A Wonderful Day for a Training Run
November 19,2001
Snowcrest Racing Sled Dogs--Jim Gallea
Yesterday (Sunday) was a beautiful day in Seeley Lake. The sky was clear and the weather was nicely cool. Yesterday was one of those "perfect" days for fall dog mushing. Of course snow would make things even better, but I can't complain.
 |
| One of the advantages of training
two teams simultaneously is the practice passing that we can get.
The road is not very wide so the dogs have to be good at not getting
tangled with the other team as one team passes another. We like to
pass by having the passing team speed up slightly and the team being
passed slow down. By keeping both teams moving, the teams are less
likely to get tangled because all of the dogs are still focused on running
and not just the other team.
Passing on some of the trails in the Iditarod requires a bit of patience and cooperation. Some of the trails are only 2 feet wide, passing usually requires that both teams move to the soft snow on opposite sides of the trail. (Note also the water jug on the back rack of the four wheeler. See the November 16 update for more details on this.) |
As we typically do now that the training runs are getting longer, we ran both 14-dog teams (that is to say all 28 dogs I am training for the Iditarod) simultaneously by using both of our four-wheelers. My mom drove one and I drove the other, and we switched between teams so we both got to see all of the dogs in action.
Sunday was our longest run to date at a length of 24 miles. We followed a trail that included a large loop around a low mountain known as Fawn Peak (elev. 5,620 ft.). The loop around the mountain has quite a bit of climbing followed by a long downhill stretch, and although the trail is an old road, it is considerably more narrow and windy than the normal forest roads that we train on, which makes things more fun. And as an added bonus, we get some spectacular views of the Seeley Swan Valley when we get to the highest point on the trail at about a mile above sea level. The dogs also love the chance to get onto new trails, especially after the first couple of months of fall training when the runs are shorter, and therefore, not long enough to give us several choices of trails.
Although we are running with the four-wheelers consistently in fourth and sometimes even fifth gear, we are still giving the dogs no help by applying the throttle. This means that the dogs are pulling a 550-pound four-wheeler plus a person, which equates to a load of between 700 and 800 pounds plus the resistance of the engine. As the term four-wheeler implies, the machines do have wheels, so the dogs aren't dragging this weight over the dirt, but the winter sleds do have a very sick layer of plastic in contact with the snow, they don't have an engine idling in gear to provide extra resistance, and they weigh a total of between 300 and 400 pounds when completely loaded (including the driver). This means that the dogs are still pulling quite a bit more than they will in the winter even though they are not pulling against the heavy resistance they did earlier this fall. However, as I have commented in my last few updates, the dogs are continuously amazing me at their abilities.
When we turned off the usual forest road and onto the old road that leads around Fawn Peak, the dogs went into overdrive. They easily pulled the 7-800 pounds of machine and driver up the long, relatively steep climb over the shoulder of the mountain, and as soon as the trail began to level out, they began to move. The engines on the four-wheelers whined as the dogs flew down the other side, and the brakes on my four-wheeler began to squeal from the friction of being applied for such a long time. I was amazed at the way that the dogs could pull those loads, and I found my stomach lurching a bit at the thought of training with the much lighter dog sleds. It was great fun!
 |
| This is the beginning of the
downhill grade on the trail around Fawn Peak. The Swan Mountains are
in the distance directly in front of the team, and the Seeley Swan Valley
lies just beneath the mountains. Some snow is visible on the peaks,
but snowfall (which initially came a bit early) has been scarce recently.
If you've ever wondered how these pictures are captured, you can see my shadow in the very lower left corner. My raised hand is holding the camera while my other hand hangs on and steers the four-wheeler. |
And for the entire time that we climbed the ridge and then sped down the other side, the sun was shining and the mountains and valleys all around us were a brilliant mix of colors.
When we got home, we let the dogs loose from the team and let them run around the yard a bit before putting them back at their houses (which were just filled with fresh hay last week by Brooke, one of our neighbors who helps with the dogs). That the dogs were not tired after their longest run so far this season was obvious immediately. They were all barking and pulling at the lines while they waited for us to unhook them and let them play. Gibson, Cruise, and Willow even managed to break into our garage (which has never had our vehicles in it but instead houses all of our dog gear and equipment and the dog food) and find some meat we had set out to thaw for that night's feeding. About 33 pounds of meat WAS thawing, but only about 20 remained when we finally got them out of there. My mom and I were laughing so hard we had a hard time catching the three of them, and as soon as we would have two out the door and be opening the door to let the third out, the first two would charge back in. No one can tell me that sled dogs don't train their owners a bit while we think we think we are training THEM.
Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and THINK SNOW!!!!
Jim Gallea