| The
Journey Continues
November 18, 2007
In the last journal I talked about the difficulty I’m having
finding long enough trails to train on. This isn’t just a
problem for this year or just for me. This time of year when we
change from soft thawed trails to hard frozen trails to snow covered
trails is a balancing act. Once the rivers and swamps in Alaska
freeze and we get good snow cover I can take my dog team to Willow
or Knik and run all the way to Nome. In fact this March I think
I just might ;-). But Alaska is a land of swamps and before we freeze
there are very few roads with bike paths or ditches that we can
train on. Jeff King uses the Denali Highway, which isn’t maintained
in the winter, but that is a 4-hour drive from here. And in January
Jeff can face temperatures of 40 below or colder for weeks.
Sebastian Schnuelle in Whitehorse has the opposite problem. He told
us that he has access to hundreds of miles of old dirt roads for
cart training right out of his house. But Whitehorse is notorious
for not having snow. Sebastian just moved his whole kennel from
Whitehorse to Paxson, Alaska so he can train on snow rather than
the iced over roads in the Whitehorse area.
On the Kenai Peninsula they have miles of logging roads in the Caribou
Hills, but they can get snow too deep for 4-wheelers on the top
and not deep enough for sleds or snowmachines on the bottom. I’ve
heard of long runs on the beaches on the wet sand, but once that
freezes it can become abrasive and tear up feet.
You would think that getting enough snow to run the sled would solve
everything, but it just changes the issue. Until we get a good base,
the snow won’t hold a snowhook (think dog team anchor) for
a larger team. Sometimes a larger team is only 6 dogs. On the 4-wheeler
I’ve been running 22 dogs with some modicum of control. As
the trails iced up that control has diminished, but is still enough
to pretend I’m in control of the team, and so far the dogs
have been kind enough not to abuse me of that feeling. I’ll
stay on the 4-wheeler as long as possible (until the club starts
to groom the trails for sleds) because I’ll have to cut the
team down to 12 dogs or less at first while the trail builds to
hold a larger team. That means multiple trips, or you can split
the team into thirds, let’s call them A, B, and C –
I’m seriously training 18 dogs, so each team will have 6 dogs.
One day one you train A and B (12 dog team). On day two you train
B and C, and on day three you train C and A. In three days every
dog has run twice and you repeat the process. In a week, each dog
has run 4 times, but the musher only gets 1 day off to do all the
house chores. Right now we are doing 5 hour runs with 5 hours of
overhead (loading, unloading, driving to the trail head, etc.).
We will grow to 8 hour or more runs before we are done. Even finding
time to sleep can be a challenge.
One way to cut the overhead is camping trips. The musher and dogs
need to practice this anyway – it’s just like a checkpoint
without the vets and other support. So last Monday evening off we
went. My best laid plans for an early start fell by the wayside
and it was 5 PM when I pulled the snubline to start our first 5
hour run. At 10 PM we were back at the truck. I fed the dogs, sprinkled
a little straw to let them know we were camping out and undid the
tug lines. This is exactly what I will do in a checkpoint (well
ok, I’ll give them a whole bale of straw there). Then I fixed
my dinner and settled in for a nap, intending to get up at 3AM and
be on the trail at 4 for the next 5 hour run.
Somebody forgot to explain that to the dogs. They were a little
tired, but far from exhausted and the dog truck with their nice
boxes sat just ahead. For almost 60 runs I had brought them back
here and loaded them in the boxes to rest while I drove home. Somebody
changed the routine! Dukat hadn’t had the time to show Strider
(the new dog one position back) who was boss yet. Now seemed as
good a time as any and Dukat started talking. Of course Strider
wasn’t going to take this lying down (how I wished –
literally). They couldn’t reach each other, but there was
no piece. I was up several times to quiet them – they were
using language their mothers would never have approved of. Finally
I hooked-up Striders tug line, drawing him back and away from Dukat.
Piece at last – nap time.
Not quite. Frodo decided he was bored and started to play with Keiko
(the dog next to him). Mocha was in lead and she thought this was
a good idea and asked if she could play too (alright she really
didn’t ask – more like demanded in her best three year
old voice). After several attempts I re-connected Frodo’s
tug line. That seemed to settle things some. There were some birds,
or maybe a loose dog in the dark that needed to be barked at. It
is a funny feeling to be trying to sleep beside your truck in a
public park in town and have your dogs madly barking at something
in the dark. Visions of axe murders immediately dance through your
head – something else you don’t worry about in the checkpoint.
Finally about 2 AM I drift off into a fitful sleep and the dogs
went off again. I turned on the headlamp and there was a loose dog
wondering through the staging area – my staging area, where
I’m camping. That’s ok, it’s my loose dog. Frodo,
who hasn’t chewed anything yet, ate his neckline and then
his harness to get loose. Frodo, who is not accepting of new situations.
I moved over beside the truck, dropped to one knee and called in
my most inviting voice. To my great relief he started my way, but
then the team surged against the gangline and spooked him. Luckily
he went back to the side of the truck where his box was and didn’t
run off when I slowly walked up to him. The harness is only $20,
the dog is worth a whole lot more.
All right, enough of this non-sense. When I stopped I debated giving
the dogs a 5 hour rest (equal run rest) or a 6 hour rest (typically
we will run 6 rest 6). They had been stopped 4 hours and if they
didn’t want to rest, that wasn’t my fault. I picked
up camp, brought the dogs to the truck on drop chains, turned the
4-wheeler around and hooked everyone up. Off we went at 3:30 AM
on our second 5 hour run. About 6 AM I was so tired I was micro-sleeping
on the 4-wheeler. Every 5 mile loop I got off and walked up the
team telling them how good they were and how proud I was of them,
not because they needed it, but because I needed the exercise to
keep from falling asleep myself ;-)
The dog ran strong for 20 miles and then started to fade. I cut
the run short at 30 miles (5 hours). You should have seen the difference
when I turned them back to the truck instead on another loop. Ever
watch anyone win the whole million on TV? They couldn’t hold
a candle to my team. Good thing there were no cops on the trail
because I’d have been picked up for speeding for sure. Breakfast
after the run and everyone ate, then I loaded into their favorite
boxes for the drive home. Normally they can’t wait to get
out at the house and find their dog houses – this time all
I got was half-open eyes and a smile. Every dog had to be coaxed
out – time to get up and go to sleep. What a silly concept.
Needless to say it was very peaceful in the dog lot that afternoon.
Finally about 1 PM I was done with the dogs, truck unloaded, breakfast
eaten and bedded down for my nap. Ahhhhh
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
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