Mush baby Mush
Now this was an experience. When I called up the person I was told to contact about mushing, I wasn’t sure where it would lead. Thursday morning I dialed up Geoff at his home. I described our brief time in Barrow and suggested that he was ‘the guy’ to see about experiencing dog sledding. He talked about his upcoming trip, leaving today to head out for a week of Moose counts in a small village to the west of here.
Boy did we not realize just who Geoff Carroll was and his rich history as an expert. Formally, this is Geoff Carroll, Area Wildlife Biologist, Alaska Department of Fish & Game.
LOTS more here. To us, this was heading over to his modest house in Barrow and his son Gunner meeting us at the door.
“Hi! Dad’s not home from work yet, but come on it! You guys are going out mushing with dad, right?” We entered the two story home and were greeted by Marie, Geoff’s wife. She warmly welcomed us as we did introductions and stepped into the basement. It is unique to have the kitchen upstairs, she explained. But the higher ceilings make for a nicer space, so we put the kitchen and living space upstairs. The basement had three rooms…one original and two add ons that are Geoff’s ‘play land’. Soon he arrived home and we got to chatting. There were signs of the arctic…lots of skis, parkas, dog harnesses, and a nice bucket of fish. The dogs each get two fish per day…a happy diet for a Greenland Husky living in the backyard with his or her 9 chums. A little whale blubber to top it off keeps them happy. More on that later, if I remember to get back to it.
Anyway…Geoff suggested we go out and talk to the dogs while he got a few things ready. How to rile up ten sled dogs…step up and give them some attention! The fired right up. But when they realized we weren’t ‘their guy’, it wasn’t quite as exciting. When Goeff came out, they knew it was play time…and they really got going! We learned how to harness each dog and then get them placed on the line from the sled. Gunner helped to set up the team, taking pointers from his experienced dad. We got situated on the sled and the dogs ready roll. We were geared up…three layers on the bottom, multiple socks and Sorrels. Then four layers of shirts plus the coat. Then the neoprene face mask, a neck gator, a head band and the ear-flap hat. Some ski goggles topped it off to keep the face out of the wind.
“Kita”, Inupiak for lets go, was all it took the dogs to hit it! 0-20 in a matter of a blink, and we were screamin’ through the backyards to the east. Gunner held traffic on the one road to cross (traffic? Okay..one car) while we flew across the street. Then to the open snow, and across the lagoon (water source here) to the east. The cutting wind caused me to tighten up the face cover…and realize it was a pretty good idea! Nice place for a beard, really. But this was a warm day here…no snow fall and a whopping 0 degrees. We moved across the snowpack for 15 minutes or so. “Gee” for right, and “Haw” for left. The dogs are a living machine…with the brains up front. “Haw, Haw, Haw” from Geoff as we curved across the snow.
Off to the right picture the DEW-line radar system of the 1950s. That is the defense early warning system for those incoming Soviet missiles. Then a Doppler radar dome, also part of the NARL science here. “Gee, Haw” to keep the dogs on track. Yet the smell and watch, and pretty much can follow the trail of their last run.
Soon we get to the road…the one that runs the shorline. We cross it, and are most clearly headed to the Chukchi Sea. We swiftly and smoothly glide along a trail marked with small orange flags by the whaling crews. The first stage of setting whaling camp is to establish a trail across the ice to get there. Marking this triail with flags helps one to return again. Wind makes the trail disappear otherwise.
We moved across the ice, and learned that the lead dogs are learning from each other! The newby dog on the front end was working out the concept of following the trail. “Haw, Haw, Haw” bellered Geoff as the dogs once decided to instead to a full right 180. We nearly stopped as Geoff pressed the rusty steel break teeth into the snow with “Whoa”. The sled snowly pivoted around as we make it a full 360 and got back to the trail.
The ice attached to the shore is known as land fast ice…as it is frozen to the shore and pretty firmly attached. Beyond this, there are significant ice heaves and 20-30 foot tall piles where the flowing ice presses into the land fast ice. We approached the first large heave and at “Whoa” the dogs came to a stop. Geoff suggested he take a look up the trail, now steeply bounding up and down over 4-6 foot mounds of ice. As we watched him step up to inspect, we noticed a tall flag on a pole just beyond the ridge…sign of a whaling camp. Musher man mad the call to make a turn to our own trail. We piled back on the sled and turn a sharp left as the dogs led along the icy piles. Geoff skillfully guided them…like steering a train from the back with your voice…threading through some piles of ice. He’s done this before! 30 years back, when he and Will Steger trekked to the North Pole with four teams totaling 48 dogs and 8 people at the start.
It was time for the doggies to catch their breath and us to explore. Feel free to hike up and check that out, he instructed as we flipped the sled on its side. He pinned a drillbit like ice spike near the front of the dog line and tacked the dogs down. This plus the overturned sled kept our ride waiting for us. The extra steel ice anchor pressed into the snow on the back of the sled added another level of ‘we’ll wait here’. So Shoe and I climbed carefully along the ice…up and over 6 foot pieces of beautiful blue colored solid sea…frosted with snow. About 20-30 yards onto the ice we got a glimpse of whaling camp. Off another 60 yards or so we could see two tents and a pile of gear planted below the whaling flag of this particular team. While no sign of life was visible, the white canvas tents shuddered in the steady wind. I suppose camp just beyond this tall ice pile meant a bit of shelter form the persistent wind. We panned around, seeing ice as far as one could look. While only about ¾ of a mile from short, it felt like another world.
Geoff explained his work as a wildlife biologist had him living on the ice for 2 months at a time here in Barrow years ago. That made him more comfortable with this life than most of the other folks on the Steger arctic expedition. He spoke of the trip and of his work here. The changes in the ice over time are significant. It used to be, he explained, that there would be several ridges of ice heave like this…from thicker more massive ice reaching farther into the Chukchi Sea. But in the last ten years, the thinning has been troublesome. Whales are brought onto the ice by pulling them with block and tackle up a ramp. 20 tons of whale needs support to keep in on top. The ice has been so thin some years that whaling has been affected. When it cant support the weight of the beast, the subsistence is more difficult. I asked what the next ten might hold, and he worriedly admitted he wasn’t sure. Whaling has changed. It used to be that the spring season was the big one…pulling bowheads onto the ice this way. But the fall season has become stronger, using motorized boats more than the traditional ways. With much open water then, the techniques are different and more automated. The spring hunt has become less while the constant shift to fall is evident. Changes. Caused by the rest of us. Imposed on this culture.
Holding his shotgun, an essential tool here on the ice, his tales seemed to share the stress of change. But now…time to get back to the dogs. My video camera captured his tales, so stay tuned for the first hand account if you’d like it!
We gathered images with our cameras, hardly enough to take in the scene. But they will have to do! Time to fire up the dogs. The spikes came out and the break was lifted. Those dogs like the 0-20 at the get go! “Kita,” “Haw” and “Gee” got us headed across the ice along the ridge. Once back to the more flat ice, we “Hawed” our way back towards our original path. The dogs know what do so. The follow the trail…they head home! A perfect time for us Minnesota dudes to try out our mushing skills. Shoe took the standing position and “Kita” we went again. After a slow down to let a set of Innuit snow-machine folks by, we picked up the trail again and headed to the shore. A break midway to home gave me a turn as well at my dog skills. They know the trail…so I had a nice chance to stand and let them do the work. I realized now that my toes were getting chilly. The chance to run a bit helped to keep the blood moving in the feet. As we got closer to the lagoon and then the neighborhood, we talked more with Geoff about his experiences. This man is humble, and doesn’t let on to his worldly experiences. But were in the presence of a legend we have now realized. Geez, what a neat experience. And now were headed back to his house to bring the dogs home.
We let the dogs out…and now its time to put them away. One by one, we unhook the dogs and Geoff reminds us to which chain each belongs. We take the dogs in and unharness them as instructed. Then I put on the monster rubber gloves and grab the five gallon pail of treats! As I mentioned, each happy dog now gets a fish snack. The whole thing…happily goes into each dog in a flash. No scraps left here. And then the whale blubber slides down for dessert. Another five gallon bucket holds these snacks, and a long grill-tongs helps Geoff grab the slippery slices out and present them as a prize to each dog. Talk about happiness! A good run to the ice. Some nice pats on the head. And then a fish AND some blubber. All in a great doggy day.
Wow. That was a lifetime experience. Writing about it one day later, I hope I capture some of the thrill. The photos help plenty, and the video gives a front seat to the experience. A few photos fill in the story here. This run was about a 100 photo experience. Stay tuned for the full show at home!
Wow. Let me say that just one more time. Wow!
