This is a one month extract from Gary's diary...

1st February 2004
3rd February 2004
4th February 2004
5th February 2004
6th February 2004
7th February 2004
8th February 2004
9th February 2004
10th February 2004
11th February 2004
12th February 2004
13th February 2004
14th February 2004
15th February 2004
16th February 2004
17th February 2004
18th February 2004
19th February 2004
20th February 2004
21st February 2004
22nd February 2004
24th February 2004
25th February 2004
28th February 2004
2nd March 2004
3rd March 2004

 
Diary Extract - 2004
12th February
Early one hour run. Spending some time with lead dogs Piper and Pingo. They bounded ahead while I planted my 'bearpaws'.
 
I don't choose leaders for their physical strength but more in line for their mental capacity to lead. They learn fast, respond to my commands and have an above average willingness to learn. A strong bond and trust is something money will never buy me. I continued preparing my gear for next week.
 
At - 30°C, a litre of boiling water in a steel flask will remain tepid left out for 3 days and nights. A litre of the same in an insulated toughened plastic water container will freeze solid unless guzzled in a couple of hours. I always carry hot water. With a team of eight dogs and a minimal load, 15cm of ice will support us. There are rare times I fall through and get soaked. At that point up goes the tent, into my sleeping bag I go, then eat and drink to raise my body core temperature. PowerBars are great because of their high carbohydrate content. This metabolizes to energy quickly.
 
I favour the tandem hitch. With this the dogs are harnessed and pull in pairs from a single trace, the mainline. This is then connected back to the sled. I make all my own neck, tug and mainlines for the dogs. Necklines lead from a dog's collar connecting it to the mainline, tug lines attach the dog's harness to the mainline.
 
For mainline repairs I use various gauge fids. Fids are light, pipe like needles used for making different features along a running mainline for the dogs. Along with an awl they are very important for running repairs; harnesses included.I made some tug, neck and mainline sections up this evening. River ice is sharp as sea ice so I run lightweight aircraft cabling through very light, braided polypropylene rope when making my mainline sections. This floats and can be rescued. The mainline is repeatedly snagged on jagged glass like ice. It frays and can then snap if it not wired through the middle.
 
I finished the day running for an hour with Pingo and eating copious amount of food.
 

Brothers Pingo and Hansel
Spending time with Piper
Strong bond and trust
Here's a comparison between a traditional bear-paw pattern and a modern snowshoe design with its built-in crampon system and anodized aircraft-grade aluminium frame. The modern rubber deck is puncture and abrasion resistant, even in extreme cold for maximum floatation. Both designs and materials work well in deep snow.Made from moose hide with canvas uppers my Inuit mukluks have no left or right.

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