Iditarod Veteran Karen Ramstead Presentation

Iditarod Veteran Karen Ramstead of North Wapiti Kennels in Perryvale, AB,will present her "Tales from the Trail" at the Siberian Husky National Specialty in Provo, Utah on October 2nd 2012.

Help replacing stolen donations for animal rescue

Our friend Gina runs Animal Crackers Pet Rescue in Laguna Beach CA. She pours her heart and soul, not to mention time and money, into giving dogs, cats, birds and many more animals a second or third chance at finding a great home. Our latest addition "Buddy" also came from Gina. This morning, someone stole the donation box for the rescue animals off her store counter! Please help trying to replace those donations and keep Gina's rescue efforts ongoing. Thank you very, very much!!!

Give

Just announced: La Pine Mushing Weekend 2012

Time flies...
Karen Yeargain of Tumnatki Siberians in Prineville, OR has just announced the dates for the annual La Pine Mushing Weekend at La Pine State Park in Oregon:

Once again, it’s time to announce our yearly “fun-for-all” mushing weekend at La Pine State Park, in La Pine, Oregon.

This year’s event is scheduled for the second weekend of November, which falls on the 10th,11th & 12th (Saturday - Monday). Some of us will arrive the afternoon of Friday the 9th, to get settled in.

We will be hoping for damp trails and cool temps, but no snow. This event is a dirt run, so plan on carts, quads, bikes and scooters. Runs will be arranged to provide a variety of training opportunities, including passing (from behind and head on), team weaving, directional command training, hills, etc. There is quite a variety of nice dirt trails to choose from. The event is open to anyone regardless of mushing style and experience (or lack thereof); bikejoring and scootering teams are welcome. Trails are suitable for all functions unless we get a surprise dump of snow that makes them dangerous for bikes or scooters.

Organized runs will be on Saturday and Sunday mornings; meet for breakfast at the conference lodge at 6:30 am or at the meadow about 7:30. (This is subject to change if the weather looks to be on the warm side.) The staging area is in the big meadow about 1/8th mile before South Loop of the campground.

The event has the use of the meeting hall on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (until 1 pm on Monday). It has a refrigerator/freezer, microwave, sink with hot/cold running water, tables and a heater.

We will have a potluck meal on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at about 2 pm; other meals will be informal potluck at the participants’ discretion…. We never lack for enough good food!

I will again be asking for donations to help defray the $235 cost of the meeting hall.

Campsites at La Pine State Park are suitable for tents or R.V.’s; all have electrical hookups and water (if the weather hasn’t gotten too cold and the Park has shut off the water at the sites). Bathrooms with shower facilities (included in camping fee) are in our immediate area; bring your own towels and toiletries. Campsites are first-come-first-served; there are plenty of spots and the State Park will open the adjacent Loop if needed.

There are five “rustic” cabins (two double futons, a table, electricity and heat) and five “deluxe” cabins (two double futons in separate rooms, toilet/shower, heat, running water, microwave, fridge, barbecue). (All of the deluxe cabins and some of the rustic ones have already been booked by returning mushers who are getting savvy to my scheduling…. J  ) There are no dogs allowed in the cabins unless designated as pet friendly. THIS IS IMPORTANT DUE TO FUTURE CAMPERS WHO MIGHT HAVE ALLERGIES.  

Nearby motels are the Timbercrest Inn (541-536-17370) and the Newberry Station/Best Western (541-536-5130). There are a couple of other smaller motels, but the parking lots are tiny and border the Hwy.

Remember that there may be non-dog campers at the Park, so manage your teams to have them reasonably quiet. Be sure to pick up your site and fill in your holes before you leave at the end of the weekend.

Please let me know if you are planning to attend so that I may organize the event well and be able to provide updates as we get closer to November.

Questions, please e-mail me directly at tumnatki@earthlink.net

Please cross-post and pass along to person or list that would be interested.

Karen Yeargain

541-410-8475

Tumnatki Siberians

Arctis Carts featured in Yahoo's Urban Mushing Video

Recently, a crew from Yahoo's Animal Nation webcast stopped by our local southern CA urban mushing group to shoot a video about the sport.
They spent an entire morning filming and interviewing our "leader of the pack" Rancy, and host Bridget even got to run a 6-dog team with one of our carts.

Here is the video:

...and when we're not out making videos, we're in the shop building carts like this one:

This is our first two-tone powder coat paint job. By customer request, it's "reflectra candy red" and "matte black" with red anodized wheels. Our paint shop "Embee Performance" did once again a great job!

With a rather snowless winter in many parts of the country, we've been busy filling orders and are currently booked into June.
There are also a couple of new and exciting projects lined up for the summer, so now might actually be a good time to think about a new cart for fall training.
Please feel free to contact us and inquire about our cart availability and delivery schedule.

OC Pet Expo & Dana Point Wag-A-Thon

'tis that time of year again for dog folks in southern California.

Orange County Pet Expo is coming up Friday April 20th - Sunday April 22nd in Costa Mesa CA.

Our friends at Alpine Outfitters will have a booth at the event and will have harnesses, lines, collars etc available for sale. Here's your chance to meet the folks behind the operation and get your mushing gear straight from the source.

Their booth # is 1480 (building 14) and they will be close to the Alaskan Malamute booth.

Another booth to check out is Canvas Pet, supplier of organic and environmentally conscious pet products. Their booth # is 734 in the "breezeway" between building 14 and 16.

Also at the pet expo, our friends at Husky Camp Siberian Husky Rescue, booth 119 outdoors.

Please say hello while you're there.

One week later, it's the 19th annual Dana Point Wag-A-Thon, presented the Pet Project Foundation benefiting the Dana Point/ San Clemente Animal Shelter.

The good folks at Three Dog Bakery San Clemente will provide treat bags for your furry friend(s). That alone should be enough motivation to make the trip out that way :-)

Upcoming Dryland Mushing Events

'Tis the season to keep us busy in the shop and away from updating the blog.

Thanks to all our customers for their support!

The first dryland events are coming up within days, after this odd winter most of us had. No snow in most areas, late snow for some folks, and tons of snow in Alaska.

On Sat 3/31 & Sun 4/1 Pacific Sled Dog and Skijor Association is holding its 4th annual "Mush without Slush" in Sisters, OR. www.psdsa.org/Races/MushWithoutSlush.aspx

Sat 4/28 & Sun 4/29 Northwest Sleddog Association's "Spring Fling" in Cle Elum, WA

www.nwsda.org

Mon 5/7 - Sun 5/13 Quinault Malamute's "Malapaloosa" in Ovando, MT

http://run4thered.blogspot.com/2012/03/malapaloosa-2012.html

At this point we are pretty much booked until mid-May. For information about our carts please click here , and to place an order please contact us.

2012 Yukon Quest results and Iditarod preview

The 2012 Yukon Quest is in the books.

Veteran musher Hugh Neff won the 1000 mile race by a mere 26 seconds ahead of Allen Moore...how amazing is that!?

Our friend Brent Sass and his Wild & Free team finished in 5th place and the 2nd Wild & Free team with Kyla Durham finished 11th.

Another friend of ours, Mike Ellis and his team of Siberian Huskies unfortunately had to scratch, after Mike got injured on the trail. Here's to a quick recovery, Mike!

Another notable story is Russian musher Michael Telpin and his team of Chuckchi Huskies. While most, if not all, other teams started with 14 dogs, he started and finished the race with 9. Yes, he won the coveted "red lantern" award, but he and his team did an amazing job.

Congratulations to all mushers, dog teams, handlers and organizers! Great job!

Now we're just a few days away from the 2012 Iditarod in Alaska.

Our friend Brent Sass and his Wild & Free dogs are at the start for their first Iditarod ever!

An Iditarod veteran, and also a very good friend of ours, Karen Ramstead and her team of "Pretty Sled Dogs" is back for their 10th "last great race".

We'll be following the race closely on the computer right here in southern California, and wishing our friends and all other competitors good luck!