A big pule of mush

(Ed. note: This is the last "catching up" post. From here on out they're all recent events. Oh and if you want to see what the town looks like, this is the view from the News-Miner's south newsroom window. The ugly yellow and green building is The Big I and the street is Cushman St. You're pretty much looking at downtown from its northernmost point.

Oh, and thanks to Rod and Julie for all the photos and the great time, as follows:)

OK, OK. I’d been getting by on TV, bars and sports. It seemed that I was going to head into winter without doing anything truly Alaskan. Thankfully, Julie and assistant managing editor Rod, her husband, changed that.
Last week, they took me dog-mushing.

Actually, it was quasi-mushing. There’s not much snow here yet. The first flurries fell in the higher hills around town recently. So no snow, thus no sled. Instead, a four-wheeler. Simple change, right? Well ...

The first thing I needed to do was get into some warmer clothes. Rod loaned me a thick coverall, a pair of boots the size of my thighs and an extra fleece pullover. I looked about 30 pounds overweight, which suited me just fine because that meant freezing was out of the question.





After getting the dogs in their harnesses, Julie and I headed off for a 2-mile run.

The ride to the top of the hill was exhilarating. Through the trees I could see Mt. McKinley and all kinds of wildlife. Ravens flew overhead, teasing the dogs. It was also my first taste of altitude since leaving the Rockies.

The dogs are awesome. They were more obedient and smarter than I’d ever known canines to be. I’m used to the dumb-as-dirt, "chew on everything and chase cars" kind of pup. But these dogs knew what they were doing better than I did. They knew to keep the line tight, so whatever speed the four-wheeler went, they went as well.

And to clear up a misconception I had: You don’t need whips in dog-mushing. A simple "Gi!" for a left turn and "Ha!" for a right turn will suffice.

Then on the ride down, it was my turn to drive.

I’ve never driven a manual before, but I know the principle, so I wasn’t too worried. The thing is, I was averaging about ten questions a minute amid my excitement.

Adding to the communication difficulties was the fact that when my face gets really cold, I need to start forming words with my mouth about 2 seconds before I say them. It’s the only way I can enunciate properly, and even then, it’s hit-or-miss.

So when I asked, "Is this the clutch?" Julie, probably about five questions behind, said, "Uh, yeah."

Anyone with 10 ounces of common sense would have known that they were hitting the brake instead of the clutch. So it wasn’t Julie’s fault I was nearly flinging her off the ATV every time I stalled. The many ditches, tree roots and stumps I drove into weren’t her fault either.

We made it down alive, though I’m sure Julie’s back was somewhat worse for the wear. It was a hell of a good time, no matter my glowing shade of green.