Thinking Of Coming To The
Northern Pines Sled Dog Race?
Were All Gassed Up
& Ready To Go!
Our Trail Boss Has Already Started Grooming the Trails!
🐾 What an Incredible Day at Musher Boot Camp! 🐾
Our first-ever Junior Musher Bootcamp was a huge success — and completely sold out! 🎉 A massive thank you to our amazing presenters, dedicated coordinators, hardworking volunteers, and most of all, our Junior Mushers who brought so much energy, curiosity, and heart to the event. 💪🐶 We hope you all enjoyed the action-packed day and left feeling inspired to strengthen the bond with your canine teammates — and to keep thriving in the exciting world of dog-powered sports!
Until next time… keep mushing! ❄️✨
🎓 Jr. Musher Trainers & Moderators:
🐕 Ann Stead – A world-class musher who has raced across the US, Canada, and Alaska, and has been teaching sled dog camps since 1998 — from Switzerland to Australia to right here at home!
🐕 Dr. Jennifer Freking, DVM – A lifelong musher who began racing at age 9. Jennifer has competed in the Iditarod (earning the Most Inspirational Musher Award in 2008), the Beargrease Marathon, UP 200, and international junior races in both the US and Italy.
🐕 Janet Martens – A local favorite and mushing veteran since 1986, Janet has competed in races across the Midwest, including the Empire, Apostle Islands, Mid-Minnesota, and White Oak Classic.
🎤 Moderator: Ruth King – DNR Nonpoint Specialist and educator at the State Fish Hatchery in Spooner, who brings her passion for teaching and love of nature to our camp community.
🐾 Junior Mushers
⭐ Elena Freking – Started racing at age 4 and has since competed in events like the John Beargrease 40 & 120, the Wolftrack Classic, the Klondike Dog Derby, and the CopperDog 15.
⭐ Sara Anderson – A rising star who began racing at age 6. Sara brings grit, heart, and deep respect for her canine partners — true to the North’s mushing tradition.
⭐ Morgan Martens – A local phenom who grew up on the runners! At just 14, Morgan trained with Ryan Redington’s Iditarod team and went on to win the Jr. Iditarod, a 150-mile race through the Alaskan wilderness & the longest Jr. race in the world!
We couldn’t be more excited to welcome these amazing mentors, mushers, and future leaders of the sport. 🐶💪
Trail Maintenance in Full Swing (Nov 1st) 🛠️🐾
As the leaves fall and the temperatures drop, our volunteers are hard at work preparing the NPSDR trail for another exciting race season! This week’s efforts included pounding in support posts for the mushers’ start chute and setting up wire panels to separate chutes #1 and #2 — the starting line is taking shape!
Out on the trail, we trimmed back overhanging branches, cleared woody debris with our trusty tractor, and made repairs to the bridge safety railing to ensure a smooth and safe run for every team.
And there’s more exciting news — we’ve added a new Race Announcers Trailer to our setup! It’s now in place and ready to be outfitted with windows for race-day communications, music, and announcements.
A huge thank-you to our dedicated volunteers who keep the trail in top shape. Every post pounded and branch trimmed brings us one step closer to race day!
We received a picture of the Burge team of Alaskan Huskies attempting to come into the Clubhouse for happy hour during the late season Fun Run. Fun Indeed!
