Yesterday we traveled some new trails for me. It was wonderful. One head on pass and no moose. We were blessed with a gorgeous sunset and view of Denali. My sled has been encased in ice since our warmer temps and rain and freezing rain. It was a good opportunity for it to thaw out and dry out today. Got all of the dogs out yesterday on our longest run. It was great to have Mary run my second group.
Had one fun experience when Bob took an left turn and my dogs went straight. As I looked for his headlamp, I could see it off to my left. My team was only partially down the wrong trail, but partially still can make for fun. This is when necklines on your leaders is nice. I have been running my leaders without necklines(Turbo and Arnie). I grabbed Turbo and tried turning the team on our narrow trail, however Arnie had ideas of his own and his stubbornness make it difficult to turn the team. He went the opposite direction.
I finally got the team onto the right trail and then went back to my sled. I run with Critter Hooks...love them, but not at a time like this. I could not for the life of me get my hook loose. By now dogs were rested...(takes only minutes) and Mary came forward to try and help me get the hook out. No luck. So I had her stand on my sled, on the brake and I got off and started kicking that hook from every which direction. It came free and away went Mary, with the dogs flying down the trail.
I went back and hopped on her sled and pulled the hook and caught up with her. Set her hook and went up to my sled and we switched back to our own teams. We crossed a river that just a day ago had 6 - 8 inches of overflow. It was nicely frozen up and we had no issues.
At about our half way point, we were using our headlamps and it started to snow. We snacked the dogs on the trail with salmon snacks. They love their salmon!
We got back to the kennel around 7 pm. After dog chores, time for a late dinner.
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