Sons and Daughters of the Aurora

Aurora 001

The sleds were singing their eternal lament to the creaking of the harnesses and the tinkling bells of the leaders; but the men and dogs were tired and made no sound.

The trail was heavy, and they had come far. Darkness was coming on, but there was no camp to pitch that night

_{“An Odyssey of the North” / Jack London}

_{On the Braeburn Trail / Yukon}

Aurora 002

A daughter of the Snows

_Yukon

Aurora 003

“Each dog has a precise role. The dog can be a lead, swing, team or wheel dog. You want to have a strong dog in the lead for difficult climbs, a speedy dog for the quick dashes. The right individuals get the right jobs. But there are over 87 billion possibilities to find the dog's right position on a tow line.”

_{Frank Turner / Yukon Quest champion / Muktuk Kennels / Yukon}

Raven 004

In true northern spirit!

_{Siwash Kennels}

Aurora 005

The most dangerous of all hazards on the trail was the chance of breaking through a snow bridge or rotten ice and falling into open water. If the water was deep and the current fast, the musher and the dogs were goners.

_{Lost Patrol / Dick North / Milepost 150 / Dempster Highway}

_{In memoriam of Bruce Johnson whom I met in Atlin and who broke through the ice}

Aurora 006

Young and alert - a coming leader

_{Siwash kennels}

Aurora 007

…. Then Malemute Kid, cup in hand, and glanced at the greased paper window, where the frost stood full three inches thick. ”A health to the man on trail this night; may his grub hold out; may his dogs keep their legs; may matches never miss fire!"…..

_{“Man on the trail” / Jack London}

Aurora 008

The veteran

_{Dawson / Yukon}

Aurora 009

Wolf-sable & white

_{Muktuk Kennels / Yukon}

Aurora 010

“No more conversation; the toil of the trail will not permit such extravagance. And of all deadening labours, that of the Northland trail is the worst. Happy the one who can weather a day's travel at the price of silence, and that of a beaten track.”

_{Son of the wolf / Jack London}

Aurora 011

As darkness came on, the hunting cries to right and left and rear drew closer - so close that more than once they sent surges of fear through the dog teams, throwing them into short-lived panics.

_{White Fang / Jack London}

_{Dawson Overland Trail / Yukon}

Aurora 012

Dawson Trail

_Yukon

Aurora 013

Somewhere to the north a wolf howled; lightly, questioningly. I knew the voice for I heard it many times before in my vision. It was the great she-wolf, sounding out the wasteland for an echo from missing members of the family.

_{Never Cry Wolf / Farley Mowat}

_{Takhini River / Yukon}