For the past 9 years I have traveled to my favorite three-day event of the year - Mushing Boot Camp Reunion - now La Pine Mushing. A very large group of like minded mushers and want-to-be mushers from as far away as Alaska and San Diego to Idaho and Montana converge on a campground, run dogs, eat way too much at potluck meals and share wisdom and tales. This year instead of dryland mushing, we drove on black ice, through blizzards to arrive with 14" of snow on the ground. Because of the weather, most of the scooter and small rig people stayed home. We had only about 30 participants, but most who showed had quads and large teams to pull them. Fortunately I threw in my sled at the last minute.
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| Cedar and Koyuk enjoying the snow while I unpacked. |
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| We got a couple more inches of snow overnight. Ferrari was useless in the snow. |
We couldn't take the road to the staging area without a car so headed out 3/4 mile, cross country with the sled.
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| Squirrel |
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| We were on our own to follow elk tracks through the snow. |
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| Elk had bedded down here. Checking the spot out was in order. |
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| The snow was deep and the sled heavy with the day's supplies. At times I broke trail for the dogs. |
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| 18 degrees makes for frosty faces. |
We finally made it to the staging area and with a couple hundred more pictures, I'll continue the post tomorrow.
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