Some Politics

With apologies to all of you that do not live within the County of Athabasca, but time is of the essence in getting the word out on this!!

If you live within the County, I am pleading with you to contact your County Council BEFORE FRIDAY to ask them to vote down this proposed Dog Bylaw until one that can address the needs of all county residents can be drafted.
Or if you have come to the County in the past to visit our kennel and approved of what you saw, also feel free to contact the councilors and tell them so!

You can find their emails addresses and other contact information at http://www.athabascacounty.com/ (click on 'County Council').

Here is the letter I have sent to them -

My name is Karen Ramstead and I am a 12 year resident of the County of Athabasca. For those entire 12 years we have shared our home with in excess of 50 purebred Siberian Husky sled dogs.

I am currently up in Alaska with 24 of my dogs preparing for my 9th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race but was recently made aware of a Dog Bylaw that the County is proposing. I have read through the Bylaw and have numerous concerns about the need for the Bylaw, the research and consultation that has gone into the proposal, and the consideration given myself and others that have been responsibility operating kennels in the County for years.

As the Bylaw stands I see that no consideration has been given to sled dog kennels, of which there at least 2 currently operating within the County. Most sled dogs are kept on stake out chains and housed under guidelines set forth by MUSH with PRIDE (www.mushwithpride.org), an international organization that sets standards and guidelines for responsibly housing for and caring for sled dogs. Many of the conditions proposed in the County Bylaw are in conflict with these researched and well thought out internationally accepted guidelines.


Our kennel has been recognized on a international level for it's dog care. Yearly we welcome visitors from all over North America and around the world that are interested in our dogs, our kennel situation and our dog care. To have a Bylaw officer with likely little experience with sled dogs now passing judgment and able to insist on changes to our set up seems rather ridiculous.

In addition, the requirement for kennels being a certain distance from property lines would require us to spend thousands of dollars and countless work re situating our dogs, even though we are surrounded by 'green land' on all sides that the dogs are close to.

I urge all to vote against this proposed Bylaw. If there are concerns on dog ownership in the County, by all means we need to address them, but lets to it in a responsible and well thought out way that addresses the needs of all of us that call Athabasca home.

If anyone would like to discuss this with me further, I can be reached in Alaska at 907 351 6197 or via email at northwapiti@xplornet.com

In closing I find it rather ironic that in my last blog (www.northwapiti.blogspot.com) before leaving for Alaska I wrote fondly about the friendliness of my community and how lucky I was to call it home - and at the very same time our County Councilors were basically stabbing me in the back by quietly pushing through this ridiculous and over controlling Bylaw.



Sincerely,

Karen Ramstead
NorthWapiti Kennels
www.northwapiti.com

I'm Keeping It In Perspective..

... There is good news today and that is that in the long run X will be fine. In the short term though, there is bad news. He is going to need surgery and alot of time off running.
Looks like he tore a tendon today during our run. It's unknown at this time whether it is partial or totally torn, but either way he will not be seeing a harness again this season.
After we got back from the vet today it was too late to research some surgery options, but I will do that tomorrow. Apparently no vet in Fairbanks can do it. Anchorage has a clinic that can, but it might make more sense to fly him home with Mark and Jenny later this month. We will see...

There was no traumatic injury, just probably a misstep or some such thing. It isn't unheard of in the sled dog world, but it isn't really common either.

X is pretty much his same happy self. He doesn't seem to be in much pain, but we have him on some painkillers just to make sure. He is eating, moving around (mostly on three legs) and wagging his tail.

He will be sadly missed on the team this season, but he tells me this is just a blip in the amazing career he has stretching before him. My most 'X-cellent Dude' is a wise dog, so I choose to believe him.

Karen

Fancy Seeing You Here!

When I'm at home in Perryvale, it is rare for me to run into folks I know when running errands or away from the kennel.

I spend a fair amount of time away from home - and when I'm home I'm usually busy with dog stuff, so I don't have a big social circle in the Perryvale area.

Sure, Rhonda at the post office knows me, but she knows everyone. I once stood in the Store/Post office next to two women discussing the fact that 'Karen Ramstead - that woman' that runs the Iditarod lived in Perryvale. With hair sticking in 10 directions, holes in my sweatpants, and a dog hair covered sweatshirt on (hey, Perryvale is small, you hardly ever run into anyone in the post office) I declined to introduce myself.

Thanks to the newspaper and local radio station, lots of folks in the area know about us and what we are doing, but the only time they have actually maybe put a face to it is when I'm bundled up on the back of an ATV on a training run, so they really don't 'know' me to see me.

And then we come to Alaska!!!

We headed out for our first run here in Two Rivers on Sunday. About 7 miles into the run we did a head on pass with another team. "Hi Karen".
A few miles later we ran into not only another musher I know - but a dog I know too - friend Mike Ellis with former NW dog Boom in his team (I pulled to a stop next to Boom and said a quick 'hi'. He wagged his tail and briefly nuzzled my fingers, but then turned his nose back down the trail. He was working!!)
Moments later I pulled over to let a fast traveling team by. The musher stopped and said "Is that you Karen??" It was Tom Lesatz, a fellow Iditarod musher. We chatted for a moment or two before the dogs all started to fuss and it was time to get going again.

I miss home, but it is good to be back among friends!! (with no disrespect intended to that friends that I do have back in Perryvale, of course!)

Karen

Greetings From Two Rivers!!!

Well, we arrived in Two Rivers on Friday night.
The drive chasing that big blue moon up the Alaska Highway was completely uneventful! We saw a lot of wildlife - mostly moose, caribou, and elk - but for 2 moose near Delta, AK all of it was safely off the road!!
The border crossing was one of the fastest I've had in years! The only thing of issue to them was the straw in the dog boxes. The insisted on inspecting that, so Crunchie was nice enough to charm the US Customs Guard with tail wags and happy wiggles while she looked for 'noxious weeds' in his bedding. There were none - I'm far more concerned with seed heads and such being around my dogs then she will ever be about them getting into her country!

There were a few little challenges to the drive because of our timing over New Year's Eve and New Years Day - but thanks to some planning and generosity by our friends Lee and Tim we had a place to sleep each night, diesel for the truck and food in our bellies!!!
Actually, we have been 'regulars' at Fast Freddies in Tok for the last number of years, but they were closed January 1st, so we tried out a new (to us) restaurant in Tok - the Grouchy Grizzly (I know, how appropriate for Mark to eat there!) - it was fantastic. Lots of great home cooked food (including fabulous homemade biscuits and a nice little salad bar) - so much in fact, none of us were able to clean our plates!!

I realize that I might have forgotten to mention that our niece, Jenny (Mark's older brother's middle child!) is along for the this trip. We were surprised and quite delighted when she mentioned she would be interested in handling for us for the drive up and the Copper Basin. We are enjoying her company (even though she spent most of the trip buried in the back seat of the truck with her headphones on trying to block out her uncle's slight strange music choices on the satellite radio!!) and she is proving to be a very good worker!!


Yesterday was spent getting the truck unpack, dogs completely settled in, a trip to Fairbanks for groceries, some visiting (I will at some point have to get a picture of my 'hennaed' hand by Georganne on the blog. Amazing the things I sometimes get myself talked into - but it does look cool - and no fear Mom, it will only last 3 weeks or so!!), etc, etc.

It looks like Muzzy's Place is going to be a great fit for us this winter!! Jan's place is great and she has lots of room for us and the dogs.

I sadly have not taken one picture - but you all know that will change!

Today we are going to explore the trails a bit on snowmachines and then head out on a run. Can't wait!!

The dogs can see me working on the computer from their yard and I hear a bit of fussing out there now. I think they are telling me to get off the 'flashy box' and to get them fed!! Goodness knows I best not brush them off!!!

In closing I have this great quote I found on New Years resolutions!!


"Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself."
-Aisha Elderwyn

Happy New Year!
Karen

Alaska here we come ! (by Richard)

Trigger was not amused when I suggested maybe we could try and enter
next year's races.
Dew just thought I was a mad !

Musher Tracking (by Kara)

The musher and the racing crew are traveling to Alaska, a trip I've made many times during my career, and no, even for a semi-truck full of Dentastix I won't reveal who actually went this time.

As most of you know, the musher was trying to come up with some new technological way to keep all of her fans apprised of her whereabouts and doings.

In past years her attempts were downright silly and too heavy to pull. She even considered using spotters on the trail to radio in her status and updates, but there weren't that many volunteers who wanted to camp out on the Iditarod trail and those that did... well, lets just say we're still waiting to find some of them and the others now have nicknames like "2-fingers" and "stumpy".

The problem with having a way to communicate is that it can't be too heavy and it has to tolerate the cold well. Its not like there are electrical sockets out in the middle of frozen Alaska, and typing on a keyboard with mittens usually just causes more confusion than its worth, so Twitter was out of the question (and if you haven't noticed, when the musher gets to typing, that 140 character limit goes right out the door).

So, facing all of these daunting requirements, I did a google search and then made a call to some friends I have in the Parks and Recreation department (cuz in retirement, I'm all about the recreation) and they actually had the perfect solution.

Lightweight, long battery life, able to withstand brutally cold temperatures and water.

Now everyone can keep track of her wanderings. For some reason she wasn't too thrilled with the ear tag.

Kara

Alberta Bound

Wednesday when I climbed off the ATV in the afternoon I had logged 1764.5 miles on it around the 'neighborhood' since the end of summer.





I watched alot of sunsets and a few sunrises. We passed loose dogs, loose horses, loose cows and a fair amount of wildlife. The highlight of the wildlife was definitely the wolverine encounter a month or so back!
I watched hay fields ripen, get harvested, and baled. Watched the tamaracks go from green to golden to snow covered. Watched all the locals - from squirrels to ranchers - prepare for the hard season ahead.







Many thanks to all my neighbors that are so patient and kind around the teams. Almost all slowing down, most waving and a number stopping to chat. It never fails to make me smile when a neighbor stops (as happened on my Wednesday run) and says "You must be Karen!", tell me they follow our races, and wish us the best this winter.


Two of my bigger fans!

I am lucky in that I get to travel around Canada and the US in my 'job'. I am often in awe of the landscapes that I travel through - by vehicle and dogteam - but none move me like my home does. Yeah, there are other places I love - and could even live in - but I think in my heart I will always be an Alberta girl. It's not just the land - which is so varied and wonderful - but it's the people and the 'feel' of it all. Warm, welcoming and friendly!!

So as we point the dog truck north again, know that I am looking very forward to our winter, but from the second the wheels roll over the Alberta/BC border I am really just "Alberta Bound" again.