Caribou at Sushana

Our latest trip, a three day trip to the Sushana River cabin with Jonah and Joan from Chicago, finished up yesterday (March 9). Although our guests were brand-new to sledding, they had an excellent first day driving their own teams, with only a lost sled at the very end. As mentioned before, conditions here have been very tough for sledding, very low snow, oscillating temperatures, very bumpy on the trail. We had a fast run to Moose Alley on the other side of the Teklanika River, about 14 miles out, and while stopped for a break I discovered three sheared bolts on two sleds. After an hour for repairs, we were up and running. Although cloudy, the temps were mild. During the last three miles to the cabin we came across a large portion of the Denali Caribou Herd, in a few groups, a few hundred animals. Very exciting for the dogs!

The last run to the cabin is down the infamous Sushana Steps, and it is only at the end when dropping onto the river that one guest lost a team. Surprising...not that a team was lost, but that both mushers weren't knocked off! Around the corner from the cabin is another private cabin owned by Steve and Heidi Carwile, park people living in Anchorage. They come up every spring break with their two boys Teddy and Nick, and do cool cabin things. This year they are up with about 8 or so other friends, working on building a larger cabin. They stopped by with a gaggle of kids, visited with the dogs, and invited us over to the cabin to help set the record for number of people inside that small structure at one time. Like a phone booth or VW Bug...

We got a few inches of new snow with winds beginning that night, and that made not only the trail a bit smoother, but gave the landscape more of the traditional winter look. After more caribou chasing on the Sushana Flats, we had a quick run back to the lodge. An excellent trip.

Shirley and Ally come tomorrow for a training day, and then it's off for six days into the park, doing the Toklat Loop route. I'll write again after that.