Storyline: Dogsledding Nunavut Apr. 2000
Monday April 24 2000—8:00 p.m.
Tempus fugit.
Before we could leave in morning we learned how to pack the qomatiqs; food box lashed at the back (we got the dog food box) then a tarp into which was lashed the sleeping systems and spare clothes and anything else we were to carry, and on top of which, inside the lashing, was our caribou skin. Finally, the duffel with our parkas and ¾-length lined pants that overlapped the top of our -100°C Sorel boots, plus insulated nalgene bottles full of hot drinks were clipped between the tarp and the food box.
Then we dragged the qomatiqs down to the dog yards and revelled again in the cacophony of howls and barks from the excited dogs. We left the qomatiqs in the dog yards and headed back to NorthWinds for another wonderful lunch of turkey sandwiches. Then…the moment of truth. We tramped back to the dog yards, harnessed the dogs with a little less drama than the previous day, and headed out across Frobisher Bay.
Denise led with her own team. We were sled #2 and were followed by Bob & Shawn. I gave Patricia the choice of position and she chose to take the back, so I was driver. After the initial moments of terror, all went well for the first half-hour or so. Then, as we crossed a little pressure ridge, everything stopped. The dogs were pulling, but the qomatiq would not budge. Patricia noticed that the pituq was back under the qomatiq. She went to pull the qomatiq back and I noticed that the pituq was caught on a horn of ice. The dogs still had pressure on the traces, and the ice horn was between the runners, so to avoid getting into danger, I stood to one side of the qomatiq and kicked a couple of times at the ice horn. As it broke, the pitiuq…and dogs…and qomatiq were free. The dogs didn’t wait. I fell back into a foot of snow. Patricia did the same behind the qomatiq. And the dogs took off! Patricia and I followed on foot (Whoa! didn’t work!) until we caught up with the team, downed by Denise. Fortunately we were all laughing. Denise told us that it happens once on every trip so it was good that we got it over with early.
We had a couple more short rest stops. At one, we drank some warm orange juice. After about four hours, we rolled up to the NorthWinds cabin on Faris (also spelled Ferris) Island near the south shore of Frobisher Bay. Getting up through the sea ice was our second challenge. It’s easier to steer from the back of the qomatiq, where you can use the handlebars and your weight to swivel the sled. Unfortunately, Patricia hadn’t got the hang of it, and my weight midships didn’t help. We didn’t make the corner and hung up on a big snowdrift. I scooted us over the drift and made it safely to where Denise waved me in. Patricia didn’t quite make it, having got off to push then losing us when we went over the snow bank.
Patricia trotted up the trail and helped us set out the dog lines. These were cables with short chains attached every few feet. The dogs were clipped to the chains, which kept them close enough to each other for company but far enough apart to prevent fights. While the others opened and set up the cabin, Patricia and I fed the dogs and refilled the box from the kibble stored in a box outside the cabin. We would go through about 25lb of dog food a day. By the time we joined the others in the cabin, there was hot orange juice made from newly melted snow, cheese, crackers and paté waiting for us. The cabin was HOT! And I was sweating. It was also very close in the confined space. There was enough room for the five of us to sit around a U-shaped bench. The cooking area was on a shelf under the only window. Denise cooked up a wonderful meal—scalloped potatoes and caribou steak with fried onions…delicious and plenty for everyone. We were definitely not going to starve, and the food was much more enjoyable than the freeze-dried stuff we took on our arctic hiking trip two years ago.
All in all, it was a great start to the trip.
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