Blue Skies...

I took the dogs out on the ten mile loop again. It was a beautiful day, blue skies with no wind. Everything went great until the second rest stop. They seemed to have calmed down by then, I don't get off the sled on the first stop, so I set the snow hook, walked around and petted them while checking their feet for ice balls. Everything was ok as I went back to the sled, stood on the brake while I pulled the hook, they jerked a bit, but I said "no, take it easy" or something like that, and started to put it in the holster. They all must have hit it at once cause all I remember is flying backwards, seeing blue sky, then slamming on my back onto the trail. I popped up just in time to see them disappearing down the trail. I figured they were long gone, but after walking a half a mile or so, there they were, lined out in the trail. The Manning snow hook had caught in the snow and saved me again. When they saw me, they turned around and came back towards me, getting all tangled up in the process. So after a few minutes of untangling dogs, while the younger ones barked and banged to go, we were on our way again. So that was yesterdays run. What I’m thinking now is that this team, with the three crazy youngsters and untrained leaders. maybe isn’t ready for a travel trip yet. If I lost them out on the some new trails, well who knows where they’d wind up. So I told my friend Bill I was canceling our planned trip for next week to the park. He was pretty bummed out, but hopefully he'll get over it. You have to run the team you have and accept their limitations, not the team you wish you had and do something stupid with them.

Here's the snow hook that saved my butt again. This is maybe the third time in the 25 years or so that I've used it that it stopped the team after I lost them. It was custom made by a former neighbor, Ned Manning, a machinist who built it for a friend. He apparently was never paid for it, so repossessed it and gave it to me. While it's seriously heavy, it does a fantastic job and I thank Ned, at least in my mind, every time it holds the team in place.