dogs

Fur Rondy Time!

February 25, 2012 by robertforto Leave a Comment

The Forto clan is at the Fur Rondy in downtown Anchorage. We watched the start of the sprint sled dog races.

It still amazes me that these guys run up to 20 dogs on little tiny sleds with not much of a brake.

They wouldn’t be able to use the brake anyway. Contrary to popular belief there is not tons of snow packed on the streets, even with the 100 or so inches this winter of the white stuff, they still truck in loads of snow on 4th.

Other events are a weight pull, a carnival, a snowboarding demo, outhouse races, running with the reindeer (next weekend), and poker tourneys at The Peanut Farm.

What is the Rondy you ask? This is what Anchorage was founded on. In the early days the fur traders would converge on this port city to trade their furs with the folks that would take them to far off lands. Of course the sled dog races have been an integral part of this too–since the 40s–with some of the greatest dog drivers in the sport’s history. Names like Doc Lombard, Huntington, Attla, and Joee Redingtion, among others.

These days some of the best mushers in the world compete in the races: The Kormullers, Ellis, Chezik, and Greg Sellentin, the publisher of Mushing Magazine running the Rondy as a rookie in the field of 24.

We grabbed lunch at Phyllis’s Salmon Bake and sat next to none other than “Lord Trapper” in his fancy $3500 fur parka and sportin’ a sash and a staff. Very cool.

The Iditarod circus starts here next week so this was a great primer…

Is it Sacrilege for Men to Wear Uggs?

February 23, 2012 by robertforto Leave a Comment

Yep, I am a full grown man and while I have owned a pair or two of Uggs in my lifetime, I am not afraid to sport them around town. Heck, if Tom Brady (New England Patriots quarterback) can be their spokesman I guess its okay, right?

In fact I found something WAY cooler than the Australian slippers that are all the rave. They are Cabela’s Alaskan Guide Sneakers.

I just got them in the mail yesterday and can honestly say they are now my favorite pair of shoes.

If you don’t know by now, it gets cold in Alaska. Dang cold. We were minus 25 degrees for almost a month this winter and if we believe a groundhog in Pennsylvania we are not done with winter yet.

While I doubt they will replace my Neo’s or mukluks on the sled dog trail they will work great for working around the property, hauling wood, plugging in the truck, or trips to Wasilly.

I would highly recommend any guy buy a pair of these. You won’t be disappointed. Just make sure you order your true shoe size as they run a little big.

Team Ineka at the Sled Dog Stampede (robertforto.com)

Serum Run Boot Camp 2012: Hot to Trot. Part 1

February 13, 2012 by robertforto 5 Comments

If one phase can sum up the 2012 Serum Run Boot Camp it would have to be:

Too Hot to Trot

It was unseasonably warm this past weekend and it played havoc on our plans for the serum run boot camp. Well not really. We all had a great time. The organizers will be the first to tell you that an event like this prides itself on being very fluid in their plans.

We were and we made it work.

After submitting our applications way back around Christmas and being selected in mid-January, I was ready for this weekend, no matter what it entailed.

We had a great group of participants: six dog teams and seven snowmachiners. This small group of mostly veterans of past serum runs was the perfect mix for a weekend on the rivers of South Central, Alaska. Being a rookie I was looking forward to listening and learning from the folks that have done this before.

I have run the river on several occasions but mostly just up to Yentna Station and back without much planning or preparation. This is the same route that we did this weekend but with a bit more logistics. I had no idea just how much gear it took to just run 35 miles.

It all started on Thursday evening with us packing and preparing for the weekend. I know I packed like a rookie in terms of food and drink but I packed a little too light on things that mattered. I forgot my shovel and enough trash bags and I should have brought at least one extra snack for the dogs.

Friday evening we all met at Eagelquest Lodge in Willow and had a dinner or ham and potatoes, baked beans, rolls and M&M cookies. My wife, Michele and daughter, Nicole, came along to support me in this adventure. It was why we moved to Alaska for goodness sake.

After dinner we had a meeting about the next day’s event’s, the trail, and our itneniary before retiring to our cabins for the evening.

The little cabin slept 5 and I took one of the twin beds upstairs. We stayed up late talking and telling mushing stories. I slept well sans the blaring night light. We had a meeting at 8:30 back at the lodge so we had to be ready to go by 10 am.

On Saturday morning it was pretty warm. About 28 degrees or so when we dropped the dogs from the dog trucks and gave them a quick meal.

After a nice breakfast of cinnamon rolls and juice we decided that the first teams would be out at 11:00 and we headed out to pack our gear.

I was third to go out and the run from Eaglequest to Luce’s lodge was a bevy of passing and playing “tag” with Joe’s Screaming Huskies team. I finally pulled ahead after Joe stopped for a few minutes.

At about mile 20 I stopped to snack the dogs with fish and noticed that Marble, my six year old Siberian, refused to eat it. She laid down and started dipping snow. Being the thickest coated dog on the team I could tell she was hot. We rested for a few and trudged on the the sugary, sometimes very deep snow, on the Yentna River.

In this part of Alaska they have had at least five feet of snow and the river is virtually a highway for the people that live along the banks and the 100s of snow machines training and racing along the river a break neck speeds.

At Luce’s lodge Marble quit on me and didn’t want to have any part of this game any longer. I loaded her up in the sled bag and away we went. Our snow machines carry all of our gear as well as a dog crate to carry a dog should they become injured, sick or otherwise quit.

Being so close to Yentna Station I didn’t see any snow machine support and rather than wait I decided to make Marble comfortable in the bag. I secured her with a neckline and left he flap open so she could stick her head out and enjoy the ride.

By the time I got going again I could see two other teams about 1/4 to 1/2 mile behind me so I knew if I had to stop again they would be there to help if I needed it.

The Serum Run and the boot camp is not a race. We are out there to help each other. That is the beauty of this type of an event.

We arrived at Yentna Station in 3 hours 40 minutes. Not bad in the warm weather and punchy conditions. I have done this run in as long as five hours so, not a bad run at all.

The “trail breaker” snow machines were already there and had already set up places for us to camp our dogs. Being first in I would be first out in the morning.

I immediately started my chores.

Dogs first in mushing. That’s just how we roll.

More to come…