Spring is here.....or is it?

Finished out our season with a day at Treetops resort and our last two scheduled tours of the year. Had a good week of warm weather that pretty much took care of our trail system leaving just a hard frozen base and plenty of bare ground on the trails. It was sad to see the snow go but gave us a chance to get a few spring projects done early, which never seems to happen.

Sunday being the first day of spring and a run of nice temps found us floating a section of the South Branch of the Ausable with Cash, Timmy and Sarah. It was just a quick float of a little over an hour but super nice to get back on the liquid water and relax. Not too sure if it was a sign of things to come but we did see our first Robbins of spring on this trip. Bet they are second guessing their early migration now. In other wildlife notes; the Bald Eagle that nests on Wakeley has been flying over each morning from her nest location to the river to fish. She must be getting ready to lay eggs soon I am guessing.

Monday was the little ones first birthday. We are shocked how fast the year went by and how fortunate we are to have such an amazing little girl who fits right into our outdoor lifestyle. I honestly think she likes to be in the backpack helping feed dogs more than I do! 

Well we learned Peyton like birthday cake


With our list of Spring projects longer than I care to think about we have dove right in to start shortening it up a bit. The dog box is off the truck and ready for its summer paint job, Sleds are stored, gear sorted out and organized, inventoiry taken for new equipment to order and build, and we finally found a supplier for our "dog barrells" that we use to house our crew. It took a trip to Grand Rapids but we were able to secure 18 new barrells to replace old ones and for our kennel addition to take place this summer for the pups.


Spring Projects

Well as much as we thought spring was here and being off the runners for 8 days with deteriorating trails and warm weather, mother nature came in and got the last laugh. I love her jokes though and the storm we got two nights ago left nearly a foot of snow and had us pulling the sleds back out and running dogs once again. Both dogs and humans had a blast yesterday and with the cool temps for the next week I really see us back on sleds at least until the 1st of the month. We will be here running every day so if you know of anyone wanting that experience of a sled dog adventure they can check out all the details at http://www.snowboundkennels.com/ or follow us through a "like" at snow bound adventures on facebook.

Short Clip of March 23rd run



I think that is all the rambling I have in me for one morning. Gotta head out to feed so I can get out with the dogs for the day.

take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton Riley

Catching up

Well to all of those who are dedicated readers of our blog, sorry for the lapse in reports. The computer went down about 3 weeks ago followed by my phone. As tough of a time as it was trying to respond to emails and comunicate on the buisness side of the kennel, it was a blessing in disguise. What amounted to a lack of comunication with the outside world proved to be the perfect opportunity to spend undistracted time with the family including our amazing kennel of dogs. Well to save all from the boring play by play here is a quick summary of the past few weeks;

• Finally got Peyton out on her first dog sled ride!
• Switched the entire kennel over to Red Paw Premium dog food with tremendous results!
• The Energy Drink Litter is now 10 weeks old.
• The Mountain Litter is now 8 weeks old.
• All pups are looking amazing and are progressing well in their "informal" training.
• Wrapped up our festival season.
• Had a bit of a warm up followed by another good dump of snow.
• Trails are currently in the best shape of the season and more snow is in the forecast.
• Continue to be busy meeting so many wonderful folks through our dog sled adventures.
• Plenty of dates left in March for those who want to get one last winter adventure in.
• Currently working on the remodel/expansion of the cabins sitting room.

Monday's Family dog sled adventure with Ma, Dad, Briea, and Peyton

This upcoming Saturday we will be at Treetops resort in Gaylord for our last set of rides for the season. If you know of anyone wanting to experience a ride in some of the most beautiful country in the world give them a call, I think there are still a few openings.

We are really looking forward to the next month. March always provides such amazing dog sledding. The days are getting longer, the temperature is super comfortable and the old sun really shines. As long as the snow holds out I'm optimistic we will be on sleds until April! Time for some long campouts with my furry friends.

Take care,

Tim, Briea, and Peyton