Met downstairs in the lodge for a quick orientation on dog sledding. We learned about how to stop and hold a sled and how not to let the dogs run away with it. There were a lot of details and it seemed like a lot of things could go wrong. Then we dressed up warm and went down to meet the dogs. There was a quick lesson on how to hitch a team and we learned things like how not to hold the collar ring when taking them off the picket line and to raise them to their hind legs when moving them to keep them from pulling you along.
We harnessed up the teams and off we went. It was a beautiful sunny day with hoarfrost hanging over the lake ice and the dogs were running fast on a broken trail. The wind on my face was as cold as I think I’ve ever known. I didn’t mind the cold too much. When we rounded into the wind it was my turn to mush so I wasn’t cold then. We sledded through a couple of portages and I learned that rocks and such are a problem when off the lake.
Found more drifting snow on the leg back, the wind was at our back, and I learned that it was a great help if I got off and ran in the deeper snow.
After the run we unhitched the dogs, checked their pads for ice balls and gave them fresh straw. Gave each dog some attention and a few pats and it was time for lunch.
12/31
When I got to the picket line I found that I would be sledding with Matt, the musher. We harnessed the dogs, making sure that the harnesses were not twisted. The process itself is simple enough, over the head and front legs through. The dogs are used to it and cooperate, seeming to enjoy the early morning attention.
Matt had me hold the sled while he hitched the team. It is essential to have your hook (a sort of anchor) out and brake firmly planted as the dogs are excited and ready to go NOW!
Ivy, the other musher, leaves first and takes the first turn at full speed, with her sled on one runner and left leg out to balance. I hear her laugh and look back at Matt and he’s grinning. She MEANT to do that. I am deeply impressed.
I thought I would be driving the sled again this morning so I didn’t have my heavy parka on and at the last minute Matt takes the sled and has me jump in and ride and it’s too late to take out my parka and put it on since we are off in an instant. We hit the lake and I am suddenly very aware of the temperature hovering just above –20 F. This is soon forgotten in the beauty of the morning. There is bright sunshine, brilliant on the lake ice as we speed along; the only sound is the sled and the dogs. The forest beyond is dark and beautiful through the glimmering hoarfrost. After a couple of miles we stop and Matt lets me take the sled, giving a double caution not to let the rear dogs over run the leaders like I did yesterday. Stopping a sled, like all else here is a skill to be learned. At the first rest stop I do it right and it feels pretty good. At the next portage Matt let’s me go on ahead alone while he helps the other sleds around a bare spot and so I solo, suddenly and with out warning. I make the appointed meeting place all in one piece and with my sled. I think I can do this thing, though there is still lots to learn.
Look back to see Mark driving his sled with Ivy. Mark is blind and one of several differently abled people in our group. Part of the experience of going with Wilderness Inquiry is having these folk show us how being an adventurer has little to do with physical ability and everything to do with having the spirit.
It’s a warm 0 degrees F. as I head down to the sauna in my parka and fleece pants. Dean, the Japanese girls and Morgan are in the sauna when I arrive and Julie waits outside at the ice hole. The lake’s about three feet deep there and there’s a pole across the hole that you’re supposed to hang on to. We all bake for a bit so when I go out it doesn’t seem too cold. I sit at the edge of the hole and plunge in, quickly dunking my head down under the water…. It’s not bad at all!!
I go in a couple of times. Son Bob, pictured above, engaged in some melodramatics but went back four times.
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