Snow conditions aren't particularly good, and our four-wheeler is down due to a mechanical malfunction I can't afford to repair straightaway, so we are running small, four-dog teams short distances for a bit of gee/haw training for young leaders and of course 'head' runs for all of the gang, including the big primate.
Friday I was able to run all 12 of the sound adult dogs, in three different teams. Trail conditions weren't TOO bad, mostly because my access trail hadn't yet been packed and groomed. Here are the training reports from those runs, along with a bit of video of some video of behavior I particularly liked (in Team #2).
Date, Day, &c: 11-25-11 (First Sled Run of the Season |
Mileage & Speed: 1.5 miles, max speed 11.8 MPH, Average speed 9.1 MPH |
Route, Trail & Terrain Conditions: Home to trailhead parking and return. Powder on the feeder trail. Packed on the powerline and main trail, with plenty of vegetation and dirt showing |
Weather: Thin overcast, temperature within 5 degrees of 0 F |
Team: Just & Capella (leaders) Seamus & Denali (wheel) |
Narrative: This was a fast, easy first run of the season with no noteworthy problems or issues. Mostly just a heck of a lot of fun. |
Date, Day, &c: 11-25-11 (First Sled Run of the Season |
Mileage & Speed: 1.5 miles, max speed 11.8 MPH, Average speed 9.1 MPH |
Route, Trail & Terrain Conditions: Home to trailhead parking and return. Powder on the feeder trail. Packed on the powerline and main trail, with plenty of vegetation and dirt showing |
Weather: Thin overcast, temperature within 5 degrees of 0 F |
Team: Rose & Orion Beau & Selene |
Narrative: Less difficulty dealing with Orion chewing. I think he got a taste of bitter lime and decided it was yucky. I sure hope so. Orion was a wild boy to hook up, but once on the line his behavior was perfect. The whole team stood quietly while I released the snub, pulled the hook, and when I called them up they launched with their normal exuberance. Another excellent run. Selene kept up a tight tug the whole run, and didn't look back toward me or the sled once that I saw. |
Date, Day, &c: 11-25-11 (First Sled Run of the Season |
Mileage & Speed: 1.5 miles, max speed 11.8 MPH, Average speed 9.1 MPH |
Route, Trail & Terrain Conditions: Home to trailhead parking and return. Powder on the feeder trail. Packed on the powerline and main trail, with plenty of vegetation and dirt showing |
Weather: Thin overcast, temperature within 5 degrees of 0 F |
Team: Grace (single lead) Cassie (single swing) Nels & Midnight's Son (wheel) |
Narrative: Grace ran single lead without hesitation, and set up a nice pace for the team. She took the "gee" cues very well, but had difficulty with the "haws". Otherwise, she was very, very good up front in single. The rest of the team ran very well and there are not problems or issues to report. |
Temperatures remained bitter cold over the weekend, and I felt that indoor activities were probably more appropriate than freezing my arse, so we didn't run again until yesterday. Even at that, a variety of little issues added up to a point where I decided that running two of the three teams was sufficient. Here are the training reports:
Date, Day, &c: Monday, 11-28-11 |
Mileage & Speed: 1.5 miles. Max speed 12.1 MPH, Average speed 9.2 MPH |
Route, Trail & Terrain Conditions: Trailhead and return. Fast, icy hard packed snow - toboggan sled |
Weather: -4 degrees under mostly clear sky |
Team: Rose - Capella Seamus - Orion |
Narrative: The only truly unusual thing was that I dumped the sled in the trailhead turn around. Skidded sideways, hit a rut and went over the high side. The team responded well to my "whoa" and was able to catch a tussock with the hook, so all was well. |
Date, Day, &c: 11-28-11 |
Mileage & Speed: 1.5 miles. 12.7 mph max, 8.0 mph average. On toboggan sled |
Route, Trail & Terrain Conditions: Trailhead loop. Fast, icy hard packed snow - toboggan sled |
Weather: - 2 degrees (F), mostly clear sky |
Team: Just - Cassiopeia Selene - Beau |
Narrative: Odd run. First the ratchet strap stretching out my hook-up line broke, causing me to have to release all the dogs, jury-rig the hook-up line, and then harness and hook up everyone. As we approached the main trail we had a near collision with another, much larger team. Made for some interesting video. This is a relatively short clip. The dogs were very well behaved and handled it all like old pros. I was very pleased and proud of them. |
On Saturday I went to a community meeting that had been called by some neighbors, with no explanation as to the topic. It turns out they were first concerned that Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department had a person living in the Two Rivers station (a concern that was easily resolved). Next, they were concerned about the lack of fire service in the area. They don't seem too pleased that the prospects for forming a community fire department are highly unlikely. The expense is great, and the ability to recruit, train and especially retain qualified volunteers is very limited. Although they would like to at least create an organization similar to our old Two Rivers Rescue Volunteers, Inc. to provide EMS quick response service, it is unlikely the Borough government will support an organization that is not part of a fire department. Since I was the one pointing out the reality of the situation, I suspect the message, and the messenger, were not well appreciated.
The good news is that Steese VFD does indeed have a live-in paramedic at our station. Although not available 24/7, it is a huge improvement over the past few years, when we've had no local quick response at all. That he is a paramedic rather than an EMT or ETT (equivalent of a Lower-48 First Responder) is HUGE in my book. It takes roughly half an hour for an ambulance to arrive on the scene of a medical emergency here in the community, and a competent paramedic can do a LOT to save a life in the longest half hour of a critical patient's existence.
Today I made a quick trip to town to pick up some groceries, and especially a new tensioner for the drop-line (aka Hook up line). This afternoon I did a more permanent repair on the drop line and prepared the sled for tomorrow's events. A friend will be coming over to help, so I'll be able to run larger teams and longer distances. As she has never before been dog mushing, it should make for a very fun day.
No comments:
Post a Comment