Yesterday when we went to bed, the snow began to fall again! We woke up with a foot of fresh snow while the sun finally decided to come out. The snow has taken everyone by surprise since it had not been announced before leaving Sunridge.
At breakfast this morning, we could then get ready for a big day where he would have to blaze our own trail. For energy, nothing beats a good trapper menu: bacon, potatoes, pancakes, English muffins …
Departure is made in three widely spaced groups to leave enough distance for those who will open the trail. Today, I am part of this group along with Noah, Merceades, Etienne, and Nicolas. Quite an epic moment … Ahead of the first sled, Seppe opens the road with his big snowshoes, and we follow in right behind in the narrow deep snow trail lined with high walls with snowy pine branches.
Today’s route is the hilliest since the beginning of our adventure. Sometimes, we have to go up for more than 30 minutes! On the 23 km covered so far, it seems to me that we had to push the sleds at least half the time. And staying seated is not an option: conductor and passenger are both standing behind the sled, ready to run, and if ever it is not fast enough for dogs, the leader turns to look at us, as if saying: ” get to work, lazybones. ”
Every day we change dog team, to Merceades’ delight who “love meeting new dogs,” but not necessarily for Dawson says jokingly, “the only thing on this trip that I don’t want to take home with me is the smell! ”
The smells of dogs yet are part of our daily tasks. Armed with a spade, a bucket and a shovel, you must pick up, mornings and evenings, the few kg of droppings produced by our furry engines. To ensure that the dogs have their dose of sleep, we make them small litters of straw, in which the less hairy can sink up to their necks to keep warm. Tonight, the forecast is -27 ° C! Moreover, we must also feed the little group, twice a day by distributing their 2.5 pounds of crushed and frozen chicken. It looks like big granola bars, but far less appetizing…
Now, we are already halfway through this expedition. Time flies and we have the feeling of having left behind our respective worlds, our habits, our attitudes, our worries. We have spoken with those we thought we wouldn’t speak with, we discussed about everything and anything, have pushed sleds together, carried wood. “I like the complicity that our group has developed,” said Étienne. And yes, the snow seems to have buried our prejudices and made way to a group of travelers united in nature.