Fish Snacks

Note: This is an excerpt from my contributions to the SP Kennel Dog Log

My good friend Greg came up from Seattle last week, mostly to check out all the action at SP Kennel but also partly, I think, to make sure I wasn't crazy.

It was a perfect week for him to be here, because we started him out with Kennel chores like feeding the dogs and cleaning the yard, and ended up with the Solstice Race which gave him a pretty complete perspective on sled dog racing.

In between, of course, there were lots of other experiences like riding in a sled on a training run, talking with Allen about sled design and fabrication, hooking up teams and just plain dealing with the cold, dark Alaskan climate.

One highlight of his visit was our project to uncover a few hundred salmon that Allen and Aliy had bought earlier in the fall and buried under a tarp to freeze them. Our task was to dig up the salmon -- now under a foot or so of snow as well -- then pile them in the truck and help Allen cut them up into fish snacks for the dogs.

I've compiled this video of the experience -- pretty much from start to finish -- and am delighted to share it with you as yet another "behind the scenes" look at one of the more, um, glamorous jobs in dog mushing.

Kudos to Greg for surviving the week, not only in good form but in good spirits. You, my friend, are always welcome to join me on any of my crazy expeditions!