Developing a bond with the dogs
Hi its Glenn. We’ve just arrived at the Steensby Peninsula. We’ve been crossing sea ice today. It’s very very cold and it’s been pretty hard work as we’ve headed along and have been watching the dogs sitting on the sledge. As you sit on the sledge you kind of get almost hypnotised and it makes all sorts of noises – sometimes it sounds like a flock of ducks, other times it sounds like a train screeching to a halt and sometimes it sounds like all these tormented souls in hell screaming and screaming.
But I watch as Simon controls the dogs and calls to them softly most of the time, occasionally he’ll shout if they’re getting into a bit of a scarp or doing something but he’s very good. He hardly ever uses the whip I’ve noticed – occasionally he might flick it to one side to keep them in check but we’re making steady progress. We’re probably doing about 25-30 miles a day with the dogs — which is pretty good because the ice is very rough where we are at the moment – we have to lift the sledge up over lots of broken sea ice. Most of the time when you are crossing it you are jumping off the sledge and pushing it to one side or manhauling it over, so it’s quite a lot of work for us and the dogs.
Sometimes when we’re travelling along you see a sharp piece of ice stick up and one of the dogs will run the wrong side of it and as the sledge moves off it drags the dog backwards which can be quite dangerous so you have to be aware of it and jump off and yank the dog up and unhitch it from under the ice otherwise it will get dragged under the sledge and be injured.
It’s actually pitch black, I’m standing now looking at the starlit sky – it must be about -40 now. I’m outside a little cabin near the Steensby Peninsula. Simon and I turned up there and three caribou hunters have just arrived. So we’re cooking up some caribou stew at the moment. We started the day with a meal of raw Walrus liver and raw Walrus fat which I wasn’t sure I would like – but in actual fact it’s really nice. If you went along to Ben and Jerry’s and asked for a tub of Brazil nut and fish flavoured ice cream you’d be pretty much there. That’s what it tastes like.
We reckon on being in Arctic Bay in about two day’s time, weather permitting. We’re going to cross the Steensby Peninsula and then head up on the sea ice and reach Arctic Bay when we can.
The days’ are usually broken up into hectic routines. We arrived today about 4 o’ clock and we unhitch the dogs – that’s the first thing that we have to do. We can’t look after ourselves – they have to come first. We stop the sledge and the dogs have to be tethered so you have to grab each one – some of the big ones are very strong and then you untie their harnesses that are made of seal skin and then you tether them to the chains. Then as you undo the harnesses you have to turn them inside out to get them ready for the morning because they instantly freeze.
It’s quite touching really because you see their harnesses and the marks of their day’s work – their little body shape – especially the little puppies. They have little tassles and one will have little bells – they all have their own little harnesses. I feel quite sorry for them really because they’re covered in bits of blood where they’ve cut themselves on a bit of ice or bits of hair and fluff and stuff. So it’s quite touching really. But then they go and have their food – which they get very excited about. It’s all chopped up and given to them and then the whole routine starts again in the morning. Once the dogs are fed we go in and have something for ourselves.
So all in all pretty good — I hope to report in at Arctic Bay and I’m going to call in and see Tim Hoyt at the school in Arctic Bay. Hello to all the schools in the UK and hope things are shaping up well.
