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Sat May 23 Day 9
Taking “Sled Dog” to New Heights
Yesterday was Friday and it was the clearest, most beautiful day we’ve had here at Skalafell since I’ve been here. There was a 9 person tour at 10am and we decided to run 3 teams. 1 team with 9 dogs, one with 8 and a training sled with 6 dogs. My boss, Klara and her friend came up specifically for this tour so there was a lot of craziness and commotion early in the morning. I was already winded after leading 3 teams out of the start but then I heard my other boss, Siggy, who was on a sled yelling out for me about a kilometer away. I dropped my poop shovel and sprinted over to see what was the matter, thinking that there was a dogfight or something. Completely exhausted when I got there, Siggy handed me one of the dogs, Jaquan, and told me that he was limping and to bring him back. It was a ten minute walk back to the chains and when I got there, I checked Jaquan for injuries and he was completely fine. I’m almost certain he was faking an
injury because he didn’t want to run today. Silly dog. Unfortunately, when the teams came back, there were a couple of injured dogs, most severe being Jake who had six pretty bad puncture wounds. I helped Charlotte fix him up and then Klara took him and Oidis (she’s in heat so she can’t run) back to the farm to be on IR. Isn’t this fun hearing all these disturbing things about dogs?? Anyways, I did my first training run! there was a tour with just two people so Charlotte Hendrick and I took a second team out. It was my first time on an actual tour even though I wasn’t talking to the customers or anything I still learned all the command for the dogs, how to push the sled, and the dog’s body language. There’s so much stuff to remember but I’ll get it soon enough. After that, me and Hendrick decided to go on an adventure. If you remember, we are staying at the bottom of a small ski resort (one chairlift, one T-bar lift). Since it was so clear and it’s one of the last days we’ll be in Skalafell, we wanted to go to the top
of the ski mountain and see what kind of views we could see. Siggi suggested we take a couple of the dogs with us so they could pull us up and down the mountain. I took Rango and Hendrick took Thunder and we attach their harness to a leash and then the leash is connected to a large waistband around our lower backs. We started up the mountain, intending to reach the top with the dogs reluctantly pulling us. They were more interested in sniffing each other than the task at hand. After about an hour, we made it to close to the top of the mountain. It was more like a ridge but we could see the other side so we got the same view. And let me tell you, that view was incredible. There was this enormous valley with a little mountain in the middle that immediately reminded me of the lonely mountain from the Hobbit movies. We could see the west coast of Iceland which was like a 3 hour drive away. I got some good pictures with Rango and Thunder at the top. The way down was the highlight of the adventure and the highlight of
my trip so far. About 5 minutes into our descent, I notice a red pole lying in the snow. My curiosity peaks and I tell Thunder that we need to go check it out. It turns out to be a sign written in Icelandic that’s some kind of warning. Naturally, I take the sign and we continue our descent. A lightbulb goes off in my head and I get a huge grin on my face. I stop Thunder and proceed to sit on the sign I found. I tell Thunder to go and he pulls me down the mountain while I’m sitting on this metal sign. It took about 10 minutes to get down from that point and it was the most fun I’ve ever had sledding. The rest of the night was chill, Siggi brought us some KFC and we ate until we passed out. Today, as I’m writing this, there is a tour out where a proposal is supposed to happen so I’ll let you guys know how that turns out. Cocoa Puffs!
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Mom
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Love this!
Great account of skjorring...I won't put booties on the dogs, but risky could totally pull me on skis, yes? Congrats on your first official trip! Many more to follow I'm sure. Xoxoxo