A Win at Sheep Mountain!

Race weekend went great for the Husky Homestead Crew!  Jeff pulled off a First Place finish with super star leaders Coltrane and Spider at the Sheep Mountain 150!  Handler Kristin Knight finished her very first race ever with a great looking team in 40th place.  A big congrats to both!

Here's a few pictures for you.... enjoy!

Check out that moose!

Jeff at the Start - Coltrane (front, right) is ready to go!

Jeff and team - Start of the Sheep Mountain 150.

  Jeff - Sheep Mountain Start

Jeff and team at the Finish Line!

Kristin getting ready to go...

Deets & Brennan are ready to go!  And can you see that BIG smile on Kristin's face??  :)

Getting closer to the start...

Kristin on the trail during sunset.

A smile and a wave!

Some frosty dogs!

The entire team had a great time at Sheep Mountain over the weekend. Congratulations to all the mushers who took part and a huge kudos to Sheep Mountain for hosting such a fun and well organized event (as usual!).  Also, a big thank you to all the volunteers - couldn't be done without you!

To all of you a very Merry Christmas!!

Cheers,

HH Crew

Greetings Folks!

It's RACE time!  We have two teams headed down for the Sheep Mountain 150 this weekend.  The race will begin on Saturday, December 17, 2011.  With a full field of 60 teams signed up this should be a fun one to watch.

Jeff will be running the following team of 12:
Booth, Burglar, Butch, Coltrane, Guilder, Kroner, Menace, Merlot, Norton, Spider, Stewart & Suspect.

Kristin Knight will be running team #2 from the Homestead, with the following 10:
Bailey, Barnum, Brennan, Brooks, Clipper, Deets, Rebel, Skeeter, Solo & Vespa. 

We wish all teams GOOD LUCK and we will be following Jeff and Kristin on their progress over the weekend.  You can too!  Click here to follow the race and get updates at gomush.com, or click here for a link to the Sheep Mountain 150 event page on Facebook.  

We know we've been absent on the blog circuit for a while... but we've been busy on Facebook!  Head on over to our Husky Homestead Tours page and give us a 'like'.  You can see what we've been up to!  We've got pics posted of the puppies from the summer, and if you would like to, feel free to drop us a note and tell us about your visit at Husky Homestead!  We always welcome pictures too.  :)

Have a great weekend all and we hope to have a recap of the first race of the season on Monday!


Happy Trails,
HH Crew

Iditarod Time!

Hey Race Fans!

Iditarod 39 will begin tomorrow with the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage!! Are you going to be there to cheer on the 62 teams as they head down 4th Avenue? Will you make it to the restart on Sunday as the teams depart for Nome?

If you can't make it to the start... FEAR NOT! You can watch it from the comfort (& warmth!) of your own home! The Iditarod Insider will be streaming live video of the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage, the race Restart in Willow, as well as the Finish in Nome. Honestly, I don't know what we did without the Insider videos and the GPS trackers - they both definitely make the race a lot more fun for those of us that are not on the trail.

And speaking of not being on the trail.... most of you already know that Jeff is not running the race this year. After 35+ years of battling the elements on trails around the state every winter, he decided he was 'tired of being cold'. [To this I replied "$5 please." :) That's our 'whining' fee...] Jeff has spent the winter in the Lower 48, and he is currently poised to follow another great race.... although the one he will be watching first hand is in Norway - the Finnmarksløpet! The Finnmarksløpet is the northernmost sled dog race in the world. Click on the link to check out their homepage and find out more about this great race that begins next week!

While Jeff is checking out Norway and waiting for the Finnamrksløpet to begin, I know he will be checking out the Iditarod. If you were looking for a list of nearly every possible link there is for anything Iditarod related - check out Iditarod Race Talk. They have posted a list of Websites, Blogs, Webcams, FB and Twitter links that is bound to keep you up until all hours of the night!

We would like to wish all of the Iditarod mushers GOOD LUCK! Safe travels to Nome, and may everyone - both two-legged & four-legged - arrive happy and health under the Burled Arch in Nome.

Happy Trails,
HH Crew

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a beautiful (& chilly) morning here at Husky Homestead! We wanted to take a moment to say "Happy Valentine's Day" to all of you out there, and to update you a bit on that Jeff guy. :)

Jeff reported that he had a GREAT time at the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota! He commentated on the race for the iFan Sports Network. You can check out the link and watch the archived webcast to hear Jeff. While at the race Jeff saw a few dogs that he recognized.... "Iceman" (from the Top Gun litter and sibling to Viper & Maverick), "Clumber" and "Hertz" who was in one of the mid-distance teams. He helped our friend and former Denali Doubles musher Shaynee Siepke to the start of the race, and he ran into a number of other friends while there as well: our long-time friend/co-worker from Husky Homestead, Robyn Schmidt, as well as Mark Nordman, Will Steger and Arleigh Jorgensen! When you add in the two cousins of Jeff's that showed up to join the festivities as well, it sounds like Jeff had one heck of a reunion down there! It seems Jeff hasn't been hurting when it comes to meals either, he was invited to join Jamie Nelson for the 1/2 way dinner award and reported that it was delicious. Several past Husky Homestead visitors surprised him as well, bringing their photos to the start for Jeff to autograph. It definitely sounded like it was a fun time!

A big congratulations to Dave Turner for his win in the Mid-Distance race, and to Ryan Anderson for his win in the Marathon! Great job!

After the culmination of the Beargrease, Jeff headed over to Bayfield, Wisconsin (way to go Packers!) for the Apostle Island Sled Dog Race. Jeff borrowed some dogs from friend Mike Bestgen and signed up to run the 6-dog 60 mile (30 miles/day) race! Jeff placed 7th out of 15 teams, while Mike came in 6th in the 8-dog 80 mile race (40 miles/day). Way to go gentlemen! For a complete list of finishers check out Sled Dog Central.

While in Wisconsin, Jeff also had the opportunity to do a little ice fishing with his cousins. Walleye was on the menu!! Oh, and I guess a bit of Sauger was too.

Jeff is now back on the west coast soaking up a bit of sunshine before he jets off to Norway for the 30th anniversary running of the 1,000km Finnmarkslopet! He will not be running the race, but will be following along.... check out the promotional video for the race by clicking here.

Until next time.... Happy Trails!

HH Crew

A Skijoring Win!

Jeff had an eventful weekend down in Chemult, OR last weekend!

He took first place in his first skijoring race! It was a 2 dog, 2.5 mile race. His first place team consisted of "Texas" and "Tin" - a few 'retirees' that now live with our good friends Jeanne & Bob down in Bend, OR. Woot woot POTUS!

Jeff also competed in the 4 dog, 4 mile race that was made up of 15 teams. It was a dual start race and wouldn't it figure that he was paired with a guy named Lance! Haha! Well, Lance went on to win the race and Jeff and team (Salem, Deets, Houston & Call) placed 6th with a very happy team. Jeff holds no hard feelings towards this Lance either, comparing him with 'Alaska Lance' and saying that it was hard to be pissed at either one since they are both really nice guys and have such beautiful dogs.


A few pics of some dogs that made up Jeff's team.... :)
It seems that the weekend was a fun time down there, filled with all kinds of mid-distance races, kids races and skijoring races.

After Jeff's weekend on the trails he decided to head back to his alma mater - Shasta College and spend a bit of time running around the football field and the track. He did say that it became clear to him that the low hurdles are higher now than they were a while back. (Ah... perhaps it has been a little more than a 'while back' since he now gets the AARP magazine and dislikes it so when I put that one on his desk....shhh!)

Jeff was hoping for another race this weekend in Weed, OR but it seems that one turned out to be a no-go. So if you're feeling a bit deprived of dog racing or skijoring, take a look at the Kuskokwim 300 race that starts this Friday evening up in Bethel, AK. This race has always been a favorite of Jeff's - in fact he is a 7 time champion! Click on the link and check out their website. There are 20 teams signed up and you may recognize some of them! We wish all of the mushers a great race, as well as a happy and healthy team at the finish line! Good Luck!

A big congratulations to Jake Berkowitz for his win at the Copper Basin a couple of weeks ago! Jake finished with a great time - breaking the all time race record! This young man may be someone to keep an eye on... and I hear he's got some great dogs that came from Jeff King and Jon Little. ;) Check out their website for some more information on how the race turned out - complete photos, interviews and final musher standings.

Alright! That's gonna be it for now.... keep checking back with us here at Husky Homestead! We hope to be posting more information on Jeff's adventures - including his participation in an upcoming race in Wisconsin!! :)

Happy Trails,
The HH Crew

Happy New Year!

Greetings and Happy 2011!

The New Year has started out pretty quiet here at Husky Homestead.... perhaps that is because nobody is home! Yup, you got it. The Homestead is empty this winter. Jeff decided he was 'tired of being cold' all the time, and after 30+ years of spending the winter and spring in Alaska running dogs, he has headed for the warmer weather of the Lower 48. Where are the dogs?? Well, all of the dogs have made the trek down to Willow where they are residing, training and racing with musher Matt Hayashida and family for the winter season. Matt is an accomplished musher and Iditarod veteran, and he will be running the Copper Basin 300 race this weekend. There are 42 mushers signed up for this race this year and Jeff was the 2010 champion. Check out the race and see if you can spot any dogs that you know!! We wish Matt a safe and successful run!!

Although Jeff is 'tired of being cold' that does not mean that he is basking in the sunshine on a beach somewhere with his toes in the sand. In fact, he has been spending some time skijoring! Indeed, it seems he may have given up the sled for a bit and hopped on some skis! We kind of saw this coming though, didn't we? What with the Gee-Pole sled that he's used in the Iditarod start the last two years? :) If you happen to be near Chemult, OR next weekend (January 15 & 16th) you can stop by the 17th Annual Chemult Sled Dog Races. Jeff will be there as a participant in the skijoring race! Good luck POTUS! :)

If you live in Minnesota..... Jeff will be at the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon! Jeff will be the Keynote Speaker for this years race. Reservations are still available to the Beargrease Gala and Silent Auction that is scheduled to take place on January 28th, 2011 from 6pm - 10pm. Click the link above for more information on Jeff's speaking engagement as well as the Race itself!
In addition to speaking at the dinner, Jeff will also be a commentator for the race on a local news channel and he will travel along the entire race route providing updates! How fun is that?!?

So, as one of Jeff's favorite t-shirts says... "Life without dogs? I don't think so!"

We will continue to keep you updated as best we can on any fun things that may be taking place out and about!

In the mean time, we hope this finds you all doing well, keeping up with those New Year's Resolutions and otherwise enjoying all that the New Year has to offer!

Happy Trails,
The Husky Homestead Crew

Modern Marvels:Dogs - Watch it ONLINE!

For anyone who may have missed the Modern Marvels episode from last Friday (November 26th) you can watch it online at the Modern Marvels website, or by clicking here!

We've had a number e-mails from people that really enjoyed it - thanks for sharing! So if you missed it... or just want to see it again - it's available! (This actually works great for us up here in Denali - we have no TV channels! This will be our first opportunity to catch the show!)

Again, thanks for following!

Cheers,
Husky Homestead Crew