Salmon isn't just for the Dogs!

We have documented the importance of salmon in our life with sled dogs. (See Blog Post "Fish Snacks" on December 23, 2008.) But, salmon's not just for the dogs!
Allen holds a Red Salmon

Every July Allen and Aliy head south to the Kenai to catch Red (Sockeye) Salmon and King (Chinook) Salmon in order to add meat to our freezer. Some of our favorite dishes are BBQ Red, King Cakes and deep fried sockeye with hushpuppies.

Kings and Reds are two entirely different fish and require different fishing tackle.

Adult Kings (Chinook) range in size from 33 to 36 inches (840 to 910 mm), but may be up to 58 inches (1.47 meters) in length; they average 10 to 50 pounds (4.54 to 22.7 kg), but may reach 130 pounds (59 kg). The current sport caught World Record is 97 pounds 4 ounces (44.1 kg) and was caught in May 1985 by Les Anderson in the Kenai River. The commercial catch world record is 126 pounds (57 kg) caught near Petersburg, Alaska in a fish trap in 1949. Allen has caught a 72 pound King in the Kenai.

A Red (Sockeye) can be as long as 33 inches (840 millimetres) and weigh 4 to 8 lbs, up to 14 lbs. It has an elongated, torpedo shaped body, with an adipose fin, and a bluntly pointed snout. The fish migrate in "runs" through out the summer. The largest runs in the Kenai are normally in mid July when hundreds of thousands of fish will be in the river at one time. They are so dense at this time that the river will look like it is boiling with fish as they jump and dart out of the water.

Allen will be down on the Kenai for a few more days - so wish him luck!

Fan Letters

Most of our fan mail comes from school children, grades 3 to middle school. There are quite a few teachers - worldwide - who use an Iditarod Curriculum in their class. We also get letters from home schooled children and scout troops. The thousands of letters that we have received have included poems, book reports, pictures, and even small gifts.

One of the more touching letters came to me several years ago after a mediocre preformance in Iditarod. The little girl wrote "since you didn't get any priz money this race I sent you my allowance." She had wrapped up 5 quarters with Scotch tape and slipped them in the envelope. Heartwrentching! These quarters now reside next to all of my Yukon Quest and Iditarod trophies.

This year, I had many favorites: laminated banners, dog pictures and even writing pens from homeschooled children in New Zealand. Allen and I also received hand made patches from school kids in Buchanan, New York. I hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.



The letter that came with the patches explained a few things:

(Allen) "For your patch, we decided to highlight "Happy". Our teacher told us about Happy and we loved following the race to see if Happy made it to Nome. Mrs. Simon told us that Happy showed us that anything is possible! Don't tell anyone, but your patch was the funnest to make! We wanted to put the lips on Happy's butt, but our teacher said behind it was good enough to get the point across."

(Aliy) "For your patch, we decided to highlight that you made your own boots out of a snow suit and string or tape when your got wet. Our teacher tells us the Iditarod is full of problem solving and we liked your solution."

We do enjoy all of the letters and try to respond to all. We will gladly send used dog booties or postcards, but be sure to incude a self addressed stamped envelope so we can write you back.

Grandma Comes to Visit

The 4th of July holiday is a time for American families to get together. Things are no different here at SP Kennel this weekend. Mickey and Doug have been in Two Rivers for several weeks. Bridgett and Scotty have flown in from Nome, along with cousin Drew. And Scotty's folks, Pam and Joey, are up for a visit as well.

Along with the human reunion, "Grandma Girlfriend", the Alaskan Husky, has come to town for the holiday. Girlfriend retired from sled dog racing in 2008. Since then she has been a couch potato and occasional jogging/skiing buddy with Bridgett and Scotty in Nome. She flew into Fairbanks yesterday and will spend 10 days here with Bridgett and black lab friend, Remington.

Girlfriend had a significant impact on SP Kennel for nearly a decade. She came to the kennel as an shy, unwanted 6 month old pup with lice and skin problems. By 2002, she was becoming a super star sled dog and was one of the youngest dogs to compete in the Copper Basin for us at age 13 months. Later that year, she went on to compete in the Iditarod at 15 months. Girlfriend was a primary force at the kennel and went on to lead SP Kennel Iditarod teams for the next 6 consecutive years.

Girlfriend was not only a racing super star, but also had two fantastic litters of puppies for us in 2002 and 2003. All of her puppies raced and succeeded here at SP Kennel. Oddball, her first born blue-eyed pup in 2002, has become a super star in his own right and fathered two litters of puppies in 2007 and 2008. These Girlfriend grand puppies are now the future of our kennel. The oldest litter will be two years old this racing season and we look forward to watching their progress. They include: Ranger, Beemer, Rambler, Scout, Hummer, Viper, Malibu and Olivia. The younger pups will only be yearlings for the racing season, so their training will be limited. They include: Bubba, Scruggs, Waylon, Lester, Hank, Willie, Reba and Boondocks.

Happy 4th of July, USA!

Iditarod 2009: Aliy Zirkle's "Trail Notes"

Once again, Aliy has done a truly incredible job of telling the story -- the whole story -- of her Iditarod race. As you will see, it has been a monumental effort!

If you want to know what the Iditarod is really like from a musher's perspective, you won't find a better resource than this anywhere!

Thank you, Aliy!

Click the image below to open the PDF file in your web browser, then read it online and/or print it for later reading. The PDF is a 2.4 MB file, so it may take a moment to load. Please be patient... It's worth the wait!

Happy's School Debut: The Rest Of The Story!

Aliy recently posted a couple of photos and a little write up about her visit to Badger Elementary School in North Pole, Alaska. There's a little more to the story that I think you will enjoy, so here goes...

As Aliy and I were getting ready to leave the Kennel for the drive to the school, I asked her what she had in mind for her presentation to third graders. She said, "Well, first I'll talk a little about the dogs, the Iditarod and all that stuff, then I'll bring in a dog for them to meet." I asked, "Who are you going to bring?" She replied, "I usually bring Stormy because she's always so mellow around all the kids. Why? Who do you think I should bring?"

I figured that since she asked me I should go ahead and say it: "I think you should bring Happy."

Aliy laughed out loud and said, "You're kidding, right? Happy will totally freak out with all those kids around! Don't you think?"

"Nope," I said, "I think Happy will be great."

And so it came to pass that we loaded two dogs in the truck and drove down to North Pole: Stormy the mellow pet dog and Happy the unlikely star of the Iditarod. Although Stormy got to be the dog who went inside to visit the kids in their classroom, I think you will see in this video that Happy was fantastic.

Happy just amazes me. First she runs the Iditarod as her first race and finishes, then here she is "Happy Dancing" her way through another difficult first experience around a lot of kids. When you see how she handles their "up close and personal attention" at the end of the video, I think you'll be amazed, too!

Summer on the Alaska Railroad

Jaime, A Park Ranger in Denali, and Allen wait in front of our train

Every Monday through out the summer Allen and I work on the Alaska Railroad. We ride the scenic double decker Princess Rail cars for 60 miles through the Alaska Range. We travel into Denali National Park and often witness the glory of Mt. McKinely or the antics of the Alaska grizzly bear or moose.

While the train travels north, we walk through the cars and talk to over 400 Alaska visitors every week. We tell stories and talk personally about our lives with sled dogs. People seem to really enjoy our presentation. Often we need to pull ourselves away from these great folks who want to learn all they can about Alaska life.

Hopefully, most of these folks are future Iditarod enthusiasts and more specifically, SP Kennel Fans!

Hoss has retired!

Some sled dogs race until they are in their twilight years and some dogs don't. People always ask me how I know when to retire a dog. I'll simply ask you to look at these pictures and you will understand. It's not that Hoss wouldn't lead another SP Kennel team to the Iditarod finish line - he's been there 5 years in a row, it's something else...













Tom first met Hoss five years ago on one of our North Slope Mushing Adventures. There was a bond. Both were reliable hard workers, but they had a mellow and sometimes carefree attitude. Tom and Hoss have been in coorrespondence ever since.

So, Tom and his wife, Cindy, stayed at the kennel this past weekend and Hoss followed them home to Pennsylvania. His biggest adjustment will be to their kitty, he has already mastered the couch. (And, yes... there were some tears at the airport.)

Thank you Hoss for your years of sled dog passion, you will be missed by the team.

Happy the Sled Dog goes to School

School kids and sled dogs - what a combination!

Happy the Sled Dog and I visited Badger Elementary School in North Pole, Alaska one morning this spring. We told stories about the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest and talked about overcoming hardships in order to reach your goals. Of course, we also talked about caring for dogs and how to stay warm in the winter.

Happy and I hope that we are invited to visit, as well as skype, with more schools later this year.