David and Jaye went ahead on the snowmobile to break trail and make a loop at the end for the dogs to follow so that we could hopefully avoid a come haw (U-turn with 18 dogs). It was also nice to be able to hook to the machine if the dogs needed untangling instead of trying to pound the hook into the frozen ground.
We made an early start with 5 teams running that day. I set up the sleds and dropped dogs. Jaye was still out on the trail by the time I got to the staging area. The sleds were lined up with gang lines (8 dog team for me and 11 for Jaye) and harnesses were on the dogs. It was cold but sunny and the dogs were itching to go.
With some minor issues and tangles from over excited dogs, we hit the trail one by one.
When I pulled the pin to release the team we shot out of the parking lot and down the trial like a bullet train. I had not been on a sled by myself except for a few times and that was a year ago, with less and slower dogs. Needless to say I had a death grip on the sled.
I still only had my liner gloves on from handling the dogs and didn't dare reach for my mittens even though they were right in front of my laying on the sled bag. They say one hand for you, one hand for the sled. I gave both to the sled as my heart was trying to jump out of my throat.
Luckily not long after the start we began a long gradual uphill climb. This slowed the team down enough to where I was comfortable reaching for the mitts. My hands were starting to sting at this point but I hadn't noticed because I was excited to be on a sled at all. This is what I had been waiting for.
One I wiggled my hands into the mitts and pulled them up so that no cold air could get in, I settled in for the ride. With a few dips but mostly up hill, I felt at least a little control standing on the sled. The other side of the mountain, however, was a little different.
This was a long downhill with some steep and fast areas thrown in for when you get bored. I started to feel like a ballet dancer by the time we hit the bottom. The sled has a drag mat with spikes on the underside. To slow the team down you turn in your heels and put weight on it so you look like you are doing a plie. With the new snow and hard ice under it, most of the downhill I was doing a plie.
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Becky was ahead of me and was returning from the bottom as I was getting close to the turn around point. The trail was narrow and we were coming at each other head on. She had an 10 dog team to my 8. I slowed down waiting for my dogs to pick a side and pass her. Both of my leaders had a different idea.
Tristan went left, Thunder went right and Becky's team ran right into the middle. We stopped our teams quickly but not before my leaders decided to wrap up with her team. I planted my hook as best as I could and ran to get my dogs out of her line.
I grabbed Lightening because somehow she got in there but had nowhere to hook her so I was trying to pull Thunder out one handed with little luck. David had been patrolling the trail back and forth making sure everyone was doing ok. Luckily, he was there when this happened.
He and Mari jumped in to help straighten out the mess that was getting worse by the second. After the 3 of us got my team out of Becky's way she went on to give us room to fix my team. I had to unhook necklines to give them slack and figure out who went where and try to line them out again.
Jaye went by as this was all happening and stopped just behind me to make sure we were ok. Thunder took this as a chance to join her team. He would not line out and just wanted to turn around. Mario and David grabbed my leaders and ran with them for a few feet and we were off.
We reached the bottom and hawed into the loop created by the snow machine with no problem. So much better than a U-turn.
You would think that by now they would be tired enough to take it easy but they attacked the return ride uphill with the same determination as when they first start the run. By now, though, I was getting the hang of it.
The turns, dips, rises, leans, and bumps of the trail all require the musher to do something. You are never quite standing still on a sled. Immediately after the loop when we began the uphill climb I took the opportunity to squat down on my heels for a minute.
It was then that I noticed just how much work I had been doing. My ankles, and calves ached from the almost constant tippy toe plie braking on the hills. My knees and hips hurt from constantly shifting my weight in relation to the slope of the trail and corners so I don't tip the sled at 20 mph. My shoulders, forearms and wrist hurt from the death grip and my lower back was chiming in as well. Mushing is very physical.
The ride back was uneventful which I didn't mind at all. I had my tangle for the day. It was good to be on a sled and once you get a rhythm it can be very peaceful on the trail. I think that's the part I like best.
A quiet, peaceful ride to just think and work things out with a bit of adrenaline thrown in now and then on corners and downhills. Next time I'll talk about tipping the sled at 20+mph. Yeah, I did that.
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