6 Feb - More of the white stuff, please!
About time, too!  Snow began to fall, Thursday evening, and continued during the night.  This time, it looks like it will stay.  Minus 14 degrees this morning, so no chance of the snow thawing.  Happy dogs!

Bergeby Race this weekend.  We're entering the 2 x 120 km race.  The race is set up for a 5-hour rest between legs, but that will just be too tough for us.  Instead, the goal is to take it slow and steady, and try to complete, regardless of how much time we use.  At least the sled brake has arrived in the post!

Meanwhile, the Development Office at my old school produced this:  HGSGO link  

7 Feb - Bergebyløpet
The weekend, 6-7 Feb saw us competing in the 2 x 120 km (8-dog class) Bergeby Race.  The race had been lengthened from the 2 x 80 km of previous years, something which meant a new starting point.  The race now runs eastwards from the hotel at Tana Bru, over the Seida mountain, past Nyborgmoen to Bergeby, then towards Vestre Jakobselv before a long anti-clockwise loop takes the trail back across the Bergeby river and all the way back to Tana.  And that's just one leg of the race! 

Quite frankly, the first mile or so was scary.  Just out from the start, with a tema of 8 dogs just raring to go, the trail dropped down onto the river bank.  The bank was wide enough, but there was still a sheer drop down to the river, and everything on the trail sloped down towards that drop.  It was a real effort to stop the sled from sliding over the edge.  Two of the open-class teams mushers weren't so lucky - their sleds were dragged over the edge, and although the mushers held on as long as they could, they just had to let go or risk personal injury. 

A concise description of the trail:  the scary riverbank, a section on sheet ice and frozen sand once down on the river (combined with a lack of marker posts and therefore wrong-way mushing), a road crossing (very safe), a section of ski trail with the longest, fastest and steepest slopes we've ever encountered, open mountain areas and stretches of birch woodland.  There was very little snow in places, so concentration levels had to be high, to avoid tipping the sled over one of many frozen tussocks.

15 Feb - Showing them the way
A three-day trip to inner Finnmark, to show the dogs part of the last stages of the race route. 

Sunday evening/night was from the van, parked at Suossjavri, northwards 30 or so miles to Jotka mountain lodge.  It was minus 25 degrees at the most - a crisp, dry cold.  The skies were clear and full of stars when we started out, but as soon as we got down on the river (Iesjokka), the current of wind blew along the river, bringing a sort of icing-sugar snow with it.  Visibility was greatly reduced, so it was time to trust the dogs to follow the trail.  Further on, we were to cross the county's largest lake (Iesjavri), so the reduced visibility almost helped to make the miles go quicker!  We arrived at Jotka at three in the morning, having actually sledded right past.  No idea where to find either water or my cabin, but I found straw for the dogs and fed and bedded them down for the night.  As for me, I was happy to kip on the cafe sofa!

Monday was a short trip towards Alta and back, where we ran into a group of polar explorers on a test expedition.  Fantastic scenery and stunning weather - clear blue skies, not a single cloud, and trees covered in a mixture of snow and frost.

Tuesday was the return leg back to the van, this time in the daylight.  I was interested to see how the dogs would tackle the psychology of the big lake, but they just ran and ran.  We even managed to run past Mollesjok lodge without the dogs wanting to stop off for a coffee break!  And this time, when we met up with the polar explorers, there was time for a natter.

The last part back to the van was pretty special.  We were joined by a crow that varied its time between flying above us and doing tumbling acrobatics, or waiting ahead of us in the trail.  I was fascinated by its antics, and the dogs picked up speed every time the crow sat ahead of us.  It was nice to have a guide!

All in all, a beneficial training run.  Susi and Fletcher had a bit of a squabble in the early hours of Monday morning, resulting in a few cuts here and there, but it looked worse than it was.  To summarise - 645 km by road for about 150 km by sled.  And all in temperatures of below minus 25.  I must be mad!

21 Feb - Side-winds and otters
Once more, less than optimum conditions for Friday and Saturday training.  There was a strong south-westerly that lasted for days, but we still needed to get out and train.

Strong winds are one thing, but when they're constantly from the side, it's a real battle, both for me to hold the sled on track, and for the dogs to hold their feet on the ground.  The wind had blown so much snow away from the trail that Friday's start saw the sled blown sideways into a big rack used for drying fish.  Sometimes the sled tips, sometimes it doesn't, and the worst time to tip a sled is right at the start, when the dogs want to go at full pelt.  The worst bit is then being dragged along on the ground (at full pelt), your headtorch having been knocked askew, your fur hat trying to block your vision, and all while trying to free the anchor from its fast position on the sled, just to try and find a patch of snow that's remotely thick enough to take the anchor and stop the goods train!  We went a fair distance before that particular patch of snow was found....

Saturday was a strange day.  I felt like I'd done several rounds in a boxing ring, having battled against the wind, and every movement took longer to execute.  We were to start further inland, in order to stay within the woods, but the only place I could park the van to gain a good start-run was in a direct line with the wind direction.  None of the dogs wanted to get out of the van, and I don't blame them.  I wondered whether to scratch training, but realised that I had to force the dogs out, if only for a short run. 

The dogs were particularly quiet at the start, and went off at a more sedate pace than usual.  This was interesting, and more like the long-distance experience that I can expect during the Finnmark race.  I almost couldn't cut the trip short, because I had to find out how long it took for the dogs to get into a rhythm and maybe up the pace.

About halfway around the trail, I realise that a brown lump in the snow, some yards to the left, is in fact, an otter.  "Oh, how fantastic!" think I, "An otter!"  The otter bounces through the snow and into the trail, ahead of the dogs.  "Oh!" think I, still dumbstruck, "An otter!"  The otter bounds into the deep snow to the right of the trail, then stops behind a tree.

A tip to any otters who may be reading this:  IT IS NOT A WISE IDEA TO STOP BESIDE THE TRAIL OF A TEAM OF SLED DOGS.   

It took until four dogs surrounded the otter, before I was awake enough to drop anchor and run to the poor creature's defence.  Not that it needed it, though!  One otter against four sled dogs with close relations in the wolf family, and the otter came off best!  Ruusa, in front, got a cut under her chin, and Riku, at point, ended up with a bitten nose.  The otter scampered away, leaving me with a load of daft animals.

Yes, Saturday's training could have gone better.  My heart was in my mouth as we crossed frozen ponds, the snow having blown away, leaving only the strength of the dogs to stop them being blown over on the ice.  And after halfway, I ended up with Seppo in the sled.  He was limping a bit, and there was no point pressing him further.  It was a job to get him to stay still in the sled, but he got over the inital shock and settled down.  Fortunately, he didn't eat up the various extra bits of equipment I had there!  The remaining dogs worked brilliantly, and didn't seem to notice the extra weight they were pulling.  I was just scared that something else would happen to spoil the day.  Life could be a lot easier.

27 Feb - These things are sent to try us!
One week to go until the Finnmark race, and I'm one dog down.  We were due to train this morning, but when I got to putting booties on Billy, both his main back pads were missing.  The left is worse than the right, but both feet are like raw meat.  Not much help from the local vet, so I tried one of the vets who's been a race vet, both for the Finnmark race and for Iditarod.  She knows her stuff, and suggested that it's been a water blister below the pad. 

Poor Billy.  He's happy enough to spring loose around the dog yard with no concern, but it doesn't now do his feet much good.  I can only imagine it will take an age for his feet to recover enough to get back in training.

Plan B?  Fletcher was given an ID-chip, something I was hoping to postpone until the autumn, and the local vet was 70 quid better off.

Meanwhile, I've now recovered from a violent bout of either food poisoning or something just as nasty.  Whatever it was, it held me within short distance of the loo for 7 hours and totally emptied me.    That put Wednesday's training on ice, and what with Billy today, there's been little movement this week, apart from some good run-arounds in the dog yard.

Talk about trying times....

28 Feb - Bessi is back!
My official first dog, the one that I'd fed, looked after and trained since she was 4 months old, one of three that I'd brought to Vadsø three years ago, the one who surprised us all with a litter of pups, one Saturday in November, the one that I sold with a heavy heart to another musher...

... BESSI IS BACK IN HØYVIK!  (albeit on loan...)

Meanwhile, various tips have been received as to looking after Billy's feet.  The race vet even reckons that he could be okay in time to take part.  The only thing is, what with my sickness and everything else, he's had quite a few days out of training.  We shall see.

The plan is now to bundle as many dogs as possible into the van, of whatever race or creed, take them to Alta and let the race vet decide who's fit to fight!