Camping with the Northern Whites

Camping with Northern Whites

  Back on the runners and being careful for what I wish for....I have been re-reading Gary Paulsen's Winterdance, The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. My memory of specific stories within are foggy. That is why I have started reading it again. I, also, thought I might be able to glean knowledge from it now, that I can read it with a new perspective. And a new perspective I have. No longer am I amazed at the pure chaos he encounters, now I can totally relate. He certainly has not over-stated the stories. They are spot on. Any way, I had said to my husband, Dave that I wanted to be mushing dogs, not reading about, it as I had not been on the runners in a week.....be careful what you wish for....

     Tuesday morning was met with temperatures in the 30's. Jim's plan had us running the teams four hours, then camp for four hours and then run again for four hours. We trucked the dogs to the Chugiak Mushers Club to run the wonderfully wide and  groomed trails there. With lots of little delays, we finally pulled our snow hooks to start the run at 12:30, lunchtime for many. It was a wonderful run, all around the edges of the Cook Inlet, along through wooded groves and around frozen lakes at the base of the Chugach Mountains. The sun was shining, a glorious day to be running dogs. It was lots of fun as we coursed our way along our 4 hour run. I loved it.

     Camping with the dogs is quite involved. It is a practice of sorts for race activities, along with giving the dogs a well deserved break. We pulled into our camping spot at 4:30 in the afternoon. I planted one of my snow hooks, firmly into the hard pack snow of the trial, stomping it in firmly with several good hard kicks. Taking the second snow hook to the front of the team, I hooked the carabiniere into the front end of the gang line to secure the lead end in place. This keeps the gang line tight so the dogs stay put. On the way back to the sled, all the dog booties are removed, collected and put into a bag to save for laundering and regrouping for later runs, and tug lines are unhitched from the dogs harnesses. 

    Then it is time to feed the dogs with pre-mixed baited water (frozen ground chicken melted in warm water and put into a garbage bag lined, small cooler, placed inside the sled bag) One ladle full of water and a ladle full of high-octane kibble in a bowl for every dog. You can imagine the noise that comes from the team as they are frantic for water and calories.  Once this is done, the dishes were collected and places off to the side to freeze, so they don't stick together once the are re-nested. With the dogs fed, it was time to spread out the straw for the dogs to nestle into for a good rest. They know exactly what the straw means and eagerly help spread it out, circling to make their nap-nest. For the veteran dogs, it takes very little time to settle. For the young rookie dogs, they think it is time to play with the straw or each other..more training...I yell at them....."knock it off".....

Feeding time

Nap Time

   During the camping rest day turned to night. We donned our headlights to start packing up our sleds. At one point, we heard some noise nearby, in the dark woods. The dogs went nuts, barking wildly with eyes focused and ears pricked all in one direction. Suddenly, in the cone-lit beam of my headlamp, I spotted a moose, its eyes reflected back at me, an alien-like green, which spooked me. It was the  first time I have had an "encounter" of sorts, with a moose. I had a pit of fear in my belly when we pulled our hooks to continue our evening run. I wondered where the giant animal had gone. Fortunately, the moose had moved on as we did not meet it again.

     At 7:45 pm, we started to re-bootie the team for a an on-time 8:30 pm departure for another 4 hour run. The night time running brings a whole new set of sensations and feelings. Jim runs his teams much faster than Ray and this makes it all very different for me. The trees go by much faster, the turns of the trail become sharper and the speed seems, at some points like a swirling surreal dream.  When you don't know the trails, all your attentions are on managing sled riding skills, keeping the sled on the trail and managing the running speed, all awhile keeping your eyes on the dogs. Better than any amusement ride in the world !

     Phew ! Finally12:30 am, we arrived back at the truck to end the run. After the days activities, it feels like no small feat (no pun intended) to remove the, 4 X 12 booties, remove harnesses and load each dog into its box on the truck. Six of the dogs in my team had to be loaded into the top, higher tier of the dog boxes. This required me to lift the dog up, over my head. The dogs had to crawl, claw and  push off my shoulders and head with their feet, to get themselves into the high-up resting spot.  After loading the equipment and sleds we drove the 15 minutes back to Jim's. We let the dogs spend the night on the truck and would unload them in the morning. I stayed at Jim's where I spent an utterly sleepless night, that is if you call 4 hours of "rest" a night. My body ached and every time I closed my eyes, I felt like I was riding on the runners, swishing through the curvy dark, snowy trails. I could not sleep. 

     At 7 a.m. the scent of coffee met my nose so it was up and at em’.  I felt like I had been on an all night drinking binge. I thought about my day and wondered how I would manage the tasks I would face. There was nothing of any danger, it is just I was so darn tired. I could not allow myself to think about being on the comfy sofa, resting, watching the evening news, as I felt like I had to take it all moment by moment to make it through the day.

  I will put an end to this saga now. Suffice it to say, I made it through the day of many physical chores which included cutting up six 50 pound flats of course ground chicken into small snack size pieces using the band saw. Cutting was very slow as the blade was so dull. I sure wish these "big-time" mushers would give us schleppers the proper tools to do the task. It seemed to go on  FOREVER. I ended the task short of completion. To tired, I was making mistakes and was aware that I was in danger of cutting myself. 

I made it home, feeling to exhausted and tired. My neck muscles decided to attack me. Thank goodness the prescription strength dosage of Advil made it all o.k. in the morning.

What Are We Waiting For, Lets Get Going !

Ready.....Let's Go !

  Mushing in the New Year has brought many new canine friends. Here you can see just how happy they are, so excited to go for a run. This short video clip will give you a little idea about how excited the team gets when it is time to run. Here, my team of 12 dogs are anxious to run the trail from Lake Louise Lodge back to Sheep Mountain Lodge, approximately a 60 mile run. 

Heading down the middle of Lake Louise with a spectacular skyline.

The trail leading off Lake Louise

The trail leading off the lake was soft and made it kind of slow going for the team. Once we got off the lake the trail was firm and fast. It was a wonderful, uneventful run, for the most part. We saw a herd of caribou in the Nelchina River Valley. 

Adjustment Stop

We took a stop to make some minor equipment adjustments. The mid afternoon sun was getting low in the sky which made for an wonderful photo opportunity.  The dogs are turning their heads wondering why we are stopping and looking to me for an answer. In a matter of moments they start their loud cacophony of protest, leaping and lunging into their harnesses.

One in the Basket

About 20 miles into the run, May was showing signs of fatigue. I gave her a bit of time to work through her "wall" but she was just not up to it. For the first time, I put a dog in my sled bag. May was more than happy to go for a ride. She turned her head to look at me with her blue expressive eyes, as if to question, is this o.k. ?  I patted her on the head, told her she was a good girl and she settled in for a rest. About fifteen miles later she was ready to get out of the sled bag and be back with the team. She had a great run and finished up the distance in great form.

Entering the Woods

 I love this photo. We wove our way across frozen sloughs, over rivers, weaving our way along narrow wooded trails. The trees in this photo look like they are laden with a thick sugar coating of frosting. There is beauty everywhere. Between all the sights, keeping a watchful eye on the team and the trail, the miles seem to effortlessly slip by.

Happy New Year 2013

Alaska; The Big Wild

Another story, un-embellished !!!!

New Years Day 2013

The trail conditions in Knik had all but evaporated, making it necessary to travel elsewhere to train the dog teams. The decision had been made to travel north to Willow, to join Iditarod musher Karin Hendrickson and her handler Miriam Osredkar for a run on their snow covered training trails. 

I got my team of 12 dogs harnessed up and at the ready in order to follow the other mushers out of the yard. For this run, I had two new leaders I had not run together before. These two female dogs, Patsy and Straight,  had been run together as leaders plenty of times by others,  but I had not had the opportunity to run them, until this day. My usual leaders Shred and Right Eye had been switched to another team. 

Just before leaving the yard, Karin, very thoughtfully took the time to give me a brief description of the trail.  She explained the trail immediately took a very sharp right hand turn after leaving the dog yard, followed by twisty, windy, narrow trail through the woods, then across a couple hundred feet of  glassy ice, followed  two road crossings. 

I wasn’t worried, I had learned to navigate many sharp turns and was ready for this one. With Karin and her team leading the way, I was the third out of 4 teams to leave the yard. I handily maneuvered the sharp right turn by taking my foot off the break lever allowing the sled runners to skid, smearing the cold-dry snow around the turn and continued on down the trail. My team was fit, fresh, ready for a nice long run on new trails. They pulled hard, charging strongly, pulling into their harnesses with strength and determination, ready to conquer the world.

We moved along quickly, following the narrow serpentine-like trail through the piney forest, when suddenly my lack of sled skills came shining through when I hit a snow covered stump on the inside of a turn. In a split second, the sled turned over, as the left runner hit the stump, flipped, and came to an abrupt stop. The momentum, tossed me over the sled while my foot got caught up in the skinny rope used to raise and lower the stomp pad. It all happened so fast that one moment, I was on the sled and then next, I was on the snow. No big deal, this happens a lot.  I sunk my hook in the hard packed snow of the trail, by stomping on it with my bulky arctic boot, to hold the team until I could get my sled upright, jump on the runners, pull the hook and off we went again in no time at all. 

By this time, Miriam had caught up with me, which I was very happy about as I was feeling uncertain about the trail. I had lost sight of the teams in front of me and I didn’t want to take a wrong turn. I let the team chose the pace, which was fast, in order to catch up to the leading teams. By the time we got to the ice section that was described to me earlier, we had caught up with the teams leading the way.

Things started to deteriorate, in earnest, with the run at this point. My leaders were proving to me they did not want,  nor did they care, to show me any respect. My directional commands were being ignored, creating more difficult situations. If it were just me on the training run I would not have minded but when the other mushers had to wait for me to get sorted out, it made a tense and unpleasant situation. It was not fun any more. 

Up ahead, I watched as Karin’s team made their way across the road and then turned right as the trail ran parallel to the road along the other side of the snow bank. The trail did not cut straight across the road, instead it crossed at an angle. My team made the way up and over the first snowbank and instead of staying on the trail and completely cross the road, ignoring my commands, they made a beeline down the pavement. 

The other mushers, their voices, I could still hear yelling over the scraping sound of the hard tungsten steel brake tips, as they etched lines on the pavement. They were yelling, screaming in fact, “stop the team, stop the team”. I stood on the brake bar with both feet, and with both arms under that handle bar, I pulled up, with all the strength I could muster. This is a technique used by mushers in an attempt to make the brake points dig in deeper to the ground. It had no effect on stopping the team. Thinking, perhaps I could create more drag, I flipped the sled on its side and held the handlebar with my hands as tight as I could. The team kept going, dragging me, belly down, along the cold-black pavement. 

Unbeknownst to me, while I was dragging face-down over the pavement, a compact pickup truck had come along. Recognizing the situation, thankfully this dog-smart driver knew what to do. She accelerated merging into the on-coming lane, inching ahead of the leaders and with percision driving veered her vehicle into my traveling lane, nearly hitting the leaders, but stopped them. With their long-glistening tongues lolling long dangling near their knees, they seemed to look around with question, while all I could do at that moment was lay on my belly, death grip on the sled handlebar and pant in an effort to regain myself. 

I flipped my sled upright, I stood on the sled runners as my leaders were led to the the snowbank and encouraged to take the trail, following my fellow mushers. They did as encouraged and off we went, continuing on our 40 mile training run.

While running along, smart Karin made a call to her husband from her cell phone she had tucked away in an inside pocket, arranging to meet us on our return run to save me from the second, potentially hazardous, homeward bound road crossing. At the intersection of the road and trail, there he was, looking at me, imploringly. to get off the runners, saying “I’ll take it from here”. In hindsight, it was a smart and necessary decision to prematurely relieve me of my musher duties that day, but I felt like a failure and felt the downward spiral of grief and heartache in my soul and spirit of total and complete failure that was painful and humiliating.

The silver lining came when the teams came sluicing back into the the yard. I learned Karin’s husband, all 230 pounds of him, on the return road crossing, was also taken down the road. No one really wanted to say, but I was able to eventually draw it out that he had a challenging time as well. 

2013 has came roaring into my life with more trials and tribulations, but, with it come welcome change and anticipation of the next stage of Iditarod training with my  new musher/mentor, Jim Lanier

The Kink 200 and The Don Bowers 300 Cancelled !

For many Alaskans the unseasonably warm, dry climate is a welcome relief, but for the sled dog mushing community it is nothing but bad news.

The Knik 200 and The Don Bowers 300 are both cancelled due to warm temperatures and bad and unsafe trial conditions. Open water on the rivers and frozen exposed ground are both dangerous and unsafe for obvious and not so obvious reasons. Sled dogs get serious shoulder injuries when running downhill on frozen ground. A nice layer of snow provides a cushion for the dogs but when that cushion is not there it becomes a question of safety for the animals and mushers alike.

Without these races, it has become much more challenging, if not impossible to reach the required 750 mile race requirement to qualify for Iditarod 2014.

The cancellations of the Knik 200 and The Don Bowers 300 follow along with the cancellation of the Sheep Mountain 150 which was scheduled for the weekend of December 15th.

Race Week Countdown

New Year's Eve

Training in Knik

Photo by Julia Redington

     The weather in Alaska has not exactly been the best for dog mushing. It was in the high 30's today and the sun was shining. Everyone but the mushers love this weather ! We are all holding our breath that the Knik 200 Race will not be cancelled. The race organizers are waiting to see what the weather is going to do before they make an official decision. 

Early in the week, our team did a 72 mile run. We started at Deshka Landing on the Big Susitna River and headed north 36 miles to Yentna Station, on the Yentna River. This happens to be the first check point for the Iditarod and also the checkpoint for the Knik 200.  It was great to be able to run part of the race trail to become somewhat familiar with it. I am guessing our average speed was 10 miles per hour as it took us about 7 hours to finish the entire run. When we got to Yentna we had a good long snack/rest break. But, the dogs got antsy and wanted to get moving. We left Yentna at 4 pm which made most of our run back to the Deshka in the dark. It was a great training run for this neophyte !

By the way, the dogs would really love to move faster than the 10 mph. If it were left up to the dogs we would be roaring around corners with the sled careening through the turns teetering on one runner. We keep them paced at this slowspeed in order to build strength and stamina. They pull into the harnesses hard and a musher has to work hard to hold them back by keeping pressure on the brake lever with their feet. The brake lever is a bar with two sharp tine type bars which drag and scratch, cut and dig into the snow and ice. The harder you push down, the deeper these dig in and hopefully the slower or more control you have. The power of a 12 dog team is staggering to experience. My first experience with 12 dogs was daunting as I could not stop them whatsoever....a humbling experience indeed. My thoughts immediately go to wondering what in the world will it be like to stand on the runners of a sled being pulled by 16 Iditarod dogs. 

  People often ask what breed are these dogs as they all look so different; different sizes, different colors, different coats and a variety of body types. The fact of the matter is, an Alaskan sled dog is a mutt, a pure full on mutt. Over the years, mushers have bred huskies with many other dog breeds in an effort to infuse more speed into the breed. Some of the other breeds introduced into the husky bloodlines have been a variety of pointers and hound type dogs.  You can see by this short video taken a week ago that my team looks like a mixed bag of breeds. I suppose you would be right in making a statement like that. But the one thing the dogs all have in common is they LOVE to pull.

This video makes it all look so peaceful, relaxing and easy. But, I am here to tell that when it all looks smooth and easy it is because lots of successful training has taken place. During those training days chaos has ensued with crashing sleds, runaway teams,  and perhaps even some dog fights. It is what one musher friend referred to it as "controlled chaos". Suffice it to say, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. 

Trials and Tribulations; Do Not Let Go !

What ever you do, don't let go !

  The learning curve continues to be steep for me in this new endeavor ! When I wake up in the morning I seem to have a pit in the bottom of my stomach. That feeling of nerves on edge, anticipating some level of impending doom of sorts, burns in the bottom of my belly. Here is a story of why .....

The 10 dogs were having a great run, pulling hard up the hills and surging across the wide open expanses of frozen lakes. I was having a wonderful time as we skimmed along, effortlessly smooth 40 mile trip on this cold, minus 20 degrees, but sunny afternoon.

About 10 miles from home, the trail makes a hard left turn, descends a short, but steep hill and then emerges out on what is known as 7 Mile Lake. It is not that the lake is 7 miles long, it is because the lake is 7 miles from the the beginning of the trail. The team surged with speed and power as they anticipated the turn. I stomped my foot on the brake bar which did not seem to have much of an effect on the speed. Round the turn we went, fast. I held my foot on the brake as the sled cracked up against the tree, rocked back and forth on the runners, then turned over on its side. I hung on to the handle for dear life as my body bounced along down the hill, plowing snow with my face the whole way. For those who do not know, when you fall off the sled or tip over, the team does not stop. They just keep on pulling and pulling. Doing exactly what they have been bred and trained to do. 

At the bottom of the hill, the team stopped, no longer able to pull the sled, they turned their heads to look back as to inquire on what the problem was. I pulled myself up to my knees, ever so grateful to have been able hang on.  One, and I underscore one, of my biggest fears, as there are so many fears, is that I would lose my team out on the trial. I have heard these stories and they make me feel such doom. 

As I pulled the sled upright, I was ready to hop quickly on the runners, when the team jerked in their harnesses, a jerk and surge of monumental force, ripping the handle of the sled from my hands and there I stood as I watched my team run out onto 7 Mile Lake. They were charging with the exuberant freedom with the featherweight load trailing behind. The image of the team rapidly diminishing in size made my heart sink as I walked in their direction. In the cold air, I was sweating, my hair soaked with perspiration, which froze immediately as I pulled my hat off. As I unzipped my arctic one piece suit steam rose and froze on my eyelashes making them stick together as I blinked in an attempt to focus on my now distant focal point. As I trudged along the trail, all I could hope for was that there would be another team coming down the trial and the musher would grab my team seeing the riderless sled, or that one of my snow hooks would jostle off the sled, setting itself as it is designed to do, deep and securely in the snow, stopping the team for me.

After crossing two lakes and a vast open expanse of frozen slough, my walk brought me into a piney woods and there I found my team stopped, frolicking in the deep snow with the lines snarled into total chaos. You can imagine my relief. I nearly cried tears of joy to find them there, stopped, safe and happy.

After unhooking many tug lines and reattaching neck lines, the snarl of lines came to order. The dogs, sensing things were getting organized, started yelping and leaping to get going. Me too, I said to them. Standing firmly on the runners, my left hand gripping the sled handle tight, I reached down with my right hand to grasp the handle of the snow hook. With a strong yanking pull on the handle it came free and off we went. A gratefully giddy musher and her team coursing over Alaskan hill and dale, arriving in the dog yard finally to end another epic day.

Sheep Mtn 150 Cancelled/ Alaska Excursions 120 instead

 

Shred and Right Eye in Lead

The Sheep Mountain 150 which was scheduled for December 15, 2012 was cancelled due to lack of snow. It seems there are lots of other types of sled dog races going on, one of which seemed like a good idea to enter. The Alaska Excursion 120 was on Saturday 12/15 and Sunday 12/16. This was a sprint race with two heats of 40 miles each,.

The race took place at Happy Trails Kennel which is the home of Iditarod Champion Martin Buser. He and his wife, Cathy generously let the race take place there as the home of the Alaska Excursion 120 Race trail was not ready.

Thank you to Lori Egge for letting me use her dog box trailer. The team of 10 dogs rode in style and were toasty warm in the straw filled boxes on such cold mornings as the temperatures were well below zero. Also thank you to Nick Petit for helping me get my team safely to the starting line !

My first heat was not very successful as I missed a turn, and went about 15 miles out of my way. During the run, which went in the wrong direction, I nearly lost my team as I lost my balance going down a steep hill. I was on the "Big Lake Trail" at this point, which is wide snow machine trail, that looks like a super highway. I don't even want to think about what would happen if the team got away from me. They probably wouldn't have been seen again for a long time. Not a happy thought.

I got turned around, when I finally realized I was on the wrong trail and went all the way back to the start. The happy folks there said I could turn around, go the right direction and finish the heat, which I did. Needless to say, I was in last place.

Sunday was as cold as Saturday, maybe even more so. I did not get lost and passed by several teams to finish the 42 mile heat under 4 hours. The dogs were great and finished in excellent form. I couldn't have been more proud of them

My wonderful husband, Dave Bogart was my intrepid dog handler who had to sort out drop lines, harnesses, booties, unload the sled and keep order among the troops, not to mention scooping a few poops too !

 

Photo taken by Barb Redington