October 2, 2008:  In the predawn at SledDog Lodge, the temperature is 34°F with periods of heavy rain mixed with occasional wet snow.  I am writing with a toasty fire in the wood burner and a hot cup of coffee near my right hand.  The daylight is slowly pushing back the wet, cold, darkness.  I will don he rain gear soon and feed the dogs a warm broth of raw beef and premium high fat kibble.  The wet cold numbs the hands.  This is a tough day to get motivated to hook up the teams and run the dogs.

 The dogs are a big boost to the spirits.  I wonder if they are remembering the oppressive heat of the summertime and are enjoying the cool.  I would like to think they are excited to see me.  To be honest, I think they are simply happy to see the food bucket as it travels in my hand to their food bowl.  I am just incidental, not the focus.  However, it is good for my spirits to think they are happy to see me.  Their smiling faces and wagging tails are a good thing on a morning like this.

 The northland forest has been in splendid dress sporting bright colored foliage.  It has been warm, actually a little oppressive to the running dogs.  We stopped to cool often, and found puddles on the trail to run though.  Sometimes we stopped for the dogs to drink or lie down to cool in the muddy water.  This is part of the early fall training and the dogs must endure.  Today will be a big change, wet and cold.  The dogs will love the run. 

September 29, 2008:  Training of the sled dogs is progressing well at SledDog Lodge with weather cooling nicely and fall color is in full display.  Temperature is 45°F and overcast with steady rain forecast for afternoon. I must get moving to get the planed 12 mile run finished before it starts. 

 SledDog Lodge hosted bear hunters brother John and cousin Perry Eddy.  Both bagged a nice bear in the first two days of season.  Excerpt follows from emails to 'SledDog Lodge Hunters'. 

“Bear hunters are having a good time.  The first day the guys, Perry and John, saw a total of 16 bear.  By noon the score was hunters 0, bears 2.  Both had shots, and missed the bears.  You should have heard the lame excuses.

 Just after dark, John called the cabin from his blind with a request for help to retrieve a good bear ‘hit hard’.  Perry had just come in so joined me to help John.  Yep, the bear had been hit hard, had flipped over and run a short distance along a mucky bottomless creek.  He then charged across the water and plowed into a thicket with no more than 4 feet of visibility.  We moved forward cautiously with weapons ready, single file in the dense swamp, and found a black hulk wedged against a downfall.  John had changed the score to bears 2, hunters 1.  Way to go John.  The bear was an older sow.  We estimated the weight to be just about 300 pounds, a nice black bear by any standard.

 Getting the bear out was a major chore.  We used a big plastic cargo sled, which helped a lot.  Getting the bear up the very steep hill was a big hassle.  Perry tied the end of a long rope around his waist walked up the hill and around a big tree.  John and I together would hoist the sled and bear about a foot at a time while Perry leaned down hill holding the bear while John and I regrouped. Jokingly we re-estimated the weight at about 900 pounds sitting there on the top of the hill soaking in sweat. It was a good day “

 Perry followed with a bear of his own the next day:

 “It is midnight at SledDog Lodge.  I have to be up by 6 to run the dogs while still cool enough for them.  But, we had to go out and bring in another bear, Perry's.

 Perry said he saw a large bear at the bait and was about to shoot it when two little cubs came running in to eat.  He let it go because it was presumably a sow with cubs.  A few minutes after they left another medium bear came in, ate and laid down a few feet from the bait.  It actually slept there for a while.  With daylight nearly gone, Perry decided to take the bear.  One shot anchored him to his bed.

 Well that evens the score, bears 2, hunters 2.  John and Perry are happily skinning the bear in the barn.  I heard the comment as I walked away, "Well, it looks like we beared-out!"

 Not bad.  In two days, the combined bear sightings at bait was 20 bears.  John and Perry are to be congratulated for a good job at baiting and selecting locations to hunt.” 

 John Warren and Perry Eddy With Black Bears

Bear hunters have left.  It is time to focus on running dogs to be ready for the mushing season coming almost too soon.

 August 31, 2008:  Warren Family Update:  Jennifer, my wife, is here with me at SledDog Lodge for the Labor Day weekend from her place in Albuquerque, NM where she works for Cabot Corp as a Patent Attorney.  She enjoys the work and we both like Albuquerque.  As you can guess, I am thinly spread between SledDog Lodge in Upper Michigan, the Christmas tree farm in Lower Michigan, and Albuquerque.  A challenge to be sure, but it is a good thing.  We will work on consolidating over the next 2-3 years.

 Son, Christopher is now working as a Civil Engineer in the town of Brighton in lower Michigan.  Daughter Whitney is in her second year of Nursing at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

Yes, we are spread around.  Does it come as a surprise?  It shouldn’t.

 August 30, 2008:  Life is good.  The sled dog training camp is in operation at the Warren Family’s SledDog Lodge near the Lake Superior shore in Upper Michigan, near Paradise; yes it is a real town.

 You should plan to visit Paradise and step into the way things should be; a place where you quickly are known by your first name; a place where people ask, “how are you?” and mean it.  They share with sadness your failures and celebrate with you your successes.  Filled with real people, eking out a living in a special place on earth, Paradise, Michigan is a place to visit. 

Breakfast is served all day at the Berry Patch, a wonderful place to stop for a few minutes for a coffee to go and an excellent cranberry muffin. Very small and always crowded, if you want a meal, plan on more than a couple of minutes.  The owners, Carl and Shirley Clark are cornerstones of the community.  They serve as great role model on how to start and grow a year around business in a seasonal tourist economy.  Carl in his wheel chair is often there and always has a word of encouragement for me.  I have a great respect for him and his attitude.  Shirley is always much more exuberant than you’d expect for someone of her age working as hard as she must.  Yes, a special place with special people. Stop and see them, you will be better for it.

 Click on Photos to View

SledDog Lodge and Guest Cabins	Dog Yard From Kitchen Window
Jim After Feeding Dogs	Jennifer and Patches Talk
Chris and Whit at Midnight Run Sled Dog Race	Chris and Ernie after Midnight Run

Chris at finish of Midnight Run Sled Dog Race