Alone Across the Arctic by Pam Flowers

Author:Pam Flowers
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941821640
Publisher: West Margin Press
Published: 2001-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Clearly, the dogs were unhappy about the heavy sled loads. I was feeling pretty lousy, too, having picked up another dose of cold germs in Tuk. But in my typical fashion, I was determined to push on. Most of the weight came from food, so I figured morale would improve in a few days as we ate up our rations and my cold got better.

As it turned out, I was wrong.

MARCH 28, 1993 -24°F 20 M.P.H. SE 21 MILES

Robert and Anna ran lead today for a while so Douggie could have a break. Robert did okay, but Anna did even better. She’s emerging as a new lead dog.

For some reason, around noon the dogs began to really mess up. If I called “gee,” they wouldn’t make a slight turn to the right; instead, they’d make a sharp 90-degree turn. If I called “haw” to try to correct them back on course, they would turn 180 degrees and head straight left. After a couple hours of this, I was frustrated and angry.

The more they screwed up, the madder I got. The madder I got, the more they screwed up. By midafternoon, we’d come 19.4 “crow” miles. The wind was picking up speed and the dogs kept looking toward the south. I knew they were hearing the sound of the storm rushing across the ice toward us. A sudden gust hit us broadside, stinging our faces with blowing snow.

The dogs had had enough and went on strike. They just simply stopped pulling and curled up for a nap.

I saw flaming red and jammed the hook into the snow. My first thought was to storm up there and yank every one of them up by the scruffs of their furry necks. But before I was even past the sled, I knew it would be pointless. They were tired, bummed out, and a storm was coming.

When a team goes on strike, it’s time for the driver to take a cold, hard look in the mirror.

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