Cabin Life # 4: Mush Mush

For the past two winters I have had the pleasure of playing with a couple of pretty rad dog teams and had the opportunity to learn a few of the ins-and-outs of handling and mushing dogs.

Dog mushing is something that I never really imagined myself doing, being someone who was always a self-proclaimed cat person, dogs were never quite my thing. I always liked dogs —having grown up having them — but I never wanted to own one myself, until I took care of and fell in love with sled dogs. They won me over with their unique energy and sweet expectant faces. They are absolutely the hardest working and most dedicated dogs I have ever met. I definitely hope that mushing is something that I will be doing for many winters to come.

When you approach a dog yard with your sled in tow the dogs immediately know what they are about to do, and they are excited! Most sled dogs in the Yukon are Alaskan Husky's. These dogs are incredibly athletic — small, strong and agile they are literally made to pull — pulling is their job and they love to do it. This makes them the most common dog to use when sledding, but often they are bred with other athletic dogs who may have a strong pulling gene.

Walking into the dog yard is a sensory overload. Your senses are filled with the barking, jumping and howling of dogs who want you to choose them first to hook up to the gang line. They all come out of their individual houses to see who or what is going on. They are tethered to a post with a chain that allows them enough room to run eat and go into their houses without any of the dogs getting into each other’s spaces and causing any trouble. Dog fights can be common among these types of animals. Even playful fighting could cause an injury and take them out of the team, so it is avoided at all costs by the handlers.

Each dog has a unique personality, and knowing those is the job of the musher or handler. Some dogs love to be near and run next to each other, others do not and could make your run very difficult and dangerous. Some are motivated by each other and will follow them to the ends of the earth, others like to be out front, and those are the leads.

Lead dogs are a special kind of animal. In my experience, the lead dog often is the oldest and wisest dog. It often lives in the house with the musher away from the dog yard. Because their direction instinct is so attuned they are often left off leash to their own devices, but usually hang around the dog yard, or beside their owner. They are the ones that guide the pack. They must listen for commands from the musher and bring the other dogs in the right direction, without them the other dogs will go astray. They often have a very strong bond with the musher, and mushers can often be found having long in-depth conversations with them, planning out their next moves, offering encouragement and comfort to one another and holding each other together on long races. A good lead is the most integral part of the team. Without a good lead your run can become very frustrating very fast, they must listen intently to the mushers spoken commands as this is the only way the sled is directed. The lead must be confident, independent and fast as they do not have anyone to follow, and can literally make or break a dog team.

When you walk through the yard the dogs look at you expectantly and jump towards you pulling their chains taught. They rest their paws on your arm and calm when you stop at each dog to give them a pat before choosing the first to go on the line.

Each dog that is going to be in your team is harnessed. The dogs are old hats at this process, lifting each leg as you guide the harness over their head and pull their front paws through. Once you have your sled secured all your dogs harnessed and your line ready it’s a race to get the dogs hooked up. Then you take them and attach the harness at the back and front to the gang line one by one. This is a strategic process and must be completed quickly as the energy of the dogs mounts. They are excited and ready to go, when you attach them they begin to jump up and forward launching themselves into the air as they do. Once you have all the dogs on the line you can jump on the sled, release the brakes and you are off.

Standing on the back of the sled you watch each dog as they steady into a pace that will bring you through small passes and trails that are often only accessed by dogs. Keeping your feet steady on the runners you use the brake in between to keep the dogs from over-exerting themselves but keeping the line taut.

When you are out with the dogs there is a calmness that takes over, like nothing else. Once you get into a rhythm with them a silence comes over the world and whoosh, you are transported. All you hear is the sound of the dog’s feet as they pat across the snow, your own breath in rhythm with theirs as each breath crisps with the exhalation. The snow slides beneath the sled as it slips over the fresh snow beneath you and you suddenly find yourself miles away from nowhere.

As you anticipate the turns and twists of the trail you call out “gee” or “haw” to your leader to indicate the direction you choose while leading the sled with your weight. Each movement connected to your lead as if through ESP as they guide your path.

Sledding is unlike anything I have ever done before, the ease with which you move juxtaposed with the hard work it takes to maneuver the sled, and the feeling of being out, just you and the world with your dogs. When we stop for a coffee break, the dogs lay down for a well-deserved break themselves. We have situated ourselves within a valley between two mountain peaks that we have been travelling between for about an hour. Here the snow is deep and our feet crack through the icy surface sink into the soft snow as we stop the sled and step off the rails. We can only stop for a moment before the dogs are ready to go again and begin pulling at their snow hooks.

And with a quick "Ok" they are off again, pulling you forward with a swift movement before steadying into a pace again with tongues hanging out, and a smile on your face; the world is in front of you, and it feels like you could go anywhere with them leading you.

This experience has been one that I definitely hope to enjoy for years to come and has given me a renewed appreciation for a dogs spirit and the connection that is created through them to their human owners…

Man is truly a dogs best friend.

Running on a Frozen Fish Lake, YT

Running on a frozen Upper Labarge

A quick stop to rest and take in the scenery

Quick rest along the Yukon River

Cabin Life #3: Chopping Wood, Take 2

I had started a series of "Cabin Life" blogs way back when I first moved to Yukon, but never quite got into writing them for one reason or another. So here is a second shot at it. I will document what life is like living in a log cabin in the Yukon wilderness, without running water, heated only by a wood stove, surrounded only by the sounds of animals, the wind and my own breathing...

I hope to document the trials and tribulations, the ups and the downs.  What I have learned and what the cabin has taught me. If there is something that my readers wish to learn about, or have questions about, let me know and I will try to incorporate that into a post! It's always nice to have new ideas that perhaps is something that I take for granted.

without further ado;

Chopping Wood- Take 2 

Chopping wood has become somewhat second nature to me as I live out my days in the woods. Though not second nature enough that I no longer have to think about it, but something that I now know will either be a weeks worth of work a couple of times throughout the winter or a daily task that brings me comfort, a way to de-stress and get back to my little world away from the world.

I am currently not gathering my own wood, as I am without chainsaw, or truck. But I do hold hope that next season I will be equipped to do so. Wood in the Yukon averages $225-$250 per cord. Last winter I worked my way through about 4.5 cords. This winter has been a bit more mild, but during cold snaps (week long stints of about -35 to -48) it seems that the stove eats the wood, quickly enveloping each log with its heat and turning it into ash.

When I first began chopping wood there was a certain amount of hesitation when swinging the axe. Unsure of my swing and my ability to keep all of my limbs while wielding such a sharp apparatus, I was cautious. I mean if it can slip through a tough piece of wood like butter, what's to say it won't do the same with my leg.  I used to stare wide eyed at the people who would simply pick up the axe and swing without much thought to their distance, speed, or follow through. They always seemed to hit their mark, or obliterate a huge piece of wood, with (what I thought) was great force in just a few swings, and turn it into the perfect size for stacking.

But what I have learned is that it's not about the force with which you strike the log. It's about finding the right spot, the spot that the log is almost begging to be split at, and hitting it with a swift movement.  No hesitation. Follow-through. Looking not only to split the log you are chopping but the one below it. Looking beyond the simple task and seeing your movement continuing with a forward motion towards the end.

When you find that 'sweet-spot' the wood splits like butter and before you know it you have accomplished in a short time what may have in the past taken you hours, or even days. Your arms become stronger, and the motion that once felt clunky, awkward and foreign becomes easy and routine.

Learning this lesson was a difficult one, but is something that has helped me to find the sweet-spot and follow-through to the holding log.

 It involves staying present, getting the mind under control, practicing love and compassion.

Clear your mind….Chop wood, Carry Water.

Much like in life... it takes time to learn how to follow-through, and trust that the holding log will be there. It's about finding that holding log, a steady base that will help you find the place where you can clear your mind, and let yourself go, without hesitation. That's when the things you  never thought you could do, happen and they happen much easier than you ever imagined they could.

If you try to force a log to break, it never will.

What We Win - looking at positivity/negativity and winning at life

I made a statement to a friend the other day: "I always win." It was meant to be nothing more than a quip, as I certainly have never seemingly 'won' anything in my life. However, over the next couple of days this retort took on a very new meaning.

Every day I was asked by this friend "so what did you win today." To which we recounted for each other all of the things that could seemingly be 'wins' for us that day...

"I didn't get stuck in the snow"
"I got to spend 6 hours with children making movies"
"I got to help people find awesome books that they will really enjoy"
"I was able to help out a friend in need, and do yoga with them"
"The sun shone down (giving me vitamin D), and the birds were singing to me as I shoveled my driveway for 3 hours this morning!"


It forced me to look at the daily tasks of my life in a new and different way. Instead of getting upset that I ran out of propane when I was in the middle of baking muffins, it became "I was able to go into town and get a free coffee from the a nice man at the gas station."

These little shifts in perspective have made a huge difference in my life, and can make in anyone's who cares to benefit.

I have always been a little bit skeptical of the "think positive and you will be happy" mentality. Having generally had a fairly positive disposition my entire life I often found that it seemed forced, or even fake to just put a smile on your face and turn the heart-wrenchingly difficult situation around.

Because lets face it... some things are simply just negative, painful and wrong. There is no smile that is going to cure it. It will only mask the real issue, and eventually cause more pain. Dealing with these realities and moving on to something more positive seems to be a far more enticing tactic... for me anyways.

 But this seemed like a nice compromise. Something to make your day seem brighter. It is a way to look at something, like shoveling snow for 3 hours, that may not be your favourite thing to do, in a way that makes you feel like you have accomplished something wonderful, and be thankful for that opportunity.

It is a way to look back on your day and be thankful for all the beautiful moments as well, not simply because you had to switch the negatives into the positives, but because you were able to see the small things that may have otherwise passed by, and can appreciate the people, things and world that is right in front of you, instead of focusing on the things or people that "did not" or "have not."

What a world.

What did you win today?

I get to live here..... ;)