snow, all I could think of was the dogs, dogs, dogs and moose.
We stayed at Haydens moms place and there was a cow and young calf which at night would come up into the field of their place.They would hang out really close to the house (like 30 feet from the porch in the dark). We think because it was rutting season and a bigger bull around the mom was trying to find a safe place to hang out while the new bull was strutting around. I strated putting the dogs in the dog box from this night on, so if a bull or testy mom got into the mood I would not have trampeled dogs. I was pretty freaked out when Art (father in law) mentioned to hayden to watch the dogs, because moose might trample them thinking they are wolves I never thought they would do that too, moose are scary! Very scary when you have dogs, or see how big they are and their muscels up close on a unexpected veiwing.. I have seen parts of wolves that have been kicked or trampeled by a moose and I want to try and be sure me and my dogs are not at the end of those hooves.
Good news is we are all ok.
Interesting enough, when I go out not too often I hear wolves calling all the time, but when we got our moose and when others were out calling (before they got theirs) they always repot wolves howling so there seems to be a strong conection with wolves during rutting season. I am asuming they are around as with the bears more so, for many reasons, trying to get unexpecting lusting moose, or the calves since there is a chance they are on the edges (kept away from the bulls) or while mom is busy. So to hear the call of a wolf while it is warm enough to sit out side, is perhaps best done while moose are in rut.
Ok on more quick Dawson story. 2 guys were out tryin to get a moose. One was up sitting in a tree stand ready to get the moose should one come into range. His brother was laying off to the side a bit, doing calls. (I belive cow calls here) as time went on, they called some more, then the brother in the tree looks over and a big sow ( I belive a sow) anyways a big grizzly bearwas crowched down on the grass, with the belly sliding along the ground to be stalking the guy doing the calling.
How scary is that. Also the bear that ripped open Mom C.s car , had every ones mind on the grizzlys out there this year. While out looking for our moose we did come accross bear tracks, fresh ones every where, and found one set heading freshly our way whene we sat down calling. It is a really neat thing to see bear tracks in fresh fallin snow.

Our moose

2008-10-11T18:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a pic of Hayden and our moose. He did an awesome job at keeping everything super clean, and did an awesome job of cutting it all up. He is also a awesome meat packer.
Took a couple pups for a walk today, and looked over an old trial. I think I will hook some dogs up and take them for a short run and go into the trail and start ading some loops. I really want a loopy gee haw training trail and this one is perfect, easy bush to clean and about 5 dead ends to work with, so should give us a few days of loop making.
Here is also a pic of mom in laws car after a grizz found it, at least they got a moose on this trip ;)

2008-10-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

just a quick note, I added a new blog called running the hills, check it out, really neat!

2008-10-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

wow, I didnt realize how long it has been since I posted here.
The last bit of work was really busy, and I was so tired after it all, I just needed to melt away for a bit. I made a trip to Dawson, I bought a freezer, and took it to Dawson so we could get salmon for the dogs this winter.
The trip was amazing all the fall colors were bright and just increadable. Too bad I threw my camera into a too hard to reach place. Oh well they never do show the beauty we really see any ways. I was up there for a week, came home and finished my summer job.
Then back to Dawson, Hayden (my wonderfull husband) had went with his dad and used his fish wheel, so we are up 250 salmon for the winter. I have no idea how long it will last , but I am SOOOO happy to have them, and the dogs LOVE the salmon soup. About half were hung up and out to rot or cure in the air. And these are our special salmon, I hear dogs when sick, tend to cure up because of bactiriea in the fish. So these are the ones I hope to cook along camping or race trips.
We spent the weekends hunting for our moose meat supply for the winter, and saw nice moose, but none were wanting to be eating by us I guess. Not one of them responded to our calls with lust in their eyes, so maybe next year.
One salk was really amazing. We woke up after a really frekin cold sleep in the truck, and drove down the road. We saw a cow and a cow calf in a field, so we stopped up on the hill and let out some calls. After about 15 mins and big 4 year old wonders out from the trees. OUr excitment grows, as this would be a very easy pack for us. He spots the cow, (which we realize was his all the time ) So he go to her and we start our stalk. 3 hours we spent getting as close as we could. The sun was shining, swans, geese, and cranes were falying over our heads, there was an otter playing in the water near by and beavers everywhere! There was also a hawk, that would fly around looking for a meal, hawk would fly about 3 feet away from us , really low, and never was spooked by us, and would circle around us for the entire time out there, really cool.
As we moose called the bull finally had enough and took his cow off into the trees were we lost them. So no moose , but the best hunt I have ever been on.
That night we saw another 3-4 year old bull, who came when called to the edge of the river, but would not croos it.
The next weekend we saw a nice 2 year old, who was on the side of a mountian and we would have crossed a creek, and we spent about 5 hours calling to him with no reactions .
So not sure what to do we headed back to dawson empty.
Then HAyden got a call to go to work on a truck about 60 miles north of Dawson. He called me up , I grabbed all the hunting gear and munchies and headed out ( yes he was allowed to hunt while working, if we got a moose his time had to stop: reason I was there, so I could skin and work on it while they fixed the truck) They Hayden and Jimmy fixed the truck as I wondered around. There was a small owl and he would swoop down on this (HUGE) raven , biggest raven I ever saw, I swear the owl s claws ran through the ravens feathers. I saw a huge set of bull tracks, but he had went through, early and didnt see him. Jimmy drove the big truck bck to the shop, Hayden and I toured around the side roads and came accross a 3 year old bull, it was a good pack off the road, in the bush enough so drivers by couldt see and stop to talk with ( always a time killer, cause every one want to talk to you if you have a moose, lol). We were out overnight and were not home on time for hayden to make it to work, so his mom and the company sent out a rescue or help pack the moose expidition. Jimmy showed up as we were done the last two pieces, lol perfect timing. He brought us some sand wiches that were awesome after a pack out, so Thanks Jimmy and mom for "rescuing us" haha.
Now I sit here and cut meat, lots of meat. So far I have the ribs and brisket done and the ribs and some hind quarter peices done. Gotta say I love to cut meat at home, by myself, I have ribs,chops steaks, and steak in maridades, I do a very good job if I say so myself, haha.
I will find the carmea and get a few pics up of the trip.
Hayden called me last night about the caribou are moving up by the border, they are not fit to eat because of their rut, but it is amazing to watch them. They are huge, and everywhere, some herds all around you on the hills in the snow, calling out, chasing each other and hearding hte females, truly amazing.
Any ways gotta go cut more meat .
please excuse spellin , I know how to spell, just not when typing . :P

2008-08-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

I woke up not in a good mood, I was tired, had a cold and was stressed with work. So I got up to work this afternoon (yah half a day today) and say snow on the mountains! LOTS of snow! We have had rain for the past 3 days and alot of rain, wash outs along the highways and rain and cold, and long hours, and disfuntional equipment can make any one grumpy. Any ways to cheer myself up, I went fishing and took pics of the snow, that sure cheered me up!
here are some pics.

2008-08-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here are my new slippers from Haydens mom, this woman can really do nice work, and tans her own hides as much as she can. I love hand tanned hide, the smell of the wood smoke and the leather is so soft and warm. The colors did not come out good in the pic, but on my feet they are beautiful.

Also is a pic of a beaded rose I did for his mom, she will get it sometime next week, so I hope she really likes it. Not bad for my second rose haha. It is 3 d and is on a piece of birtch and has alder corns around it.

2008-07-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

Bears & Barking dogs

2008-07-18T13:48:00.001-07:00

First let me explain our dogs set up. We share a yard with a friend where we keep the dogs, it is out sie of town a few clicks, and is fenced so wolves dont get in, it has a fenced in play area as well. About half of my dogs are out there and the other half (pups and and a retired girl) are in the back behind our house. There are 2 indoor/front yard dogs, and in the back we have 7 dogs.
OK...
We had had a huge black bear wondering around last night, checking things out, but not being a trouble bear (at least he gave us no trouble). So pups never seeing a bear before were understandably freaked out, and were barking like carzy (1 am), so I go out to reasure that the bear is not bothering them really, and they should be quite.
Now I like my dogs to warn if something is around, and I understand bears are scary for pups, and I know dogs and pups are barkers and should be allowed their say, HOWEVER, barking with out a real reason is stupid and enough is enough. If the intruder is not a direct threat to the dogs, I do not want to hear non stop barking, so last night was a 2 hour training session in not barking uncontroably .
Good dogs, you alerted me, now be quite. Thats how I like my dogs. So we get through the bear incounter (which was only about 20 yards away from me, when I saw him through the darkness) with a positive outcome of them knowing he is there but not barking uncontrollable.
Now what really chaps my a$$. We have one neighbour to the right of us, and one across the street. Each of who have only 1 dog each, but never spend time training or any kind of time with their dogs. I am a part time worker who is on call 7 days a week and at any time, so I charish my sleep, I can not sleep through barking dogs. Those 2 dogs barked for the last 12 hours, YES !12 HOURS!
I have other people complain to me about these 2 dogs and have even been blamed for one of them barking all night! HOW INSULTING, I care about the noise my dogs make and I care about others not being bothered by my dogs, how rude of some one to assume because I have more than others, it is my dogs making the noise, I informed him very clearly whos dog it was and to bring it up with them, before talking about it being my dogs.
I have spoken to both owners about this and they just dont give a $hit, they say oh, well they are warning us about the animals, ok, but I dont think the bear was there all 12 hours, and even if it was, it was not threatning the dogs, or any thing else, so shut the dog up already, it has been half a day, and I didnt get any sleep! I have seen each of these 2 dogs bark housrs at squirrels running on the other side of the street!
We have no real bylaw officer here, and no one wants to deal with the 2 owners I speak of, so today I will atempt to talk to these 2 yet again, in hopes of a nights sleep, wish me luck.

2008-07-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

pelly river

2008-07-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

cute daisys

2008-07-17T15:57:00.001-07:00

poplar seeds

2008-07-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

moss

2008-07-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

cute cabin

2008-07-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

tracks in the sand

2008-07-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

pretty fall leaves

pups are out

2008-07-14T18:13:00.000-07:00

We tied the pups last night, all of them. They were at the point where it was just time. So preparing for a long and sleepless night we were amazed at how quite they were, so nice to have quite dogs :) Hayden buit a few dog houses, and did a great job. Hayden has always been a non dog mushing guy, but what he can do with the dogs and building stuff I need he really should give mushing a go, lol.
It has warmed up alot last few days and we have not been taking them out in harness, so we are fixing and cleaning out more space for a few more dogs, and are in search of more wood to build more dog houses. Our closest lumber supply is 4 hours one way, so we have to scroung around and use what we can find.
I was wanting pretty log dog houses, but our truck has been broke down for over a month and parts are hard to get up here, wait, wait and find out you need another peice or the peice you orderd was the wrong one after all thanks to the parts girls!), so much for getting fire wood before the snow flys. Fingers still crossed.

2008-07-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

FOR SALE. MALE. $750.00

We are placing this male. He is up to date on deworming and vaccinations. He is really sweet and never fights for anything, a bit of a pushover with his siblings. Cost does not include transportation, crate or health certificate. We are able to take him to Whitehorse Aug.9/08.

If you want to know more please email me for more info @ yukonsiberians@yahoo.com

2008-07-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you must find the courage to live it. --john irving

Today was a good day. After I was done working, I found yet another den of fox pups to take pictures of. This one had 3 little red babys, running an playing, and looking for something new to pass their time with while their mom was out hunting for their meal. As I am always up for passing sometime with cute critters, I sat around and gained their trust. One would not have anything to do with me ad sat on the hill and watch the other 2 check me out. So a bunch of pictures later and dead batteries in the camera I headed home to get out and do some fishing.

Both Hayden and I love to go grayling fishing and today lived up to our hopes of our first graying fishing day. Within a few minutes Hayden had his first catch. We fished for a few hours and caught alot of fish, releasing most of them for another day, another meal.

Although they are not a big fish, they are alot of fun to fish. They are almost always biting and have a bit of fight in them when you get the big ones.

We were planning on running the dogs, but by the time we got back from fishing and had supper it was pretty late, so we will hopefully be hooking up for another run tomorow, should the weather stay cool.

2008-07-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

after making sure I was not threat, this little one decided to lay out and try and cool off on the gravel.

brave baby red fox

2008-07-13T16:41:00.000-07:00

puppy pics updated

2008-07-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

On the side bar where it says siberians in the Yukon, we put updated pictures of our pups, they are 4 months old today.

2008-07-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

seasons first run, and living my dream

2008-07-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

We did our first run today and it was great! It has been a few years since I have been behind a full team of my own (ok 7 years) and this was our first. First time I have had a quad to use as well (thanks Norm and Sylvia). We striped the motor out of the quad and are using this to run the dogs.

Today we only went 4 kms but there are some good size hills and the quad is a bit heavy even stripped down. And keeping them short and fun is important for us after all we are still in July, there is lots of time to put more miles on them.

We ran Viva, and Spit in lead. Viva was great, but Spit lost inerest so we switched Red into lead and she did great, then we had Jarvi and Red/Spit and Qween and Garter in wheel.

If it stays nice and cool I hope to run them in a couple of days. The pic is not so great as the light was no good but our first run and it was so much fun, so I will share it anyways.

My dream when I was younger was to have a team of siberians and to be here in Faro and running them, so today I lived my dream, and I did it behind a great bunch of dogs, thanks Hayden for all your support and help.

2008-07-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

kisses from side

2008-07-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Red DOB 03/11/07
Siberian (garter x glinda)
Red is our calmest dog. She is so laid back and calm, I wish they were all like this. Once on the line though, she is a hard worker with a good pace. She has been on the bike with me doing some leader training this summer. Half sister to Asker and full sister to Kisses.

2008-07-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Asker DOB 03/11/07

Siberian (garter x viva)

Asker is the slowest of the pups but can carry a good trotting speed and tight tugs all the way. Just not a sprinter. She is a spooky pup, but is very affectionate once she warms up. Increadably playfull with our pups.

2008-06-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Garter DOB 3/26/02

Siberian

Garter came to us from Moe and Jere. Great dog and a very nice mover this guy has a trot that looks so easy and effertless. Great worker, can run lead. Very nice build on him, and have had him sire Red, Kisses and Asker and the new batch of pups. He is not too much for pets when outside, but bring him in and he is on your lap on the couch.

2008-06-28T00:35:00.000-07:00

Viva DOB 7/21/00
Siberian
Viva came to us off of Deena Wannamakers team in Alberta. She is a leader and a screemer, this girl can drive you crazy screeming. Very hard worker and loves to petted and rubbed. Askers mom.

2008-06-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

Kisses DOB 4/21/07
Siberian (garter x glinda)
Kisses is full of kisses. She is super sweet and so
much fun. Her first winter in harness was great, all the pups were amazingly calm and very hard workers from start to finnish they all had tight tugs. (sister to Red and half sister to Asker)

2008-06-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

Buddah DOB 5/8/07 Siberian

This is one good looking boy. Another favorite with every one, and a very good sweet talker as well. He is so handsome and we can't wait to see him mature.

2008-06-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

Jarvi DOB 5/2/02 Siberian

ENERGY! This dog has no shortage of energy, and she is ready to show you! She is really sweet, but has more running to do than time for pets.