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  Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Friday, November 20, 2009

Dear Reader!!

And so we make a start!

There are a few things that I need to say before we proceed, a few items that I want to place in context . Firstly, Jeff, Colette and I did not entitle this blog, " Tims Great Adventure"  It seems that the title is part f the blog template.

I need to state categorically for the record, that this trip, whilst an adbventure of sorts for us, is not infact a Great Adventure to rank with Amundssen, Shackleton or Nansen,….No!....this is really a jolly for us, one of a series of escapisms designed to ease the reality of mid life insecurity.

It is probable that if I was not losing my hair and if I did not need to use reading glasses, then we wouldn't be on this trip at all, ( but I would rather keep that to ourselves)

I want it known that Jeff, ( Captain Sneaky) and I both consider ourselves most potent despite various bodily issues and that this trip is not about proving we are still 21. Having said that we wouldn’t have come without the long suffering Colette because she looks after us and curbs our occasional excesses.

Next, I do find this whole blog thing a trifle indulgent and it takes me a while to actually sit down, reconcile myself to it being OK and then getting on with it!! I do feel that you, Dear Reader are out there in reality, busying your self with omportant tasks, when you get a junk mail telling you that we have sat around indolent and written  some self important blurb that we feel you would be excited to read.

This in turn of course creates a responsibility for us, (albeit of our own making) and an aspiration in you, that we here may not reach…..it is all so stressful and up here in the Yukon there is not a single therapist  to be found.

Lastly, and probably the only meaningful thing that needs saying, is that Jeff, Colette and I are a real team. Sneaky and I have been friends since our teens, (I we had hair and teeth and everything!) And the Long Suffering Colette and I have been together for 12 yrs. We have undertaken a number of these “ engaging trips” over the last few years including Dogsledding across Sweden and sailing across the Atlantic. It is honestly the pleasure of being together in an almost altered reality that yields the best and longest lasting memories. There are a few that are hairraising but most are very sustaining and warm and it is for that feeling that I in part put these trips together.

Enough then of the  self effacing pretensions of Tim Walsh and his loved ones…..enter stage left…….The Tundra Kid, The Yukons Choice!!!!

So we flew from Heathrow to Vancouver then stayed the night and few on nxt day to White Horse the capital of the Yukon Territories. We brought a little over 40kgs per head including arctis sleeping bags and clothing, lots of hats and gloves because the frozen breath clogs them  and sweat freezes them and you can find yourself hyperthermic after a stop because suddenly sweat has frozen I your clothing. It is a little serious to be up here and we take it so, you have to have enough and the right kit!

We are to sled with Hans Gatt, who is one of the worlds best long distance sled drivers, he is famous in his arena and has won the Yukon Quest 3 times, he lives outside of Whitehorse, He has a kennel of endurance racing huskies and spends his year training them ready for the racing season which is Feb through March.  

I know him because he made me an adapted sled that we call the  Hands Gatt Special, ( Folly might be a better handle )

WE took 2 weeks but are only sledding for a little over 1 week, Snow and weather dictate out here and to have arrived with a tight schedule would have been foolhardy, so we took the 2 weks for a 1 week window. Hence we had time on our hands.

How did we use it you ask? Well first day we sat around wondering why we coulnt sleep, Susie, Hans girlfriend met us at the airport and we spent the afternoon wirth her organizing a hotel etc. we met Hans next day to look at the sleds and to introduce Jeff but we then drove up to Dawson  City.  Dawson is 550km North of Whitehorse and also the end of the road, there after it is down to wilderness proper.

WE have hired a big Dodge Raqm truck in postbox red!! I just couldn’t help myself, a bit Dukes of Hazzard I suppose. The Road is simply one long 550km trck with 2 lanes, same as a standard UK town road…except for the snow and ice. We were told that the trip would take 5 or 6 hrs but it took us 9 and of course we ran out of daylight..indeed we ran out of something else as well. We ran out of raod!!, well off of road to be exact. It was a little traumatic at the time…..

We were driving at about 70km per hr on a straight and slightly uphill stretch it was icy and snowy but no different than it had been for hrs, we were just South of Carmacks….The truck kind of gently took itself off on a little venture..it gracefully swept across the rd to the left. I have done a fair bit of off roading so I took my foot off the peddle and steered into the skid, but the steering wheel mayt as well not have existed we pirouetted across said road at 70km per hr and completed a 90 degree turn, still on the road. Next of course we kissed the other side where the snow plough leaves it pile and the whole thing got a bit serious. We flew right round, shot through the snow bank and careered backwards down a steep embankment throwing snow high into the air and completely obscuring and covering the truck.

I let go of the steering wheel and held on for life,,,Jeff said some very bad words, Colette  joined him in the most blue and unrepeatable language and I am told I screamed!! Anyway the truck came to rest and did not turn over.  We took stock we were all OK and the truck seemed stationary. I tried the gears and they worked, I backed the truck out of its drift and after 2 attempts was able to reach the road again The wheels were skidding everywhere and we were in low ratio with the engine screeching to keep us moving fast enough to plough through the roadside heap, but we got there..

In recalling it, it seems not so big a deal, but at the time we all felt it was “curtains”  We proceeded at a slower pace and stopped at Carmacks, about 20 mins up the road and had a cup of tea and a chat. We considered returning to Whitehorse . but in the end decided  to carry on.  The remainder of the drive, about 350kms was a little tense, and when we looked at where our event had happened and compared the terrain to almost any other part of the road, we shuddered to think of the consequences . ny way. All’s well that ends well. The rest of the journey went OK but the last hours were in the dark and minus 29c.

We arrived just in time to catch a store open and were directed to the DownTown Hotel. During the winter the town really shuts down and so it was like entering a ghost town, when we stepped into the hotel we were stared at and asked where we came from. When we answered , the first question was, Why?. The next was, How?

It was a friendly hotel and we had coffee and went to bed!!

Next day we drove around the 2 blocks that comprise the retail area but most of it was closed for the winter. As we were driving a guy flagged us down and we  were told that we had a flat tyre, so we were again directed to the truck depot. The people in Dawson took the situation most seriously, I think because a breakdown out there can spell disaster, it was comforting but sobering at the same time.

We visited a few shops and also visited a local lady that Colette found in the newspaper, she hand crafts fur and leather garments for winter wear. That was a great half hour, Jeff and I fell in love with a fur seal, well it’s skin to be exact. The colour and texture were exquisite and it is waterproof. I took her card and time will tell!!

Next morning we set off back to Whitehorse. The weather was OK we met a guy out walking in the middle of no where at 8am, wee stopped to see if all was well. He said, Hell!! On such a great morning I’m just out for a stroll!! It was minus 20c and 30kms from the town.  It takes all kinds to make this world!!

WE arrived back to Whitehorse safely last night, but we were tired. I got up this morning and wrote this blog, whilst I was snoring Jeff had uploaded pictures and he we are….Up to Date.

The plan today is to go up to Hans’s this afternoon, load up the sleds and have a final pow-wow about tomorrows plan.   I think we are  sledding around his area for the moprning whilst he assesses us and we him.  We three have covered nearly 2000  miles by dog sled, but all has been with one guide and with tourist Siberian Huskies. Hans Gatt is an endurance racer and his dogs are sought after worldwide. They live to run and are expected to cover 1000 miles in 9 days…..We are keen to understand what we have let ourselves in for as much as Hans is keen to know what these British Nutters are all about, so a few circuits of 5 miles around his locale is a good way of understanding each other.

This is what we came for and so we are looking forward to it, but with a degree of trepidation amidst the excitement.

But that’s what its all about….isn’t it?    The Tundra Kid XX

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