On Sunday afternoon Aliy, Allen, Meghan, Ryne and Moira packed 45 dogs along with five sleds full of gear, straw and supplies and headed off from the Wickersham trail head into the White Mountains National Recreation Area – just north of Fairbanks. The yearlings and a couple of the “more mature” dogs were headed 13 miles to Moose Creek Cabin. Heavy snow conditions closed the trail about 6 miles shy of this goal. But, the teams were able to break trail to Lee’s Cabin, which was luckily unoccupied for the night, and set up camp. The three adult teams proceeded on with a 7 to 8 hour training run before looping back to the cabin.
Aliy and Moira set up camp, heated the cabin, made water and started dinner for the dogs and humans under the very close supervision of ChaCha and Rose.
Allen, Meghan and Ryne ran on some of the open trails and encountered cooler conditions but got some really good miles on the dogs!
It was the first time camping for the youngsters and they all did really well; they ate well, slept well and coped with the change to their routine brilliantly. We encountered temperatures ranging from about -35F to -50F during the course of 24 hours.
Aliy captured some great video on the way out on Monday morning so watch for that in the next few days.
Talk about going the extra mile!!!
What an experience for the yearlings and I am certain ChaCha (and Rose) made sure that they didn't miss a trick!
And it was great to see SNOW! I am always in awe of the dogs, who sleep outside, and seem to thrive at all challenges.
Thanks for the report and pics, and in advance for the video – you guys are the best!!!
Brrrrrrrrr
Yet, that winter sky as we near solstice is lovely enough to almost offset the cold (notice I said almost).