Then and Now

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Has anyone been playing with the “then and now” hashtags? For some of you, that sentence probably sounds like a different language, but for those social media savvy folks out there, you know what I’m talking about! People have been posting photos of themselves, their dogs, their children, whoever from years ago, and then a recent photo of that same person/dog/animal/child to show their transformation.

For example, here’s a middle school Ryne on her first ever dog sled ride in Durango, Colorado that set everything in motion. And Ryne 18 years later, choosing to stare at dog butts for a profession. Ok, I’ll stop talking about myself in the third person. But you get it- Then and Now.

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Looking at those two photos, I honestly don’t see much change.

But do you know who does make a HUGE transformation in the course of just a few months? REINDEER.

Between the summer and winter months, the reindeer look like completely different creatures. Why the drastic change? Well, a few reasons. The winter coat of reindeer and caribou is exceptionally thick. Their wooly undercoat traps heat against their bodies and a coarse, heavy duty outer coat made of hollow guard hairs sheds water, snow, wind and everything else that gets thrown at them - keeping them completely dry and warm. They shed their heavy coats come summer and don a lighter, thinner layer for the heat. Believe it or not, the weather in Interior Alaska can get quite hot! While 90 degrees F may not seem that hot to some of you, consider that there’s a 150 degree difference between the coldest temps and hottest temps of the year in parts of Alaska! The color change can help them to blend in with their environment a bit better. So with that explanation- are you ready for some Then and Now Reindeer photos?!

Tap on the Photo to See Each Reindeer’s Transformation

Captain Kirk

Pilot

SAILOR

PEEPS

The Fire Litter's First Time in Harness!

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We recently took Spit, Fly, and Fox on their first run in harness! All three were such EASY puppies to harness. They calmly stood in place and let us place the harnesses over their heads. Normally puppies will stiffen up their legs in excitement, but the Fires willingly let us place their legs through the leg holes of the harness. They struggled a bit with facing forward (meaning they spun around and got tangled when we walked back towards the sled), but once they were straightened out and the hook was pulled, they all lunged forward and pulled! Spit was the most natural. He was completely unfazed and by the second time we stopped, he was harness banging and barking. Fly pulled hard but was a little spastic during breaks. She would spin around like a top and get in a big tangle if we waited too long. Fox was the most intimidated. He wasn’t sure what was happening. He liked adventuring down the trail but it was a little overwhelming, so he got extra love and comforting words during our breaks. He reminds me of his uncle Smoky: beautiful build, curious, and loving but also a little more sensitive.

Here’s a video of their first sled run being led by all-stars Cooke and Crunch!

Blog Post by Mandy

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I look at the black ears flop against the broad forehead, bouncing in rhythm to the jolts caused by jumping back and forth over the gang line. The dog yard is howling in excitement while the team on the line is pulling in their impatience to go. Everyone is ready but the large dog in front of me. He pauses for a moment to look me in the eye; he doesn’t know what’s coming.

I approach slowly, cooing “easy boy.” I lift his paw and a wide tongue rolls up my cheek. My other hand goes to slip something onto, a foreign object to this pup. He jerks his paw from me and the 80-some pounds of muscle slam into my legs to escape me. I trip over the gang line and almost lose the item to the new snow.

New tactic. I straddle him, tucked right behind his should blades. His head goes up to reach for my face in hopes of another lick. I can feel his body wiggle as his tail moves with energy. My hand grabs his paw—no problem. I try again with the other hand to slip the Scary Item onto his a paw—problem. I’m sliding around his back shouting at him to chill while he throws a tantrum under me. Again.

He gets away. Well, away from me but he’s still in harness attached to the gang line and we still have one last task to accomplish before we can do what his silly puppy wants to do: run.

Sherlock

Sherlock

I straddle him again and get a little farther in the process before he actually bucks me off. He’s a brute of a dog! And a yearling at that! It takes another handler to help out, but we finally manage it. Sherlock wears dog booties for the first time ever.

Kalyn looks me dead in the eye: “This is why Ryne ‘happened’ to have a vet appointment on the day we ‘happen’ to run the yearlings in booties for the first time.” We laugh hard, shaking our heads, and both tell Sherlock he’s a good boy... cause he is!

And we had an amazing run in the most beautiful environment ever.

Winter Patience

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First- I hope everyone VOTED!! Either today or early or absentee- get out and Vote!

Winter has arrived in full force with temperatures hitting at least -25F at night. I say at least because whatever the weather station is reporting, we are normally five to ten degrees colder. And the Fairbanks Weather Station reported -22F yesterday, which is the third coldest November second in recorded history! Of course everything is relative. In just a month or two, we’ll probably call -22F a warm up and be frolicking outside to bask in all the warmth. However, since this is our first real negatives of the season, we’re bundling up and questioning our sanity for living in the far north.

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But really the biggest adjustment I have to make to winter living is to just have more patience. Everything takes longer in winter. The simplest of tasks might drag out into a couple hours or more. Take yesterday morning for example. Goal: bring two dogs to North Pole Veterinary Clinic for a 10:00 AM appointment with Dr. Brown. I knew it was supposed to get cold the night before, so I woke up at 6:00 AM in order to give myself plenty of time to compensate for any hiccups the cold weather could create. My tasks for the morning: shower, eat breakfast, feed the dogs, start my car, and drive the one hour into the vet office. Even with giving myself FOUR HOURS I arrived five minutes late. The morning went about like this:

6:00 AM- Emerge from under the comforters where Jezzy, Sasha, Derek, and I are cocooned in warmth. By the light of my phone, walk downstairs and flip a light switch. Rats, power is out. Note to self, run the generator more often. Stumble around and throw a jacket on. Supai and Cartel do not even move or look up from their pile of blankets. Step outside to the generator shed. Try to start the generator. Oops. Needs gas. Bumble around the yard, kicking gas containers and looking for a full one. Grab a half full container and start filling the generator. Curse myself for not bringing gloves as I try not to freeze burn my fingers on the metal gas cap. Start up a generator and go inside.

6:30 AM- Cartel, Supai, Jezzy, and Sasha all still completely ignore my movements and pretend it’s not morning yet. The water pump kicks on, but no water is coming up from the well. Pipes must be frozen. I plug in the heat tape. It’ll take about an hour, but the pipes will clear up. Pack firewood into the woodstove and open all the vents to get it cranking and warm.

7:00 AM- Start breakfast. Have a delicious breakfast and drink a big mug of coffee (ok it’s really creamer with a dash of coffee).

7:30 AM- Go try the water. Success! There’s movement in the pipes. Shower time. Oops. The drain is frozen and the base of the shower is collecting water. Plug in the heat tape around the drain pipe. Attempt to start my car knowing full well it won’t start. Yep, it’s too cold. Normally, cars are plugged in, but since we are off-grid, we just heat them up with a diesel blower (or for the trucks, turn on the Webasto which is an internal heater). I go and wake up Derek and ask him really nicely if he’ll get my car ready to go. I need to leave at 9:00 AM.

8:00 AM- Head out to feed the dogs a warm broth of meat. We’re feeding about 30 pounds of beef in warm water to the dogs in the mornings. The dogs gobble up their breakfasts then curl back up in their straw beds for a bit more sleep.

8:30 AM- Shower drain is good to go. I hop in the shower. It’s been about a week since my last shower, and I have a hunch the real world would appreciate being around a clean, nice smelling Ryne.

8:55 AM- Derek has warmed up the car. I turn the key and presto! We have a running vehicle. I wait ten minutes for engine to warm up before driving. I load Cooke, Faff, and Cartel into the car and off we go to the vet! Kalyn (with Fire, Ham, Rucu, and Blue) and Mandy (with Perm) have arrived in the yard to scoop, walk puppies, and work with the reindeer.

10:05 AM- We arrive at the vet! SUCCESS!!!

So there you have it. Four hours to do morning chores and arrive at the vet office. And this is the norm in winter. Things break, freeze, or won’t start. You just have to have patience. And I should note, we are still working on the cabin. Our routines will get easier once the house is finished. Although even then, many houses have issues with frozen water pipes or septics. Many people choose to live in dry cabins (meaning no running water) not out of poverty, but out of a desire to not have to worry about leaving for a few days and their homes freezing up. Oh the joys of living in the far north! And for those wondering about the vet visit, the dogs are just fine! Cartel came along because she likes to ride in the car. Cooke has a sprained tail (his brother Smoky must have grabbed it and not let go when they were playing in the yard), and Faff has allergies. When you have this many dogs, it’s always something! Good thing winters are beautiful!

Sailor munching on lichen.

Hopefully one of the last atv runs!

Midnight (Mandy’s dog) dressed up for Halloween.

Fire pups playing in the snow.

Fire pups playing in the snow.

First Snow! And an update.

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Peeps enjoying the snow on a sunshiny day! Photo credit- Kalyn Holl

We have received the first snow of the season in Two Rivers! One day we’re planning to go pick lichen for the reindeer, then BAM! We wake up to fresh snow! So while our lichen collecting adventure was foiled, the dogs were ecstatic about the cooler temperatures and fresh, soft snow on the ground.

We’re currently training three teams: two adult squads and one team of young guns. Since the young guns team is really only seven dogs (Tobin, Rose, Watson, and Sherlock coached by Rucu, Ham, and Crunch), we rotate the race dogs into the youngster team so that they all have an easier training day occasionally. The two adult teams tend to be divided based on each dog’s location in the yard, but otherwise, no choices have been made yet for A Team versus B Team. Training schedules can vary from two days on/one day off or one day on/one day off.

And then we have TWELVE puppies!

Fly, Spit, and Fox all live in the yard with the big dogs now. Every day, they go for a loose run totaling about five miles by ATV. The puppies, of course, probably run double that distance as they dart through the woods, run back and forth, and chase each other down the trails. These three are the sweetest. Without any training on our parts, the Fire litter knows to run back to their houses at the end of the run.

The Cheeses and Office litters also get walks every day. For most of their lives, they have lived in two separate pens: the Cheese litter in one and the Office litter in the other. Recently, we’ve had to get creative and separate the three boys in the Office litter. Big Tuna, Mose, and Dwight are FEISTY. Tensions started running a bit high between the three boys, and they were getting scrappy. I have never had a litter of puppies get in such squabbles. To settle things down, we separated the boys (one in each pen) with the other puppies dispersed randomly. But then the Cheese litter (who are all very attached to each other) were quite upset to be living in separate pens. The current solution? Holly and Mose in one pen, Dwight and Beesly in another pen, and the Cheeses and Big Tuna in the largest pen. Phew. So many personalities!

Pilot, Peeps, and Sailor

Photo by Kalyn

Big Tuna

Photo by Kalyn

Training run with the adult squad. Goblin teaching his daughter Yoshi how to lead!

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Are any Ryno Kennel followers also Office fans? You’ve probably guessed that I’m a big fan of the Office based on the fact that the youngest litter is named after characters from the show. A bit of back story- I’ve always loved to watch the Office, and then a few years ago, Paige Drobny told me how she has it downloaded onto her iPod and listens to it to help her fall asleep during races . She doesn’t need to watch the show. Just the soundtrack puts her in a good, happy headspace as she falls asleep. Hm… I had never considered doing that! While I don’t listen to the Office on the trail (mostly because I’ve been too lazy to download it) The Office has become a major crutch for my brain in every day life. If ever my brain is caught in a silly anxiety trap that I know is highly irrational but I can’t break the loop (I’m sure many of you can relate), then I pop on The Office and listen. It’s dry humor and sometimes a bit crass. But at the end of the day, all the characters still care for each other. So here’s to the Office Litter!

The below is a video of Dani at the Outpost Cafe bringing hot London Fogs to Kalyn and I as we passed by the Two Rivers Outpost! Thanks DANI! You can see Louie, Bert, and Ernie wanted to go say hi!

List of Fun Facts by Mandy

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There’s a little habit I do within the first two miles of a run: I go through a mental list of fun facts I know about each dog on the team.

It’s a mixture of basic information such as age, little-mates, and races they’ve completed so far. The facts might relate to running. Is this dog a trotter or pacer? Good Poopers are labeled above the Team Stoppers. The former poop beautifully and quickly while still efficiently running... the latter stop so fast that the dogs behind them practically run them over and squeeze it out like brown toothpaste if not for the musher’s encouraging “come on” chant and careful speed control—but try to never break for a bad pooper. But best of all, I really enjoy thinking of more odd fun facts. 

•Bull always poops to the right of his dog house

•Dolly either runs straight back to her dog house or belly-crawls under the dog platform, causing heads to tilt at the ground in confusion

•Oryx usually greets us with a bone in her mouth to help against her habit of digging aggressively into your back, leg, or other closest body part to her 

•Watson is a gentle giant and will push his head in between your legs for attention while you’re poop scooping his spot—he requires a lot of pets 

•Rucu the teddy bear loves pulling and running... until the dog booties come out

•Wombat often rolls over whenever you initially go to harness her

There’s a lot of pieces to keep a kennel running smoothly and the to-do lists can have a tight grip on the mind. It’s distracting. Leaving the dog yard for a run, there’s an incredible amount of energy and excitement—screaming dogs and harness banging—and it can be contagious. 

So, my habit of fun fact listing is a bridge between the craziness of hooking up and when we settle into a run. The dogs soon find a steady stride and my mind calms with them. The air and scenery are serenity, easing us into the miles for a lovely run. I adore it. 

And it just gets better with snow!

Eagle and Salmon

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Boating down the Yukon

Over the past few days, I took a mini-vacation to the town of Eagle.

More specifically Matt, Elke, and I drove six hours down the Alaska Highway, then three hours down a dirt road called the Taylor Highway, then boated 45 minutes down the Yukon River to a remote kennel (home of Wayne and Scarlett Hall). The Halls live six miles downstream from the already isolated town of Eagle. The colloquial phrase would be “they live in the bush” or cut off from the road system.


For those who avidly follow the Yukon Quest, Eagle probably rings a bell. It’s a checkpoint on the Quest between Dawson City and Circle City. The small community is located on the banks of the Yukon River and can be accessed by a 160-mile dirt road, known as the Taylor Highway. The Highway is unmaintained in the winter, cutting off the community of approximately 85 year-round residents (according to Google) for the winter months. The Yukon Quest trail runs along the Taylor Highway from the 40-Mile River Bridge up and over American Summit to the town of Eagle. Below is a video of the Ryno Team going over American Summit in the 2020 Yukon Quest.

For being such a small town, I have a strangely large number of friends and connections who either live in Eagle or are originally from there. My good friend Amanda Gecas with Boundary Fur Sewing who made my beaver mitts and hat as well as allowed me to run some of her incredible dogs like Jana, Drummer, Charlie, and Pirate is from Eagle. Through the wildland firefighting world, we have met other Eagle friends as well. For this particular trip, I was tagging along with Matt and Elke as they went to visit Matt’s parents- Wayne and Scarlett. This is the second time that I have traveled to visit the Hall’s in autumn, and it has become a favorite trip of mine.

Two years ago, we traveled to visit the Halls and helped them store their fish wheel for the winter. Using the fish wheel, the Halls catch chum salmon to feed the dog teams as well as salmon for themselves. This year was different. There were very few fish. A sonar station is located across from the Halls, and biologists live there in the summer, counting the number of fish that pass the location to ensure that the fish population will stay healthy for the future. A quick biology reminder- chum salmon are born in the river, swim to the oceans, and at an average of four-years-old, they swim back up stream to spawn and die.

Moving the fish wheel in 2018

Moving the fish wheel in 2018

Salmon haul from several years ago. We actually got these chum from the Tanana river, but you get the idea.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game do a great job of describing the sonar site across from the Halls:

“Of all the salmon that migrate past Alaska Department of Fish and Game sonar sites, salmon migrating past the Eagle Yukon River sonar site travel the furthest. Salmon that reach the Eagle sonar site have traveled 1,200 miles upstream. And as they migrate past the site and into Canada some travel more than 2,000 miles before they stop to spawn. Because they are shared between two countries, these salmon are managed according to precautionary, abundance-based, harvest - sharing principles outlined in the Yukon River Salmon Agreement the United States has signed with Canada. Eagle sonar project escapement estimates for king and fall chum salmon help ensure agreement obligations are being met and that Canadian-origin stocks are managed sustainably. ADF&G runs the sonar site in cooperation with Oceans and Fisheries Canada, which provides two of the site's technicians.”

Typically, biologists plan for an escapement of 200,000 fish, meaning at least 200,000 fish pass the sonar camp to ensure a healthy future population. This year is currently tracking as its lowest number on record. According to Alaska Fish and Game:

“Using genetic analysis on all chum salmon that have passed the mainstem sonar site operated near Pilot Station since July 19, it is estimated that 189,000 fall chum salmon have entered the Yukon River as of September 7. The projected abundance is below the level needed to meet the drainagewide escapement goal of 300,000-600,000 fall chum salmon, tributary escapement goals, and Canadian treaty objectives. Fall chum salmon are typically dominated by age-4 fish however, that age class produced by the 2016 parent year, has shown extremely poor survival in chum salmon runs throughout the state.

”Fall chum salmon typically take 39 days to migrate from the mouth of the Yukon River to the U.S./Canada border, with estimated travel rates of 35 miles per day, though travel times may be a bit slower with this year’s sustained high water. The last identified fall chum salmon group that entered the Yukon River on August 27 would be approaching the U.S./Canada border around October 5.”

So what does that mean for the Halls and other dog teams on the Yukon? No fishing. The Halls have trucked in tons and tons of dog food, but for many mushers on the Yukon who feed their teams primarily with salmon, this could be the beginning of the end. It’s not economically feasible to care for a dog team without salmon. And beyond mushing, the effects of no salmon on the entire Yukon ecosystem is a terrifying thought. Optimists are hoping that the fish due to arrive in the Yukon this fall decided to wait another year in the ocean before returning to spawn. Either way, 2020 is a very troubling time in the salmon world.

Moving onto happier thoughts, we had a wonderful visit to Eagle. We climbed the bluffs outside of town, free ran the Hall’s dogs, and spent hours just relaxing and visiting. On our return trip to Two Rivers, we stopped in Delta to pick up straw for the dogs for this winter. Also included in this post is a link to a video called Black Bear Goes to Washington. Denise Lawson is a sled dog enthusiast who has been mushing with the Halls and volunteers for the Yukon Quest. She helps rehome retired sled dogs and wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books about Black Bear, her retired sled dog. Spit, Fly, Foxfire, and I made an appearance in the video. Hope you enjoy!

Evening bonfire on the banks of the Yukon.

Evening bonfire on the banks of the Yukon.

Views from the bluffs looking downstream.

Views from the bluffs looking upstream. You can see Eagle on the left side.

Here’s a fun video of free running the Hall’s dogs.

Puppies and Puddles by Mandy

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It’s Fall in Alaska’s Interior! The birch trees are draped in beautiful orange leaves... and most are already losing them. But Fall also means rain and mud.

Currently, Ryno Kennel has 12 puppies across 3 litters that are too young to mush. In order to get energy out and some love-and-care in, we take them on Puppy Walks. These crazy furballs will play with anything they find: rope, sticks, leaves. They romp around and splash into every puddle found along the trail. We bring kibble as treats to work on their recall and sitting skills.

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My favorite part is watching a puppy run too fast and lose their careful balance, slipping into a puddle. Don’t worry, these guys are rubberbands and spring back into action—the only evidence of their mishaps are the splotches of mud covering their plump bodies.

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The older puppies, around 7 months old, get to run off-leash as we drive ATVs. It lets them sprint, play, and be dogs at high speeds. The goal is to tire them out but there’s a pit of endless energy and often they’re still playing with each other in the dog yard afterwards.

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Lastly, the race dogs. Before there’s snow on the ground, training begins with the gangline hooked to ATVs. We typically run between 8-14 dog teams. These dogs are power-houses and run through mud pits, puddles that overtake the trail, and even into rivers. I never realized how much they help keep the ATV from sliding around untiI driving the same trails without them—I got stuck once.

Puddles, and water in general, are great during Fall Training. It cools the dogs off as they run. We typically run in the morning for cool weather but even then, these dogs are built for snow and work hard. They’ll pull toward the puddles along the trail to make sure their paws soak it in.

Life of a Handler Written by Kalyn

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I (Ryne) asked Kalyn and Mandy to occasionally write blogs for the website, and being the amazing people they are, both have agreed!

What is it like to be a handler? You might see us scooping poop, cutting meat, digging holes, resting in the dogtruck at races in a position you can only assume is comfortable due to lack of sleep, packing drop bags, watching over resting teams, drinking obscene amounts of coffee…The list is nearly endless. 

The life of a handler is a variable one. We spend many winter months working for room and board and the chance to run a dog team. For most of us, our handling gig ends in March or April and we set out to find a summer job to feed the bank account. Many people handle for one or two seasons, then either start their own kennel or move on to the next adventure. Me? Let’s just say that this is my third season at Ryno Kennel and I’ve spent a couple years playing at another kennel before that. In the summer months, I’m usually guiding - aka getting paid to show people really amazing aspects of this earth. For several of the past few summers I’ve been guiding people on kayaking and bushwhacking adventures in southeast Alaska. 

Many other handlers move to doing dog sled glacier tours in the summer. This past summer, however, was a bit different. Tourism didn’t exist. So, I applied for the Alaska Fire Service and got a job as a Wildland Fire Dispatcher out of Galena, AK. It was quite the experience and it had been many years since I’ve had an office job. The job itself was extremely interesting and it’s always fun to learn new skills - skills I can use in the event that I can no longer do a more physically demanding job. But I’m sure glad to be back home at Ryno Kennel staring at dog butts on the trail.