11 April 2012 The Unexpected Day

This morning was like any other that we have had so far. I get up and check my “Ask the Team” box for student questions and comments. I have some breakfast after a short while, usually Grape-Nuts with raisins and a banana and milk, followed by a cup of orange juice. Elizabeth and I then talk about what the routine will be for the day and then we finish up any tasks that need to be completed. That is when we get dressed to go out to the field. When we have everything together we head out to the snowmobile, jump on and take off.

As we were heading out to the field we came to the section where we leave the dog trail and get out onto the Stampede trail road. The difference this morning was that a snowplow had come down part of the road and moved the snow to the side. When we reached the edge of the road there was a three to four foot high ledge of snow before you dropped down to the trail. It looked pretty high so we stopped before going down just to make sure it was safe. We decided that we would back up a bit and either know some of the ledge down or find a better place to go over. That was fine, but in the process of turning around we strayed off of the packed trail and slipped onto the snow that has been piled up around the spruce and willows that line the trail. That is where we made our mistake!

The snow does look any deeper off to the side, but the plants catch the snow all winter and cause it to drift pretty high in spots. On top of that the warm weather we have been having has softened the snow that has not been packed along the sides of the dog sleds and snowmobile trail. We got off the packed trail just a bit, but it was enough to drop the snowmobile about three feet into the soft drift. It still had another foot or more of snow underneath it and we were now resting on a slop that kept pushing the vehicle back into the drift. We tried and we dug and we tried again for the better part of a half hour before we decided that the jeep could pull it out a lot faster that we were going to dig it out.

So we packed up our things, put the shovels behind the snow machine and started walking. We drove the jeep back to the site and hooked a strap to the snowmobile. It came out pretty easy at the point, but I was really glad to get it out of the snow.