We hosted the Fifth Annual Dawg Daze event under mostly sunny skies on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Dawg Daze is an event that celebrates winter, trails, and dogs. We hold it during the weekend of the Copper Dog 150 sled races. This year we held four events:
- a skijorning race (the main activity)
- a dog-person firewood sled pull
- a person-dog costume contest, and
- a best trick contest (dogs only)
We groomed flat the course the night before, when it was cooler temperatures, and the top layer harder. We had received up to 12 inches of “wet” snow on the Friday before the event, and then temperatures cooled down on Saturday. Our trail conditions this year have been excellent throughout the winter season, and even with the challenging weather, they remained dog-gone good. However, we had to adapt with the freeze-thaw over the days before Dawg Daze on Sunday. With the sun out on Sunday morning, the course showed the beauty of nature in the Keweenaw. The 1.1 mile skijorning course is designed specifically for the event, and it is a curvy, rolly-polly, narrow track through the trees. A word often heard about the trail was “fun”, and the dogs agreed with their joyous barks.
At the early Sunday morning skijorning course testing, JD (Keweenaw Mountain Lodge team), and Ocho reported that the trail was muy bien. It was in fact so good that Ocho had to continue to stop along the way to double check spots., They recorded their time to set the pace for the day: 17 minutes, 58 seconds (unofficially).
The rest of the participants were seasoned skijorning enthusiasts, and the need for speed could be heard barking through the air. The speediest was Junie, and it was reported by her person Joseph, that she only has one speed. Together they were able to complete the course in 5 minutes, 11 seconds. Nipping right at their heels was Murphy and her person Jana at 5 minutes, 21 seconds. And defending champion Thor, did not seem to notice that this year, he and his person Bobbi came in 3rd with a time of 5 minutes, 56 seconds, as he happily wagged his tail all around the finish line. He rolled in the snow afterwards to cool off and play with the other dogs.
- Joseph and Junie: 5 minutes, 11 seconds
- Jana and Murphy: 5 minutes, 21 seconds
- Bobbi and Thor: 5 minutes, 56 seconds
Family members were able to ski the trails, cheer their dogs and people, and this fun event brought smiles and pants from all involved. And even Bugsy (with KML team member, Monica) came out to visit with the participants.
Ocho was able to gain redemption at this year’s newest event, the person-dog firewood sled pull. He first packed the 1.2 mile trail wanderer trail (with JD on snowshoes), without pulling a sled, which he has done many times this winter as part of his official duties. He then decided that he only needed to pull the firewood sled to and from the trailhead, as all of the other dogs were there for speed, not for feats of strength, and he was the only participant. This new event is a great opportunity to spend time on KML’s snowshoe trails and test if you have the working dog tenacity to finish (or even start).
We could not be cruel, as our costume contest winner had us all shook up, because Murphy was certainly nothing but a hound dog, unfortunately Jana had disappeared while we had our very own Elvis sighting at KML. Thor was able to secure his name in this year’s award ceremony as he had the judges jumping for joy at his tricks, and amazed by his ability to wait patiently for his treat.
Participants were able to enjoy a complimentary delicious bowl of soup prepared by Chef Wi, and sandwiches and a few bowls of sorbet and cookies kept the families moving in and out of the Lodge. Whether on the course, out by the fire pit (complete with snow stadium seating), or hanging in the cozy Lodge, good times were had by all. All participants and their families were able to enjoy the trail system throughout the day.
Erin Billman, with 47 North Photography, also provided the following beautiful photos, which highlight Junie and Joseph’s run.
