Dashing Through The Snow-Montana Musher and Rock Creek Members

Looking for something different to do at Rock Creek during the winter?

Can you yell mush and geee and haaw? Can you bundle up? Then you might want to get together with Celeste Davis, Powell County resident and sled dog racer.

Josh Hollingsworth in the basket with the warm mountain man hat, Todd Davis in the Alaska shirt, Celeste Davis, the Montana Musher, and I don't know all of the dogs still tethered to the trailer at the right that are impatiently waiting their turn to rock.

Celeste, her husband Todd Davis and son Beau live just across the valley from the Rock Creek Cattle Company's cattle operations headquarters, more commonly referred to as "The Home Ranch".

Celeste is a professional Nurse (either an RN or an LPN, I can't remember dangit, sorry) and she is also known as The Montana Musher. You can learn more about Celeste, her dog team and her quest to conquer the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2010 by clicking on this link to MontanaMusher.

Making the turn for home on the warm up loop. These dogs were moving out and it is less than half the team.

The Hollingsworth family, Rock Creek members from California, came to the ranch to spend some time at their cabin right after Christmas. During their stay, the wound up getting together with Celeste for a day with the dogs. I went along for a little while to snap a couple of pictures and just because I'd never seen a sled or the dogs that pull them, up close and personal.

Hard to tell in this photo, but this is the part where the photographer (me) is nearly run over and momentarily tangled in the harness. Well, I was trying to get a picture of Josh with his huge smile.

Before you ask, no, I didn't ride on a sled. I just tried to stay out of the way. I gotta tell ya though, it was pretty cool.

When we pulled up to the meeting place, dog yelps and barks filled every possible silence. They were excited and ready to run. It didn't take too long before they were hitched up and Celeste was going over some safety instructions to the participants. She then took them each on a couple of quarter mile loops with about a half of the dog team, to warm up and get everyone acquainted with the situation.

Final warm up lap.

With that accomplished, she hitched up a second sled behind the first, added twice as many dogs to the rig, loaded everyone up and away they went for a 3 hour tour. Unlike Gilligan and the Captain, all returned safely to a hot campfire and hot chocolate with eyes wide, stories to tell and a unique memory to hold onto forever.

These photos are just a few shot during the warm up lap. They aren't great, in part because it's hard to keep focus in the low light conditions with those dogs moving as fast as they do.

Time to hitch up the rest of the team and take off through the mountains.

I know the Hollingsworth kids had a great time. The Davis family, Celeste, Todd and Beau, are good folks and I wish Celeste all the best in her Iditarod adventure. I'm glad I got to tag along.

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron

Post Script-Posts in the near future include A Blue Moon, A(ice)River Runs Through It, Elk Trailing In The Snow, and with any luck at all, an Ice Fishing Report. I've been invited to go with a local ice fishing legend. We are supposed to hit the hard water next Tuesday.