Winter Hangs On

Rita and Bill Wehsler arrived on March 2nd from Tofte, Minnesota. Rita is a favorite to win the CanAm 250 one of these years. Bill will compete in the 60 mile race with some of their younger dogs. Jaye Foucher and her handler Natalie arrived on the 5th. Jaye will also be running a team in the 250 mile race.

Mild temps above freezing continued right through the month as northern Maine prepared for the CanAm sled dog races. Snow had to be hauled in, as it always is, for the Main Street start. But this year they also had to haul in snow for the parking lots where the 80 plus teams were staged. Race day on the 6th started with temps well below freezing but by 11:00 a.m. it had warmed to 41 degrees! It was perfect weather for spectators and by all accounts it was the largest group ever! After helping Rita get her team to the starting line I drove her and Bill's dog truck and trailer up to Lonesome Pine so it would be there when Bill finished. I stayed long enough to watch a few of the 30 mile teams finish and had a visit with Eric Saxon (Eagle Lake) and Jim Carter (Munsungan) then I was off to Portage. I stopped briefly at the lodge, long enough to load the ATV and grab some lunch, then I headed south. The Portage checkpoint was well staffed and word was out - teams would be arriving early due to fast trails. All teams had arrived, been fed and watered, rested, and were back on the trail headed to Rocky Brook checkpoint by 2:00 a.m.

I slept in on the 7th . Wayne worked all weekend. The race progressed to Maibec checkpoint then to Allagash. After Wayne got out of work we drove to Allagash to not only see the teams at the checkpoint, but to celebrate our 4th anniversary. We reminisced about our wedding day under the two fir trees next to the river, visited with friends we see only once a year during CanAm, and headed home.

Ed and Julie Dallas, our dear friends from Minnesota, sent us a special anniversary gift. Ed was our best man and has taken his responsibilities very seriously. He's always there sharing advice and keeping things light hearted! They sent us matching, hand crafted sling shots for our anniversary. It seems Ed was on a canoe trip in the BWCA with a friend who had whittled an 8-sided dice. Ed asked if he could make a sling shot. Well, what this gentleman created was not any old sling shot. He made two, identical works of incredible craftsmanship and artistry. The sling shots are made of laminated ash and walnut. They have beautiful curves and a fine finish. The ends are even fitted with copper. They will be treasured forever as a reminder of our friendship with Ed and Julie and of our anniversary. My goal is to practice with mine and kill a grouse with it this fall!

I was up early on the 8th to cover some of the teams at the finish line for our second event newspaper, "CanAm Chronicles". Matt Carstens (NH) won, Ryan Anderson (MN) finished only 15 minutes behind Matt. Rita finished a very respectable 5th, only two hours behind the winner!
There's lots of interesting information on the CanAm web site at http://can-am.sjv.net/ The site is most exciting during the race as you can follow teams as they progress along a virtual race trail.

I attended the musher's banquet with Rita and Bill on the 9th and they all headed home on the 10th. That afternoon, traveling through Fort Kent, you'd never know that just days before one of northern Maine's biggest winter events had been held. Life returned back to "normal" after our minds had turned to "mush" for a few days while Fort Kent hosted sled dog teams from North America and Canada.

We celebrated Wayne's birthday on the 12th - I brought home 3 dozen smelt so he could go ice fishing and I gave him some streamer flies and a fly wallet. That night Jerry and Sandy were up and we all had birthday cake for Wayne's birthday. They also dropped off 7 of our tanned beaver pelts. We will stretch them on hoops and decorate them with beads to make rustic wall hangings. We're also looking for a sewing machine capable of sewing hides so we can make beaver mitts.

On the 13th Wayne and I packed a lunch and took our sleds "off trail" riding. Trail conditions were amazing and the warm temps made riding very comfortable. We had lunch overlooking Eagle and Square Lakes at Three Brooks Mountain.

On St. Patricks Day Grace gave birth to three little German shorthair pointer puppies! We've given them Irish names: Conan (boy), Erin (girl) and Madigan (girl) for as long as they are here.

March 23rd it started snowing. It snowed all that night and the next day! We ended up with about 10" of heavy, wet snow. Winter is back...

This weekend Mary Heald and Dan Pinnette are bringing Ian and two of his friends up to ice fish before the season closes on the 31st. I'll let you know how we do... But winter is definitely going to hang around for a while!