TRAINING RUN ON THE DENALI HWY

Pretty exciting.  We are getting ready to head to the Denali Highway to train on the hills.  As always, there is lots to do.   In the picture below I am cutting meat for dog meals and snacks on the trail for the dogs.   I cut up beef, salmon, and tripe.  

For the most part, we had bags packed and the sleds loaded up the night before.  We were up early and even with the best of intentions, we were one hour behind schedule.  Actually, not too bad.  We had to make sure that we had everything.  Before we took off I went through the critical check list of items that if we had forgotten, would have prevented us from heading out on the trail.   The last thing you want to do is travel 3 hours and find out that you can't hook up your team and go.  That was a very wise thing to do, as we found out that Bob didn't have his gang line and harnesses.  Oops!   

I loaded up 16 dogs and Bob loaded up 14.  Lots of precious cargo in that dog truck.  In addition, we both packed our coolers, cookers, fuel, dog meat, dog kibble, people food and snacks, chemical warmers, extra gloves, liners, socks, hats, neck warmers, extra large parka to go over our parkas, headlamps, spare headlamps, batteries, GPS, dog booties, foot ointment, wrist wraps, spare harnesses, extra tug and neck lines, and more.   

Arrived at the Denali Hwy and ready to unload.

So great to be out on the trail...

On the way to Alpine lodge, we encountered blizzard conditions and very strong winds that nearly blew us off the trail.   I wasn't sure how Turbo was going to do in lead.   I was hoping that he wouldn't turn the team on me.  Dogs did great.  

 We arrived at Alpine Lodge just before midnight.   We fed the dogs and bedded them down.  We carried straw for them so they rested comfortably.  When we headed for the lodge, we were fed
a delicious pork pot pie.  Yum !   We had a comfortable bed to sleep in. and in the morning we were greeted with baked oatmeal and blueberries and bacon.  We filled thermoses of coffee for the trail.    

 The dogs had a beautiful vantage place where they were camped.  What a view.  Above, the dogs are waking up and wondering when they will be back on the trail.  

Bob and Jan with the lodge in the background. 

To be continued...