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Hello Everyone!
I hope you have enjoyed your first day with Mr. Starr! Today was an amazing day for me. I got to drive a dog team on my own! It was absolutely the most awesome time I’ve had in ages! It was invigorating, exciting, and scary.
I drove an hour to get to Ron McElfresh’s house in Sutton. Ron, his son Clint, and I then drove several miles up the road to their kennel, at a place that is surrounded by gorgeous mountains. Ron and Clint hooked up the dogs to the sled. Boy, were they excited! Ron ran the dogs for the first stretch to let them get some of their energy out. Then I got on the sled and stood on the brake. I stood on it with both feet and still could not hold the sled. The dogs took off. Boy, were they powerful! I was trying to avoid using the snow hook because it is pretty sharp and can be hard to put back into it’s pouch. But, we decided that I’d have to use the snow hook to hold the dogs still after all.
Ron got on the back of a snowmobile in front of the dogs and sat backwards while Clint drove. Clint is eleven years old. Ron took a video of me driving the sled (unfortunately, I only have video right now, so I can’t show you a picture!). The snowmobile took off, I pulled the snow hook out of the snow, and we were off. The trail we were on was hilly and curvy. We were all expecting the sled to flip, as Ron says most amateurs often do. If I did flip, I would be dragged down the trail praying that I’d only have a few bangs and bruises. You won’t believe it but I didn’t flip the sled over even once! I was so surprised and proud. The number one rule in mushing is to NEVER let go of the sled. I had sore muscles when we were done, but not from falling, just from twisting the sled to turn around the corners, and from helping the dogs up the hills.
I learned a lot today. First is that you can do anything you want to do if you only have the will and determination to do it. I was really nervous before I started, but because I’ve always wanted to do this, somehow everything went smoothly.
I also learned a lot about the dogs. The dogs are so excited about running. They sing and howl and pull just itching to go. I was really surprised that while on the sled, I was paying some attention to the trail ahead, but most of my attention was on the dogs! I seemed to stay focused on how they were doing and what they were doing. I watched how tired they were when they climbed big hills. I would push with my foot to help them. When the sled got going faster down hills, I needed to brake to slow them down so the sled wouldn’t creep up to them. I talked to the dogs a lot and told them they were doing a good job. You realize how much of a team you really are. They depended on me to read their signs, to recognize their needs. I counted on them to read my signs, to hear when I wanted them to take it easy or to stop. This gave me chills. It was such a bonding experience.
After driving the team eight miles we gave the dogs lots of praise, put them back in the kennel, and fed them some meaty stew. Clint took me for a snowmobile ride up onto a ridge to get a closer view of the mountains and to look for moose. It was gorgeous! We saw two cows (mother moose) each with two calves (babies).
The whole day was just incredible and inspiring. I want to thank Ron and Clint McElfresh for their kindness and generosity. Their trust in me gave me the confidence to succeed, and a new understanding of what dog mushing is all about.
Today I am going to visit another museum and look at the native crafts.
I hope you are all doing well!
Anchorage, - Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 10:39:08 (EST)
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Mrs. Holmes
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Webspace for Mrs. Holmes Iditarod 2002 project was provided courtesy of
ValleyNet of Norwich, Vermont.
