Another 4 am wake up call, this time it was the sound of 200 huskies howling !!! Now that is some experience, just to have heard that was worth the flight over - what an amazing sound, it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Of course this was a sound we were going to become very familiar with as 95 huskies were going on the expedition with us and of course when one starts they all have to join in!!
After the dogs had finished their morning howl and quietened down we managed to nod off again for another hour before it was time to get up. No shower facilities so it was time to practice the wet wipe wash but at least there were decent loos for this morning. Breakfast was held in the shop/kit room; selection of cereals, ham, cheese, bacon, eggs etc all lovely and fresh. The leftover bacon & sausages we made into sandwiches to take for our lunch. After breakfast we made our way over to the kennels where our furry friends were collected and we were shown how to "walk" them to the vehicles ready for travel. Holding onto the collar and making the dogs hop along on their hind legs (the only way you would have total control) looked very simple when the pros did it but it required all our concentration to keep these excitable and extremely boisterous dogs on their hind legs as we walked gingerly across the ice trying not to fall flat on our derrieres!
One of the trailers for the sleds & dogs
An hour or so later the dog teams were loaded onto the transport vehicles and all the kit onto the vans then we finally hit the road. We were a rather subdued group, some quietly chatted, some slept and others just gazed at the lovely scenery flashing by; frozen lakes, towering hills and "Toblerone" looking peaks with turquoise ice flows glittering in the sunshine. After travelling for 2 hours or so we arrived at the start of our route at the foot of the mountains. There had been quite a bit of rain recently and the ground was quite slushy. The first job was to unload all our gear, and distribute shared items such as dog food, fuel, tents etc.
Getting all our stuff together ready for loading onto the sleds
With my "tent buddy" Karen - that tiny orange bundle on the floor is our new home for the trip !!
Once all the kit was checked yet again, the sleds were positioned into two long lines ready for "take off". The dogs, refreshed from their nap and all clamouring to get going, were brought out, harnessed and hitched up to the sleds.
At the front - Frutti, Sekki, middle - Likdag, at the back - Saft and Te
Saft and Te
After a last final check of all the harnesses and dog lines, Tore took position on his sled and the first line set off - the dogs went bananas, the noise was absolutely deafening, you could almost feel the energy in the air. The switch from frantic barking to silence seemed instantaneous. Now the dogs were settled all that could be heard was the gentle sound of the dog's panting and paws on snow as we glided along.
For a short while things seemed to be going ok, we were following a narrow path winding its way up hill through pine trees with a steep bank to our left with the river running below, very pretty. But we'd no sooner got going when we started running into problems. It had been raining a few days previously and the snow was extremely soft, which meant the moment you stepped off the sled to try and help push it up hill in some parts you were sinking thigh deep, once off the sled all you could do in this instance was hold on and hope it didn't over turn. The breaks (which we didn't know how to use properly yet) were not taking a good grip which meant sleds were not being stopped in time resulting some getting too close and either knocking the sled in front down the side of the hill and go crashing into a tree or the dogs getting too close and ended up getting in a tangled pickle. I'm pleased to say I only came off once today and that was because I'd stepped off the sled to "help my flagging dogs" by pushing the sled uphill; I ended up stepping into a covered pot hole and once I was stuck in this thigh deep hole my dogs suddenly had an energy boost hundred fold and pulled me for what seemed like forever up the hill before coming to a standstill. Of course the moment you try to climb out of the snowhole and get your foot on a runner they're off like a shot again for another 100 yards or so. Throughout the day all of these things seemed to happen over and over again and each time it took a while before we got going. When we were stopped for long periods of time we put down our snow anchor a big claw grappling type hook, the rest of the time we kept our feet on a metal bar which was the break. However when my dogs decided they were bored of standing around more than 2 minutes they were able to drag me along as if I didn't have a break on my sled at all. Tore checked my sled and decided I was too light and my sled was too light for my strong team. She felt I needed more weight in the sled but for the time being a slight change in my team would help so she took one of my male dogs Likdag (who looked more like a St Bernard than a husky) and replaced him with Gypsy, a beautiful white female.
Frutti & Sekki
Weather wise it ended up being a really beautiful day, the going uphill meant our bodies were working quite hard and we felt very warm and thirsty most of the time. It was good to finally stop at our camp which we arrived at around 8 pm. There were quite a few scattered trees for shelter and which we could "stake" our dogs to and there was a little stream nearby where we could get fresh water. Our first job was to tie the stake out chains to the trees, take the harnesses off the dogs and attach them to the stake out. Tents were put up while the water for the dog's food was put on to boil. Then the dogs (95 altogether) were fed.
We had a quick 10 minute team brief by Brian and then Tore gave a brief on what to expect of the following day's terrain and how we should prepare in the morning. We're told we only did 22 km today - not very good at all, far too many stops and starts. Following this we all went back to our tents to unload our stuff and put on our own stoves to make our evening meal. All of this took a surprisingly long time, I think it was about 10 pm when we clambered into our sleeping bags and started to eat our evening meal which consisted of boil in the bag Baccalo (a reddish looking fish stew). The meal was delicious - restaurant quality. All the meals we had been supplied with were home made and then vacuum packed, not what we had been expecting at all!! After our meal, we set up our stove and breakfast things in readiness for the morning. After a quick discussion we confirmed that neither of us had done so much as a quick wee since early morning. We were really cosy tucked up in our sleeping bags and really didn't want the hassle of getting suited and booted to go outside but as we knew there would be no way we could make it through the night without going we really had to get this over with. We strained our eyes and ears to make sure the "coast was clear" and none of the guys were lurking about with cameras. Taking our "Shee Wees" with us, specially bought for the trip so we could go like the guys we each chose our spot somewhere relatively discreet but within easy sight of each other just in case either fell into a hole. But nothing happened!! We tried and tried and waited and waited but nothing, as soon as the chilly air had hit our nether regions we just couldn't go. Despite having practised at home before we came, being out in the snow with all our bulky gear was not quite the same. We just walked around a bit, fell all over the place laughing and decided to forget about our gadgets and give it another go. Eureka, finally we managed it and happily trudged back to our tent to clamber into our sleeping bags to try and get some sleep for our long day tomorrow.
Gypsy curled up for the night
No comments:
Post a Comment