January 26, 2007

ay 1 of the official first day of the sledding event. We got sworn in as official Canadian Postal Carrier's for the weekend, got issued my mail bags and then we were off to hit the trails. My 'pit crew' got me off to a good start, though at the start of the actual trail was rough and I almost lost the sled. 

Picture above: Look clear down to the base of the distant mountains. That is where we came from and we are not even halfway  for this day yet. 

I found out that "Bulldog" (the big red dog who is a wheel dog - and is really a farm dog and not a sled dog) is apparently allergic to water. On one of the bridges about the width of a picnic table top, which is many feet above water, he stopped. When he stopped, the team kept going and he came out of his collar as he owns no neck. Then the team peeled him right out of his harness. So I had  go get him out of a snow bank and put him back in harness so we could continue on our merry little way and thankfully none of us or the mail got wet. It would have been a challenge to get that sled and all the dogs back onto the trail. It was a magnificent day and the trail was better than anything imagined. The trail boss and crew did an excellent job. The only thing was the moose which traveled up the trail for about 8 miles and left huge deep holes that dogs and humans (when we were running) would fall into. Thankfully no broken legs from that experience. 

We came into the camp for the night and my support team had everything all ready for me and the dogs. It was nice to crawl into the sleeping bag to rest a bit after the dogs were taken care of, before we went to the community dinner. Truly.. the whole community comes to the dinner held at the local hall. We are a huge event to come in and an excuse for people to socialize.

Before dinner I got sick. About 2 am, I wanted to die and thought about going home and not running the rest of the mail run. I was pretty sure I must have food poisoning, but not from the Community Dinner.