30 Dec -End of the trail
The last entry of 2009.  Training for all the dogs, Mon 28th, with a guest - Erlend Refstie - on the second sled.  Never a dull moment on a trip, this time, meeting 2 loose dogs as we came down to the cement works.  The owner managed to haul them in, while we waited patiently....

More hard work, Tue 29th.  Four hours and 6 miles of snow-shoeing from the back of Vadsø, along the snowmobile trail, then cross-country to make a short-cut for the dogs, over to the next snowmobile trail.  Absolutely whacked when I got back to the van.  Worth a tin of beer!

Out with 8 dogs, Weds 30th, along the trail I'd made.  The wind had blown away most of the snowshoe marks, but Ruusa and Riku found the trail, regardless!  Had intended a long tour out to Skallelv, but the marker posts for the trail suddenly came to an end.  Well, I've never been any further than that, so it was a case of turn round, and head back home.  Still a good trip, but not as long as I'd planned.  Will maybe start from the other end, tomorrow!

A happy New Year to all our readers! 

20 Dec - Snow!
Four inches of dry snow fell in the early hours of Monday 14th - the first real snowfall that looked like staying.  Always good to clear it from the driveway before more arrives, so I spent a good couple of hours doing that.  Found out much later on that the flat tenant had lost her mobile phone somewhere in the snow.  Oh, well.  It will turn up in May/June!

Rehearsal in Vardø, in the evening of Tuesday 15th.  Driving conditions could have been easier, to put it mildly.  There was a northerly wind blowing, and with the road going mainly west-east, the snow blew constantly across the road.  The trick is to drive according to the reflective marker posts, and not start to look at the torrent of snow pouring across the road!  On the way back, though, with no real speed to speak of, I suddenly realised that I was on the way out between two markers, both on the same side of the road!  Quick reactions saved the day, but it got my heart thumping!  Further towards home, I actually had to stop the van, as I couldn't see a thing.  I'd rounded a notorious bend, and, while the wind was blowing on the way into the bend, the other side was a vacuum.  Masses of snowflakes just drifting around in the air.  It was like walking into a room full of steam.  Better to stop and assess than to plough on. 

A third day of snow-clearing, Thursday 17th.  A 3.5 hour window between work engagements, and, minus travelling time, a window that was filled with shovelling snow.  The north wind had created a few drifts by the gate and behind the house, so all that had to be cleared.  Hard work, but I got finished just in time before the temperature rose and the snow turned to concrete.

And yet more snow-clearing, Friday 18th.  The dogs had already packed down the snow around their kennels, so that will just have to be until it eventually melts.  However, the drifts in the dog yard were put to good use, as I moved the drifted snow to where the training run starts from the yard.  Snow-shoes are great for packing snow!  Saturday morning, I took Kippax with me and snow-shoed the first section of the trail, up to the lane.  It was then time for...

... THE FIRST SLED TRIP OF THE SEASON!  (Trumpet fanfare!)
It's always a gamble, knowing how many dogs to take out for the first run.  You need enough dogs to plough through some sections, but not too many dogs that it's impossible to stop and set the anchor.  I opted (cowardly) for five dogs, and set off.  We only had to plough up to the top of the lane, as someone had been out and about with a snow-scooter, making it easier for us.  Good to be back on the sled again, but I was glad it was a small team as I crossed the large cloudberry tufts of the mere.  In towards town, where I stopped and chatted with a man who was out with his English setter.  Good training for my dogs, to stand and wait while there was something really interesting happening behind them!  All in all, a nice, short training run with the dogs happy to take commands out of the scooter trail, into the deeper snow.

9 Dec - Where the wind blows
For a place like Høyvik, which can well be described as a windy place, a period of dead calm is something to be noted.  And dead calm it was, Tuesday evening.  Absolutely nothing to be heard.  No wind, no waves.  All the dogs in their kennels.  Quite extraordinary, and definitely something to be savoured. 

The long-term forecast is still showing snow, but now from Sunday 13 until at least Friday 18.  A total of 30mm precipitation, which equals to about 30cm snow.  AND, more's the point, very little wind to blow away the precious white stuff!  Maybe it will be time to get the sled out of the barn, at long last?

7 Dec - Enemy on the horizon!
Never a training session without reindeer!  Up until now, I''ve been using them to give the dogs the 'more speed' command, but now I'm just fed up of reindeer.  They could at least wander down to the dogyard and provide us with some free food....  Sometimes, the dogs spot them in the dark before I light up their hundreds of sparkling eyes with my headtorch.  Sometimes, I catch a whiff of them just as the dogs do.  And sometimes, with the wind behind us, I see the flock first, then wait to see how long it will be before the dogs' ears tell me that they've been spotted.

There is something majestic about watching a flock of several hundred reindeer moving as one, hind legs stretching out behind them.  No muscle stiffness or sore joints in a reindeer!

The reindeer flock seems to have taken up winter residence in our training area.  Actually, I think the reindeer were there before us, but it's a mute point.  They're often grazing for lichen to the side of the trail when we turn up, then move as one, usually ahead of us.  Occasionally, we meet them at a turning in the trail, and that's great fun, with reindeer crossing our path, both in front and behind us.  They seem to be pretty aware of where the dogs team starts and ends, and I don't think they'd ever try to cross right through the team!

Bit of bright news, fingers crossed....  There's SNOW forecast for a few days on the trot, starting on Saturday.  Here's hoping....

Meanwhile, what a result, Man City!!  2-1 over the league leaders, Chelsea.  Great stuff!!  Nearly threw myself over the seating at the pub, in an attempted header.  (It didn't go in.)

2 Dec - Where's winter? 
Difficult times at the ranch.  Winter appears to have been delayed this year.  The first race of the year, the 24km Tana race, has been cancelled due to lack of snow.  Most of the county is covered in sheet ice.  I took the dogs for a training run last Saturday on what can safely be described as polished glass.  The dogs managed all right, but I had to take them for a long run, just in order to find a solution to how I was going to get them back down the hill.  In the end, another musher came to my rescue with his car.  Knight in shining armour, he rode the quad-bike down the hill with the dogs, leaving me to soak up the warm comfort of his car!

The decision was taken to buy a set of snow chains for the quad-bike.  One whole working day later, and 350 quid less in pocket  , the quad-bike looked very smart with its new apparel.  And we found out at the workshop that the two front tyres had different dimensions - 24 and 25 inches!  Now I realise why I've had to shove the steering over in one direction, the whole time.  Thought it was differing tyre pressures.

On Tuesday, the dogs got the chance to train with the shiny, spanking-new snow chains.  Just a shame that I didn't actually need them for the trip....  New snow had attached itself to the bed of ice, and there was lots of snow still falling.  The conditions on the tops were actually great for the dogs, though I found it difficult to find the track with the snow driving right into the beam of my headtorch.  I missed one turn by only a couple of yards, but it was enough to send us into a mass of humpy, bumpy ground.  The dogs were fantastic - Billy and Milla at the front, taking commands here and there to steer us around large rocks and frozen ponds.  Great training for them, and great training for me to navigate using the GPS.  Life is much easier when a race trail is marked with reflective sticks!

Meanwhile, fundraising for RAFBF seems to be on hold.  I hope that people are just waiting until the big race, rather than just not donating.  I hear that I've made it as a page 3 girl... in RAF News!  Still waiting for their website to publish the article online, to include the link here.  I've now also agreed that I can raise funds for Norwegian Church Aid (Kirkens Nødhjelp), so there's one charity in the UK and one in Norway.  AND, when I order this year's dog booties, they'll be in a stunning shade of bright pink, just so that 5 cents per bootie gets donated to a breast cancer charity in America.  It all helps!