"We're the Fortiers"

I arrived at Larry and Joann Fortier's last night around dinner time. Ana, who is four, took my hand soon after I arrived and led me to her room to color pictures in a Dora and Diego coloring book. As we colored, she talked about random things: her dogs Odessa and Tefa, her preschool, her friends. She said she's going to be a good musher girl when she grows up. Finally, out of the blue, she said,

"We're a family. We're the Fortiers."

This is Ana, decked out in her little helmet atop the snowmobile.

She spends a lot of her time outside with her mom and dad running dogs. And the dogs are part of her family.


Cowgirl (left) and Zoey (right) prepare to head out on a training run

Ana goes along with her dad on the snowmobile while her mom runs the dogs on a 19 mile run. Joann is preparing for the Midnight Run this weekend. And she and her dogs look awesome!


Joann and 10 dogs hittin' their stride along a 19 mile training run

Joann and Larry have graciously allowed me to run a team of their super-charged dogs in the Jack Pine 30 this weekend.



These dogs are unlike any I've run before. I had to ride the brake almost the entire run, and at one point, when I finally let them go full bore, I looked down at Joann's GPS watch and they were cooking at over 16 miles per hour! Whoa!

It is such a privilege to be able to drive seven dogs as smooth-gaited and fast moving as these. This is what running dogs is all about.

When we come back home, Ana changes quickly from musher girl to ballerina in a tutu. She slurps spaghetti and juice, like any four year old. But not many four year olds can hang out in the Michigan cold all day running dogs. She truly is a Fortier.

Give a Howl!

Tak gives a howl

I am at the home of Joann and Larry Fortier, Coyote Run Racing Sled Dog Kennels, while they are in Minnesota awaiting the start of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. Joann will compete in the mid-distance category, which is still 150 miles with eight dogs. Give a howl out to Joann! She likes her sleep and her biggest concern was the lack of sleep she's going to get in the next couple days! She was also fighting some respiratory flu bug - not the kind of thing you want to go into a checkpoint race with!

The Fortier's dogs are smaller in stature and high energy! They have been in dogs for nine years, building their kennel through selective breeding and exceptional dog care. They live in Gaylord, Mich. Check out some of their dogs along with their racing stats, here. A couple are pictured below. I have never had a difficult time shooting portraits of sled dogs -- it's kinda what I do. But these dogs never seem to stand still! it's been challenging getting any good portraits of them!





"Smarty" from Coyote Run Racing Sled Dog Kennel




Fuzzy tree

But the landscape here always stands still and is always breathtaking in winter.



Mancelona Road

Ice fishing



Pumpkin looks cute for the camera

Finally, yesterday while I was doing kennel chores, Mike and Cathy Murphy stopped by with their little pup, Pumpkin. It was nice to have a puppy fix! Thanks for bringing her, guys!