Building, Building, Building!

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We've crossed a couple BIG projects off the list these past couple of weeks: Last Frontier Mushing Co-op Storefront Yurt and moving our old handler cabin.

1- Last Frontier Mushing Co-op Storefront

Last season, Matt and Amanda of Smokin' Ace Kennels were kind enough to allow us to run tours out of their yurt, but this year, we're expanding. Over the summer, we've prepped a new storefront location directly between our two kennels. With the help of a few friends, we erected our Mongolian Yurt in just a few days! The video below provides a visual of a few of the steps. In the video you'll see Matt, Amanda, Kelsey, Tyler, and myself running around. As they say- it takes a village! Basic steps for the yurt assembly are:

1- Build the deck (thanks Matt and Tom!)

2- Set up the door and arrange the lattice around the door.

3- Put the center ring on pillars and place it in the center of the deck.

4- Place one spoke per "x" in the lattice and secure it to the center ring.

5- Pull a white sheet around the frame.

6- Place felt insulation around the yurt. We used two layers given our cold winters. 

7- Wrap the house in the waterproof outer layer and tie everything up with the three long ropes made of horse hair.

8- Wrap the house in the blue "skirt" and give everyone high fives!

Our other big project (or I should say, one of the other big projects) was moving the handler cabin. A few years ago, we built a small 12x14 cabin. This was the first cabin I helped build, so I'm rather attached to it. We considered leaving it at our old house, but we decided- when there's a will, there's a way- let's bring it with us!

The cabin itself is about 12x14, but when you add in the roof overhang, it's a hefty load. We rented a double axle trailer from a place in town and went to work with bottle jacks to hoist it up and on the trailer.

Once on the trailer, we drove the cabin to our new kennel and positioned it back in the woods. A big thank you to Tyler and Tom for all your hard work! We weren't sure it was going to be possible, but I'm so thrilled it all worked out.

The cabin is almost ready for the trailer to slide underneath.

Bottle jack supporting the front corner.

Securing it to the trailer.

Off we go!

The video below is of building the cabin from a few years ago. It describes how we harvested the logs, peeled the logs, stacked the logs, and scribed between them to make the cabin.

So what's next on the construction list? Sanding the inside walls of our new home, wiring the upstairs, and insulating and sheet rock of the upstairs. And of course RUNNING DOGS!!!! We'll officially start Fall Training on September first. We've run the dogs occasionally the past week just to stretch out and keep them happy, but our real season will start in about one week. This upcoming Saturday, Scott Chesney will be taking class portraits, so keep an eye out. It's about time for MUSHING SEASON!!!!

Puppies!

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You might have noticed over the summer that we didn't have the normal "summer pup-dates." Because we had such a large puppy class last summer, we opted not to have any litters ourselves this year. However, we also like to have youth coming up through the ranks to join our team when experienced veterans retire. So....a couple youngsters recently joined Ryno Kennel! These two gals were born May 25th. They were part of a litter of eight puppies. Their mother is Atigun (Ewok's sister), and their father is Kurtis, one of Nic Petite's athletes. Ewok has been a rockstar these past couple of years, so I was excited by the pup's relation to Ewok. Plus, Nic's team had a pretty outstanding season last winter. Of course, most people probably don't really care about all the genetics and who's related to who. You just care about the puppies! So here are a few photos of the girls! They don't have names yet- any suggestions out there?

August 1st! And a Co-op Surprise!

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We're getting pretty excited here at Ryno Kennel- it's August first!!! Normally around this time, the weather starts to cool, and we begin to feel as if winter is just around the corner. It's not that I don't like summer, but winter is just so much better!

As the temps start to drop, the dogs' energy exponentially grows. They get sooo excited for the coming cold and bark and twirl whenever we pull out the ATV as if to say- it's time to run! I try to give the dogs as much exercise as possible. On rainy days, I've taken the pups out for short 2 mile runs down to the Chena River. We haven't been doing as many free runs and loose walks the past few weeks, because unfortunately we've been plagued by foxtails and grass seeds. Pointy seeds can work their way under a dog's skin and cause some issues, so most of our exercise has been in harness.

Overall, the dogs have been enjoying their summer vacation, and I've had the chance to enjoy a vacation or two myself! Jezzy, Sasha, and I enjoyed a short backpack trip in the Alaska Range with friends and fellow mushers, Kristin and Paige. Tom (brother who has being helping so much this summer!) and I took dirt bikes down the Denali Highway for a weekend. And the Zirkle/Moore clan and Barbara let me tag along on a halibut fishing trip in Seldovia. While I do love fishing, the best part of the entire trip was being up close to a large pod of Orcas. With these few trips and all the work on the cabin, I can say this has been one incredible summer!

Yoshi and Faff

Perm and Bowser

Jana and Elmer leading the team.

Metta sent us some delicious treats!

Tom and I and our motorized team.

Hiking with the girls.

Orcas

Chicken Halibut

So what is this Co-op surprise? Well, if you recall, last winter we began a business with our friends, Matt Hall and Amanda Brooks, called the Last Frontier Mushing Co-op. This winter, we're going to include a new aspect of "Alaskan fun"----- REINDEER! Two cows will be joining the neighborhood in a month or two, so we've been prepping for their arrival. Our reindeer will primarily be for viewing during our tours, but we've got a couple other reindeer game ideas up our sleeve. Reindeer have been known for pulling sleds...wink wink.