It seems hard to believe that we have been home now for over a week. Apologies for no blogs but things have been busy as usual and the fatigue of the events of the season really hit me hard last week. Those of you that know me well will be pleased (and surprised) to hear that I actually took an entire day off because of it last week. I got the kids off to school, got Lexie watering the dogs and then realized I had to go back to bed so I did, I even managed to be able to get a massage in the afternoon too. It was very necessary and I am sure because of it I am starting to feel more like myself and get excited by the springtime training of the younger dogs. Warren and I harness broke the puppies this week, the "A" pups out of Hula and Raphael and the "V" pups out of Hena and Gumbie. I am thrilled to report that they all did great. It is going to be tough to choose the best of the bunch with this crew. We will just have to keep running them to see how they do. It is too early to say who the superstars are but I'll keep you posted. As far as I am concerned, they are all superstars until they prove otherwise. I think everyone in the family, canine and human, were happy to get home. The trip home was good. Long of course but at least we broke it up some with a quick visit to Whitehorse to show the kids around abit and a fun trip to the Liard Hot Springs where the kids were introduced to their first hot springs. Glad to say they are all hooked and want to check out more. We had the whole place to ourselves as it was quite late in the evening and the northern lights were dancing over our heads- it was quite magical. Thanks to our great handler Annie all the dogs at home were well and in great spirits when we arrived. A huge thank you to her for all her hard work over the season. She kept the yearlings running the whole time we were gone and got them some camping experience having set up a campspot about 15 miles from the kennel. I was glad to run the yearlings out there with her on her second to last day here in Yellowknife. We were lucky to have had good weather and had a great run and some great laughs! Don't worry Annie I'm not going to put that picture on here! We are lucky enough to have another handler here with us now. Lexie is here from the Netherlands and even though we don't usually take handlers for short periods of time she was so excited to learn about dog mushing and had such a good energy about her we said yes. We are glad we did. It will be good having her here even if it is only for three weeks. She has jumped right into things and the dogs like her and she is a fast learner. We are both digesting the events of the season. As Warren said earlier, it has been a whirlwind. In fact, alot of it at the moment is like a big blur full of work, fun, training runs, laughter, tears, friends and family, dogs and their wonderful energy, logistics and lists, and some more lists. Thank you to all of you near and far that were a part of it. We feel so blessed by all of your support and good energy. To all those that we met this year on the road thanks for all the good times and laughter - especially those of you on the Yukon Quest trail - you created some great memories. If any of you took any good pictures of the events please send them on as I didn't take many on my journey. All for now. Cheers, Kate

Well it has been a long season, very busy, so many logistics it seemed stagering at times. The seasons are changin... our handler for this winter, Annie has departed and we are now focusing on training pups. Without the help from all in our team this season would not have been possible. So many high points,one very low point with Maynard. Annie has done a great job with the pups and the Yearlings here. I ran a team of 12 yearlings yesterday, they all did great. Considering Annie did not know anything about sled dogs last September, it was great to see the transtion over the winter, especially since we were gone for almost 2 months leaving her to mangage things while we were gone. I have mixed feelings on the both races. Many have asked - "which is the tougher race?" "The Quest?" Well honestly, they are both tough in their own ways. I may have not digested it all yet but I think I'd stick to that story, granted the Iditarod this year was the toughest on record in 20 years, and the Quest had a great trail with a big thanks to the Canadian Rangers and John Shandelmeir. I would also like to thank once again, all of you that have emailed through the website. We have been getting all of you emails and it really is appreciated all the support we have gotten for everything. So now the process begins for next season. We have made some really tough decisions on some dogs, We have a couple that will be going to retirement homes. Thanks Doug! I know Gumbie will be more than happy! The others that we have are "priced to sell" as we are still serious on moving and really need to down size. Contact us 867 766 3950 or email through the site Plans for next season? Need and should relax a bit first... One thing for sure now that they are done , I am glad I did the double header, Quest-Iditarod in the same season. I dont think I will do that again, but I won't ever say "never" . Mushers are famous for "coming out of retirement" Having said that, I am now part of a very elite club, only a couple of handfull of mushers have done both in the same year. Cheers Warren