IT’S MID-JULY!

Wha- what?

Where did the time go? This summer has been a whirl-wind. Ok, truth be told, every day with a kennel of dogs is a whirlwind, but this summer seems particularly busy. After taking the month of May to plan, design, and build our summer tours at Chena Outdoor Collective, we jumped all-in on June first. Our standard tour is called the Taste of Two Rivers. It includes a 1.5 hour sled dog demonstration (complete with puppies), 45 minute interactive reindeer tour, and 45 minute gold panning. While this might seem like a strange combination of activities, our goal is to give visitors a little window into what people do in Two Rivers. Some people are mushers, many people have farms and harvest and hunt (reindeer help inspire this conversation), and many folks are gold miners or work at larger gold mines like Fort Knox. Full disclosure, I wasn’t super excited about the gold panning portion; however, after researching the history of gold in the Fairbanks area, my excitement did increase.

Cheddar being a good sport and teaching the next generation about mushing.

Peeps and Sappho being reindeer ambassadors

We have some fun off-site tour options too. Peony tours with Boreal Peonies and Reindeer Hiking in the Chena State Recreation Area! The peony tours were offered for the last couple weekends during harvest season. The guided reindeer hikes are offered all summer. The peony tours were a hit. The reindeer hikes…not so much. We’ve had a hard time finding the right way to market for them. Or perhaps our price point is too high. Whatever the reason, we need to do some tweaking because who wouldn’t want to go hiking with reindeer?

Pilot posing for the camera on a reindeer hike.

We’ve also been organizing events like reindeer yoga and monthly community events with live music, food, reindeer, and puppies. Needless to say, it’s been kind of crazy! Speaking of puppies, we have some! Dracula gave birth to eight beautiful pups five weeks ago. After last season’s enormous puppy class, I won’t be keeping any of these little fluff balls. My friend Lauro Eklund will be taking the whole litter.