This may be the hardest trail Ive ever been on, maybe... my mind has a way of shutting out the tough stuff and moving forward no matter what the situation. Its a strength of mine that Ive always had and often comes into use in the toughest of situations. It can also be a hindrance in that my mind wont let my body stop and leaves me very sore through the excursion of pushing myself too far.I know the trail we took was the hardest for Miriam and Nita since neither of them has experienced any kind of bushwhacking by dog team. Both came through with flying colors and neither had a complaint, or at least they didn't express it, which is the very best thing one can do in a tough situation. What I have found over the years is that one should never question their leader in times that are tough, granted there are exceptions to the rule but when a leader is questioned during these tough times the leader will often internally question themselves which will lead to an insecurity that is not good to have in a tough spot out in the middle of nowhere.
The tough part wasn't getting lost or the dogs getting hurt or tired, the tough part was the terrain. I believe it took us four hours to get through two miles of trail... that is with me walking ahead (sometimes back and fourth to direct the teams) for all of that time, breaking trail, showing the dogs where to go while Miriam held back my team and Nita followed up behind with hers.
I cut Miriam down to two dogs at one point and let all the others loose to run around. She had way too much power in her team, and even though the terrain was rough her dogs were yanking her through anything and everything! I eventually had to get her up to four dogs on her line and when we finally made it out of the woods and onto a well established trail we hooked almost all the dogs back in for the trip home.
Gaea and Juno remained loose most of the time until Juno started barking at us while she was running at the side of our sled. I couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong that she was yelling at us about but when I plugged her back in she calmed right down. I guess she just wanted to get back to work! My kind of girl!
Nita's team has been consisting mainly of pups and new dogs so she had a bit more trouble with the terrain, but if it hadn't been for big burly Clyde in wheel (the position right in front of her sled) her team wouldn't have done half as well.
At one point when I went back to check on her she said, "These pups are sure learning a lot!" My thoughts exactly! I underestimate how much tough trail Ive put my own pups (now adults) through and how much they have excelled because of it. I guess that sets the bar up pretty high for any other dogs that come through my kennel. I have been so impressed by how these tough trails have molded my own dogs that I cant imagine working with anything less.
Seeing Juno want to get back to work and realizing Boreas was doing about the same thing when I was trail breaking and he came back to me whining was very nice to see. I wasn't sure what was going on there but I guess he was getting tired of playing in the woods and wanted to get back to work and help us get through the tough terrain.
Even when I fell, so many many times, it was such a delight to see them come to my aid, check on me and even help me up! Thani stood just to my side, solid as a rock and let me regain my balance off his back. What a wonderful help... even Remus came over at one point to do the same. And when I fell hard and lay in the snow resting my aching muscles for a moment and catching my breath he came over, laid down and kissed my face ever so gently showing love, patience and strength to help me get back up on my feet again.
Now breaking through two miles of trail may not seem like a lot, and usually its not when the terrain is flat, but when we hit the tussocks (shaped like a huge snow covered mushroom) that were up to two feet high with about six inches between them and I kept falling off and inbetween each one, well, getting up countless times left my muscles extremely tired and my body very brused. This morning Im feeling much, much better but when I got up at 4am to let the house dogs out to pee the bands of muscle down the inner side of my knees was screaming! I never knew a person could work that group of muscles so hard!
My knees are also banged up and bruised all over but its just another day on the trail and another set of adventure memories to relive again when I'm fully healed. It also puts the benefit of a nice trail back into perspective, though I still cannot stand a fully groomed track. I live for adventure, excitement and pushing myself and the dogs to new levels. A groomed trail makes me sleepy...
I was so tired on the way back that I let Miriam drive for most of the way and let my pants slowly dry out from breaking trail and melting the snow on my jeans. It was far too warm to wear my coveralls the whole time, though I know I should have for better snow protection. Fortunately its been warm with temps well above zero but that didn't stop my body from shaking uncontrollably from time to time even with the help of my parka, fur lined hood and chemical hand warmers. If your ever out in the woods never underestimate how cold wet clothing can make you!
From my position in the sled and my warn out body all I could think about was making sure Nita was keeping up with us and that she didn't miss the few last turns to the dog truck. I wasn't of the right frame of mind to see where everyone was and didn't notice that Griffin was missing until we were back to the truck and all the dogs were loaded.
Check back soon for Part Two of our trail adventure...
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