Rory spent much of the day solo behind three dogs and managed to survive several tree collisions no worse for the wear. It must be understood, that the musher has little ability to stear the sled. It simply follows the dogs where ever they choose to run. Going up hill is no problem because the pace is slow and you often have to help the dogs by running along side or pushing. Down hill is where things get tricky. Any turn at the bottom of a hill is going to be a challenge. If a tree happens to be there it is likely to be painful as well. The trick is to keep tension on the gang line as you approach the turn and to use your body weight to slide the back end out at just the right moment. Easier said than done.
During the morning Nico pairs with Mario. At the request of the boys, Goose takes us on some of the most challenging trails through the forest. These are narrow (just wide enough for two dogs) and frequently steep with sharp turns. On one such descent, Mario is caught by a branch and thrown from the sled leaving Nico unbalanced as he approaches a turn. Unable to brake quickly enough, Nico is catapulted as the sled carves a tight turn behind the dogs. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, Nico’s leg is trapped by the sled and he is dragged behind it until he can bring the team to a halt preventing a runaway sled. Neither boy was permanently damaged but Nico did twist his back.
Today is even colder than yesterday. Temperatures over night dipped to minus 28F and do not get above zero all day. Maya gets her own sled led by the mighty Orion. Despite her strength, Maya must assist Orion on the hills by jumping off the sled and pushing.
It didn’t take too long for everyone to get the hang of it and we spent about two hours covering five miles on very flat and open terrain. Here Nicolai and Rory (ducking down to avoid the wind) have a four dog team and Mario rides solo with a two dog team.
Our guide, David Gossman (aka Goose), leads the way on cross-country skis. As he sets out, we are to remain braked until he is 100 yards ahead. The dogs, who live to pull, are going totally crazy in anticipation of the departure. Rory and Nicolai are unable to hold their team back and are thrown off the sled as they rapidly accelerate (to roughly 20mph in the first few seconds). This condition is called Loose Sled. Without a musher, the dogs will happily run all day long and return to home base only when they get hungry. Obviously, this is something you would like to avoid. Fortunately, Goose was able to catch the sled as the dogs ran past him. The other thing you would really like to avoid is passing the sled in front of you (which the dogs are all too eager to do). When they come even, it seems, they feel compelled to attack each other to see which team is the king of the hill. This only happened once or twice before we all learned our lesson.
We are finally ready to hit the trail and our dogs are harnessed and hitched to the sleds. Temperatures have increased to near zero but the wind across the frozen lakes brings the windchill down to 40 below.
Lisa (from Sweden) instructs us in dog sledding 101. Ready, Hike (go), Whoa (stop), Easy Duggers (slow down), Gee (right turn), Haa (left turn), Hip Hip Duggers (go faster). We also learn the importance of keeping the sleds apart (more on this later), of not running over the guide with our sled, and of not letting go of our sled (more on this later).
Breakfast includes a pan cake (imagine a pan sized pancake) expertly prepared by French chef Bernard. I am sorry the photo is foggy, but it would take my camera several hours to adjust to the warmth after being out in the cold.
