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What Dave calls to Dylan and Andrew in the morning
"Good morning my Down
Muffins...Its time to get up!"
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Lesson
Plans
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Tent Talk
Listen
to today's Audio Update!
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Daily
Dilemma
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Yesterday Saylix attacked our other lead
dog Fennel. No dogs, or people were injured
in the skirmish, but we decided to move Fennel
to the Swing`position and Munchkin to lead
with Saylix. Munchkin did a good job in lead,
and now we are stuck with the dilemma of who
should run in lead. Please help us decide
who should run in lead, Munchkin, or Saylix.
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Click To Learn More About Lichen
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Young men traveling the old way
One of my main duties during our stay in Garden Hill
was finding information about routes we could take from
Island Lake to Gods
Lake Narrows, our next community. After numerous
phone calls and several hours of jogging around town
with a bundle of maps under my arm, I started to become
discouraged. My search for route information was leading
nowhere because everyone said the only safe way to get
from Island
Lake to
Gods Lake was over the winter road.
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Click Image To Enlarge
Dave and Dylan yell "Hike! Hike!, Hike!"
as they help the dogs pull the sled through deep snow
on one of old trails we traveled yesterday. |
The Winter road is a "Highway"
which the government opens every year for about 6 weeks.
The road is mainly used by large trucks, which haul in
most of the fuel, food, building materials, and other
supplies that the remote communities will need until next
winter. Playing chicken with fuel trucks does not peak
my interest, plus this week's poll is showing that we
should take lakes and rivers as our main mode of transportation.
I could not believe that a cold watery grave awaited us
on all routes except the winter road, so I kept searching
for more information. |
| My last stop started out with the normal
routine. A brief introduction, and a few minutes of small
talk. Then broke out the maps and was dutifully shown
the winter road and told the dangers of all other routes.
Just as I was about to leave an older gentlemen walked
into the room and started talking in Cree. He sized me
up for a moment and then said, "The old people used
to take their dogs through there ... You will make it."
He pointed out the a few places we should watch for open
water or bad ice along the way. |
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Click Image To Enlarge
No one has taken responsibility for the incident,
but the facts are that Andrew's hot potato fish soup
was spilled on Dylan's back and Therm-A-Rest The frequency
and intensity of food related accidents has exponentially
increased since Dylan and Andrew's arrival. |
Yesterday we crossed the section that everyone had
told us was impossible. We found the old trails that
people insisted were long gone. To top it all off, it
was the most beautiful day so far. When we found the
last major portage after half an hour of wading through
thigh deep snow. I looked at the old blaze marking the
trail and had to smile, the elder was right--they used
to make it through, and so would we.
Keep exploring!
Dave
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