Nightmare Run From Hell

Getting out again to run dogs was heaven, until the end of our run...

We did some trail exploration dropped down on the Chena and did a nice loop back on the same trail. Since the dogs were looking a wee bit tired I decided to come in a bit early ending our run at 14 miles. Very good for them considering how low our mileage has been.

Everything was looking well as we hit the main trail headed back to the truck. I don't remember why I looked back right then to look for Merk, instinct maybe... but shortly after I heard screaming... I slammed the team to a stop, dropped my hooks and tried to remember what to do.

The way we live, the way the dogs are raised, the whole fiber of what makes us who we are and builds our strength is because we ALWAYS work as a pack. No one stays home unless they absolutely have to, everyone gets the same rewards, the same treats, the same love, the same care... we are a unit on the trail and off... so when I heard Merk screaming I knew it wasn't just up to me to save him... we ALL had to help.

I started unhooking dogs leaving those who I wasn't sure I could trust off lead like Reba, Ichabod, Iggy... the rest ran a beeline for Mercury. I thought if its a wolf, a bear, a moose at least they can buy him some time... even if its a trap, god forbid a snare, when he runs out of breath the dogs can lead me to him and I can save his life.

I'm not sure how far away from him I was... seemed like an eternity to get to him. But with the other dogs headed his way I tried to take a few precious seconds to shed my gear, my heavy mitts... anything so I could help him and get there without falling over myself. I did fall though, should have been calmer... I kept thinking to myself, be calm, be calm, use your brain... but there was this other part of my mind literally screaming so loud I could barely hear, "He may only have SECONDS! GO! GO!"

I followed the dogs in, told Spock to find him but there were so many loose I didn't need his tracking skills. I followed the trail of dogs, they were all so concerned about what to do, some in the woods, some on the edge and some back out on the trail. I'm sure they were all too aware of what they couldn't do for him, maybe in just as much shock as I was.

When I got to Merk all I saw was his foot smashed flat in a leg hold trap, he was at the end of it desperately trying to pull away. Then Hera was there, caught around the throat by a snare only THREE feet away!

I went back and forth for a second, who do I save, who is more in danger...

I went for Merk but couldn't get the trap undone, then decided to free Hera in case she choked to death silently while I was distracted trying to figure how to undo the trap that bound Mercury. I couldn't get the snare off of her so I went directly to the tree, freed her from there and let her run off with it around her neck.

When I got back to Merk I didn't know what to do. He tried half hearty to bite me but I was so bundled up in my parka and gloves it didn't make any difference. I put the trap firm on the ground, hoped to God the snow would be solid enough for pressure but I could only got one side of the trap loose. A little reworking and I got both sides but Merk was numb so it took him a while to realize he could pull out... I had just enough strength to keep the trap open, just enough...

Its in those moments that God whispers in your ear, takes control of your hands, possesses you to do things your brain isn't even thinking of doing... its because of this he was able to be set free...

Once Merk and Hera were loose I had a chance to look around. There were two bait stations about 4'x4' wide, moose hide, carcass, meat, bones... anything to encourage animals to come in and eat.

I didn't stay long, wanted to get Merk back to the sled and assess his injury. I put in a call to the house to let James know what had happened. By the time I was making my second call I heard screaming again, Nyx had sneaked back to the trap site and caught her hind leg in another leg hold trap!

Getting her out was another miracle, she was caught at a bad angle and I had to use my knee as firm ground and apply pressure to set her free. Once she was loose I wanted ALL dogs out of there... I hadn't had time to tie them back into the sled again when I heard Nyx screaming so they all came back in with me again. On our way out I saw Remi was caught in a snare and as I tried to loosen it off him Spock got caught in ANOTHER leg hold trap, again on his hind leg and again it was difficult to get off.

I freed Spock, went back to Remi, freed him and tried like heck to get ALL dogs out of there and back to the sled. They came straight away and I hooked them all back in to keep them well away from that area.

The only dogs who didn't get into snares or leg hold traps were the ones back on the gang line (Reba, Ichabod, Iggy), Juno, Griffin and Buddy. I don't know how those loose three managed to escape the maze of traps but I am so grateful they did. It could have been much worse.

I loaded Merk in the sled and we headed like bats out of hell back to the truck. The dogs ran like the wind, I'm not sure what got into them but I didn't care and didn't want to slow them down, I just wanted to get home...

Merk is swelled up a little bit but he is able to put almost his full weight down on the leg. I guess that means nothing is broken. He also didn't break the skin so my vet said he wont need antibiotics. Ive got him on rymadil for now and will use ice if it swells up more. I'm still really shocked his injury isn't worse. I will leave him outside tonight and let the cold help the swelling then bring him in tomorrow for another assessment.

I didn't know what to think at that moment... when I heard him scream. All this thought of wolves and the possibility of loosing the dogs to them... I didn't know what to think. In my mind I thought, this is it, this is how I will loose him... right on the trail. What a shitty way to go...

I'm so mad at the situation, mad at this asshole who set the traps in the area of high recreational use, just plain mad at everything... up until that point the run was beautiful. Juno ran for the first time in single lead and was loving it. I was thinking of all the great memories we were making right then and there, a 14 miler under our belts, a nice night dropping as we headed back to the truck, nice temps, new snow, then all this... damn, it just makes me so mad... mostly cause they were hurt. I'm so protective of them, so darn bonded to each and every one. It makes an incident like this not so much of an event but a mental breakdown on so many levels...

I have confidence that the dogs and I, as a pack, can handle just about anything the wilds throw at us but when we got back to the truck and remembering all that metal, all that manipulation of man made parts to free my kids from danger... I have always had a lack of faith in the majority of the human race... today drives the divide between 'us and them' even deeper.

Give me mother nature, things that make sense... wolves hunting out of hunger, a bear out of his den who cant sleep, a moose protecting her calf... ANYTHING but this! Anything but some stupid asshole trying to catch a pack of wolves who are probably already dead by now!! The hysteria the wolf attacks have caused have so many people out hunting and trapping them that I doubt many of them are left...