Serum Run Boot Camp 2012: Hot to Trot. Part 1

If one phase can sum up the 2012 Serum Run Boot Camp it would have to be: Too Hot to Trot It was unseasonably warm this past weekend and it played havoc on our plans for the serum run boot camp. Well not really. We all had a great time. The organizers will be the […]

Rock this place to the ground…

Earthquakes are common in Alaska. In fact they happen every day. Check it out: Daily = 50-100 Weekly = 400-700 Monthly = 1500-3000 Yearly = ~24000 I have lived here almost a year now. August 4th marks the anniversary. I can honestly say that I have never felt an earthquake until this morning at exactly […]

Mushing–Alaska Style: Raegans first team run

Raegan–Gray and white female on the left When we got Raegan from a good freind of our’s, April Wood, in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California last summer we were hoping that she would fit right in to a team and become a sled dog. Last winter we tested her out with a couple dogs […]

Wheel Dogs

Wheel dogs are those nearest the sled, and a good wheeler must have a relatively calm temperament so as not to be startled by the sled moving just behind it. Strength, steadiness, and ability to help guide the sled around tight curves are qualities valued in dogs. Think of wheel dogs as the offensive linemen […]

Swing and Team Dogs

Swing Dogs in a dog sledding team help the leaders set the pace and aid in turning the team. If only the leaders wanted to turn in the direction of the musher’s commands, the team may not turn, so the swing dogs back the leaders up in these cases. The job of the Team Dogs […]

Serum Run 2011: Sled dogs arrive home

As the mushers and snow machiner’s crossed into Nome, some three weeks after the beginning of an epic journey that started in Alaska on a cold, wind-swept afternoon in Nenana, the home base support staff of this expedition sprang into action. At about 6:30 PM my friend Paul–who flew to Nome to see his wife […]

Iditarod 2011: Hugh Neff–One cool cat

When you see all of the mushers line up for the ceremonial start on Fourth Avenue on Saturday to begin the Iditarod, you see just about everything. There are teams with big name corporate sponsors like banks and hardware stores. There are others that are driving up to Anchorage from far off lands in a […]

Iditarod Gear: To bring or not to bring. That is the question.

On Mush! You Huskies radio show last night we talked about the mandatory gear that every musher MUST carry in his sled during the Iditarod. According to the official rules of the Iditarod it says: Rule 16: Mandatory Items: A musher must carry with him/her at all times the following items: Proper cold weather sleeping […]

What Rocks…

Listen to Mush! You Huskies radio show hosted by Robert and Michele Forto and fueled by Native Performance Dog Food. On this episode: The Serum Run– A Long Way to Nome with author and musher Von Martin. Listen Now!

Big Steps, Little Feet…

How far can my little feet take me? “Grandfather” Ineka says my little feet have a lot to learn for one day my little feet will take a big step. I am a Siberian Husky just 9 months old. Today I was fitted for a harness and got to pull my musher on a small […]