Speed has never been my thing. My dream car has always been a Land Rover Defender, short wheel base. No, it’s never going to happen. But it’s still my dream car/truck/whatever. But in Greenland this was my Land Rover. 🙂
It came in several parts, and parts were never a problem. Although, getting all the moving parts to move, at the same time … yeah. Okay. That was a problem.
The gorgeous fella closest to the sledge is Vitus, Named after Vitus Bering, the Danish cartographer who worked for the Russians. That’s another story. But the Vitus in my team was a fantastic dog with a great personality. He did have a darker side though. I have a half-moon reminder of Vitus in the form of a scar on my right forearm. During a moment of excitement before a trip, the dogs had one of their pecking order spats, and I waded into the fray to try and remind them who I thought was boss.
They disagreed.
Vitus disagreed with his teeth.
To be fair to Vitus, he was going for Trip, or Piska – I don’t remember who. I just happened to get in the way.
Vitus bit through the sleeve of my insulated boiler suit, a thick fleece, thick fleece shirt, and a set of thermals.
I felt nothing.
It was -25C that day.
But I can tell you, I felt it after the trip. When back home and peeling out of very cold, very stiff layers, I discovered the blood, and the teeth marks.
Now, I guess the bite might have healed nicely if I hadn’t picked at it, but it was one of those learning moments I didn’t want to forget.
Chris