All too soon we are at the Inuvik Airport, this time at the main terminal for the Air North flight south to Whitehorse. It is sad to be leaving Rod, Martha and Steve – I’m not sure when I’ll be back in their part of the world because there are so many other places I want to explore. But I will keep in touch – Tim Tam’s are on permanent request; strangely, Vegemite isn’t!
Read MoreThe wind has calmed down overnight, and we wake up to clear skies. After breakfast of fried muffins and Vegemite (well I knew I’d get to enjoy it at some stage!), we load the dogs and our gear into the trucks, and go to the gas station to get fuel for Steve’s truck.
Read MoreUp around 8, tents down and breakfasted and ready to roll. We're going to about 12 miles from Aklavik, camp for the night on the river, and then go into Aklavik tomorrow morning. The skies are clear but there is a strong head wind. The power of 10 dogs is remarkable and even after they have run a few miles, I nearly lose the sled as I pull the hook (the brake) from the snow and we leap forward.
Read MoreAfter a cold night, a visit from the fox and from 2 snowmobilers that leave tracks fairly close to our tents, we surface at 11ish to clear skies, a slight breeze and a balmy minus 15°C. Breakfast is huge: Canadian bacon, fried apricot & pecan bread and maple syrup. Early in the afternoon we disperse to read, sleep, or snowshoe. I climb into a dogsled, and out of the wind and in the warm sunshine, read and snooze. The dogs are snuggled up in the sun with their black jackets on and are enjoying the rest day – all is right with the world! And they are so content that we enjoy a couple of choruses of dog howls, led by the one and only Willow.
Read MoreMinus 25°C and a clear morning with no wind – just beautiful! Down the river we go with me taking over from Rod and riding the sled most of the way today. Danger and Panda are my lead dogs, and Max and Zoot are wheel (closest to the sled). Buma, my lead dog last year, is in the team, along with Lyla, Amy and Teja. Zoot is rapidly becoming a favorite – pitch black coat with one blue eye and one brown, he just loves being cuddled. And after two days of enjoying the normal pats and chats, he now rolls over for a tummy scratch each time I stop to say hi – even when he’s hooked up to the sled!
Read MoreDespite the ground blizzard that was blowing when we went to bed, it is clear at 7:00am. It has been a cold, windy night and in addition to my normal sleeping gear of an under layer of clothing, socks and hat, I donned a fleece to keep me warm. So it’s good to see the sun rising above the horizon. We leave our frozen lake about noon, in relative chaos. We decide that “take off” will be from the snowmobiles rather than the usual pickets fixed into the ice.
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