Ice Is Out

You probably already guessed that Indian Lake is ice free.  Unlike last year, we did not have to wonder if opening fishing would have an open lake.  The ice went out last Sunday which was a welcome sight.  But I thought I would publish a few pictures just to prove it.  :)

I so enjoy the longer, warmer days of spring as the new leaves are budding and perennial flowers are pushing up through the soil.  As we drive the 325 road to town and come to a high hill overlooking the woods below, it looks like a patchwork quilt with the new light green leaves against the dark evergreens.  And it was our delight to welcome our first guests into camp today, the Bob Wille group.

Celebration Time

Oh my goodness, it has been over a month since I last posted on Our Blog.  The reason for that is because I have been gone for almost a month and just returned to camp a few days ago.  Now I have LOTS to share.

First, our oldest daughter, Cherish, has found the one whom her soul loves, Mr. Patrick Knudson.  They tied the knot on April 18th in Duluth, MN.  Thankfully, we found a friend in Ignace who was able to come out to camp and hold down the fort for us so John could get to the wedding to give his daughter away.  Joanna and I traveled to Duluth a week before the wedding to meet up with our son Jonathan, his wife Reseth and their two precious sons Aaron and Titus.  We don't get to see them very often, so it was a real treat to be able to spend some relaxed time with them.  I just can't get enough of those cute little grandchildren.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and inspiring and fun.  Aaron and Titus were the ring bearers and along with Ilea, the flower girl, they stole the show.  Such a beautiful bride and a handsome groom who truly adore each other.  It's like a fairy tale.  John and I were on a high, so grateful for the wonderful man the Lord brought to our daughter, so thankful for all our dear friends who attended the wedding (almost 200 guests)  and thoroughly enjoyed all the festivities together as we rarely get out together for fun.  There was a DJ and lots of robust dancing.  I wish you could have seen John cut loose on the fast songs.  Twenty-five children attended the wedding and they had no problem freely dancing through the night.  A wonderful time was had by all!! 

A couple of days after the wedding, Joanna and I flew down to Orlando, Florida where my sister, Nicki, picked us up and drove us over to Melbourne for a week at the beach.  Usually on our Florida vacations, we spend most of our time in the ocean boogie boarding, or walking the beach or sun bathing.  But this time we experienced a part of Florida we never had before.  Some friends we were staying with had a friend, Rick who had a large ocean going vessel.  He took us out on the open sea to do some shark fishing which was a first for us.  It was fabulous. 

After that fishing experience, we became very conscious of sharks.  While out swimming in the ocean and doing some boogie boarding we actually saw two five to six foot sharks swimming near us going after the small fish.  We didn't want to take any chances that they would mistake a hand or a foot for a small fish, so we headed into shore.  

Another evening, he took Nicki, Joanna and I shrimping in a smaller boat on the Intracoastal Waterway.  He put some green lights down on the shallow bottom of the lagoon so we could see the shrimp float toward us with the tide and we scooped them up with our nets.  We did this from eight till eleven o'clock at night and were able to fill a five gallon pail.  What an experience that was.  Rick offered to make us a nice shrimp meal the next day, but unfortunately none of like shrimp, so we told him he and his wife could keep them all to themselves.  He didn't mind that one bit. 

On yet another day, Rick took us all out on his large air boat down the St. John's River.  This river is a wild and scenic waterway with lots of different animals and birds.  I was glad were were sitting up high because as we rode along, we must have seen over a hundred gators who were sunning themselves on the shoreline, flip themselves into the water to hide.  They don't like the sound of the air boat.  I would not have wanted to swim in that water after seeing what was in it.  Quite an unusual experience though.

Our last night in Florida, we were part of a group celebrating the anniversary of some of our relatives on a party boat on the Intracoastal Waterway.  We got very close to a pod of dolphins that were swimming close to our boat.  We could almost touch them.  I would sure enjoy swimming with them someday.  They are such interesting and intelligent fish.  

Our last leg of the trip was to North Carolina to visit my Dad, my sister Wendy and her family and my brother Rick and his family in north Georgia.  Dad is 90 years old but still very sharp.  He can still beat all of us in a game of checkers and is a tough competitor in chess too.  We had a grand time together and even got to spend one day with Cherish and Patrick who were fresh back from their honeymoon.  The flowers at Mom and Dad's house were blooming to beat the band.  Just gorgeous.

It was a refreshing and invigorating vacation filled with rich family times.  My favorite kind of vacation.  But it's always good to come home to our peaceful abode at Agimac River Outfitters.  John so graciously allows me to spend time with my southern family even though it means he's home alone for quite a few weeks.  We had a sweet reunion, then jumped right into spring cabin cleaning for the upcoming fishing opener.  Looking forward to seeing all our wonderful guests very soon.

Open Water

Each morning John, Joanna and I and the dogs (Sabre and Scarlett) head out on the snowmobile trail we made from our house along the river and up to the lake for a good three mile walk.  The river is pretty much all open due to the current and warm weather, but our bay is still covered with ice except for the narrow portion where the strongest current runs under the bridge. 

The nights are still quite cold which has slowed the thawing process.  That is fine with Joanna who still wants to run her young dogs in a team and get them familiar with running in a harness.  With the longer, warmer days, the sun is melting the snow which makes it very slippery for walking.  I choose to use my poles from cross country skiing to support me while walking to prevent a nasty fall.  It makes for a much more relaxing walk. 

We sure are thankful for being able to live in such a gorgeous, quiet, environment, far away from crowded, hustling, bustling city life.  The air and water are fresh and clean and the sky a rich blue.  What more could a person ask for?

Eggs and Chicken Ban

 We wanted to give our guests a heads up on a new ban when coming into Canada this summer.  As of right now, because of cases in the U.S. of Avian Influenza, Canada has placed a ban on these certain items.  The quote is as follows...

"Travelers should know that, due to this outbreak, all raw poultry and all poultry products and by-products that are not fully cooked, including eggs and raw pet foods, sourced, processed, or packaged from the states of Minnesota, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington are under restriction until further notice. You may not bring these items into Canada."

CopperDog 150 in Calumet, Michigan

 

 This is Joanna's account of her last race of the 2015 season at the Copper Dog 150
Joanna is number 4 on the right.  Frank Holmberg is number 14.  He has been one of her closest competitors in the races and finished fourth place ahead of her. 

 We had a GREAT time at the CopperDog 150 although we had a few vehicle hiccups along the way, plus I felt a bit weak yet from being sick, and was still coughing and keeping stocked up on kleenix!!! smile emoticon Our Tahoe was at the garage in Dryden as they had to order parts and didn't want us driving it so we took the diesel instead. It is old but powerful! We always stay in Superior, WI on the way down and on our way to our hotel our blinkers quit working! We had had a weird experience just before when we had done a bit a shopping and dropped dogs in a remote corner at the Duluth Miller Hill mall parking lot. We had our truck running with all the lights on and inside the trailer to see plus we had parked near a parking lot street light. Suddenly it went black, the parking light over head and all our truck/trailer lights went off! Pretty weird. My dad thought it was maybe a power surge or something but whatever it was it must have messed up our blinkers! So, the next morning we spent half the day in Superior getting the blinkers fixed and the door had kinda been seizing up so got that fixed also. Whew! Onward to Calumet, MI! The temps were really perfect for running dogs, not too cold, not too warm and it was great to see everyone again for our last race of the season!!! I have to say that night run was one of the most beautiful runs, I really loved it!!! We had maybe a 3/4 moon but it was so bright!!!! Absolutely beautiful night to run dogs!!! The dogs were cruising and I mainly was trying to hold them back a bit to not run them too hard on the first leg. Lots of power with 10 dogs so quite a rush!!! It was hard to hold them back enough on the downhills and on one sharp corner to the left that immediately was a steep downhill I didn't handle the corner well and tipped over to the right, clinging to the side of the sled as I dragged through the snow on the bank. I was stabbing for the brake with my left foot as we were half up/half down and somehow got my foot stuck between the brake and the sled! Ugh! Got that freed then stomped the brake and somehow my right leg while dragging got tangled up in my snow hook rope! I have no idea how that stuff happens! lol Anyway got myself untangled and off we shot:) Had a great first leg placing 5th for that run which I was shocked at! I had come to this race hoping to just place in the top ten to help pay for the trip a bit, as there are so many top teams here that it's like running with the "big boys"smile emoticon The second leg, which is the hilliest and has the most of what they call "back country loops" (meaning soft and punchy:), the dogs were slow to warm up into the run and then Frank Holmberg caught up to us maybe a quarter of the way into the run? We ran with him the rest of the run passing a ton of teams, it was fun and it seems to be a habit these last few years for us to run together lol:) Unfortunately roughly halfway through the run one of my point dogs came out of a twisty/rough section of trail limping from a sore shoulder... I dropped him when we got to the checkpoint and the rest of the team looked great and ate/drank well. We had had a very good run and placed 4th for the day and moved up to 4th overall!!!! Our host family, a wonderful couple that hosted us last year also and whom we have gotten to be very good friends with, met us at the finish of day two and while standing by Suzi noticed our trailer hitch didn't look right, it was slanting downward!!! She pointed it out to her husband Mike who is a mechanic so he got down under there to take and look and said,"Oh boy this isn't good!" Apparently when my mom had been driving from the start to the first checkpoint in the dark that first night she had hit a rough spot on the road fairly hard even though she wasn't going that fast, but it really rocked the truck/trailer I guess. Its fairly rusted underneath and the metal framework that supports the hitch had partially broken off it was rusted so thin... thus the downward slant of our hitch! Thankfully our wonderful hosts had driven their truck to their lake home instead of their car and he hooked up his truck to our trailer, and made arrangements for a guy in Calumet that he knew to fix our truck first thing Monday morning so we could go home safely!! We spent the night at our host's beautiful home and enjoyed the most delicious filet mignon I have ever had plus many other delicious dishes!!! They sure spoil us!!! Early Sunday morning Mike drove his truck pulling our trailer to the start in Copper Harbor, (and then on to the finish in Calumet) my team of 9 dogs looked very amped and ready to roll and off we went for the final 41 miles of the race! Climbing Brockway Mt. is always a great work out only this year without the snow and high winds I could actually see the amazing view and how much higher I had yet to climb! yay:) It was great though and I made it through some coughing fits, hoping no photographers were around to see my runny nose!!! yuck! The dogs did fantastic and while we had a few stops for various reasons, like me dropping my ski pole and running back to get it cause I knew I would need it, it was a pretty good run! We did lose a spot as some other teams had some fabulous runs and while we did make up some time on others, it wasn't enough but I was more then thrilled to place 5th for the day and 5th over all!!!! Very pleased with the consistent runs we had! The dogs looked great at the finish, strong and some were screaming to go!!! Absolutely scarfed down their snacks and drank good too! At the awards banquet I was only half listening as the head vet was talking about the best cared for team award until suddenly I heard, "and this year the award goes to.... Joanna Oberg!!!" I think my jaw literally dropped:) I was totally blown away as did not expect that at all!!! It is truly an honor and I know the vets have a hard time deciding as everyone is exemplary with their dog care! It was a very emotional moment for me and I want to thank my mom again for all her help handling and the great job she does and also my dad for all his help with the care and training, they do so much and in this sport you need support and they give it!!! I was blown away with how well my dogs have performed this year its been an exciting, fun and adventurous ride and I have loved every minute of it!!! Well... almost every minute lol:) Hawk and Vader led every step of the race as my female leaders were in heat:) They did a phenomenal job, very proud of the whole team, Echo, Vapor, Venture, Viva, Swift, Tango, Vashti and Layla!! Wish we had some more races to go too... we'll miss seeing all our musher friends:( Until next winter I guess!!! Now I am training pups and just having fun... ran 21 dogs yesterday!! (not all at once!) Looking forward to some super new additions to the team for next year! Happy Trails everyone! Thank you God for a safe, fun and great race season!! So thankful for all His many blessings on my life!!!

Midnight Run Dog Sled Race 2015

 John, Joanna and I really enjoy our peaceful hideaway out here at Agimac River Outfitters during the winter months.  But after awhile, it helps to go to dog sled races down in the states to interact with people again.  Joanna’s races provide the opportunity to make that happen.  In preparation for the races, she puts on about 1000 training miles, first using a quad and then switching to a sled when snow comes.  John follows her with either a truck or a snowmobile on most all those miles to provide something heavy to anchor the sled to in case she needs to get off her sled to untangle dogs or attend to another problem, as she is usually running large teams of 12 to 16 dogs.  He’s also nearby to provide protection from moose or wolves they might encounter on the trails. 

The third week of January, Joanna raced the mid distance 106 mile Beargrease Dog Sled Race in Duluth, MN.  It is considered a challenging race with three legs of about 35 miles each that take musher and dogs up and down the steep Sawtooth Mountains.  This year she was thrilled to place third in this event. 

I go to the races with Joanna to help her care for the dogs and as the driver to get the dog trailer from checkpoint to checkpoint.  John stays home to take care of the home front. 

Recently, we just returned from Marquette, MI where Joanna raced the 90 mile Midnight Run and was it ever memorable!  Marquette also hosts the UP 200, a 240 mile race and the Jackpine 30 mile race at the same time.  It is an exciting event for the city, bringing mushers from the U.S. and Canada and spectators from surrounding states.  In a newspaper article about the races, it was stated that the city receives a 1.8 million dollar boost from these races economically.  Amazingly, there are at least five hundred people who volunteer to help bring dogs up to the starting line and stay all night at different strategic places along the trail to make sure the teams take the right turns and cross roads safely.  We are very grateful for them.

Friday night, racers for the UP 200 and Midnight Run were parked downtown near the race start which featured a log arch straddling the hauled in snow packed trail running down main street, lined with thousands of spectators.  It feels like a mini Iditarod.  The weather was a perfect 20 degrees Farenheit with a gentle snowfall.  However, the forecast was calling for a blizzard to hit the area about one o’clock in the morning.  Thankfully,  most of the Midnight Run mushers would be able to reach the checkpoint 45 miles away before it moved in. 

Over the loud speakers we heard some familiar tunes.  It was the Canadian national anthem being sung live by a small group of singers, followed by the US national anthem. Both flags were flown from the log archway since there were a good handful of Canadian mushers in the races. 

The excitement in the air was electric as each eight dog team was helped to the starting line with a group of young volunteers.   The mushers zoomed  into the night with well wishers slapping their hands along the way, ringing cowbells and even shooting fireworks. 

Meanwhile I drove our rig to the checkpoint at Chatham where the teams would be coming in.  In this race, they require the dogs to be fastened to a picket line outside, connected to the vehicle for the five and 1/2 hour mandatory rest period.  As I waited for Joanna to come in, I acquired hot water for their supper meal, and prepared a nest for them to sleep with straw and windbreaks of piled up snow to keep them as warm and comfortable as possible. 

About midnight, the teams starting coming into the checkpoint and after they were all in, we found out Joanna was in fourth place.  We fed the dogs, put on their jackets, and had the vets check them over to make sure they were in good shape to finish the race.  The most important thing for both musher and dogs is hydration because of all the energy they expend.  Joanna and I settled in the front seat of the car with the heater on to try to get her warmed up, dry her gear and get some rest ourselves.  By this time the blizzard was in full force with winds from 45 mph to 72 mph. 

It was still dark at 6:47 a.m. when Joanna left the checkpoint.  We hadn’t planned enough time for her to put on her goggles and mitts before she left, so as she pressed forward into the blustery white void attempting to find them in her sled bag, she didn’t notice that her lead dogs had suddenly stopped on the trail.  This caused her point dogs to overtake them and get tangled.  There was actually no trail to be seen in the wind blown field.  The dogs were just trying to find something solid that would indicate they were on the trail.  Joanna put her snow hook down to hold the team and ran up to untangle them but her snowhook wasn’t holding good in the soft snow so the team surged forward again before she could get the leaders straightened out.  Then along came Joann, who was in fifth place and only one minute behind Joanna.  Her team stopped beside Joanna’s unable to get by.  So she put down her snow hook and went up to the front to straighten out her team when her snow hook came loose and as the team moved forward, it hooked the ski of Joanna’s sled pulling it over and down the trail aways.  Joann managed to free her snow hook and move on down the trail, leaving Joanna behind who was now in fifth place. 

A little while later Joanna had another tangle to take care of which cost some precious time.  But her dogs put on the afterburners once they reached the woods and the curvy trails that they love to run.  Joanna does all she can to help the dogs out by using a ski pole to push and her leg to kick the sled along faster.  Soon they overtook the musher that left the checkpoint in third place.  Then just ahead she saw Joann. She caught up to her and passed her.  They ran together for about 20 miles, taking turns in the lead and then Joann was able to pull away from Joanna as her dogs settled into more of a trot. 

It was a very discouraging moment for Joanna after working so hard to catch up to Joann and try to place better.  But she knew she needed to stay positive because the dogs would pick up on her attitude, so she just kept working hard to help them out and do her best. 

Soon the team reached the final 17 mile stretch of the trail that ran right along Lake Superior and into the full force of the storm.  Several times the hurricane winds almost blew Joanna’s sled over and off the trail.  But for her it was exhilarating and as the storm grew fiercer, it seemed to enliven the dogs more.  They began loping again as Joanna simply hunkered down behind her sled in a crouched position, unable to see anything in the white out conditions and trusted her dogs to get her to the finish line.  With faces covered with snow and ice, those amazing dogs pressed on.  Suddenly, Joanna realized they had caught up to a musher.  It was Joann.  They were within three miles of the finish line. 

Joanna’s team passed Joann and she was stunned to see that the musher in second place was also just in front of her.  So they passed him too and Joanna came into the finish line in second place.  What a race!!

While Joanna was racing back to the finish line from the Chatham checkpoint, I was trying to drive in those blizzard conditions to the finish line.  I have never driven in white out conditions and it was a helpless feeling.  I was praying the whole way for Jesus to keep me on the road and keep me from having an accident.  At one point I had to literally come to a complete stop because I couldn’t see anything past the front of my car.  I crept along at an average speed of 10 mph and finally got to my destination safely.  I heard that soon after I arrived, they closed that road due to a seven car pileup.  In talking with folks who live there, they said they had never seen anything like it in their life. 

We are very thankful to be back home safely and are preparing to leave soon for our last race of the season in Calumet, MI for the Copper Dog 150 race.  Hopefully, the weather will be a bit nicer to us.  J

John Beargrease Dog Sled Race 2015

John and Joanna begin training for the dog sled races in September each year using the four wheeler.  Once we get a good solid base of snow, they switch to the sled.  There is a distinct advantage to living further north as we have had enough snow this year for Joanna to train on the sled since early December and many mushers from MN have not had enough snow to use their sleds.

In fact there was not enough snow for Joanna's first scheduled race, the Voyageur Classic in Northome, MN, so it was canceled.  She was chomping at the bit to race after putting over a thousand training miles on her team.  Because of the lack of snow around Duluth, her second scheduled race, the John Beargrease 103 mile mid distance race was also threatened to be canceled.  The race officials wisely decided to move the race trail further north to stay in the high hills of the Sawtooth Mountains where there was more snow rather than cancel the race or postpone it till possibly March.

I would have to say that the folks spearheading and running the Beargrease Race have done an EXCELLENT job in the planning and preparation for this race.  I can't imagine all the time and energy that has been freely given to make this race happen.  I also commend them on all their effort to make sure the dogs and mushers are safe throughout the trails. 

This Beargrease was more enjoyable than any of the past Beargrease races we've participated in for several reasons.  The weather was above zero with very little wind except for the blizzard conditions for about seven hours at the end.  The Black Bear Casino gave us two free nights in their spacious hotel rooms which was extremely generous.   The vet checks for the dogs, race meeting, gala banquet and bib draw were all located at the Black Bear Casino which was so convenient and relaxing.  We had two super duper dog handler helpers in Ron and Leah Bailey who were with us the whole way through the race.  Leah had a dog team of her own years ago, so knew exactly what to do to assist Joanna at the checkpoints when she came in with the dogs and when she left.  Ron graciously did all the heavy work and quickly learned how to handle the dogs as well.  We got to visit and spend time with lots of friends and the good Lord kept us safe in all our travels. 

 Two wonderful guests and friends, Cory and Nancy Prissel, who stay with us at Agimac River Outfitters in the summer to fish surprised us by coming to the Finland checkpoint.  They wanted to see Joanna come in on the trail and their timing was perfect.  About fifteen minutes before she arrived, they hiked up the trail and saw her come flying into the checkpoint.  Once all the mushers were in, we realized Joanna was in the top four.  That was exciting , but there were still two more 30-35 mile legs of the race to complete.  I realized that I hadn't brought enough food for Joanna to eat (though she typically has not felt like eating much after doing so much running up the hills) and Cory and Nancy came to the rescue.  They produced a pile of sandwiches and a bag of cheese curds for us and stayed all three and a half hours till Joanna left that checkpoint, helping us get the dogs up to the starting line.

The next checkpoint at Sawbill was more rustic.  There was no building to go into to get warm or to use a modern bathroom or purchase food as in Finland.   After feeding and bedding down the dogs, Joanna sat in the front seat of the car with the heater on to try to warm up and to get some sleep.  I stayed awake all night to keep an eye on the dogs and try to think of anything else I needed to do to help Joanna and the team.  At about 3 o'clock I walked over to the tent where the time keeper was to see what time Joanna could leave the checkpoint after figuring her start differential.  I was surprised to hear that she was in third place.

It began snowing rather heavily about 1 am and continued on till about 8 am.  Joanna took off from Sawbill with one less dog who needed to be dropped because of a mild injury and Ron and Leah and I drove our vehicles over to the finish line.  Frank Holmberg left the last checkpoint just one minute after Joanna.  He soon passed her on the trail and ended up getting second place.  Joanna also passed a girl who was in first place at the checkpoint, so she was still able to maintain the third place position which was the best she has ever done at Beargrease.  We were all very pleased with the results and are looking forward to her next race in Marquette, MI the middle of February.

Note:  Pic # 1 Start of race;  pics #2 and 3 at Finland checkpoint with Cory and Nancy Prissel; pics # 4 and 7 coming in to the finish;  pic# 5 at end of race;  pic # 6 handlers Ron and Leah Bailey; pic # 8 In this picture of Joanna holding her award, she is standing next to Mike Keyport, the great grandson of John Beargrease.  The reason the race is named after John Beargrease is because he was a native who delivered mail by dogsled along the north shore of Minnesota for almost 20 years between 1879 and 1899.   Every musher received a leather mailbag with mail and was officially sworn in as mail carriers for the race in honor of John Beargrease.

 I thought you would also enjoy Joanna's comments on her race:

I had a super fun time at Beargrease this year, the trails were fast and fun, the weather was pleasant and above zero for a change, the wonderful company and help of my super awesome handling crew of my mom, Leah and her husband Ron (they were on top of things and were a HUGE help, THANK YOU!) and I had a nice group of dogs ahead of me! Always a great time visiting with all our mushing friends before, during and after the race!! A big plus was seeing some great longtime friends show up at the first checkpoint!!! This was my best Beargrease placing ever with a 3rd place finish with seven dogs! Sure was a fun, fast and wild ride, although the last leg I felt like I was mushing blindfolded with my glasses half fogged up (I need them for seeing the turn signs long distance at night:) and the blizzard-like conditions of driving snow rather blinding in the glare of my headlamp. I have to admit its my least fav conditions to run dogs as I hate when I can't see. I focused on watching my leaders flashing red light on his collar so I could tell if he was going down I needed to get on the drag pad, or if he went up I prepared to run. Didn't even see the long branch poking out from a tree til it hit my forehead and swiped off my headlamp, leaving me in instant darkness. By the time I got the team stopped, my headlamp (still on) was too far behind me to risk leaving my team so I quick strapped on my spare and hoped someone would pick it up and return it to me at the end of the race. I had a feeling my friend Leanne would be the one to pick it up and turns out she did! She said she thought it was probably mine as we have the same headlamp:) I nominated her for the Sportsmanship award and she won it:) A big congrats to Martha and her awesome team who won and Frank for his super 2nd place finish, wonderful friends and competitors:) Thanks to my dad for all his help training and to my wonderful dogs who powered me up the hills:) Team for Beagrease this year (a couple of changes with some dogs out of the race healing up from injuries) was Hawk and Viva in lead the whole race, Vader, Vapor, Venture, Swift, Tango and Vashti. They did a super job.