Hi, We are Fred Powers and Jennifer Lackie owners and operators of Wilderness Trail Outfitters, We are your hosts and guides for your wilderness dogsledding adventure into some of the most pristine areas in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Picture below is my daughter Bobbie Jo who has helped out handling and guiding since I have been in business, she knows all the kids and has tackled numerous problems associated with operating a kennel of this type.

The picture below is Rick and Geri Minard

Rick and Geri Minard are excellent in dog care and dog behavior. Rick has a long line of expertise in training Iditarod dogs. Jerry is a mid-distance racer. Both are accomplished race mushers. We welcome both of them to our team here at Wilderness Trail Outfitters.

In addition to Bobbie Jo,  James (Bobbie Jo's husband), Brandon (pictures are forth coming) help out with the handling and guiding.

We all look forward to taking you on your wilderness dogsled adventure.

When I am old....
I will wear soft gray sweatshirts....
and a bandana over my silver hair....
and I will spend my social security checks on wine and my dogs.

I will sit in my house on my well-worn chair and listen to my dogs breathing.
I will sneak out in the middle of a cold winters night and take my dogs for a run, if my old bones will allow...

When people come to call, I will smile and nod as I show them my dogs...
and talk of them and about them....
....the ones so beloved of the past
and the ones so beloved of today....

I will still work hard cleaning after them,
mopping and feeding them and
whispering their names in a soft loving way...
as I bough my lips to their ears, while gently scratching their soft furry heads.

I will wear the gleaming sweat on my throat,
like a jewel and I will be an embarrassment to all...
especially my family...
who have not yet found the peace in being free
to have dogs as their best friends.....

These friends who always wait, at any hour, for my footfall...
and eagerly jump to their feet out of a sound sleep,
to greet me as if I was a long lost best friend, even though I had just been with them 2 hours before.

With warm eyes full of adoring love and hope that I will always stay,
I'll hug their big strong necks...
I'll kiss their dear sweet heads...
and whisper in their very special company..
how much I love them.

I look in the mirror... and see I am getting old....
this is the kind of person I am...and have always been...and am happy to be.
Loving dogs is easy,
they are part of me and I am part of them.

Please except me for who I am.
My dogs appreciate my presence in their lives....
they love my presence in their lives and I love being their...
When I am old this will be important to me...
you will understand when you are old....
if you have dogs to love and be your best friends.

Author Unknown

I would like to say to all of you that we are not a fancy place,  just a log cabin located in the middle of a 1600 sq mile forest. We are all mushers and it requires alot of time training/running teams to get them in shape, which I believe sets us out and apart from other places.

Discipline with the dogs is a necessity, road crossings can be dangerous if the dogs are barking so we do not allow it - I would like to say we do not have dog fights but they do occasionally happen and things can become hectic and very ugly, very quickly, at that time, if you do NOT like to see dogs disciplined then this is not the place for you, safety comes from well trained - disciplined dogs, your safety as a novice musher depends on a good trail dog. Our dogs are all workable and friendly and gosh they love to run. 

I have been active in breeding, training, and running sled dogs for many years. All of us here at Wilderness Trail Outfitters are knowledgeable and experienced dog handlers who can insure your safety and comfort on the tour--while at the same time making your dogsledding experience an awesome adventure.

My mission is to continue having the best time of my life and share it with as many people as I can. Thank You Lord.

What we have here are 76 beautiful kids that LOVE to run.  They are not race dogs though they can travel speeds up to 24 mph. These dogs have been specially trained as trail dogs, and will run all day at speeds around 4-9 mph. They are well disciplined, and despite appearances, some are shy… some are big(65 lbs) and some are small(35 lbs).  But for certain all are spunky… and all LOVE to run.

We train the kids for long distance and endurance. Each one being able to run some 30 to 70 miles per day, depending on the snow conditions. We work them all 3 out of every 6 days.

I have spent most of my life in the forest; hunting, trapping, logging, fishing and more fishing and then dog sledding and then more fishing and then more dog sledding. In other words it is hard to find time to work. Though guiding is my job (somebody has to do it). Fourteen years ago I decided to start sharing this awesome experience with other people, traveling with dog teams through this beautiful wilderness area called the Hiawatha National Forest.                  

Our goal is for our kids and us to have a good time each and every day that we are out, and if we are having a good time today, then you are going to have the most awesome experience that you could imagine!!

  So lets all go  over to the Family page and be introduced to our family.