Yesterday, Dec. 25 was my first mush of the year! I took out a team of five to help look for my neighbor’s missing dog. The plan was to take the short 4 mile route.
The team was composed of Rattles & Rocket in wheel, Monkey and Punky in point, and Red, our fearless leader, in Lead. I tried to take Peetie, but he wasn’t interested in going. Rocket decided he wasn’t going to be a mushing dog this year and Greg hasn’t been taking him, but he said he would run four miles just for me.
Not only was this my first run of the year, it was also a first run for Red, Monkey, and Pumpkin. Red lead the way from the house down to the field perfectly. Once we got to the field Rattle commenced his sneezing ritual and Red decided to see what was in an outbuilding on the field. Next to the outbuilding are Yaks and sheep, so he probably was interested in their scent; and he hasn’t been down to the field since the new neighbors moved in and brought farm animals with them.
After untangling everyone, with the help of Munkin I managed to get Red to go passed the building and animals. We mushed into the woods, over the hill, and Red decided to lunge to the right and drag everyone with him. He was distracted by Maureen, who was off on a side trail looking for her missing dog Nemo. Maureen helped me straighten out the team. We mushed for 100 yards and Red was distracted by a person and her dog who were in deep snow trying to stay out of our way. Maureen came over and helped me straighten things out again, and we were off.
Note: Greg and I like to, and usually do, mush at night when the trails are mostly abandoned.
We got to the winter trail and almost ran into a huge arctic cat blocking the trail– probably someone’s Christmas present. I chatted with them for a minute and found out they had driven up from North Pole, and they had not seen Nemo. I complemented them on their fine looking machine.
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing. Red, Monkey, and Pumpkin were so happy that they finally got to go for a run. Rocket and Rattles weren’t as ecstatic, but seemed to have had a nice time. I was really happy that I finally got to be out with the dogs.