List of Fun Facts by Mandy

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There’s a little habit I do within the first two miles of a run: I go through a mental list of fun facts I know about each dog on the team.

It’s a mixture of basic information such as age, little-mates, and races they’ve completed so far. The facts might relate to running. Is this dog a trotter or pacer? Good Poopers are labeled above the Team Stoppers. The former poop beautifully and quickly while still efficiently running... the latter stop so fast that the dogs behind them practically run them over and squeeze it out like brown toothpaste if not for the musher’s encouraging “come on” chant and careful speed control—but try to never break for a bad pooper. But best of all, I really enjoy thinking of more odd fun facts. 

•Bull always poops to the right of his dog house

•Dolly either runs straight back to her dog house or belly-crawls under the dog platform, causing heads to tilt at the ground in confusion

•Oryx usually greets us with a bone in her mouth to help against her habit of digging aggressively into your back, leg, or other closest body part to her 

•Watson is a gentle giant and will push his head in between your legs for attention while you’re poop scooping his spot—he requires a lot of pets 

•Rucu the teddy bear loves pulling and running... until the dog booties come out

•Wombat often rolls over whenever you initially go to harness her

There’s a lot of pieces to keep a kennel running smoothly and the to-do lists can have a tight grip on the mind. It’s distracting. Leaving the dog yard for a run, there’s an incredible amount of energy and excitement—screaming dogs and harness banging—and it can be contagious. 

So, my habit of fun fact listing is a bridge between the craziness of hooking up and when we settle into a run. The dogs soon find a steady stride and my mind calms with them. The air and scenery are serenity, easing us into the miles for a lovely run. I adore it. 

And it just gets better with snow!

Eagle and Salmon

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Boating down the Yukon

Over the past few days, I took a mini-vacation to the town of Eagle.

More specifically Matt, Elke, and I drove six hours down the Alaska Highway, then three hours down a dirt road called the Taylor Highway, then boated 45 minutes down the Yukon River to a remote kennel (home of Wayne and Scarlett Hall). The Halls live six miles downstream from the already isolated town of Eagle. The colloquial phrase would be “they live in the bush” or cut off from the road system.


For those who avidly follow the Yukon Quest, Eagle probably rings a bell. It’s a checkpoint on the Quest between Dawson City and Circle City. The small community is located on the banks of the Yukon River and can be accessed by a 160-mile dirt road, known as the Taylor Highway. The Highway is unmaintained in the winter, cutting off the community of approximately 85 year-round residents (according to Google) for the winter months. The Yukon Quest trail runs along the Taylor Highway from the 40-Mile River Bridge up and over American Summit to the town of Eagle. Below is a video of the Ryno Team going over American Summit in the 2020 Yukon Quest.

For being such a small town, I have a strangely large number of friends and connections who either live in Eagle or are originally from there. My good friend Amanda Gecas with Boundary Fur Sewing who made my beaver mitts and hat as well as allowed me to run some of her incredible dogs like Jana, Drummer, Charlie, and Pirate is from Eagle. Through the wildland firefighting world, we have met other Eagle friends as well. For this particular trip, I was tagging along with Matt and Elke as they went to visit Matt’s parents- Wayne and Scarlett. This is the second time that I have traveled to visit the Hall’s in autumn, and it has become a favorite trip of mine.

Two years ago, we traveled to visit the Halls and helped them store their fish wheel for the winter. Using the fish wheel, the Halls catch chum salmon to feed the dog teams as well as salmon for themselves. This year was different. There were very few fish. A sonar station is located across from the Halls, and biologists live there in the summer, counting the number of fish that pass the location to ensure that the fish population will stay healthy for the future. A quick biology reminder- chum salmon are born in the river, swim to the oceans, and at an average of four-years-old, they swim back up stream to spawn and die.

Moving the fish wheel in 2018

Moving the fish wheel in 2018

Salmon haul from several years ago. We actually got these chum from the Tanana river, but you get the idea.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game do a great job of describing the sonar site across from the Halls:

“Of all the salmon that migrate past Alaska Department of Fish and Game sonar sites, salmon migrating past the Eagle Yukon River sonar site travel the furthest. Salmon that reach the Eagle sonar site have traveled 1,200 miles upstream. And as they migrate past the site and into Canada some travel more than 2,000 miles before they stop to spawn. Because they are shared between two countries, these salmon are managed according to precautionary, abundance-based, harvest - sharing principles outlined in the Yukon River Salmon Agreement the United States has signed with Canada. Eagle sonar project escapement estimates for king and fall chum salmon help ensure agreement obligations are being met and that Canadian-origin stocks are managed sustainably. ADF&G runs the sonar site in cooperation with Oceans and Fisheries Canada, which provides two of the site's technicians.”

Typically, biologists plan for an escapement of 200,000 fish, meaning at least 200,000 fish pass the sonar camp to ensure a healthy future population. This year is currently tracking as its lowest number on record. According to Alaska Fish and Game:

“Using genetic analysis on all chum salmon that have passed the mainstem sonar site operated near Pilot Station since July 19, it is estimated that 189,000 fall chum salmon have entered the Yukon River as of September 7. The projected abundance is below the level needed to meet the drainagewide escapement goal of 300,000-600,000 fall chum salmon, tributary escapement goals, and Canadian treaty objectives. Fall chum salmon are typically dominated by age-4 fish however, that age class produced by the 2016 parent year, has shown extremely poor survival in chum salmon runs throughout the state.

”Fall chum salmon typically take 39 days to migrate from the mouth of the Yukon River to the U.S./Canada border, with estimated travel rates of 35 miles per day, though travel times may be a bit slower with this year’s sustained high water. The last identified fall chum salmon group that entered the Yukon River on August 27 would be approaching the U.S./Canada border around October 5.”

So what does that mean for the Halls and other dog teams on the Yukon? No fishing. The Halls have trucked in tons and tons of dog food, but for many mushers on the Yukon who feed their teams primarily with salmon, this could be the beginning of the end. It’s not economically feasible to care for a dog team without salmon. And beyond mushing, the effects of no salmon on the entire Yukon ecosystem is a terrifying thought. Optimists are hoping that the fish due to arrive in the Yukon this fall decided to wait another year in the ocean before returning to spawn. Either way, 2020 is a very troubling time in the salmon world.

Moving onto happier thoughts, we had a wonderful visit to Eagle. We climbed the bluffs outside of town, free ran the Hall’s dogs, and spent hours just relaxing and visiting. On our return trip to Two Rivers, we stopped in Delta to pick up straw for the dogs for this winter. Also included in this post is a link to a video called Black Bear Goes to Washington. Denise Lawson is a sled dog enthusiast who has been mushing with the Halls and volunteers for the Yukon Quest. She helps rehome retired sled dogs and wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books about Black Bear, her retired sled dog. Spit, Fly, Foxfire, and I made an appearance in the video. Hope you enjoy!

Evening bonfire on the banks of the Yukon.

Evening bonfire on the banks of the Yukon.

Views from the bluffs looking downstream.

Views from the bluffs looking upstream. You can see Eagle on the left side.

Here’s a fun video of free running the Hall’s dogs.

Puppies and Puddles by Mandy

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It’s Fall in Alaska’s Interior! The birch trees are draped in beautiful orange leaves... and most are already losing them. But Fall also means rain and mud.

Currently, Ryno Kennel has 12 puppies across 3 litters that are too young to mush. In order to get energy out and some love-and-care in, we take them on Puppy Walks. These crazy furballs will play with anything they find: rope, sticks, leaves. They romp around and splash into every puddle found along the trail. We bring kibble as treats to work on their recall and sitting skills.

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My favorite part is watching a puppy run too fast and lose their careful balance, slipping into a puddle. Don’t worry, these guys are rubberbands and spring back into action—the only evidence of their mishaps are the splotches of mud covering their plump bodies.

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The older puppies, around 7 months old, get to run off-leash as we drive ATVs. It lets them sprint, play, and be dogs at high speeds. The goal is to tire them out but there’s a pit of endless energy and often they’re still playing with each other in the dog yard afterwards.

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Lastly, the race dogs. Before there’s snow on the ground, training begins with the gangline hooked to ATVs. We typically run between 8-14 dog teams. These dogs are power-houses and run through mud pits, puddles that overtake the trail, and even into rivers. I never realized how much they help keep the ATV from sliding around untiI driving the same trails without them—I got stuck once.

Puddles, and water in general, are great during Fall Training. It cools the dogs off as they run. We typically run in the morning for cool weather but even then, these dogs are built for snow and work hard. They’ll pull toward the puddles along the trail to make sure their paws soak it in.

Life of a Handler Written by Kalyn

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I (Ryne) asked Kalyn and Mandy to occasionally write blogs for the website, and being the amazing people they are, both have agreed!

What is it like to be a handler? You might see us scooping poop, cutting meat, digging holes, resting in the dogtruck at races in a position you can only assume is comfortable due to lack of sleep, packing drop bags, watching over resting teams, drinking obscene amounts of coffee…The list is nearly endless. 

The life of a handler is a variable one. We spend many winter months working for room and board and the chance to run a dog team. For most of us, our handling gig ends in March or April and we set out to find a summer job to feed the bank account. Many people handle for one or two seasons, then either start their own kennel or move on to the next adventure. Me? Let’s just say that this is my third season at Ryno Kennel and I’ve spent a couple years playing at another kennel before that. In the summer months, I’m usually guiding - aka getting paid to show people really amazing aspects of this earth. For several of the past few summers I’ve been guiding people on kayaking and bushwhacking adventures in southeast Alaska. 

Many other handlers move to doing dog sled glacier tours in the summer. This past summer, however, was a bit different. Tourism didn’t exist. So, I applied for the Alaska Fire Service and got a job as a Wildland Fire Dispatcher out of Galena, AK. It was quite the experience and it had been many years since I’ve had an office job. The job itself was extremely interesting and it’s always fun to learn new skills - skills I can use in the event that I can no longer do a more physically demanding job. But I’m sure glad to be back home at Ryno Kennel staring at dog butts on the trail. 

Time to Run!

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We’ve officially started fall training! The past couple mornings have been just barely cold enough to hit the trails and give the dogs their first workout of the season!

We’ve also been trying to finish up projects and basic maintainence at the kennel. In this photo, Rucu and Boone are enjoying an afternoon nap on the fresh stain.

We’ve also been working with the reindeer! Peeps and Captain Kirk are learning how to wear a halter, while Sailor is in the advanced class- pulling the pony cart!

Dracula's Puppies

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Yesterday, Scott Chesney with Tailspin Media came to the kennel for our annual Athlete Portraits! I can’t wait to share them with you! Of course, this meant that I had to make the final picks for the four puppies from Dracula’s litter that would be staying at the kennel. After much hemming and hawing, we decided on these four!

From left to right:

Cheddar- She’s the lightest colored girl in the litter. She is Liz’s favorite. She is cute and adventurous.

Havarti- I picked Havarti pretty early on. She has a beautiful build and loves attention. Plus I could easily tell her apart from the others because she has the long sock on her front right foot (insert laughing face emoji here).

Mozzarella aka Mozzie- This guy was another early pick. He was the first to come out of the puppy house and explore the pen. He was the first to the food bowl. He was always out romping through the deep grass and the least afraid of the big dogs. All that being said, he’s going through a little fear stage right now and has been a bit more timid recently. We just keep taking the pups on walks, socializing them, and letting them see the world to help them through all their stages in development.

Muenster- Muenster is very snuggly. He was a definite pick for a week early on, but then Cartel sneezed and he ran screaming all the way back to the puppy pen. It was quite humorous, and it goes to show that all puppies develop through different stages at different times.

Basically, I’m inclined to think that picking puppies is a bit like a spin of the roulette wheel. Sure there are certain traits that seem the most desirable (boldness, appetite, thick coat). At eight weeks old, their conformation is similar to their final build, so that’s helpful. But really, who knows. Thresher was a shy puppy who was least connected with us humans. Now he loves everyone and leads the team. Lefty was a weirdo. He still is a weirdo, but he’s a weirdo who leads us over Eagle Summit into 40 mph headwinds. Cartel was a tiny runt. But she’s a Copper Basin Champion lead dog. So while we try to make educated picks, it’s a crapshoot. I just make the other mushers who adopt Ryno pups sign a waiver that says they can’t pass me on the race trail with that dog in lead (just kidding).

It's Late August?

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Wowza. And just like that it’s late August! Where did the time go? The puppies have been growing. The adult dogs lounging. The reindeer eating and pooping. I’ve been helping a neighbor build houses. Liz has been doing her doctorate projects remotely from the kennel. Kalyn has been working fire dispatch in the Lower 48. Derek has been doing fire projects in the Lower 48. And the summer zipped by! Below are some of the happenings in the past few weeks.

Derek and I managed to take a sheep hunting vacation! Since Derek and I have opposite “busy seasons”, we don’t often get to spend time together. The past few years, sheep hunting has been one of the few times we step away, disconnect, and spend time together. I have yet to actually harvest a sheep (though I hike a long ways and try really hard!), but the beauty of the mountains and the trip itself always make it worthwhile regardless of the outcome. Derek, on the other hand, is almost always successful at harvesting a sheep. I guess I have a few things to learn yet.

Game trails up the mountainsides.

One of my favorite parts of being in the Brooks Range is its vast, wild nature. There are no established trails. Growing up in Colorado, we often followed hiking trails created and maintained by trail crews. In the Brooks Range, we follow animal trails or blaze our own. Trails up steep scree fields give the appearance that mountains have veins. Oftentimes we’re walking in the footprints of wolves, moose, bear, and caribou. Caribou, moose, and Dall sheep antlers and horns are scattered throughout the valleys. For moose and caribou, they shed their antlers every year. For the Dall sheep, finding their horns means they were a meal for a wolf or bear. Birds of prey circle above us and battle it out in the sky. Ground squirrels dart across dry creek beds. Sometimes we find an area that is freshly dug up, most likely from a bear trying to find the ground squirrel in their maze of tunnels. Blueberries cover the landscape and are added to our peanut butter and tortillas to make a PB&J.

Here’s a short video with views from our trip. A big thank you to Liz for watching the Ryno crew while I was away for a few days!

The puppies have been growing SO FAST. I know I say that every time, but they really do. Dracula’s pups are now eight weeks old. Four will be staying at Ryno Kennel, the others will be going to various kennels and friends. Shaynee and Jeremy of Howling Ridge Kennel picked up their two new additions last night!

Beesley and Big Tuna playing the grass.

Havarti sitting pretty.

Tilly and Umpqua joining Shaynee and Jeremy at Howling Ridge Kennel.

Puppy socialization.

Tank/Captain Kirk?

Our reindeer herd has grown! What?! Yeah! We’re still deciding his name, but we’ve narrowed it down to Tank or Captain Kirk. Tank/Captain Kirk is the future bull of the herd. Both Sailor and Pilot are steers, so Tank/Captain Kirk joined the herd to hopefully keep it growing. I get a lot of questions about why reindeer. And truthfully, it’s a very fair question. For our herd, their primary job will be tourism. So basically be nice, eat snacks from guests, show off some tricks, and hopefully* pull a cart or sleigh. Beyond tourism, reindeer are the ultimate Arctic animal. Here are some interesting reindeer and caribou facts I’ve compiled:

While they might resemble their cousins the caribou, they are different subspecies. There are approximately 55 different species and subspecies of reindeer and caribou across the world with four subspecies of caribou in North America.
Caribou Rangifer tarandus granti
Caribou play an important role in Alaska both culturally and environmentally. There are approximately 750,000 wild caribou in Alaska separated into 31 different herds. The Porcupine Caribou Herd boasts one of the longest documented land migrations of any terrestrial mammal, sometimes exceeding 3000 miles! Due to the remoteness of Alaska and northern Canada, North America is one of the few areas where large migrations still occur unobstructed by humans (although this is rapidly changing). Caribou are browsers, eating mostly willows, flowering tundra plants, sedges, and mushrooms in the summer and lichens (reindeer moss), dried sedges, and small shrubs in the fall and winter.

Reindeer Rangifer tarandus tarandus
Reindeer domestication began almost 3,000 years ago in Russia. Most of the reindeer in North America are descendants of herds from Siberia brought to Alaska in the late 1800s. Reindeer are typically stockier and smaller than their caribou cousins and have less of an urge to migrate. They enjoy similar foods to caribou and are also fed specialized pellets comprised of barley, oats, alfalfa, soybean, vitamins and minerals.

Similarities
Both male and female caribou and reindeer grow antlers. The males grow large, thick antlers, whereas females grow small, thin antlers. Males typically shed their antlers shortly after the fall breeding season while females shed theirs after giving birth in the spring; however, it is not uncommon for there to be variations. Caribou and reindeer have hooves that act like snow shovels, allowing them to dig through the snow. Their coats are comprised of fur with a hollow core, enhancing insulation and making them good swimmers. Their nasal cavity is filled with cartilaginous structures so that cold inhaled air passes over the warm mucosal membrane and is heated to body temperature before reaching the lungs. They can eat snow for hydration in the winter, so a water source isn’t necessary.

Loaded up on winter straw for the reindeer!

Pup-date

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This summer is a summer of puppies! Some of you might be thinking- but wait, it’s a global pandemic! Shouldn’t you be hunkering down due to the uncertainty of the future. And you’re probably right. But I try to live optimistically, and in order to keep diversity of ages and upcoming youth in the kennel, it was time we had a bigger puppy year. The last two summers, we welcomed four puppies each year to the kennel, but we didn’t have any litters ourselves. It was time to have another large class of pups born here at Ryno Kennel. I was planning for the 7-10 puppies range… but you know how that goes…

So there are the three from the Fire litter:

Spitfire, Foxfire, and Firefly

Whitney McLaren came out to the kennel last week and took photos of the puppies. Updated photos of the Fires will be here soon!

Then there were TEN from Dracula’s litter:

We’re working on names and leaning towards a cheese theme! Some of our favorites so far are Mozzarella (Mozzie), Feta, Cheddar, Swiss, Havarti, Halloumi, Gouda, Muenster, Colby, Monterey Jack, Curd, Goat, Pepper, Stinky Bishop, or Whizz. Since Dracula had such a big litter, we will be sharing the love with other kennels and friends. We plan on keeping four puppies (two boys and two girls) from Dracula’s litter. They’re now four weeks old and starting to eat soaked kibble and venture out of their house.

Photo credit- Whitney McLaren

Photo Credit- Whitney McLaren

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl

Photo Credit: Kalyn Holl

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl

And finally we have one more litter! What?! Yeah!

Maple joined our kennel from Jason Campeau this year. She has very similar genetics to our retired all-star Jana and basically resembles a taller Jana! Maple recently had five beautiful puppies- three boys and two girls. We will be keeping this entire litter, bringing the total puppy class to twelve. It’s the largest puppy class we’ve ever had, and we are SO excited about the potential. Many of our main competitors are getting closer to retirement age (or have already retired by choice), so these pups will be the future core of the kennel!

Photo Credit- Whitney McLaren

Photo Credit- Whitney McLaren

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl (silver male pup)

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl (silver female pup)

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl (white female pup)

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl (white male pup)

Photo Credit- Kalyn Holl (black male pup)

I’ll have many more puppy photos to add to the page soon from Whitney’s photoshoot- so keep an eye out!