Nature's Kennel Sled Dog Racing & Adventures

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Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Nature's Kennel

PO Box 5
McMillan, MI 49853
Tel: 1-906-748-0513
Email: info@natureskennel.com

Dog Blog

Adventure Journals

Welcome to the Nature's Kennel Dog Blog! Check out the latest kennel news, stories of your favorite sled dogs, Iditarod training adventures, and more!

Thursday, December 30th, 2010 I finally have a quiet moment to post a journal entry! It’s been a VERY busy week both here at the kennel and at Boyne. We still have plenty of snow here at the kennel, although the drizzle is making for some soft trails. As long as we can tough it out for one more day, the cold weather and lake effect snow is on the way. Ed and the Boyne crew (Mallory and our newest guide, Ben Turman) along with Lynne, Cathy, and Tara (our shack girls) and now Tim VanderMeulen and his dog team, are busy, busy, busy. We ran two sleds during the days prior to Christmas, then Ed and Mallory came home on Christmas Eve to clean out the truck, re-pack, and load 40 dogs, an additional sled and Ben into the truck for the post-Christmas rides. They left at 5 am on the 26^th, and made it about 11 miles west of Newberry when the big rig broke down. Jess came over to my house at 6:15 am and said Ed had called and that he needed me as he broke down. I went next door to wake up our friend Blaine Danley to see if I could borrow his truck, as he was staying up here for a few days. Luckily he had driven his pick-up here as well, so we hooked that up to Joe’s trailer (I didn’t ask Joe, he wasn’t here, so I believe that means we stole it), and we headed out on the rescue mission. We transferred all dogs, mushers, and gear into the borrowed/stolen vehicles and then I called to have our truck towed to Great Lakes Truck Repair in Newberry. The big rig is back in action as of tonight and about $2000 of axle and hub work. Thank goodness for the kindness of friends. Amidst all of that, we did find time for a family Christmas with the three of us. Nate is too young to understand anything about the holidays, but he does like to get new toys, especially truck so he can turn them over and move the wheels. My parents were up this week to babysit while I helped with our fully booked tours here at the kennel, and Ed’s parents are up now to take over the Nate duties. Thank goodness for grandparents, too! We’ve had several overnight tours, a ton of full day and half day trips, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down after New Year’s. We’ll be looking for that lake effect snow that is promised for the weekend! Posted by Tasha


Monday, December 20th, 2010 After Jean and Michele’s trip, things at the kennel have moved into winter madness! Tours are running strong both at the kennel and at Boyne. The crew has been doing a fabulous job keeping up with all the guests. Ed and Mallory have been heading up the tours at Boyne, with support from Tara (our Petoskey “shed girl”) and Lynne Witte, who is wishing she was at Boyne rather than school this week! Amy, Jess, Maliko and Nate (not baby Nate, Nate who we stole from Outward Bound in MN to help with tours this week) are keeping the guests happy and safe at home. Baby Nate and I have been floating back and forth, covering some support at Boyne (with the help from Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Steve) and keeping the crew well stocked back at the kennel. I’m not sure how much “help” baby Nate is, but he sure is a hit with the crowd and the Boyne housekeeping crew as he rides his Tonka truck up and down the hallway. He did not come out to see Santa being delivered by dog team, but we did entertain guests and keep the hot chocolate stocked. We are heading back to the kennel tomorrow to check in with the crew there, and then Ed, Mallory and dogs will be back on Christmas Eve. We don’t run tours on Christmas, but will start up again at both locations on the 26^th. I’ll try to keep the photos coming, but I may need to catch a nap here and there! Posted by Tasha



Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 We've survived the winter blizzard, mushers, dogs, and babies are all accounted for! Ed, Mallory, and tour guests Jean and Michele spent the night on the trail on Saturday night as the National Weather Service issued a "do not travel unless absolutely, blizzard warning in effect" service message. Good thing they did not have the weather radio with them in the Arctic Oven tent! I thought for sure they would have a miserable night, as the temperatures hovered around 15 degrees, the winds gusted and the snow poured out of the sky. BUT, no such story…they were warm, cozy, and still sleeping when Jess arrived on the snowmobile with hot chocolate and coffee. We had gotten about 12 inches of snow through the night, so they needed Jess to break the trail back open so they could get out of camp and headed back home. The storm persisted, so they had lunch at the house, before heading out again into the blinding storm for an afternoon run. And still with smiles on their faces! I have no idea how much we actually got over the course of the weekend and into Monday, all I know is that we shoveled, and plowed, and blew snow, and shoveled and plowed and blew some more. Today…only a dusting, hurrah!! So, for all of those out there wondering if we have enough snow for tours to begin…HA . Do we every have snow!! Posted by Tasha



Friday, December 10th, 2010 Nature's Kennel is expanding...to Maine! We will be offering rides at Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine starting on January 8th, 2011. We have been working on this partnership this past summer, and we finally have the official word that we are ready to run! Krister will be heading up the operation with our dogs. Pat Moon will be driving dogs out the first week of January, with a start date of January 8th. Sunday River is owned by the same family that owns the Boyne Resorts here in Michigan, so we are thrilled to be part of their growing operation. We will have more news as plans develop, but for those of you on the East Coast, pack your skis and head to Sunday River this winter! Nate is not so thrilled with winter mushiing. Remember the adorable summer sled photos, well he'd really rather mush in September than in December. Ok, maybe it was due to the fact that I picked a nice, sunny, 0 degree day for the photo op. But hey, isn't he supposed to be a yooper! Posted by Tasha


Tuesday, December 7th, 2010 Let it snow, and snow, and snow, and snow…oh my. Ok, I think our guides have a real taste of winter in the UP now! And, they are fully trained in snowmobile trail grooming, driveway plowing, and scraping snow off of every imaginable surface! We had hoped to take Nate to Chamberlin’s last night to see Santa, but we were actually pretty snowed in. And, I’m sure Nate didn’t mind missing out on the visit. We have our first official tour this weekend, Ed is leading a multi-day trip with tour veterans Michele Seng and Jean Rappold. They will be doing a night of winter camping along the trail, a couple of long runs, and a night at the winter tent. It should be a great trip with all the snow and beautiful trails. I’ve been working on lots of inside projects since it’s been a bit on the blustery side to be outside much with Nate. I am just about finished with our 2011 Nature’s Kennel Calendar. It’s a collaborative effort with Jamie Sue-Seal of Smokin’ Sled Dog Records. So keep watching for more information and you can do your Christmas shopping with us! Posted by Tasha

Saturday, December 4th, 2010 Well, he’s not on the list yet, but Ed’s name should be appearing on the 2011 Iditarod Mushers list any day! Yes, it’s official, Ed is running Iditarod 2011. I’m a little concerned about the race this year though. It appears Mr. Big Iditarod Musher likes to sit down and train by snowmobile. And yes, that IS a blue groomer being dragged behind. Mr. Iditarod Musher is also Mr. Efficiency after all, and if you are going to run with a snowmobile you may as well make it worth your time and do some trail grooming as well! And, Mr. Big Iditarod Musher’s son is terrified of his VERY COOL wolverine ruff that his mom made for him. Looks like Nate is going to have to toughen up before he gets to Nome for his birthday this March. He even HATES to touch the thing if it’s lying in front of him! Ed and I both have wolverine ruffs on our race jackets (thanks to Uncle Chuck), and I used the scraps and made one for Nate, thinking it would be great to keep his face protected. I even had him wear a baseball cap under it like the real mushers do, but he still thought it was way too creepy. We’ll try again when there’s a graham cracker close by. The good news is that there IS enough snow to groom and there IS enough snow to run sleds! The girls are doing a practice overnight tour this weekend with Jon Brown and Jim and Chris Diem. They’ll all have a blast! It’s great to have early season snow to get everyone trained in tours, snowblowing, and trail grooming. Bring it on!! Posted by Tasha



Friday, December 3rd, 2010 Nate got to know the guy known as Santa Claus last night. And yes, he freaked out. And yes, we laughed a little bit. Please keep in mind though that Nate has been handed off to hundreds of people in his short span of life so far and he has only freaked out once before. So hopefully we are not too bad of parents for chuckling. Please keep checking back as Tasha will post the picture later today (it has to be scanned and that is way above this dog musher's computer skills.) (And yes, I think we will use it as a x-mas card, wouldn't you?) Posted by Ed

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