Hey Tribe,
It's Christmas Eve!
Just a quick note to let you know who will be guiding Santa's sleigh this evening.
Ever since Rex received the news he'd made the team, he's been practicing his dashing through the snow skills.
So, tonight, if you hear the pitter patter of paws, it's just the B (as in Bear) team coming to eat your cookies.
Hey Tribe,
My baby boy is 2 years old today!
Rex had quite the year last year:
He worked on his impulse control in all settings to become Farm Dog Certified titled and earned his Canine Good Citizen title.
Rex learned new tricks during our time in quarantine and collected a Trick Dog Novice title.
I got a bit of road rash and a black eye and Rex learned to not suddenly run full speed when on a leash.
He became a brand ambassador and model.
Rex made friends who tolerate his pervasive puppy craziness, including SAR teammate, K9 Sally (his Sal Pal), and our new Icelandic fillies, Frelsi and Soley, who romp and stomp with our joyful boy.
He was plagued with panosteitis, poor guy, and was super sad to not be able to do a lot of fun activities in early summer.
But we made up for it with adventures when he was feeling better.
Despite a lot of time off because of the pano, Rex made nice SAR progress and developed a solid final response for when he finds the scent source he is searching for; he officially became part of the team last month.
Rex showed us that he loves to run and chase and is going to excel in lure coursing sports. We discovered this in late summer, so he only got to compete once before the season ended, but he's off to a good start! He is an amazing athlete and we had such fun touring around Alaska with the kickbike.
He also loves that sled dog life!
I can tell his body is maturing, though his brain and personality sure aren't: he is widening and broadening in the chest and head and that thick fur hides some serious muscle. He is keeping his tail curled more often than not now too!
Lastly, Rex has thoroughly loved all things snow - snow is his greatest delight!
We had a great year together.
For his birthday this year, Rex got a new Lamby: he LOVES his Lamby and will squeak it endlessly until the squeakers die and then he rips a hole in it and enjoys pulling out all the stuffing. He brings me his Lamby to toss into the air for him to catch and we play tug with it and when he is done playing, he puts it in my lap for safe keeping.
Happy 2nd birthday, Armando Salazar Da Villa Saloia, the Pirate King, my sweet baby boy, Rexy. We love you!
Hey Tribe,
Clear skies in the winter means cold weather here in Alaska and with that comes hoar frost - or "horror" frost as I thought it was called when I was a child, named for how horribly cold it is when this type of large frost forms. Sunshine is a precious commodity coming out of winter's deep darkness and these cold, clear days cause Alaskans to bundle up and bask in the light - even if it isn't warm. Hoar frost is a magical consolation prize for venturing outside into negative temps and the KBDs and I were richly rewarded this past week.
Several inches of fresh snow caused the kicksled to bog down a bit on the trail we used to access the Knik arm, but we worked up a sweat and journeyed through the snow-laden woods out to open flatland to look at the ice floes.
Have you ever gasped aloud when seeing an unexpectedly beautiful sight? I did when I gazed across the expanse at the majestic Chugach mountains with a cloudy scarf swaddling their treeline and saw the fog rolling up from the open water channels.
It was stunning.
The KBDs had a good frolic while I stood there gaping at the scenery trying to keep my fingers and my cell phone warm as I took dozens of photos.
At the beep of their collars, the dogs ran back to me and posed for some glamor shots before dashing into the frost laden grass and reeds to hunt for mice. Little mouse prints covered one particular section and I agree that it seems a nice place to have a home if I were a mouse.
The Karelian hunters were unsuccessful, as far as I know, so I gave both dogs treats for again coming to me when I called them and we clipped back into the kicksled for our return journey.
One day soon we will return to this place of frosty beauty to spend the entire day luxuriating in the sunshine and savoring the frost before wind and warm temperatures whisk it into Spring.
Hey Tribe,
Our Esla Kicksled has hit the trails quite a bit since the Karelian Bear Dogs and I set it up; if you follow @flyexplores on Instagram, you know last winter was a flurry of posts and stories about our kicksledding adventures.
So, now that we've used the Esla Kicksled for a full Alaskan winter, I am excited to share our experience with it thus far - the good, the not so good, and the bottom line.
The Good:
It is super simple to use - step on the runners and go. If you're using it as intended (by kicking to move forward), it glides across snow faster than walking, so you can travel further in less time. Hard packed snow is even easier to glide across and I feel like I'm flying. If you're using it with dog power, it pulls easily and tracks well behind the dogs.
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| We can go for miles and miles. |
It folds down sort-of flat, so transportation is easier if you want to put it inside your car or strap it on the roof.
It is lightweight. I can easily pick the sled up at the truck and carry it to a trail, or pick the sled up on the trail to get over a log. Though I typically run two dogs, you all know it's Rex who does most of the pulling as Fly runs along beside him pretending to do the work, so the lightness of the sled makes it easier for one dog to pull.
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| Fly thinks this is where she belongs. |
It has a seat. This one may sound silly, but that seat is a great place to carry a bag to store my gear or haul stuff - it's also a nice place to actually sit when we stop somewhere to rest or have a snack. I'm excited to do an overnight kicksled trip and plan to use that seat to hold my compact/lightweight camping gear.
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| Ready for extended journeys! |
It has several modes of propulsion. This may seem like a "duh" statement, but stay with me: the dogs can pull the sled, but in the horrible event that a dog is injured, I can move the sled myself by kicking and won't be stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Likewise, if I decide to use the sled without a dog, I can do that too. I'm not limited to just one use for the sled; I like the duality of the kicksled.
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| I'm always going to use it with the dogs. |
It comes in a variety of sizes and colors. We get compliments and questions about the sled everywhere we go and every time I make a post. It's super cute and super fun!
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| Finnish sled, Finnish dog - Red sled, Red harness |
The Not so Good:
It doesn't come with a brake. This is one of the biggest drawbacks for me. I know, it is designed to be human powered, so the likelihood of a person kicking the sled so fast as to need a brake is unlikely, so I'm not being fair to the sled design by saying this is a negative. However, as a dog pulled sled, as I primarily use it, I wish it had a brake.
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| It's just a chair on runners. |
It folds down, but remains very long. Sure the sled folds flat, but it is still super long with the runners, which makes it a challenge for transportation. Happily, it juuuust barely fits in the back of my Ford truck and I can close the tailgate. Folks with cars on the other hand, I think you'll have to get creative with transportation.
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| Those runners are designed to glide, but they're loooooong. |
It isn't super, super light. I mentioned it was lightweight, but at 20lbs, there are lighter sleds out there. It's made of wood, after all. I'd like a sled that I know one dog (Rex) can really easily pull and not strain himself under normal conditions.
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| One of these dogs only pulls when she wants to. |
It's going to break. I'm super afraid my reckless dogs are going to break the sled, since it's wooden. The KBDs run like devils and have little regard for safety - we smash through brush, take turns that defy the laws of physics, and go over some seriously rough terrain; I fear one of these days they're going to pull the sled somewhere crazy and we will smash it. Of course, this danger could be minimized with better training and better handling, but still, we're pretty rough on our equipment.
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| They are unruly beasts! |
It did break - sort of. The plastic runners are held in place by zip ties at the top. This is awesome, because it makes it super easy to remove a runner to replace or to clean the blade so it doesn't rust. However, plastic zip ties snap and break at the slightest jostle when in negative F temps. The dogs and I lost a runner while out on a recent run. I'll carry more zip ties in my basket until I figure out better attachments. Little bungees maybe?
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| Oh snap. |
The Bottom Line:
Would I buy this kicksled if I had to do it over again? Absolutely! Would I recommend it to other newbies? For sure! It is a terrific way to get outside and play during winter and an easy introduction into the sport of dog sledding.
Hey Tribe!
Guess what we got ourselves for Christmas?!
Yep, a GoPro Hero9 Black.
It's name is Little Buddy.
Naturally, we had to take Little Buddy out and give it a literal test run with the kicksled. A temperature of 1*F meant we had the Palmer Hayflats to ourselves, which was great since the Karelians are out of practice with their sled pulling skills and manners.
Open water from the river across the flats created a thin fog that clung to our faces as we cruised. Fly and Rex think they look tougher with frost on their bodies. Do you agree?
Wasilla Creek's unpredictable wandering rudely severed the trail, so we stopped for a play session while I assessed the possibility of carrying the kicksled across the ice floes and creek channel. Would I slip and crash the sled and get wet and frozen? Yes, most likely.
I decided discretion would be our motto for this trip, so we turned around and retraced our snowy tracks back toward the truck. As we were navigating a particularly uneven and icy patch along the creek, the kicksled began making a slightly odd sound as it slid across the snow. Imagine my surprise when I glanced down and saw we were missing an entire sled runner! How far back had we lost it?! I looked over my shoulder and to my relief the rogue runner was a mere 15 yards behind us. Whew.
The runner was simple to push back in place and remained obediently steadfast for the duration of our journey, but its attachment will need to be reassessed at some point soon. Right now though, I'm too busy learning how to use our new GoPro, Little Buddy, and how to edit the movie clips and photos it captures.
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| Someone is all tuckered out from the adventure. |
