On January 22 our son, Nikolai, was in a horrib car accident and ended up in critical condition at Harborview Trauma Center ICU in Seattle. Nikolai was hit by a driver that pushed him into incoming traffic. Martin and I arrived the same day and have been at the hospital since then. He was heavily sedated with multiple injuries until Feb 2. He had 8 surgeries in eleven days. He is on a very long road to recovery and we are so fortunate to have a multitude of people sending prayers and positive energy his way. His doctors and nurses have put in a herculean effort to stabilize him.
Of course, we will continue our vigilence here and Martin's Iditarod 2016 preparations are being continued by an energetic and generous team at home at Happy Trails. Thank you Nancy Marty, Jim Davis, James Volek, Tim Pappas, Rohn Buser, Perk Fairbanks, and Daryl Darnell for cutting meat, working on food drops, training dogs, tending to the everyday kennel activities. A big thank you to our friends from Midnight Sun, where I taught, for bringing meals over to the kennel to keep everyone nourished. We'd never come out the other side of the black hole without their help.
Well it seems we are having a bit of a repeat of last year's snow conditions. Late December rain and warm temps converted our immediate outgoing trails to ice rinks. Last week, the teams went to the Denali Highway to train and now 54 dogs trekked to Lake Louise, northeast of Big Lake. We are so fortunate to have the comforts of Jim Davis and Nancy Marty's cabin as a checkpoint. Jim and Nacy marked trails so the teams can make 60 mile runs. Nancy spoils the boys with her comfort food.
We are thrilled to have snow. Dogs and drivers headed out early on sleds for the first time this winter. With the lack of snow last year, this recent weather event was greeted with much enthusiasm.
