For almost twenty years, from 1879 to 1899, John Bear grease and his brothers delivered the mail in northern Minnesota, covering the route between Two Harbors and Grand Marais. The constant elevation changes of the north shore trails, limited equipment, and loads weighing as much as 700 pounds made this weekly trip an incredible feat for a person to accomplish alone with their team of dogs.

In 1982 the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon was created as a way to remember the historic role that John Beargrease and sled dogs played in this region. The race follows along the north shore of Lake Superior and travels through the Saw Tooth Mountains. Although not true mountains today, the Saw Tooth Mountains used to be a towering range. Time and weather have eroded these mountains into many formidable hills, making the race a challenge with hundreds of ups and downs.

This year I raced the Beargrease Marathon, a 375-mile race. My 12-dog team was made up of some veterans of the Iditarod, but mostly it was young dogs. The veterans were there to help the rookies, which included the younger dogs as well as myself. They helped us learn what can be done when we put our minds together. Knock, who ran for John Baker in the ’03 Iditarod and Jamie Nelson in the ’02 Race to the Sky, was especially helpful.

Knock had raced more than most of the dogs and myself. Her calming influence infected the whole team (musher included) with confidence that we could finish this race. Hodag, who was only two, was running next to her on the last run. Every now and then he would put his head into the air and look around as if to say, “What are we doing”?. When he would see Knock next to him confidently plugging away he would relax and get back into the grove. A race like this is hard, sometimes more mentally than physically. This is the reason as to why older, race experienced dogs are vital to a team.

The race is run through eight checkpoints. At each checkpoint you have your handling crew meet you, much like the pit crews in the NASCAR world. They help care for the dogs and musher. If I stop to rest at a checkpoint, all dogs are fed and watered. The next big project is foot care. Booties are removed from each o f the 48 bootied dog feet. Each foot is checked and salved with an ointment. Any sore joints or stiffness is dealt with. Shoulders are massaged and then wrapped in a jacket with a heat pack. Wrists can get sore and are cared for with cold packs followed by neoprene wraps. If a dog is sick, injured or just plain not having fun, they are dropped at the checkpoint and cared for by the handling crew for the remainder of the race.

The race began on Sunday, and we crossed the finish line early evening (in a drizzle!) on Wednesday. Placing 11th out of 27 starters, I feel this is a good showing for the first completion of this race. Next year I plan to be back and will apply what the team and I learned this year. (Learn more about the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon by visiting www.beargrease.org.)

Last year before Christmas my friends Cate and Carl came to run dogs. I rode my little sled and Cate went with Milo and daddy. Carl went with his dad.

We went to Chipmunk lake. We ate hot dogs cooked on sticks over a fire. We ran around on the lake.

On the way home I ran Milo (little brother) over when he fell off the sled. When we go home we had hot coco. Than Cate and Carl left. Soon they will come back.

Written by Morgan, age 6

Superior National Forest

We are smack dab in the middle of the Superior National Forest — a 40-acre parcel completely surrounded by forest.  Harness up a dog team and head out of the kennel in three different directions, right on to scenic trails, lined by snow-laden evergreens.  You can run for a week or more, covering over 100 miles and never crossing a paved road, never retracing your route.

BWCA

We are located near the southern boundary of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  It’s mostly lakes, trees and wild country here.  Boreal forests, birch groves, black spruce bogs, meandering frozen creek beds, beaver ponds, island studded lakes with granite outcroppings….all interconnected in the winter by the imagination and tenacious efforts of sled dogs and their musher.

 Style of Trails

Moreover, there’s a style of trail to suit every personality, from tentative seniors looking for a gentle cruise through serene wide trails, to intrepid adventurers, ready to test their new sled driving skills on whatever wild single track trails the guides can muster.  Try to thread Pinball Alley without bumping a tree.  Jump off and run around The Rock of Death — overshoot it and you’re sure to meet The Tree of Doom!  Even newbies love mastering Whoop-De-Do’s (steep berms guarding great trails beyond) and feeling their sled driving skills improve on the winding Dip and Dive Trail. Cardiac Hill, Snake Creek Cliff, Dragon Gauntlet….adrenalin seekers will get their fill.

The kennel can be like doggie TV some days.

Doug watched this episode and we all got a chuckle out of it.  We have a few retired dogs who have special privileges, namely to roam free about the kennel.  Taulpin, is one such dog.  Now 14 years old, she was once Peter’s long time leader who is touted as knowing the command “Other Side of The Tree”. Navigational Genius.

 Hauling Road Kill

Anyway, Doug was watering the kennel when he noticed Taulpin hauling a deer leg from a recent road kill over to a puppy circle, and placing the leg just out of reach.  The puppy (10 months old, and unrelated to Taulpin) was squealing in frustration, stretching as much as he could bear, but still not able to coerce the feast within paw’s reach.  Doug shook his head at Taulpin, who appeared from this glimpse, to be taunting the young dog.

And then, a strange thing happened

Taulpin sauntered back to the road kill, picked out another piece and ambled back to puppyville, this time, depositing the gift fully in the next pup’s circle.   By the time Doug finished watering, Taulpin had endowed 3 pups with meaty snacks. And then she walked through all the puppy circles, strutting with her head held high, just like she was the queen who wanted the puppies to admire her.

Keeping Order

Doug added, “Taulpin thinks it’s her job to keep order here.  She’ll bark at the dogs at hook-up to get them going.   She’ll feed the young pups, but not let them forget who brought them treats.  She’ll be the first to greet newcomers getting out of their car.  And, in her own way, she’ll let everyone know who really rules the kennel.”

10/24/11

Theo

One Picture

Yup, one picture, one thousand words. It is the culmination of good training, discipline, breeding, lots of hard work and many miles on the trail that go in to this image.  Oh, for sure, there’s room for improvement.  Frank is listing slightly to the left, Jacque is having a momentary lapse of tight tugline…but for the most part, it’s all there. Two dog teams, 18 dogs in all, moving forward with focus, shoulder to shoulder, heads down, tails down, tuglines tight, driving forward, undistracted, unstressed by the other team.  Hodag and Carter (lead dogs) are driving up the inside lane, forging ahead in the small opening, intent on passing.  Everything is smooth enough that the musher, me, decided to take a picture.

Choreography

That’s just one of the things we train for during the fall season.  Some days we’ll run for miles like this, passing back and forth, or just cruising side by side, working with each dog to refresh good behaviors that were second nature last season.  The older dogs are usually the unflappable veterans, while the younger dogs, are often in the learning zone.  My favorite run with a sea of dogs was 3 teams traveling side by side on an old logging road, 24 dogs in a pack, all traveling quietly in sync. Amazing.

Challenges

Of course, every training run offers up its own unique challenges. Intrepid squirrels and suicidal grouse darting across the trail are not to be chased. “On By!”  Big mud puddles are not to be balked at.  “Get In!” Ganglines are not to be crossed under by another team or woven into a profanity-laced tangle. “Mind your team!” …. (or !@#$!*!?!!)  Cute girls in heat are to be ignored, despite every genetic twitch that says otherwise. “On By!”  Freshly fallen trees are to be gracefully cleared without breaking stride. “That’s It!”  In the end, the goal is that the dogs will travel confidently through an ever-changing landscape, be crowded in from both sides and still act cool as a cucumber, un-rattled, happily focused on what they love to do best. Pull.

-Theo

What makes this so unique is the diversity of people. The people training hard for racing drive their teams there pulling 4-wheeled ATV’s piled high with camping gear and dog food. They come in and park the teams near the open areas around the boat landing. There they stage for multiple runs over the 4 days.  Others arrive in cars, trucks or campers. They may have a pack of purebred malamute show dogs. They may have a scooter and only 2 dogs. Some may be a couple for whom having 6 dogs and a cart is their hobby, others are kids picking up on the sport and dragging parents along.

The diversity of who and how is phenomenal. And what binds them all together is the love of running dogs as sled dogs.

Lakes can be great to travel in the winter. Lakes can be terrible to travel in the winter. They change dramatically, and some times quickly with an overnight snowstorm.   Deep snow can weigh on them and create slush from water running up through expansion cracks. Wind can whip around them and make even the warmest winter cold.

The forested trails around here can be much more fun and interesting and is therefore why we use them most of the year.

But in February, things shift.  We always get a few days above freezing. The snow melts on the lakes with no shade to protect them. This is followed by a cold front, which freezes and creates the PERFECT traveling surface. In late winter, you can travel across the top of the snow at will and quickly cover ground.  We live for these conditions – the glory days of late winter in lake country.

The sun late in winter stays up longer and with these travel conditions we head deep into the Boundary Waters. It is more glorious than words can describe to travel effortlessly across the lakes and past the unparalleled scenery. It is an event and experience we share every year come March.

Colby came to us later in life. He was 4 years old and was he ever ready to go. He was not the snuggly type, but one to become more interested as the job got harder and the challenge greater. He died last weekend and will be missed by all.

And perhaps his greatest legacy is siring the best litter of pups we have ever had, who this year will be tackling the 375 mile Beargrease Sled dog race in his honor.