Husky Homestead surely couldn’t make everything happen without our incredible crew of winter handlers! From feeding and scooping, to puppy walks and playtime – they help us make it all happen! So we wanted to take a minute to tell you about them… introducing…
Alex Buetow: Many of you may remember Alex – he’s been with us for for over two and half years now, and he had a great run in in his rookie Yukon Quest last February. Alex took some well-deserved time off during the fall, and returned in December ready to jump back on the runners for the winter. With Jeff out of town in early December, Alex assisted the three teams that we had in our first race of the season a couple of weeks back – the Alpine Creek Excursions Sled Dog Race. He may be pretty savvy with sled dogs, but ask him about his recent attempts at being a snowmachiner… shh – don’t tell him that we told you!
Maren Johnson: Maren was with us for our 2015/2016 winter season, and we finally convinced her to join us for her first summer in Denali this year. She stayed on for the winter and we’re certain our dogs are just as thrilled as we are! Maren was instrumental in the rehab of Crosby and Banjo after Jeff’s accident in the 2016 Iditarod, and both dogs still hold a special place in her heart.
Natan Krzyinski: Joining us for his first winter in Alaska, Nathan is brand new to dogs and mushing. He didn’t let that stop him however, and he ran a team of veterans in the ACE race – and had a blast!
Julie Scherma: Julie joined us mid-fall, and completed our winter crew. She already had dog mushing experience under her belt, but ran her rookie race at the ACE race and she decked our her sled with a mini-Christmas tree. Julie says she’s ready for the next one!
Check out our Staff page for bio’s on all of our crew!
Nathan, Maren and Julie at Alpine Creek Lodge after they completed their rookie race.
This weekend is also race weekend! The Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association is hosting the Solstice 50 race this Saturday and we’ve got two teams signed up: Jeff and Alex! Each will be running a team of 12 dogs in the race – and nope, we don’t know quite yet who will be on those teams, but we’ll be sure to let you know once the decision is made! 🙂 This race is a 50-mile run, so there won’t be a whole lot of updating from our end, but we will keep you posted as best we can.
Jeff is out on the Denali Highway today with a team, and our crew stayed here at the Homestead to put some more miles on the dogs here and prep some stuff for this weekend. Today was a bit of a wake-up call for all of us when we checked the thermometer this morning… we registered at a balmy -25.6! Time to get out the extra layers.. we’ve been spoiled this season!
Until next time.. Happy Trails!