Brent's Blog

Hello all
Sorry it has been such a long time since the last post, I have been very busy since I got back from the Arctic on the 10th. The trip was great I fell a little sick towards the end and came home a few days early to try and get better before the summer season sets in. I also came back a bit earlier to start working on a new project. At the beginning of April some friends of mine and I realized that there was a great opportunity that was just coming about this summer. The Yukon Quest just moved to a new location in downtown Fairbanks right on the river just above where the start is in Feb. It is the old location of the Fairbanks visitors center and the main pick up and drop off point for thousands of tourists everyday in the summer. To make a long story short I submitted a proposal to the Yukon Quest to start a show at the office that would help promote the Quest and encourage the visitors to stick around the office while they are downtown. Just yesterday they excepted my proposal and we are moving forward. I am going to create a show that of course has lots of pups but also some great information about the Quests history and future along with information about my career and what Wild and Free is all about. It is an amazing opportunity for both the Quest and myself to make a huge impact on the visitors to Alaska this summer, and make some money for everyone involved. I am very excited and have allot of work ahead of me in the next two weeks to get the show up and running. The weather has really taken a turn here as well, we are seeing highs in the 70's and the snow is melting fast which is great. the dogs are all enjoying the nice warm temps. I have 5 litters planned for this summer Rosie will be the first to give birth sometime after the 10th of May followed by Madonna and Muskrat on the 18th and then a dog named Peak who a leased from Joee and Pam Redington to breed with Silver. She is due sometime around the 9th of June. The last breeding will be Jerry, she is coming into heat this week so we can expect pups out of here in July. all of this is very exciting for me! I cant wait to get the Quest show up and running and start showing off the future star of Wild and Free. I hope you are enjoying the webcam on the site.. when it is working! I am working some kinks out of it so it has been a little inconsistent but I should have it all up and running full time next week. It is a big relief to have my summer plans set and be moving forward. I will be updating regularly now and will keep you posted on the pups. once they are born there will be a puppy cam that I know you all will want to check out. stay tuned for that. thanks for stopping in.

Being Wild and Free

Brent

Hey everybody no i have not dropped off the face of the earth, it is spring in Alaska and the last chance to get out with the dogs so I am taking full advantage before all the white stuff melts away. The Fort Yukon race as amazing, the villages welcomed us with open arms and treated us like gods. It was a flat hard fast trail and the dog did great considering we look like a team of horses compared to the competition. We ended up finishing 4 the out of 8 and got an award for having the Biggest dog. Silver at 75 pounds was b y far the biggest dog in the race and the villagers really took to him, I got a pair of leather mits with fur and some amazing bead work. the prizes giving out were out of this work. For first Dan Kaduce got a hand made pair of Snow shoes, Abby West got a pair of Mukluks and Hugh got an amazing pair of Lynx mits. Over all it was one of the best trails and most well organized races I have been too. I will definitely go back next Year. We hope to double the amount of racers next season. More on that later, I am also working hard on promotion this summer and have started it off by creating a webcam of the dog yard. the link is below so check it out and let me know what you think, This is going to be a busy summer for me along with tourism i am going to be doing some construction work on the side to make some extra money. the big news is that we are having 4 litters of pups so there will be alot of puppy cam throughout the summer. more exciting dog news I just bought two dogs from Lance Mackey and leased a dog from Joee Redington to Breed with Silver. The wheels are turning here at wild and free there is no doubt about that. These are the first dogs i have truly bought it is very exciting. the male i got from Lance ran in his team in the 2008 Quest!! Willy is his name and he is a big long legged sweet dog I cant wait to start working with him and gaining his trust. Peak is the name of the little female i got from Joee it is hilarious to see them next to each other she is about half the size of Silver!! but that's the plan to make silver smaller so we will see what happens, I can hardly wait!! I have one more trip planed for next week when I head to the arctic for one last fling with the dogs to explore new country and hunt caribou. once I am back from that my summer will be in full swing and I will get back to updating regularly, with all the pups on the way I am sure there will be lots to talk about. the 2008-09 season was a total success. all told the dogs and I did 6 races ranging from 100 milers to 1000 milers and put over 5000 miles on the dogs. Even though the Quest did not end like I had planned the Dogs Kyla and I learned more then we ever could of asked to. What doesn't kill ya only makes you stronger and we got allot stronger this season! Another exciting announcement is that Kyla will be back for her third season with Wild and Free next year. The past week Kyla has been showing her mom around Alaska including a trip to Fort Yukon for the race and a short visit to Eureka. I still think her mom thinks she is crazy but she supports her 100 percent!! Kyla flew out this morning for a short visit to California and will be back to work for the summer in Alaska, and the come back on board in Sept. This is awesome news Kyla has really turned herself into a great musher and a vital part of Wild and Free. look for Kyla to be doing some more racing next season. Ok I gotta run tons of packing to do for the arctic trip. Hang in there I will be back in a couple weeks with the Quest story and a full run down of the pups that are on the way. Wild and Free is looking forward to a very exciting Future, I cant wait to see what is around the next bend!!!


Webcam Link

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wild-and-free-mushing

Until the next time

Being Wild and Free

Brent