Well, because I enjoyed the summer OB course so much, I decided that I wanted to do a winter course as well. So, summer 1998, when I did the summer course, until Nov. of 1999, I saved up enough money to take the Northern Ontario Winter Experience OB course(Thunder Bay, Dec.26th-Jan 2nd). It was, again, amazing. I learned how to dog-mush, pack for ski expediting, make a winter fire, sleep with nothing but a tarp over my head and 2 sleeping bags, keep warm when its frickin' cold(which it was), and so much more!! I really enjoyed myself. The best part was that there were only 6 of us on the trip as opposed to the 11 I had during the summer. This allowed for our group to get to know eachother much better. Our instructors, Ian and Lisa, were fantastic. Anyways, check out the pics below, from yet another OB adventure. Cheers!
Packing for a squirrel lunch(a lunch that we ate on the go, which consisted of things to just nibble on, hence "squirrel"
One of the dogs that we learned to take care of and mush with. This guy, Boomer looked like a big 'ol mean guy, but he was such a suck, as were most of them. They sure worked hard though when we mushed them.
Cody and I
Packing up camp on the first day
Kim, left, Jessica, right
I did have tea, but it froze when I left it for 20 minutes
Darn that green pulk. It kept tipping over when we were pulling it along the trail
The tarp we slept under each and every night. NO TENTS!
My first dog-mush of the trip. We mushed across a lake, and boy was it beautiful.
My second day of dog-mushing. It wasn't as beautiful, but it was still fun. It was also alot of work(lots of hills and deep snow).
We had a one night solo. It was a little freaky, but cool. The next pic is from my solo as well. We spent the night all alone.
Me on solo(in case you're wondering how I took a pic of myself when I'm on my solo, my camera has a timer)
The day after solo, we ate a hearty breakfast and started heading home. It was going to take us a couple of days, but we were heading in the direction of home.
Skiing back across the lake we mushed earlier in the week(the trip was 8 days by the way).
skiing back across the lake(same day as pic above)
Getting very close to home!!The dogs were very tired at this point, plus they knew they were getting close.
Student sled team(the other was the instructor and one student team 'cause the Inst. team's dopgs are a bit wilder, but still cute:)
Bridget and Brett mushing the student team
Back at home! But still another night to go before we actually leave the OB Homeplace, so here's me trying to make and ice hole.
Ian(instrcutor)with our chunk of ice we chipped out of Black Sturgeon Lake!! It was a foot thick!
Ah, New Year's in -25 degress Celcius. Well, what we did is we pulled out the wall tent which could be heated up by a portable wood stove, and we celebrated with party favours, sparklers, firecrackers(not in the tent of course), cheese, fake wine, chocolate cake, etc. We had a blast. We celebrated at 9:35pm and went to bed. It had been a long day.
Jess and I being silly, pretending to ride the sled when it wasn't moving. The last morning, we were left alone by the instructor's to get back to Homeplace with the dogs. It was to test our skills(travelling there was less than a km)
Could it be???? A COUcH!! We're officially back at Homeplace. Time to clean up though.
The last night we got to sleep in a heated building, had a sauna and cleaned up our stuff. Tomorrow we go home :( So, all the girls had a slumber party on the couches.
Just before we arrived in Thunder Bay for the trip, puppies were born. We got to visit on the last morning.
Tuk and I. He was my favourite dog.
Time to go home. A group pic. T:Ian, Lisa, Kim; M:Bridget, Jess, and I; B: Mark and Brett
Hope you enjoyed. 'later
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