More Maine Dog Sledding Adventures: Exploring New Trails.

Eric and the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures team head down the Lemon Stream trail.

Continuing our Maine adventures, on Thursday, Eric headed out to run the newly discovered Lemon Stream trail with the whole sled dog team.

Another twisty, turning trail that the sled dogs LOVE.

Lemon Stream Trail

The first issue we faced was how to cross the plowed road that the cabin sits on since this particular trail picks up on the opposite side of the road from the cabin. One option was to head down the Tie trail directly from the cabin, take a "haw" (left) at the end of the tie trail, make a diagonal road crossing, and pick up the Lemon Stream trail. After discussing it, Eric and I discarded this option in favor of the safer albeit more cumbersome and time consuming option of loading the dogs onto the dog truck and taking the truck the couple of hundred feet or so down the cabin road, and parking it directly adjacent to the trail. Since this was our first run, we decided to play it safe.

After positioning the truck adjacent to the trail, Eric hooked up a five dog team of Acadia and Gypsy in lead, Luke in team, and Okemo and Sobo in wheel and headed out for what was to ultimately end up being a 15 mile run with 1800 feet of elevation gain! Along the way, Eric even drew a rough map of the trails and kept track of distances on the interconnecting trails. No easy feat when driving five raring to go sled dogs.

Hooking up the dogs on the Lemon Stream trail. Luke, as always, is raring to go.

There they go!

On Friday, we picked up approximately a foot of new snow at the cabin followed by 20-30 MPH winds. Remarkably, we did not lose power during any portion of the storm. As a result, most of Friday was spent shoveling, snow blowing (until the snow blower died. Note: never purchase a Troy Bilt (Tecumseh) snow blower), and hanging out with the sled dogs who were all cuddled up nice and warm inside the cabin.

The offending Tecumseh snow blowing machine is only about five years old and has only blown snow about ten times and now appears to have a broken connecting rod (which is apparently quite common on Troy Bilt/Tecumseh snow blowers)

Blazing fire in the wood stove kept the cabin toasty throughout the storm

T-Bone hangs out in the cabin during the storm

Acadia decides a nap is in order.

Saturday morning, dawned clear and very cold with temperatures slightly below zero. After it warmed up a bit, Eric headed out on the newly fallen snow for a four mile run up the Power Line trail and down the other side of the Power Line trail in the deep powder. Along for this run, was puppy monster, Sammi, who Eric reported pulled hard the whole time while breaking trail though the deep snow. Acadia and Gypsy ran lead, Sammi and Okemo ran in team, and Sobo and Luke ran in wheel. The remainder of Saturday was spent cleaning and packing up the cabin so that we could head home early Sunday morning.

Post run, Sammi had plenty of energy left over for mischief. Just look at that face!

We even cleaned the ceiling fan!

New Dog Truck!

The new dog truck

Fall is just around the corner here in the Mid Atlantic and with the arrival of fall comes the beginning of a new dog sledding season for the Maryland Sled Dog Adventures sled dogs. This year, we have a great line up of dog sledding programs booked in including lots and lots of Girl Scout Programs, many Yappy Hour dog sled rides, several Run What You Brung training programs, and quite a few dog sledding Birthday Parties. New for 2011, we're offering a four day, three night women's only dog sledding adventure based out of our cabin in western Maine. Our Maine Winter Cabin Adventure is limited to just six participants and has several individuals already registered so don't delay if you are interested in registering for this very special dog-based adventure. For information on all of our programs, visit the Tours page of our website or our special Maine Winter Cabin Adventure website.

With Fall just around the corner, Eric and I are beginning to wrap up the summer's "dog projects." The biggest of these projects concerns the dogs' (and our) new transportation, our new dog truck.

The new dog truck is a 2010 5.7L 4WD Toyota Tundra, extra cab, long box (bed) pick up truck. The types of vehicles that mushers use to carry their dogs varies quite a bit based on the total number of dogs they need to carry and in what types of conditions. Some mushers use vans, some use SUVs, some use box trucks, and some use trailers. By far, however, the vast majority of mushers use pick up trucks, either with or without the bed, with dog boxes built on the back. This is the system we are now using.

The new Toyota Tundra dog truck

Until recently, we were using a Ford Expedition (SUV) to carry our five sled dogs. To transport the dogs, Eric built a system of crates in the back of the Expedition. We knew at the time we purchased it, however, that the Expedition was only a short (less than five year) solution since five dogs, plus gear, plus two people was really the limit the Expedition could carry.

As part of the conversion to the a new dog truck, summer project number one was to purchase the truck and then begin construction on the boxes. In searching for the truck, we test drove, researched and evaluated four trucks and many varieties (engine size) of those trucks including Ford 150, Dodge Ram 1500, Chevy Silverado, and the Toyota Tundra. The Toyota Tundra 5.7L won out with the Chevy Silverado a close second. While we did consider a 6.5 foot bed (the standard sized bed for a double/extended cab pick up) we ultimately decided that a long box (8 foot bed) was required and better served the truck's function as a dog truck. The Tundra was purchased from Russel Toyota in Baltimore, Maryland. The purchase went fairly smoothly.

At the end of June we purchased the Tundra. During the month of July, we built an 8-dog box with boxes large enough to double dogs should we ever need to carry up to 16 dogs! The biggest issue with the construction process was that we were under a very tight time line because we really wanted to make it to Eric's family reunion in Maine. We did miss the reunion this year but did make it to Maine, leaving only two days later than anticipated. Eric estimates that the total time spent building the boxes was approximately 250-300 hours (that's a lot of time on top of a full time job all done between July 1st and July 31st). We spent an additional 50-60 hours researching different dog box configurations, drawing up plans, and sourcing and purchasing materials. Most of the materials were not "off the shelf" components from Home Depot/Lowes. Most were specialty items that had to be ordered, purchased, and delivered. We did make several trips to Grainger and Fastenal for various components. The Southco T-Handle marine polished stainless latches were sourced through ebay and shipped from Florida. The metals and plastics came from several different places in Maryland and Delaware. Let's just say, we visited some very industrial Baltimore and Wilmington locations. We also purchased various specialized grinding wheels, drill bits, rivets, riveters, tips for the plasma cutter, and welding supplies.

Double boxing already!

The boxes Eric designed and built are framed in steel, insulated with one inch foam insulation, lined in HDPE (high density poly ethylene) plastic, outfitted with stainless steel hardware including Southco (marine grade) polished stainless T-handle latches, and finished in polished, aluminum diamond plate. The boxes rest on a frame made of welded steel that is bolted to the frame of the truck.

Day 1: Welding the box frame (this is when welding was still fun)

Grinding

Clamping the frame so it can be welded.

Steel box frame with door frames

Another side of the box frame with door frames

All framed up with cross bracing

The bed frame: the boxes rest on this frame which is bolted to the frame of the truck via the bed bolts

Mounting bracket on the box frame: The bracket connects the boxes to the bed frame

Test fitting the box frame to the back of the truck and the bed frame: A two ton hoist was used to put the frame (and the finished boxes) on the truck.

Insulating the bottom of the boxes and cutting and fitting the HDPE that lines the boxes

Dog box lined on four sides with HDPE. The hole in the bottom allows access to the mounting brackets and bolts. The holes were latter plugged with rubber stoppers.

Test fitting diamond plate for doors

Cutting door holes in the sides of the diamond plate with the plasma cutter

Riveting the sides on the dog box. Over the course of the project we used two full boxes of rivets, several different rivet sizes, and three separate riveters including an air driven riveter and the mechanical one you see Eric using in this photo.

Once holes were cut in the diamond plate for the grate and the latch, the edges were smoothed using a grinder and file.

Four doors hung: As you can see, the hinges were originally hung on the back side of the door. Although this gave a cleaner look, it also allowed the doors to gap at the side closest to the hinge. Stay tuned for how we fixed that little problem.

Another photo of the side of the box

Close up of the back side of a door and the expanded aluminum grate

Close up of the Southco T-Handle latches in polished stainless steel

Rubber Southco latch that holds up the door guards. We later added a second rubber Southco latch to each side for extra security.

Cable that holds the door guards in the down position

Re-mounting the doors with the aluminum ribbon hinges on the outside to minimize the gap. While it's not quite as clean looking, we really did not want the box doors leaking (and they don't). This is how we fixed the problem of doors that gapped on the side closest to the hinges.

Painted bed frame: This is the area where we will install the pull out drawer. It's a huge storage space.

Acadia's new dog box

Interior of one of the new dog boxes--the rubber stopper covers the hole used to access the bolts that mount the boxes to the bed frame.

Looking down the side of the truck with the door guards open: We added a second Southco rubber latch for the door guards to better secure the door guards when traveling.

We will finish off the project with a pull out drawer for the bed of the truck that will ride below the dog boxes. This "drawer" will be used to carry gear, the dogs and ours. Ultimately, should we ever need or want to remove the bed of the truck, we could build another course of dog boxes that would allow us to to have a 16 hole (box) truck. At present, we're in the process of adding outriggers for picketing the dogs and a sled rack for carrying our dog sleds. We'll also be designing and building a ramp for loading some of our heavier dogs. We'll continue to use the hitch mounted carrier that Eric designed and built to carry our Fritz Dyck rigs (dog sleds on wheels). (For information on where we purchase our rigs, please visit the resources page of our website). We were pleased to learn last night that the hitch carrier will fit into the new dog truck's hitch without any modifications.

The new dog truck has now been through its "sea trial" phase and just returned from our Up North Summer Adventures. Along the way, we made a couple of changes, adding additional hinges to the door guards to add additional support and running a protective strip of rubber tubing along the back edge of the door guards. We may also add a locking latch to the door guard on each side so that the dogs don't break curfew! We were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the dogs were riding in their boxes and how cool the dogs were during the long ride to and from Maine. All in all, we are just thrilled with our new dog truck. To see additional photos of the new dog truck, check out our Facebook page.

At the cabin up in Maine

Looking down the side of the truck at the cabin up in Maine. The full HDPE plastic slides are used to keep dust, dirt, and rain from entering the boxes when the truck is parked. A second set of vented slides is available for use to "warm" up the boxes when traveling on particularly cold days.

Baltimore Blizzard of 2009

Okemo's snow nose.

Well, it's official. Baltimore is under a blizzard warning. I've lived in Maryland for over ten years and have seen only one other blizzard warning during the storm of 2003. That storm stranded me and my visiting sister, Jennifer Simmons O'Connor for four days. Her flight back to Seattle was canceled, my rear wheel drive BMW wasn't going anywhere, and I only had two sled dogs, Zoe and T-Bone.

Now retired sled dog, T-Bone.

Veteran lead dog, Zoe.

Acadia, Okemo and Sobo romp in the dog yard

Acadia heads out to check out the "back 40"

Here at Maryland Sled Dog Adventures LLC, we're up to five sled dogs, one dog sled, two wheeled dog sleds (rigs), one dog scooter, two sets of snow shoes, two sets of cross country skis (also used for skijoring), one set of down hill skis, a snow board, a four wheel drive dog truck complete with dog boxes, and more outdoor clothing, boots and gear than REI. The only thing missing is a "partridge in a pear tree" but I suspect Okemo would have eaten that dang partridge long ago. In any event, my point being, we love snow. Indeed, we live for snow. We purchased a cabin in Maine for the purpose of spending more time dog sledding on snow. In February 2011, in addition to our Maryland dog sledding tours, rides and programs, we'll be offering a very special four day women's only dog sledding adventure: Our Maine Winter Cabin Adventure.

Wheel dog, Okemo, romps around the hydrangea bushes

We don't always know where lead dog, Acadia is going but we know she is going there fast

T-Bone smells snow.

Acadia and Okemo play

Our youngest dog, Acadia, plays with her ballsicle.

Sobo is faster than Okemo

Since 9 am, Baltimore has been under a blizzard warning:

Issued by The National Weather Service

Baltimore/Washington, MD
9:08 am EST, Sat., Dec. 19, 2009

... BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING... ... WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A BLIZZARD WARNING... WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS EVENING. THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE... SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS... HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 12 TO 22 INCHES THROUGH TONIGHT.

* TIMING... SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. SNOW WILL BE HEAVIEST BETWEEN 8 AM AND 6 PM TODAY.

* TEMPERATURES... UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT... LOW TO MID 30S IN COASTAL SOUTHERN MARYLAND.

* WINDS... 15 TO 25 MPH... WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH DURING THE DAY TODAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Acadia has something in her sights...

Trees coated with snow

At present (10:40 am), we have about fifteen (15) inches of snow on the ground and the sled dogs could not be more ecstatic (as you can see in the photos). The snow is supposed to continue well into tonight. The truck is packed, the drive way has been cleared (too bad we took our big snow blower up to Maine), and our road has even been plowed once or twice by the good ol' City of Baltimore. As soon as the snow lightens, we'll head out for some Maryland dog sledding (on snow). Stay tuned for photos.

Sobo, both a leader and a wheel dog

I love my fur wheel drive!