It was great week here! With all the wet weather & extreme cold temperatures, we were able to finally put in a nice 6 mile trail on the lake.
We had a great couple of runs on the new trail that is better than any race trail I have been at. Of coarse, I prefer to stay in the Forrest. 
The dogs had a great time & so did the Musher.
Saturday, We packed up the the dogs & headed to the Race at L'Epiphanie. After a 2 hour plus drive, we arrived at the race site after driving through blowing, driving snow with difficult road conditions. At the race site was high winds creating white out conditions causing trail problems with the 6 dog class were some teams were running in circles searching for the trail & others getting lost on a road by the trail. The icy conditions under the trail created a hazardous condition resulting the cancellation of the 8 dog & unlimited team races. This was the correct call by the race organizers for the safety of the dogs & mushers. The decision whether to continue the race on Sunday would be made Sunday morning. 
We ended up driving back to the chalet on Saturday night again through a snow storm. 
The weather forecast was high winds with gusts up to 51 km/hr on the Sunday & if correct there was a good possibility for some of the same whiteout conditions on the Sunday. With this information, we decided to cancel out on the race & work on our trails here for this coming week of training to prepare for next weekends race.
Until next week.........

I would never give up the peace & serenity of the forest for city life! However, if you want to race your dogs, going to the races can be dramatic & unnerving.
Such was the case at the race in Valcartier last weekend. The dogs were all set & ready to go, with exception of the Leaders who were overwhelmed by the noise & the spectators. About 100 yards out of the start shoot the leaders decided they wanted to stop & the Point Dogs jumped over them to become the new leaders. This action lead to a major tangle resulting in 3 minutes of lost time undoing the mess. But that wasn't the last of the challenges with both leaders stopping twice EACH to poop on the trail leading to 4 more tangles. The good news is after all was emptied, the team finished strong. These adventures cost us a minimum of 7 minutes. 
ALL YOU CAN DO IS SMILE!
Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling great on the Sunday & made the decision not to race.
The coarse at Valcartier was great & a very well organized event.
We will be back next year!
Today, we hooked up the dogs to prepare for L'Epiphanie Race this coming weekend. It was also Halona's first run in a team & she did great.
Tomorrow the high temperature is -20 with the morning temperature at -30 with a wind chill of -40. I am sure happy we changed the straw in the dogs houses today to give them a nice warm bed. No training tomorrow!
Until next week..........
  

The title says it all! The trails are full of broken ice shards, freezing temperatures earlier in the week & now mild. Today, we started off with freezing rain & then rain that has not stopped all day. At least the training trails don't have the problem with the ice shards as they are now glare ice. 
One must have a sense of humor!
The forecast for this coming week is for some snow.
The race this weekend at Valcartier was postponed until next weekend due to the weather to ensure safe trails for the dogs.
We did get the "A" Team out one day, running the whole team with booties to protect their feet. Luckily that most of the team was running with fleece booties that I made as the cloth booties I bought were poorly designed & wouldn't stay on causing us to have stop the team every time a booty came off as the trail was to bad!
Finally I discovered this morning  that the plow truck got a flat tire & it has dislodged from the wheel rim. 
The good news is we finally got the truck back on Tuesday & were able to pickup Kira a new addition to the Miortuk Team from Valerie & Laurent Gonsolin.
It is always good to look for the positives after a Crappy Week! 
Until next week........

This last week was a week of frigid temperatures & problems related to the freeze!
Tuesday, Wednesday,Thursday & Friday saw highs in the -20's Celsius with the lows down to -40's. Saturday the temperature rose to -18 Celsius & today to -5.
Due to the frigid temperatures the dogs had 4  days rest, as we won't run the dogs in temperatures lower than -20. The reason for us is with these low temperatures there is a chance they could freeze their lungs breathing in the frigid air.
To combat the temperatures, we added more fat to the diet & plenty of straw to their houses. With the new insulated houses & fresh straw, the dogs stayed nice & warm. We experienced no weight lose due to the extreme temperatures & now we have cut back on the fat with the warmer temperatures.
The Dog Truck is in the service garage due to fuel problems experienced on our last trip to the village on Tuesday. The problem was originally water in the fuel system freezing up the fuel filter & now the garage seems to be guessing what the problem is as there still seems to be a problem the fuel system.
With this happening over the New Year Holiday schedule it is difficult to get information & the parts for the repair. The timing is not great, as the first race of the season is scheduled for the 11th &b 12th of January. So as of now, we might have to cancel our plans to attend.
We did run the dogs on Monday for their last 12.5 mile run before the race & again on Saturday for a short run of 4.5 mile due to the long rest & the possibility of racing this coming weekend  (staying optimistic).
We will run again Monday (8 miles) & Wednesday (4.5 miles) for the race preparation. 
On a positive note, the dogs are running great!
Until next week........