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Date/Time: 03/28/2024 03:56PM
Title: Trip Report - Winter trip: Gold Team/Brown Team
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Previous Messages:
Author Message Text
campnscrap 01/22/2010 09:36PM
Great report-photos would be awesome. A winter trip is on my "someday" list. :)
lars54 01/21/2010 05:57PM
sign me up for a trip
brossa 01/21/2010 11:20PM
After dinner with Amy and Sue that last night we learned more about the Gang of Four. Despite having received the same orientation information as the rest of us, and despite the fact that the trip was rated as 'advanced', they seemed to have very different expectations than the rest of us; they didn't know how much work was expected from the clients. Alan reportedly never got off the sled to push or even just to walk so as to lighten the load for the dogs. The thought that someone could stand on a sled over those portages to Kek and Fraser while others worked to push that same sled boggles my mind. I think that I mentioned that they were also uneasy around the dogs unless they were chained up. Team Brown was unable to leave any campsite earlier than 11 AM because of the slowness of the Gang and their minimal participation in camp chores. It's also possible that they just didn't want to have to take a turn at breaking trail. The Gang also apparently had 'problematic' senses of humor. All in all I think that it's good that we didn't see them at all after leaving them behind halfway through the last travel day.


Tom and Sam apparently handled themselves as well as could be expected given the circumstances; they, along with Amy and Sue, must have had the patience of saints.
Ho Ho 01/21/2010 08:35PM
It's a very interesting tale. I'm just glad I was not on that OTHER team.
Exo 01/24/2010 01:08PM
Your photos are awesome. Looks like a lot of fun and some personal feats to accomplish. I really wonder if the Gang of Four expected something else despite the initial briefing? Perhaps a nice cozy basecamp tent that was 70+ inside and a roaring bonfire each evening?
brossa 01/24/2010 12:54PM
I went back and added some photos to the trip report, in chronological order.
brossa 01/24/2010 02:18PM
Yeah, I think that they expected something very different from what they got. I know that they didn't expect to ski because they said as much; I suspect that they thought that dogsledding involved stepping onto the sled at point A and stepping off at point B, like sitting in the back of a taxi. I also think that they expected that the guides would do all of the camp work for them, like they were Great White Hunters on safari somewhere. It's tough to put your best face forward when you're tired and sick, too. I think that having three brothers and a father in our group helped with that; for the most part the brothers motivated each other with constant loving abuse and criticism :)


I haven't been back to the BWCA for dogsledding since then. Not because the experience was a bad one, but because I think that after that trip a 'normal' experience up there feel like a letdown. I am saving up for a more challenging Canadian wilderness dogsledding trip, however.
ducks 01/24/2010 03:17PM
Great report and pictures. Thanks for sharing. Despite the clowns it sounds and looks like a great time.
brossa 01/17/2010 10:35PM
New Trip Report posted by brossa

Trip Name: Winter trip: Gold Team/Brown Team.

Entry Point: 25

Click Here to View Trip Report
Exo 01/18/2010 11:05AM
Great report. The -37 the first night must have been something. Do you have photos posted somewhere? I'd/we'd love to see them. What part of winter was the trip?
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