by tilstede2 » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:42 pm
LAST part of the article:
Until the race starts, Sigrid will be busy with small races, and not least – packing fooddrops. – Both me and the dogs needs food. There is a lot of preparations needed. The dogs will have extra need of food when they run the Iditarod.
Last winther Sigrid lived with Inuits (note: original text “eskimo”) in Kotzebue, which is located in the northwestern coast of Alaska. Hosted by the Iditarod-veteran Louis Nelson and his wife (Lulu) she learned the Inuit way of living.
- They live a self-sustaining life and hunts wild animals for food, and exploits the hud. I learned a lot from living with them for three months.
The Kotzebue society is small and isolated, and during winther the temperature often sinks to – 50 celcius. The Inuits connection to the dogs is more a working relation than seeing them as pet animals.
It was Louis’wofe who made me my hat. It is fantastic, she says. Recently Sigrid got Bergans as a sponsor. In addition to economical support, they provide her equipment.
- It is fantastic to have a sponsor. I don’t need mush to stay alive, but I need a lot of money for the dog’s food and gas for the car. But her Inuit hat stays on her head.
Back home to Norway
In October Sigrid’s visa for the USA expires. Then she is forced to go back home.
- To leave Alaska will be both bad and nice. I love my life here. But at the same time I miss my family and friends in Norway, she says.
It is uncertain if she will return to the district where she was born and raised. – Maybe I’ll settle in the Roros-area (Femundlopet district) or in Northern Norway. But it is out of the question to live in a city. I am bringing the dogs, so it has to be a place where I can find room for them.
Sigrid will definitely continue mushing. – It would have been fun to try the Finnmarkslopet.
March 28 Sigrid will participate in the expedition Ellesmere Island in Canada, where the 6 participants will witness the climate change.
During 69 days they will do cross country skiing and mush the 2.200 kilometres across Ellesmere Island in Canada – the northernmost area of the American continent.
- It is an exciting expedition. I hope to contribute to motivate young people to use the nature and discover the important values we get from it.
A new day dawns in Alaska. The trees are covered in snow. Still the light is weak, but the sun is rising. It creates red-orange stripes on the thin clouds I the sky. Sigrid connects the dogs to the tow line. She sets of with the dogs. During the morning hours she travels along the first part of the Iditarod Trail. Sigrid and her team pass several others teams. Excitement fills the air. Soon they may be competitors.
To ease the leader Islay, Sigrid tests a new dog in lead. The dogs do some rank fighting. In a calm, but very strict voice, Sigrid shouts to them. They straighten up. She mushes over a icelayed lake, surrounded by majestetic mountains, before she disappears into the deep forest.