On Top Of Copper Mountain

FASTRK Registered Siberian Huskies. Terrace, B.C. Canada

Part 2

I felt a little panicky, but with a little encouragement the dogs picked up a bit of speed and we were out of harms way. He followed us for a bit then waved and headed off down another hill full bore.By this time it was time to look for a rest stop. We needed a place where we would not be run over and where Arrow and Astro could make as much ruckus as they liked and far enough away from any avalanche spots. Kiska decided for us, she pulled up out of the wind and in-between a few tree tops. There I tied the gang line to a couple of trees, unclipped the dogs necklines and attached them to their tugs, by the collar. We snacked on cookies and they also had their meat treats. With all the fresh snow they were not in the least thirsty, all they wanted was to roll in the snow and eat mouthfulls of the stuff. There were a few clouds all around us and a howling snow storm, the sled bag was filling with snow everytime I opened it. The boys were getting restless and it was time to pack up and explore the other trails on the way down. Kiska had been giving me a lot of trouble all winter with her commands. I should never have worried , like the pro she is, she kept us straight and turned us around. We headed back down the trail, there was enough new snow that when I put on the brake the snow piled up to my knees. Coming down was fast, there were three hair pin turns and I could not keep the sled righted on any of them. The dogs were so good they actually stopped and waited for me to right the sled and dump out the snow from the inside of my jacket. Brrrr.

We came to a series of trails, Kiska wanted to turn down one of them but I said no and we kept going straight. There were no dog tracks to follow, the snow machines had been past and gone over them. I knew where we should be heading but the trail just did not seem familiar. We went up and down trails and finally I thought, Oh, Oh, we are lost on the top of the mountain. What to do, I knew I had enough equipment to last the night, but I really didn't relish the thought of having to be rescued. I decided to trust my leader, she has amemory like a map. I walked up to Kiska and hugged her telling her to please find the trail and take us home. She forged ahead went past three trails and made a sharp turn down the original trail she had wanted to go down. I stopped the team and ran up to her, hugging and kissing her. What a girl, I took several pictures and again hugged and kissed her. She took it quite calmly and gave me that look, "the you were wrong and I was right look".

The ride down was an experience I will not soon forget. We went from snow-slush-ice-snow-slush-gravel. There was no stopping them on the way down. I had to ride the brake all the way down, my leg was almost numb at the bottom. The dogs were covered in mud,snow and just plain wet. I was drenched from the rain and water on the trail.

At the bottom we met two snowmobiler's on their way up, I was very grateful we hadn't met them on the trail.

We were a sorry looking bunch in the truck, the dogs laid down and slept while I packed everything away. The sled was soaked and must have gained several pounds, the dogs' harnesses were soaked and weighed a considerable amount.

What had taken us 1 1/2 hours to go up had only taken us 25 minutes to come down.

The next day everyone including me, was walking around stiff and sore. I'm proud of my team and again they have shown me that they can be alot smarter then I can. I should never doubt my leadre. Siberian Huskies still have it. Many Trails.
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