Basalt Tamaskan

16/07/2025

Happy 14th Birthday to Zephyr and his litter mates. We went for a drive around Presque Isle where I let him feel the wind in his face followed by a little walk around lower harbor before going to the pet store and him picking out a jerky strip chew and and a peanutbutter banana frozen yogurt pup cup.  He is doing pretty good for his age, he will still grab a ball and ask for it to be thrown across the livingroom, he still tries to get involved with the girls rough housing but is often left in the dust. His hearing is perfect when it comes to anything that could be food. He still sings and tap dances before getting served his meals. He is a slower and dealing with osteoarthritis in his rear from his younger days so he is on daily pain management medication but otherwise still his happy go lucky self.

08/07/2025

We have had a few play dates with a fellow tamaskan that lives relatively close. Her name is Maez (Little Bear Ahnah) and she is only two months younger than my youngest Vesper. The entire crew has accepted her so as her owners are about to relocate out of the lower 48, she is going to spend some time with my crew. She is very much heat intolerant as most every arctic breed raised this far north is, and her owners and I agree it would be unfair to move her to the tropics. Her breeder is aware as Maez’s owners did reach out and she could go back to them but to go cross country and then find her new home could be unnecessary when she could potentially find a new home here in Upper Michigan.

She is spayed and up to date on all her shots and though a little boustrous at first she loves to be around other dogs and is a good communicator. She has been boarded and gone to doggy daycare. She has tricks and is kennel trained.

Maybe she could stay but my lifestyle is very different than a single dog home she has grown up in so this may be a disservice to her long term especially if being a sled dog isn’t her thing. I also have a lot going on as I am working on litter plans for this year, and with my boy Zephyr in the twilight of his life I am trying to soak up what ever time we have, may it be weeks, months or even a year.

Application process to come after I talk with her breeder and maybe get to know her better when she moves in.

12/06/2025

Less than 24 hours after these photos I lost her. Today marks six months without Py and it hasn’t gotten any easier 💔.

16/05/2025

I made a very last minute decision and drove out to Arizona for my Granddads celebration of life last month. Mostly thanks to a decent tax refund. I made a bit of a trip out of it with my little family.

Over 9 days we drove 5,617 miles. Went through 14 States, 6 National Parks. It was a adventure. Starting with a broken brake line. Hitting and killing a buck on my way to get a safe reliable vehicle. Getting use to driving something other than a truck. Never did get use to low light headlights. Driving through Kansas’ open plains at night surrounded by lighting/thunderstorm. It was amazingly powerful and beautiful. Going through a border patrol checkpoint in New Mexico. I kinda thought maybe in my sleep deprivation of driving 16 hours I took a wrong turn and was headed to Mexico. Satisfied my craving for Mexican food over and over again. The midwest just doesn’t know how to do it. Getting to see my brother’s home and being allowed to stay in his guest bedroom. Reinforcement of how much I dislike big cities, the suffering, the crazy things that shouldn’t be normal. Celebrated the extraordinary life my grandfather lived. Had a quick visit with Timberline Tamaskan. Hiked up the same arch in Utah I did in 2017 when it was just Zephyr, Noque and I. It was hard to watch Zephyr struggle and have to help him so much to get up to and down the arch. His house mates were not very helpful with their unfettered youth. Found a iPhone hiking. It works but its locked with no emergency contact attached to it. Prevented a massive wildfire in Colorado by quickly jumping into action with all my dogs water and a shovel with the help of a local rancher while on the phone with 911. Stop throwing ci******es out your car windows! Picked up my truck in Ann Arbor with the brake lines all fixed. We are reluctantly “home” and trying to get back into the swing of things. Stay tuned. I

10/05/2025

Happy 6th Birthday to my Great Lakes Litter.

Basalt Lake Superior (Graph)
Basalt Great Lakes Basin (Odin)
Basalt Lake Huron (Pyrite) 🌈
Basalt Lake Michigan (Drogon)
Basalt Lake Erie (Ayka)
Basalt Straits of Mackinac (Matías)
Basalt Lake Ontario (Andraste) 🌈

04/04/2025

It has taken a long long time to find a photographer that was at the 2021 Beargrease and was able to look back and see if they had pictures of my team. I am some how notorious for slipping through the cracks and being invisible and not getting photos. Races also don’t really make it easy to find the photographers but after a lot of inquirieses after Beargrease 2023 I did find Amber’s Impressions and she had taken photos of my team and promised to look back over the 2021 race photos. She was able to go back over her photos from the 2021 race this winter and she did infact have some photos of my team. So I ordered digital copies and a big print of this photo. She is the only photographer I have seen photos from of my team either year I have raced.

Lead: Sphinx - Ranger
Point: Graph - Pyrite
Wheel: Fahren - River

21/03/2025

Way to go Quince for continuing to Nome unsupported after being withdrawn from Iditarod due to rule 36 (officials vote to withdraw when deemed too slow). Excellent tribute to the indomitable spirit of the sled dog and their mushers an a memorable way to honor your recently passed mother and friends.

In March 2025, Q's Iditarod ended early.He kept mushing, self-supported.

16/03/2025

Graph (5.83 years old)
Vesper (2.5 years old)

14/03/2025

Happy Birthday Pi Litter form your daddy Zephyr and the rest of my pack.

03/03/2025

Thank you Jen and Pete of Lost Mile Mushing for inviting me to come handle for your CopperDog 80. The dogs and I were happy to spend another weekend in the Keweenaw with your team.

There were some tough moments to work through for me with this not only being my unintentionally second year off the runners but also because the CD30 was my last sled race I ever got to do with Pyrite. Then the realization that this could very well be the last race Zephyr ever makes a appearence at definitely had me in my head a bit. Maybe zoned out a bit here and there and I was way more food adverse than I usually am but I got through it and still had a excellent time watching everyone else and their teams compete.

If all goes as planned I will be back on the runners with a team of all my own dogs in 2027 but who knows maybe I will lease some dogs just to complete my team and get on the runners sooner.

Congratulations to everyone that took a stab at it or completed any of the four Copper Dog Races especially through Friday nights snow and 50mph winds.

13/02/2025

UP200/Midnight Run/JackPine Weekend! We are excited to see many of our winter friends and their teams from across the USA and Canada.

Here is a list of scheduled events.

DO NOT BRING YOUR PETS and please keep them contained if you live along the trail for everyone’s safety.

07/02/2025

February 6th is chondrosarcoma awareness day, it also marks 8 weeks since I lost Pyrite to chondrosarcoma in her aortic valve and at only 5 years old 💔.