Saturday, January 12, 2008

SKI and DOGSLED 2008

Here we are at the height of winter and I'm too busy with guiding, travel between MN and MI, spending limited family time to really sit down and concentrate on making blog entries. My back seems to be holding on to mobility in spite of its deteriorated L-5 disc and I'm classic skiing on dog team trips (due to quite a bit of snow in Minnesota's Arrowhead region and skate skiing back home on the Michigan Tech trails. Both seem good for my back.


The lodge-to-lodge sleds that I am standing by are evolved by Paul Schurke to a pretty ideal form for 2 guests to mush together on, pulled by 5 Inuit dogs. Made of steel, plastic and aluminum, they stand up to more abuse than any other more traditional toboggan dogsled .



Picture by Lynn as we start out on a classic ski on the Maasto Hiito ski trails. On this winter of big snow and high wind, the oak tree is still holding on to some of its leaves that were rattling in the breeze that day.

On the County Road #6, between Finland and Little Marais, on my way over in January to visit Kate at Grand Marais, MN. An above freezing snow in December left much of the forest cloaked in a heavy layer of snow that bent down alder, birch and willow branches and led to hard mushing. A willow branch whipped in my eye on New Years eve caused a cornea surface tear. Though small, it was painful for days.
Daughter Kate and her friend Nathaniel at the gorge and falls on the Devil's Track River, just a walk from Kate's cabin outside Grand Marais, MN. Kate was about to get back her car after an alarm by shorted wiring disabled it while she was home in Houghton for Christmas. Lynn was driving the repaired car over to Kate and I was over for a visit after guiding, before taking Lynn back to Houghton.
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