Double JJ Ranch with the boyscouts

On Saturday, I left GR (with a couple of inches of snow on the ground) to head north to the Double JJ resort in Rothebury, MI where I would join my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew and his boyscout troupe.

I spent the day watching (and photographing) the boys go horseback riding, dogsledding, and snow tubing. Just some of the winter activities available at the Double JJ.

The day started off nice and sunny although it ended up just pouring rain. Rain in the middle of winter is rather bizarre, but I guess nothing surprises me this winter. I believe a good time was had by all even though there was no snow up there. Dogsledding without snow is accomplished by creating a "sleigh" with wheels that the dogs pull quite easily. I was pretty impressed with the dogsledding operation.

They have approximately 20 dogs that live there year round. The dogs work 5 days a week and take in a high protein, high-fat diet of 2,500 calories per day. They can eat more than that, but it is all just waste after the 2,500 calories. Interesting. Each dog can pull approx. 200 lbs. The "sleigh on Wheels" weighs about 700 lbs without people. So, it takes 4 dogs to pull the sleigh and another 3 dogs for the people. The smallest fastest dogs were in front and the bigger, slower dogs were in back by the sleigh. It was really cool to hear the details about the process. The guy training them has been working with the dogs for 9 years. The dogs just relax in the summer and work in the winter.

It was pretty cool to see the dogs start barking when their trainers came over to the pen as if to say, "Pick Me, Pick Me!!!" You can tell these dogs really want to pull the sleighs (wheels or no wheels). They showed such excitement when they took off and seemed happy to be attached to the sled as the chosen dogs. With so many dogs, they all get turns.
The boys all wanted to pet the dogs and the dogs were OK with that.
The Bull got loose:
Yes, the bull got loose from it's pen but was quickly wrangled back. The animal handlers all do a great job. It was pretty awesome to be so up close and personal with the bull. I had a nice time taking pics of the animals that I don't normally get to see out on the honey creek.
I would recommend a winter weekend to the Double JJ ranch. I enjoyed the activities, food and lodging in the cute little cabins. Too bad we didn't have snow.