Last Days at Baisley Lodges

The sled dog team: Zoe and Acadia (lead), T-Bone (team), Sobo and Okemo (wheel)

Post Can Am Crown dog sled races, our last days of our northern dog sledding adventures at Baisley Lodges were spent skijoring (see earlier blog entries) and exploring various dog sledding trails alone and with our host, Gino Roussel and his team of (Can Am finishing) sled dogs. Over our second week, we ran the Ten Mile Excavator Loop, the Five Mile Excavator Loop, the Tadpole (in the reverse direction), and we skiied and skijored several days. Photographs (our team photographer is sled dog dad, Eric Benson) from some of these runs are below.

Brr...it's cold out here

Another gorgeous day on the trail

Interesting lighting

All told, for our trip north, we spent three days in Harmony, Maine at the Lumberjack Lodges and two wonderful weeks at Baisley Lodges exploring the trails in the surrounding areas. We logged approximately 150 miles with the dogs either on the sled or skijoring. We also snowshoed, cross country skiied, attended the Can Am Crown Sled Dog races, had a wonderful dinner at Chez Charlotte in Edmunston, dined by the fire at Baisley Lodges with several Canadian and US mushers after the Can Am, and visited the Edmundston library to check email and post blog entries.

Excavator Ten: Here we come!

Leaving the Excavator's lot

As many of you know, this was our second season visiting Baisley Lodges in St. Jacques, NB and we highly recommend it to both mushers and non mushers. The trails that Gino grooms in (with his prized Skandic) are excellent and total well over 100 miles in length. The variety of trails and scenery is simply stunning (as you can see in the photos throughout our recent blog entries). Distances range from the five mile Lynch Mountain Trail to thirty plus mile trails. Trail mileage is never a problem. There is very little snow mobile traffic. Last year, during a full seven days of visiting Baisley Lodges, we saw one snow mobile the entire time. This year, we saw two snowmobiles during our two full weeks at Baisley Lodges, both on a weekend run. Running early in the morning on the weekends is advised to minimize contact with snowmobiles. The two snowmobiles that we encounter while running the team were very polite and slowed way down and gave the team a wide berth as they passed.

Love these big mushers' mitts

Five little sled dogs (and shockingly I can see them all)

Gliding over a silent trail, behind a team of hard working sled dogs, listening as the birds call, animals rustle in the woods, and watching for animal tracks along the trail. This is the life we love.

Riding the runners

Down the big hill

Returning to the Excavator Trail Head

Skijoring Fiend: What I like about Skijoring

Skijoring in Canada with T-Bone and Okemo

This blog entry is by guest blogger, chief poop scooper, occasional musher, and T-Bone's dad, Eric Benson. As many of you know, Eric's hobby is photography and Eric is the photographer of nearly all of the stunning photographs on this blog and on the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC website. Eric has photographed everything from weddings to dog sled races to heavy equipment and machinery. For more information on Eric Benson Photography including rates and availability, email Eric at eric@marylanddogsledding.com. In addition to his duties as photographer, musher and poop scooper, Eric is an Associate Professor in the Bioresources Engineering and Animal and Food Science Departments at the University of Delaware.

Eric R. Benson Photography

Since my wife, Catherine, and I began dog sledding approximately seven years ago, we have tried canicross (running), canicross (hiking), bikjoring, scootering, dryland (wheeled) dog sledding, and, of course, dog sledding on snow.

Catherine skijoring through the trees with Acadia

So which dog powered sport is my favorite?

My favorite option is skijoring with two dogs. Skijoring is cross country skiing while a dog or dogs pull you. I enjoy skijoring because it’s a shared experience between the dog(s) and the skiier and the dogs really seem to enjoy it. Skijoring is also particularly appropriate for small (1-2) dog teams. In skijoring, the skier can easily help to provide additional power to go up hills and help the dogs as they get tired. Catherine and I often skijor as an activity in conjunction with dog sledding to help keep the dogs limber or when a couple of the sled dogs need a rest. Skijoring also allows us to work one on one with one to two dogs refreshing basic commands such as gee, haw, on by, and line out.

For skijoring (as with all other dog powered sports), the dogs wear a harness designed for pulling. Catherine and I use traditional x-back harnesses on the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs. The skier wears a padded belt (waist or diaper style) and the dogs are attached by a special one to two dog line of approximately 8-9 feet in length. The line has a built in shock absorber to help to take some of the impact off the dogs and skier during stopping and starting. The skier wears cross country skis, boots and uses ski poles.

Me (Eric) skijoring with Okemo and Sobo in New York

Okemo and Sobo demonstrating line out.

Sled puppy, Acadia, has taken to skijoring like a fish to water

The surprising thing about how much I enjoy skijoring is that until recently, I was not a big downhill or cross country skier. Since I was more of a snowboarder than a skier, I have had to quickly learn to ski. While much of my training has occurred while strapped in behind one of our sled dogs, conventional wisdom is that it is helpful to be an intermediate skier or better before skijoring. In particular, I have spent a lot of time learning the art of stopping, slowing down (aka the “snowplow”), and various aspects of falling with dignity (aka the very important “getting up out of a snow bank” move). Thankfully, given my experiences snowboarding, I was already proficient in the “sit on your butt in the snow” skill. As I have become a better skier and thus a better skijorer and have grown more comfortable with skis strapped to my feet, my style of skijoring has evolved.

Skijoring through the pines on the Excavator trail in New Brunswick with Okemo and T-Bone

When I started skijoring, I wanted to be in control at all times. I wanted the dogs to move at my pace. No easy feat when my pace was snail like slow and our dogs are mostly 10-12 MPH dogs once they reach their cruising speed. And while 10-12 MPH might sound slow on paper, trust me when I say it feels pretty fast on skis. Starts were even more harrowing as the dogs would reach speeds of 17-20 MPH in the first mile or so. As my skills developed, I soon learned that an important part of skijoring was learning to “embrace my inner speed demon” and letting the dogs ride out the sections where they wanted to go faster. It was much more effective and controlled than trying to snowplow the entire way. Occasionally, we joke that skijoring is like water skiing behind a fast boat that chases squirrels.

Skijoring: Exploring new trails

That brings me to another point. For skijoring, the commands on by, whoa and line out are probably three of the most important commands we use. When dog sledding or dryland dog sledding, you can rely on the drag or bar brake on your sled to slow or stop you or the brakes on your rig to slow you down or stop you. When skijoring, your ability to fully stop a determined, hard driving and hard pulling dog, is fairly limited. Thus, the importance of those three basic commands: whoa, on by and line out.

Okemo, our big white Siberian Husky – Akita mix, is one of my favorite skijoring partners. Okemo is one of my favorite partners in everything we do, but that’s a different story. Okemo loves to skijor and you can see it in his facial expressions and his reactions on the trail. He gets into his big loping stride and starts to race down the trail. Okemo has proven to be a hard working dog for dryland dog sledding and dog sledding, but when skijoring, Okemo will race whoever he is next to! Okemo’s favorite time to race the other dogs is when skijoring DOWN HILL! The bigger the hill, the better (and faster) the race.

My favorite skijoring partner, Okemo (looking deceptively calm here)

Catherine skijoring down a hill in Tug Hill with Okemo

Okemo puts a lot of muscle into skijoring

During our trip north to Canada, Okemo and I have gone skijoring several times. Our night skijor in Harmony, Maine, sticks out as a particularly memorable (ok, so possibly a more appropriate word would be terrifying) skijor. At the early stages of the trip, the dogs had spent a lot of time in their dog boxes in the truck. For those of you who are mushers, you know that this results in shall I say, excited dogs. I decided to take Okemo and Acadia out on the trails around Lumberjack Lodges where we were staying one evening after dark. In hindsight, this was possibly not the best idea since the Lumberjack trails were new to us.

Often when dog sledding, we use our headlamps. While both Catherine and I have headlamps, our headlamps are set up for different tasks. Catherine’s headlamp is intended for driving the team and has both LED’s and a brighter main beam. Since I primarily handle (musher jargon for assist) for the team and work with equipment, my headlamp has short rage LED’s. During my “Midnight Run” in Maine, the beam of my headlamp illuminated only a few feet past Acadia and Okemo’s head. As we set out on the trail, we immediately hit a downhill section of the trail. What did Okemo do? Start to race Acadia downhill! So we start going faster and faster downhill in an area where I can’t see what is ahead of me. Talk about trusting your lead dogs! After setting a new two lap NASCAR qualifying time around the Harmony course (including a couple of pit stops where it was more about off loading vs. getting new tires), we arrived back at our cabin, safe and secure. This is why I love skijoring. Tired, we fed the dogs dinner and everyone slept soundly that night.

Catherine skijoring with Acadia in Canada

A week or so later, we had a more sedate (and slightly more illuminated) skijor run at Baisley Lodges in St. Jacques, New Brunswick. This time, Catherine and I set out together. While Catherine skijored with Acadia, I skijored with Okemo and our smallest dog, T-Bone. We traveled approximately four miles, stopping often to enjoy the scenery and take photographs (my other favorite hobby besides dog sledding and skijoring). A good time was had by all. Again, this is why I love skijoring.

Pulling hard: Acadia and Catherine skijor in Canada

Birch trees along the trail

Dog Sledding Adventures: Lynch Mountain, the Tadpole, and the High Plateau Trails

On the trail at Baisley Lodges

As we begin our second week in Canada, the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs, Eric and I have enjoyed several wonderful dog sledding trips and adventures on the trails here in New Brunswick and Quebec. With so many great trips to recount, I’ll be keeping each of these blog entries quite short (lest I spend the rest of the trip here at the Edmundston library and not out on the trails with the dogs).

Riding on the dog sled

Okemo: Harnessed and ready to go

After a day of rest on Thursday, the sled dogs and I headed out to run the very hilly Lynch Mountain trail. While Gino had given me a preview of this trail on Monday after we arrived from the back of the snowmobile, the blizzard conditions that day were not conducive to me remembering much of the terrain.

Zoe and Sobo demonstrate "line out"

After my “swim” through chin deep snow earlier the week, snow shoes were a required piece of equipment on this dog sled adventure. For this run, we harnessed Acadia and Zoe in lead, T-Bone in team, and Sobo and Okemo in wheel.

Snowshoes are loaded on the dog sled

As we headed out, we first missed the turn off (a haw) for the trail that heads up Lynch mountain and had to execute a “come haw” at a road crossing which, much to my surprise, the dogs performed flawlessly on command. A come haw, early in a dog sled run can be a tricky command to get the dogs to follow since the sled dogs do not always want to turn around and return the way they came, especially early in the trip. This, however, was not the case and the dogs, following my command came haw.

Returning the way we came, we made the turn up hill but inadvertently selected the steeper of the two uphill routes. Climbing steeply, the sled dogs and I both got good work outs as we worked up the steep hill. Turning right, we followed the trail up through more gentle terrain, eventually passing the maple sugar house and a camp. After a stop and rest to catch our breath at the top of Lynch Mountain, the dogs were once again raring to go and off we went down, and down, and down. Before we knew it, we made the gee turn to head back to the excavator’s parking lot where the dog truck was parked. Total mileage was approximately 5.6 miles with a maximum speed of 17 MPH and a cruising average of 6.2 MPH (slow but this averages in the steep uphill climb to the top of Lynch Mountain). The balance of Friday was spent at the vet check and mushers’ meeting for the Can Am Crown Sled Dog Races with our host, Gino (running in the 30 mile race).

Sunday morning, March 1st, dawned clear and cold and after some rain on Friday evening and a solid freeze up on Saturday, the trails were hard and fast. Just the conditions I was looking for, I headed out to run my very favorite trail in all of Canada, the Tadpole trail. The Tadpole is a ten mile jaunt through pines and mixed hardwoods requiring a good deal of concentration. The Tadpole trail could also be aptly called the “don’t forget to duck” trail as there are many low hanging branches that will whip you right off your sled, if you are not careful. Indeed, at one point along the trail, I apparently did not duck fast enough or low enough and a low hanging branch grabbed my hat from my head. The Tadpole trail is easily the most technical trail I have ever run on a dog sled and requires excellent dog sled driving skills to avoid a wipe out or a collision with a tree. It is a narrow, twisting and turning dog sled trail that the sled dogs absolutely love to run. Indeed, I think I may have seen a twinkle in Okemo’s eye as he galloped downhill and ran through a tight turn. As expected with this type of trail, the whole dog sled team turned on the speed, producing a fast run in fast conditions. Unfortunately, I was so busy concentrating on driving that I didn’t get any photos of the Tadpole trail.

Blue skies and fast trails

Fish eye view of the trail

T-Bone in team and Sobo (l) and Okemo (r) in wheel

Monday morning the expected nor’easter that dumped more than a foot of snow on DC, New York, and Boston arrived here in New Brunswick and began generating new snow, albeit at a slightly slower rate than it had in the States. Our host, Gino, and I headed out Monday afternoon for a nice run on the fourteen mile High Plateau Trail. On my team were Zoe and Acadia in lead, Maggie (one of Gino’s big furry dogs) in team, and Sobo and Okemo in wheel. For this run, we elected to give sled dog, T-Bone, the day off. At about a mile from finishing the run, 9 month old Acadia, lost focus and we moved her out of lead and into wheel, moving Sobo up into lead and placing Acadia in wheel alongside Okemo. Even given this loss of focus, I was pleased that Acadia had completed a full 14 mile run, pulling hard and consistently for the entire duration. Total mileage for this dog sled adventure was 14 miles with a maximum speed of 13 MPH and a cruising speed of 7.8 MPH (not bad given the overall length of the run and the number of runs the dogs have done over the past week).

Lots and lots of trees

Stay tuned for more updates, as the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs, Eric and I explore more of the wonderful trails here in New Brunswick, Canada.

Dog Sledding in Canada (Day Three)

A perfect day for dog sledding

Wednesday, day three of our Canadian dog sledding adventures dawned brilliantly clear with a perfect azure sky and nose hair freezing cold; a perfect day for…dog sledding.

Since today was the sled dogs’ fifth day in a row of dog sledding, Eric and I elected to rest the older dogs, Zoe and T-Bone, and take out a small team of the three younger dogs, Acadia, Okemo and Sobo.

Given the small team size, we decided to stick to the same six (which is really seven) mile loop we had run on Sunday. As we were setting up we met up with Gino’s friend and fellow musher, Johanne who was setting up and preparing to go out for her last run before the Can Am Sled Dog Races this Saturday. Not wanting to risk an injury, Johanne hooked her six strong and fast Alaskans to her skidoo for added control.

Johanne and her team of six dogs

Putting dogs on the line

After Johanne got off, we hooked up our dogs. In single lead, was Acadia. Running in single lead is a big feat for a 9 month old sled dog. Behind Acadia in wheel, we had the powerhouse sled dogs, Sobo and Okemo. As we took off, the dogs ran much better than I originally anticipated. As we cruised along, the dogs maintained a good pace.

Scenery along the trail

Turning gee and heading up hill, the musher got some exercise as well. As we approached, we could see a small, currently inactive wood cutting operation. Since the dogs were running and pulling good, I decided to pass by the five mile turn around point and continue on for the full seven mile loop. As we climbed up hill, the dogs again needed some musher assistance.

Setting up the dog sled

Sobo, a Siberian Husky

Our host, Gino, grooming the trails with his prized Skandic

Acadia in single lead with Sobo and Okemo in wheel

Arriving at the “loop” portion of the seven mile loop, I nearly continued past it since the near blizzard conditions and high winds of the days before had nearly blown in the entire trail. As we glided by, I realized this was the seven mile turn around point.

The trail ahead

Turning the dogs “haw” I decided that the trail must be up there “somewhere” and headed up the steep hill. Going up, the dogs and I managed to stick to the relatively packed trail even though it was not clearly visible. As we approached the top of the hill, however, the dogs turned sharply gee and dragged me and the sled into chin deep snow. My calls to move haw went unheeded and we found ourselves well and truly stuck. In the very deep soft snow it was impossible for me to pedal to assist the dogs and get us down the hill since ever attempt to do so resulted in me sinking chin deep in snow. Moreover, the three dog team was simply not strong enough to pull me, standing on the runners through the deep deep snow. At this point in time, I decided to radio Eric and see where he was and what his ETA was. I radioed my predicament and he called back that he was about 1.5 miles out and would continue to ski in to see if he could assist me and the stranded dogs. At this point, I realized why snow shoes were required equipment for sled dog races. Unfortunately, I had left my snow shoes at the cabin.

Winding through the pines

Slowly, the dogs and I wiggled, slid and sunk our way down the hill through the deep snow and just as Eric was cresting the last of the hill to reach us, we managed to wiggle our way down onto the groomed trail. Of course, as we hit the groomed trail and I called “gee” Sobo heeded my gee command while Acadia attempted a haw and another go around on the completely loop which she had apparently enjoyed immensely. Not so for the stranded musher. Since I had put Sobo up in lead while struggling through chin deep snow, I had not placed a neck line between Sobo and Acadia figuring that freedom of movement would aid them in the extremely deep snow. I finally convinced Acadia to make the gee turn and we headed back down the trail.

The high winds the day before left interesting ripples in the snow

All told, the sled dogs ran approximately 7.2 miles, I struggled through chin deep snow, we learned that Acadia is not a good open country leader, and that Sobo knows more than I thought and only pretends to be "silly" Sobo. Oh, and something I already knew but was still sort of fun to watch: Sobo likes to be snow angels by rolling in the snow and Acadia likes to hunt snow gremlins in deep snow (and I mean really deep snow).

Maximum speed was approximately 17 MPH while cruising speed (moving average) was a blistering 4 MPH given the hour the dogs and I spent trying to slog through the chin deep snow.

Finishing up with Acadia (l) and Sobo (r) in lead with Okemo in wheel

Dog Sledding and Skijoring in Canada (Day Two)

If you aren't the lead dog, the view never changes

After Sunday and Monday's blizzard, Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear.

With the amazing weather, Eric, the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs, and I headed out for some skijoring and dog sledding on the Trappers’ Cabin loop trail. The trail system starts in New Brunswick and traverses into Quebec. The trails are lightly used and one of the few other users is a trapper who uses a dog team to help haul his gear. The 8 mile Trappers Cabin trail is one way to access the trapper’s “off the grid” cabin. The first portion of the trail climbs gently paralleling the Madawaska River. At the top of a small plateau, the trail turns “gee” and heads up sharply through a pine forest. Approximately one mile later, the trail reaches a working trapper’s cabin. For today’s adventure Eric planned to skijor with T-Bone (but T-Bone had other ideas) and I planned to run just four dogs. Harnessing the dogs we put Zoe and Acadia in lead, followed by Sobo and Okemo in Wheel. T-Bone was harnessed and booted but then put back in his box while Eric got geared up with his skis, skijoring line, and belt.

The four dog team: Zoe, Acadia, Okemo, and Sobo

Cresting a small rise

About a mile down the trail after I took off with the four dog team, I noticed the sled dogs were distracted and looking back. Since this is unusual behavior, I glanced behind and noticed that T-Bone, complete in booties and harness, had caught up with us and was running full speed along behind in an effort to catch up. Not happy running behind, however, T-Bone jumped between the moving team and sled in an effort to resume his rightful place on the sled dog team. Not wanting to leave T-Bone behind and not wanting to hit him with the dog sled or end up in a massive tangle, I stopped the team, loaded T-Bone into the sled bag, clipped a neck line on him to keep him secure. As we climbed up towards the trapper’s cabin,T-Bone rode in the sled bag, seeming to enjoy the ride and sights of the trail.

Here we come!

Reaching the trapper’s cabin, the sled dogs and I stopped for a brief lunch on the trail. While I ate lunch, the dogs rested and were snacked. Shortly after breaking camp and heading back towards the truck, we bumped into Eric skiing towards us wondering where his skijor dog, T-Bone, was. Eric quickly snapped T-Bone onto the skijor line and we both headed back towards the truck.

Eric skijoring with T-Bone

Eric didn't want me to use this photo!

T-Bone demonstrating a nice line out

Altogether, the dogs ran approximately 8 miles round trip to the trapper’s cabin with T-Bone riding about four miles in the sled bag and skijoring back about four miles with Eric. Our maximum speed was 18 MPH while our cruising speed was a slow 6.1 MPH. Total load was approximately 250 lbs.

The sled dogs LOVE going down hill