This is Living
It’s Tuesday morning and I’m back at work. In body I’m sitting behind my desk
by a window overlooking the River Liffey but in spirit I’m still in the Swedish
highlands near Funesdalen.

Aimée and I arrived in Roros in the afternoon on Saturday December 2nd
having flown into Trondheim from Dublin, via Copenhagen the day before.
At the train station we were met by Bergsvein, a great big man with a long beard
reminiscent of some figure from Norse mythology. With him were some people
who had been on the previous week’s tour. Their enthusiasm for what they had
just experienced boded well for the week to come.
Bergsvein took some time out to show us around Roros, an old copper mining
community. It was a world away from the hustle and bustle of home and served
to mentally prepare us for the wonderful world we were about to enter.
After the walk around Roros we headed for Husky Holiday’s temporary base just outside Funesdalen in the Swedish highlands.

On arriving we met our other host, Kim and 50 Huskies!
It was great to go out and meet the dogs for the first time. Each one has a different
personality. Some of them are shy and retiring while others will lick the skin off your
face. All of them have something to make you fall in love with them.
By the end of the week we would become very attached to them.
Our first real task was to help with the giving the dogs their evening feed.
Feeding the dogs was one of the many highlights of the week. This may sound strange
to someone who has never had a holiday like this. How could work be a highlight?
Well for one thing you have 50 very appreciative friends. Seeing the appreciation of
the dogs when you feed them, put on their jackets, give them their straw bedding etc.
is more rewarding than an eternity of office work. This is what work should be like,
the work being the reward in itself rather than the reward being financial and
the work itself being dehumanising.
When our first task was completed we went back to the kitchen and met Alistair
who had just arrived. After the introductions we went over to the wooden lodge
adjacent to our accommodation for dinner.

Over a delicious meal we talked about the plan for the week ahead.
As the week progressed meal time became the focal point for discussing the day’s
activities and planning our next ones. Through the chit-chat we also got to know
our guides, Kim and Bergsvein and the other guest, Alistair.
The first day’s activity began with feeding the dogs and then heading over to the
lodge for a hearty breakfast. There we discussed the plan for the day.
Conditions on the first day of mushing were not ideal. There had not been much
snow and it was quite icy. As a result the dogs all had to wear booties and teams
were restricted to four dogs each. Once you get out on the trail, all the stress
of your other life disappears. There are no thoughts that don’t involve your current
activity. You are one with the dogs and the sled and the beauty of nature around you. There is awe inspiring scenery and the freshest breath that you’ve ever breathed.
Far away from the normal sedentary norm of modern life you realise that this is living.
After the drive we retired to the tepee for lunch and to talk about the day’s outing.
This of course took some time as neither myself, Aimee or Alistair had ever experienced anything remotely like mushing before.

This was shaping up to be the most exciting holiday Aimée and I had ever taken. After feeding the dogs, the discussion continued over dinner at the lodge
and on into the night over a few Irish Whiskeys.
On day two, conditions were better. It had snowed overnight. When we got out on
the trail the previous day’s predominant sound; the scraping of breaks against the ice
was replaced by the sound of the panting dogs from the team behind you.
Up in the mountains it was snowing which made goggles very useful.
The experience was like something from a movie or the Stories of Jack London.
The difference was of course that when you watch a movie or read literature you
can’t feel the snow on your face. There is nothing like the experience of the real thing.
Afterwards we had lunch and relaxed watching the DVD of the 2006 Iditarod.
Over dinner that evening the possibility of a camping trip the following day was discussed. We just had to wait to see what the weather held.

The next morning our hopes were realised.
We were going on an overnight tour! After breakfast we loaded up the sleds with food, firewood, tents and all the other things that we needed to survive for the night. Six dogs per team were required to pull this load. I felt a great rush of adrenaline as I pulled up the anchor and we set of on our expedition. When we arrived at a suitable spot for camping we erected a little village. First we set up the tepee which was to be the centre of our community. Afterwards we had to set up a tent for Alistair and one for Aimée and I. This was a race against time as daylight was fading. Thankfully we won our race against the sun. For our other tasks the headlamps had to go on. We had to get water and boil it to mix in with the dog’s feed. Then Alistair and I intrepidly set out to find some extra firewood. This particular expedition turned out to be a great success much to the delight of the other villagers. After the dogs were fed, their jackets were secured and wood was found and chopped, the revelry began. We ate, drank and chatted the night away. For a while it was snowing heavily and visibility was quite bad but later on it cleared up and the light reflected off the moon so bright that we no longer needed to use our headlamps when we ventured outside. Much later we took our tired selves off to the tents and had a good night’s sleep.

I’ve never felt as cosy as I did in that sleeping bag and despite
having a lie on, getting out of it proved to be a struggle.
In the morning we had some porridge in the tepee and then took some photographs
of the most magnificent sunrise I have ever witnessed. Then to commemorate the
auspicious occasion of Alistair’s birthday, he opened some gifts his family had packed
off with him. Among these were a book on male grooming, an electric shaver and
a mirror. Obviously Alistair’s partner, Honey wanted him home in the same smooth
clean shaven state as he had been when he left. After feeding the dogs we began to
dismantle our little village and pack it away in the sleds. The return journey was
difficult towards the end as conditions nearer to base had deteriorated over night.
After some minor difficulties we all made it back in one piece.
That night Alistair’s birthday celebrations continued. After dinner there was a
delicious cake and some wine. I did a turn as Seanachaí
(Irish story tellers in days of old) by telling the stories of the Salmon
of Knowledge and Lugh of the Golden Arm.

On Thursday morning we set out on what was to be the longest and most
spectacular drive of our trip. Conditions were perfect and we glided along on the
snow with ease. Our journey took us through a forest shrouded in cloud.
The snow covered trees shimmered with silver. The whole scene was like the perfect
Christmas card or a scene from the chronicles of Marina. After leaving the mystical
cloud forest we took the track over the top and looked down upon the dark blanket
that covered the mountain below. It is a rare thing to see so many spectacular sights
in one day and one has to do a double take at times to believe ones eyes.
We stopped beside an emergency cabin to give the dogs a break. They didn’t take
long about telling us they didn’t want one. They couldn’t wait to get going again and
it’s not hard to see that they live for pulling the sleds. We eventually got going and
witnessed even more spectacular scenery. The sun followed us around the mountain
like an interested spectator. No doubt it cursed its luck as we re-entered the cloud forest and it had to strain to peek through. When we returned to base, everyone was
in no doubt that this had been the best drive of all – which was saying something as
they all had been great in their own right.

It was sad taking the dogs off their harnesses and parking them
for the last time. That night at the lodge, in front of a roaring fire, there was wine
and chat about the week’s adventures. I wrote a weekly update for the Husky
Holiday website but when Bergsvein tried to send it to Robert, the webmaster,
it was tragically lost. (This article is by way of replacement).
The next morning we got up at 7am as usual a fed the dogs one last time.
Afterwards we went around and said goodbye to them all. The only low point of
the trip was having to say goodbye to the dogs knowing that you would not be taking
them out this day or the next or the next. It was snowing quite a bit and the whole
place looked beautiful. The song “Winter Wonderland” sprang to mind.
I took over 50 photographs of the dogs and the area. Then it was time to pack up.
We said goodbye to Kim. Bergsvein drove Alistair, Aimée and I to the train station in Roros. We then said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Aimée and I left our bags in a locker at the train station and had another look around the lovely town of Roros. At 1535 our train left from Trondheim. On the way back the amount of snow decreased until we got further away from our winter wonderland until it had completely vanished. That night we sat in our hotel room and talked for hours about the most amazing week of our lives.

Its evening now as I finish this article. I haven’t stopped thinking about our
experiences last week. I know that right now, someone else is feeding the dogs.
I wish we were there now, carrying the bowls around, getting some of the food
on our hands instead of sitting hunched over a computer in an office with bad
airconditioning. Aimée and I are determined to go back some day
and relive our adventure.

Many thanks to Bergsvein and Kim for not just being our guides but also for being
our friends. Lastly thanks to the real stars of the show…The Huskies!

Mark, Drogheda, Ireland.