Well I was up this morning before the sun rose (not too hard when the sun doesn’t rise until 9:00) and headed 2 hours north from Anchorage to a place somewhere north of Willow. I tried my hand at mushing with Bill and Rhodi and about 12 Alaskan Huskies. They have participated in the famed Iditarod Dog Sled Race from Anchorage to Alasks 3 times.
When I left Anchorage, it was 38 degrees and I was worried their may not be enough snow. By the time I arrived at my destination, it was 10 degrees. I found 2 to 3 feet of snow on the ground. Rhodi dressed me in some great outwear and warm boots. I was amazed how warm it kept me while on the trail.
Bill hooked up the dogs and told me we would be “mushing in tandem”. My sled was tied to the back of his. He gave me quick instructions on where to put my feet and how to use the two breaks. Away we went. On the first turn, the dogs, Bill and the sleds went to the left. I went to the right and ended up in a pile of snow.
We traveled through the woods and over a frozen river bed for over an hour. It was well snowly landscape was beyond beautiful. We saw moose and stopped to look up at Mt. McKinley. Bill told me stories of the Iditarod and living up in this remote part of the world for 25 years. He and Rhodi didn’t event have electricity until the mid 1990’s. Bill told me of his love for this life, the native people of Alaska and how he runs his own business. He told me how he enjoys having a 100 square mile backyard and relying so much on himself to make it happen. No complaining from Bill. He just gets up everyday and does it! He knows rough times during the oil bust. Bill remembers last year when there is no snow and therefore no tourists to mush! Just the same, he is proud of how he has survived and lived his life.
I only fell twice more on the trip which I considered somewhat of a victory. This should probably be a corollary to the Zen proverb, “Fall of Dog Sled three times, get up four times”!
