Looks Like An Early Spring Once Again

As it did last year it appears that spring has made a early arrival here in Lake Elmore. We ran our last dogsled tour at Stowe Mountain Resort on Tuesday, March 16th. There were bare spots on the trail that night which begin to grow rapidly once they start. When March temperatures reach 65 degrees the snow disappears very quickly; too quickly. This leaves me sitting here wondering where the winter went. After such a intense flurry of activity it is very anticlimactic when it comes to a screeching halt. We were able to meet up with some friends in New Hampshire for one last sled outing this past weekend. The conditions proved to be less than perfect for sledding but it was still great to get out on a sled with the dogs one last time.

Other than things ending too soon we had a fantastic sledding season with hundreds of wonderful guests from all walks of life and many parts of the world. Thank you one and all for your continued support. The dogs were also a joy to work with this winter. With all of the new dogs and fall training problems I had I was beginning to wonder if things would ever come together but they did. We ended up having two very strong eight dog teams plus a couple of extra dogs to help fill in the gaps. One of those extras was our one year old Pacem who is showing some amazing potential. She only ran one run a day this season but always wanted more. She ran in lead a dozen times and seems very comfortable with the roll. She has a lot of drive and adds a high level of energy to the front of the team. I'm looking forward to scooter training with her this spring and with a little bit of luck she may become one of my main leaders next season. In this photo Pacem is the second dog to the right following Buck who is in single lead. Buck is the best lead dog I currently have and the hope is that Pacem is learning from watching him. Bucks sister Etta is laying down next to Pacem.

On other fronts I have begun building a small green house. I am taking over the garden this year with the goal of increasing our food production and decreasing the amount of food we have to buy from outside sources. I just picked up our seed order from High Mowing Seeds yesterday and will be planting this afternoon. I'm a couple of weeks behind schedule but am hoping that the green house will help make up for that. The garden work is helping me keep busy as the sledding abruptly ends . Often spring can be a depressing time for a musher. Having something else to focus on can help one get through that period. Before I know it we'll be running with carts again and looking forward to another winter of sledding with the gang!