Back at it, Fall training

After our summer hiatus we are stoked to be back at it. The dogs and I started training the last week of August after all the nearby forest fires and doggie swim days died down. Alaska had such a hot summer with most of the team (humans and dogs)enjoying swim dates at the Brewer cabin. A few like Willy were more of the float- on-the- paddle-boat type. While everyone agreed lake days at the Coke's were a blast!

We are happy to announce that Jr. Musher Anna Coke is again joining the crew over at Tailwind kennels for another season of racing ( last year she placed 4th in the Willow 100 and 2nd in the Jr. Iditarod). Stay tuned to hear more on what races Anna signs up for and how her training is going.

Dad made a guest appearance in September and had fun training with me and the team, acting as the break before Sam got home from work and started working one maintaining the fall training vehicles.

This season we are also extremely fortunate to have a dog handler who is fitting in great around the kennel. Louise Mason is joining us this winter and is planning to run her first dog race in December. The alpine creek excursions dog sled race hosted by the one of a kind Alaskan experience lodge: https://alpinecreeklodge.com. Louise is joining us this winter from Bristol England where she just finished her 3rd year of vet school. While she is with us this winter Louise has decided to keep a blog about her adventures. For fun updates and for a rookie perspective on this winter’s training visit: https://brokeonaplane.travellerspoint.com Louise dreamed of training sled dogs since she was a youngster living with her family on the east coast. This year she hopes to train with me before heading back to England to finish becoming a vet.

This week my younger brother Jeremiah (Also a Jr. Iditarod champion) appeared after a summer out in the infamous Bristol Bay. Last winter Jeremiah provided all of the Salmon used to treat the team on training runs and on the Iditarod. The dogs love Jeremiah and he enjoyed capturing some candid moments with the team.

And then there is me. This winter I am excited to so far be signed up for the Alpine Creek excursions race, the Knik 200 and the Willow 300. I will be training this season and racing with the majority of my team from last year and I couldn’t be more pumped. Radar and Stella are of course found in the front of the team with new and upcoming leaders including Scout, Brownie, Cortana, Feta and Rudy.