Trail Update - 02-12-09

We haven't been out on any of the trails with the snowmobile yet (waiting for it to get colder and set up first) but what we can see and walk from the driveway looks good. I took a couple of photos at 11 a.m. today showing the packed trail depth that is left after the rain and warm weather this week. The photos were taken on the west and east side of the driveway at the gate. One side shows about 6.5 inches, the other side in a sparse area is about 3 inches. I expect that there will be a combination of the two depths throughout the trail and maybe a bare spot or two in the very open areas where the sun can hit it all day long. I'll post another update tonight or tomorrow a.m. Call or email for trail/driveway specifics if you are thinking of heading our way to run dogs this weekend.

Here's the 9&10 News forecast for tonight and the weekend:

"It will be windy and much colder today with afternoon temperatures falling to the upper 20s north to mid 30s south. Tonight scattered snowshowers (with small or no accumulation) and diminishing winds will be the story and lows will be into eh teens with some localized single digits, back to a February overnight/morning feel for sure! Friday will bring mostly cloudy skies and scattered flurries with highs in the upper 20s to low 30s. The weekend looks quiet and seasonably cold with decent sunshine expected and highs from the upper 20s to low 30s again. Lows will be cold, in the teens and single digits through Monday morning. Next week we return scattered snowshowers with similar temperatures, but no major storm systems are on the docket."

More Photos from SWC #1

The following are from the driveway crossing - Lee and Claudia's post on Saturday.

These photos have been resized and enhanced a bit.

We had two brave ski-jorers - both ran 12.5 miles through the hills on Saturday:

Mariel's comment coming in from 12.5 miles of challenge - "best run EVER." She's planning on doing the 24 mile route next year (she has prior commitments for SWC #2.)

Photos from the Sweetwater Challenge #1

Thanks to Lee Nowak we have some nice photos of the recent MiDD event:




Drivers' meeting around the campfire (almost looks like a prayer meeting, eh? :) :)

One of our two ski-jorers, at the start chute...

Another participant, in the chute, ready for anything!

Just figured out that I forgot to downsize the photos...more to come.

Sweetwater Challenge #1 A Success!

No photos yet but I hope to post some soon. Blaine may be able to get some photos up on the MiDD website this week too (http://www.michigandogdrivers.org/)

The weather was fantastic this past weekend - sunny skies both days, high temps in the mid-20s on Saturday; teens on Sunday. The trails allowed for some snowballing on Saturday then set up nicely overnight in the frigid temps. It was about perfect mushing weather all weekend. The deep base held up really well, even on the extreme downhill sections where full-on braking was the norm.

We had 18 teams that ran on Saturday including Blaine and I. We had entrants from WI., IL. and all parts of lower Michigan. We offered 12.5 mile, 17 mile and 24 mile trail options with a dog drop/spectator location along the way (a very special THANKS to Ed Setterington for hanging out at the dog drop and talking with spectators both days.) The Lake County Sheriff's Reserve Unit provided road patrolling to keep snowmobiles off of the unplowed road sections of trail - a very boring job as they didn't even get to see dog teams go by in their locations. Our snowmobile trail help, T.J. and Gwen Stahly and their friend, Chris manned two important locations on Dexter Rd. and had their hands full a couple of times directing dog team traffic. T.J. and Gwen were entertained by a low flying eagle at one point on Sunday - no teams around, all was quiet and the eagle flew down by the road and circled around and over their snowmobiles. Lee and Claudia Nowak were at the driveway crossing early in the run - saying hello to mushers and their dogs and Lee taking photos of everyone. They also brought some tasty treats for everyone to eat in the lodge. We had chili and soup and fixings available for mushers, handlers and helpers both days. A special thanks to Ann Nelson for all the wonderful food that she brought with her and for helping with the timing duties. She gets to run their awesome Sepps in the next SWC. Her husband Ted got the team this past weekend and they looked strong coming in from their 24 mile runs.

We had several people taking photos all weekend so we should have some nice shots to share soon.

Our next Sweetwater Challenge (#2) will be held February 28th and March 1st, providing Mother Nature doesn't throw us any curve balls.

01-19-09 Trail Update

Greetings,

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the trails are in awesome condition - Rick packed all the trails yesterday since we got about 10 more inches of snow since the previous weekend. We are expecting one warmish day (at or just above freezing) and then back into the deep freeze for the weekend. Forecast temps for Saturday and Sunday are in the teens and single digits. Bring your long underwear if you are joining us for the Sweetwater Challenge #1 this coming weekend. I'm sure glad we didn't get the 18-24 inches of snow they got just west and north of us this past weekend. This is the most snow we've had here in our area since 1980-81.

Pre-weekend Update - 01-08-09

No photos today - just a quick note that conditions are good for this weekend. The trails were hard and fast a few days ago from some melting and refreezing but we've gotten about 4 inches of snow on top of that and it's still snowing as of noon today.

We are expecting a few mushers here for the weekend. I won't be around (heading to the Tahquemenon Country Sled Dog race north of Newberry - tagging along, not taking a team.) Rick will be around all weekend to help out in any way. Email me today or call this evening if you are planning on heading this way so I can let him know.

New Year Weekend Run

We had some fun on the trails this past weekend.





Here's some photos of some of the teams on the trail.





The conditions were great after some hard and fast trails earlier in the week - we even had some sunshine!






I was taking photos from the runners so these aren't the greatest shots - some are a little off balance.