My Brain is MUSH!

      It's that time of year when everything is down to the wire. It's the busiest time where I work, school is ending so it's time for finals, money is always a little tight w/ the upcoming holidays & traveling. My days have felt like they're over as soon as they began & I am always left w/ a to do list longer than when I started the day. So know I had a weekend entirely free after finals, I put out a plea on Facebook asking if anyone else was free to go spend a day in the woods. I didn't care what we did, I just needed to reconnect w/ nature. To reconnect w/ myself.

     In no time I had an offer I couldn't refuse. Twila, a musher of all Alaskan Malamutes I used to work w/ invited me up to her kennels, Quinault Alakan Malamutes, for a day of mushing. I was elated. It's been a few years since I'd been on the back of a dogsled.

     Twila & one of her helpers, Morgan, had other ideas for me tho. Since I had prior experience mushing they decided to put me on a tag sled (a tag sled is a lightweight sled attached to the back of another sled for added weight & required another experienced driver). I've never driven a tag sled, which can experience a lot of whiplash if not executed properly, but have heard plenty of "horror" stories to know what I was about to get myself into.

     All in all, we did a 36.6 mile trip in just over 4 hours. I didn't take many photos b/c I was mostly holding on for dear life, but I would not trade this day in for anything. I woke early, watched the sun rise over Missoula while listening to Wartime Blues, mushed for a better part of the day, & watched the sun set from the top of a mountain. Just the kind of break I needed.