... and so I did! : )Note to self: Don't plan an exploration trip in the dark.
I took my team down the same trail of our last trip but this time took a turn to explore a bit. The new trail was clearly over grown in places, obvious that no one had used it for quite some time. It was rather eerie how the spruce trees expanded their branches tying into each other over the trail. I was expecting to run into more grass and tussock problems but didn't find too much of that there.
This new trail was fairly straight and easy to follow until I deviated from the path a bit. I couldn't remember what the map said so we called it safe and followed an old slough out back to the main fields where its next to impossible to stay lost.
I was a little hesitant to take one turn or another considering that I had gotten turned completely around the other day, in a craft store of all places! I pride myself on my sense of direction but that was a bit of a blow to my skills. Made me wonder if I really knew what I was doing out there...
My headlamp was loosing juice fast so that wasn't much help. Fortunately I train for that sort of thing all the time and use my lamp as little as possible. I haven't had the chance to strengthen my night vision much this year but what Ive learned in previous years paid off. There are certain ways shadows move that can tell a musher a lot about their team. Still, having a working headlamp is great idea for checking up on details from time to time.
Ironicly, in some cases, Ive found that my headlamp is more of a hindrance than a help. Even though my beam is a strong one it was no good finding the pathway between trees. The contrast of shadows on snow was doing a much better job.
We only logged about 11 miles but learned a lot about the trails in that area. Unfortunately we didn't do much trail breaking and what breaking we did was pretty minimal. It appears that the snowmachiners are out working some areas and making travel a bit too easy on the team. We did get some new snow but even that little bit was hardly enough to slow the guys down. Again I was on my drag for most of the run and when finding the new trail had to cut the team down to three dogs (Remus, Hera and Ichabod) for more control.
The pups had a LOT of fun with that! They are so speedy! They forged the trail well but I had to call them back a few times to let them know we were headed a different direction. In the dark they may have been finding a better trail but I was focusing more on a sure path rather than gambling on chance that a trail would break through.
Calypso did very well and ran loose most of the time. I wish I could have captured the joy on her face while she was out running ahead of the team. She was lit up!
But due to the team not relaxing until the very end and it being dark I didn't get any photos for this run. Instead I will post a quickie from our last trip...
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