Wk 01 4.3.2.1...
Location: 47º8'N 90º3'W
Expedition Basecamp, Minnesota, United States
Weather Conditions: Windy and sunshine, -1° F (-18°C)
..."Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiii Yiiiiiipppiiiiiiiiiiii!!" - Accompanied by seventy-some wound-up students Mille do the count down bursting into an ear piercing thrill that cuts the air...Paul kicks off the sled, the Polar Huskies set out in a lope, Aaron runs down the trail to guide them ahead. Everyone claps and yips watching the sled with students onboard roaring out onto the football field. It's at Eden Lake Elementary school in Minnesota with TV anchor Kim Insley from NBC KARE 11 Sunrise, and we are kicking off GoNorth! Fennoscandia 2008. Not many days from now, it is time for an expedition to take off!
"Yes, the mighty Polar Huskies and us team members are about ready and more than excited to soon depart" says expedition leader Paul Pregont, "and we hope all you students and teachers out there are too!"
On today's date, students and teacher from 3336 schools in more than 25 countries on six continents worldwide are signed up to be part of the team for GoNorth! Fennoscandia 2008." From Australia to Brazil to China to Saudi Arabia to Sweden to Canada to Korea to Pakistan and all across the 50 US states Team GoNorth! spans borders and cultures throughout the world! "It's mind-blowing" says expedition team member Mille Porsild, "It makes for an incredible experience for us team members out on the trail - we know we are never alone." Expedition team member Aaron Doering goes on, "it is such an incredible community! I really hope everyone posts to the Collaboration Zones so we can learn from each other and really have a blast with the fact that we are all learning together as we set out on a great adventure" - "And send us lots of send-a-note's too" says Mille with a grin.
According to Education Basecamp Manager Tiffany Simonsen the last two schools to sign up are from Sweden and Finland - two of the three countries where the adventure learning expedition is heading. GoNorth! Fennoscandia 2008 will take us to Fennoscandia in Arctic Sweden, Norway and Finland.
(left) Polar Huskies run the walls at Eden Lake Elementary - Share what is happening at your school in 01: Explore Zone!
Though the journey will crisscross the borders of three nations, the Polar Huskies will pull the sled through one region known as "Sápmi". An area the size of Montana or twice the size of the Netherlands (approximately 150,000 square miles), this is the land of the Native Sámi people whose ancestors first came here as explorers some 11,000 years ago! Today, the Sámi are known as the last nomadic herders in Europe and they still migrate with their reindeer from the coast of the ocean across the mountains and into the old-growth forest following the seasons. That said, they also live in houses in large cities and where we are heading this year, is the most developed region in the Arctic with lots of highways, bridges, and railroads for the Polar Huskies to navigate.
"Freja and Disko are up for the challenge" says Paul. And should these two main lead dogs want a day off we are sure either Tucker or the latest Polar Husky to show brilliance as a lead dog, Lightning, will roar to take over the lead. Along with the Polar Huskies, Paul and Mille will travel the expedition for the entire route of 1000 miles. Mille is actually born in Fennoscandia, because technically, Denmark is the most southern part of what is considered Fennoscandia - and while going to school she was taught both the Swedish and Norwegian language. "I never use it much and also don't hear or read it now that I live in the US, so I expect it to be very rusty" says Mille "but I am sure we will be able to manage, given that many people there speak great English too." Finnish is a very different language - just like the Sámi language is again a unique language. Since neither Paul nor Mille speak any Finnish, Finnish Native Mikko Limminpää will travel as part of the team while dogsledding in Finland.
Towards the end of the expedition, Aaron will join the team for two weeks on the trail along with Teacher Explorer Wendy Gorton, a 4th grade teacher from Los Angeles, CA! "I am absolutely ecstatic to be this year's GoNorth! Teacher Explorer so I can bring science and social studies to life for students through adventure learning! The resounding response from my students was the excitement that they would be vicariously on that dogsled with me, gathering data, researching real-world issues, and collaborating with scientists and explorers. I can't wait to embark on this journey!"
But there are still a few more items to be checked off the many lists, before the Polar Huskies, gear, food and sleds are loaded into the belly of the aircraft taking everything to Stockholm, Sweden. For one, one of the expedition sleds needs to be fixed. Yes, you got that right, one of the two expedition sleds are as we write separated into pieces.
Even though the planning for this expedition began years ago, and the entire team has worked tirelessly since what seems like just days after we returned from last years adventure learning expedition in Chukotka it all comes down to the wire as we approach departure. A dogsled expedition is always an undertaking. A dogsled expedition on a different continent is a steep challenge - "and an adventure learning expedition by dogsled is in a category by itself!" says Mille while pouring over the last details to make the program go LIVE Monday morning at 10 AM CST.
Team work is what the GoNorth! expeditions are all about. It involves the skills and dedication of all members of Team GoNorth! And team members are by no means just the people on the trail. As a group, we need to trust one another to do a good job and complete tasks efficiently. Each of us is responsible for one part of the whole. Separately, we cannot accomplish what needs to be done. Together, we have been able to develop curriculum, feed the Polar Huskies, build sleds, visit schools, work with teachers, produce movies, work with sponsors, write grants, format the curriculum, acquire and test new equipment, manage the web site, fix old equipment, keep up with accounting, attend trade shows, train the Polar Huskies... (Get the picture?).
Make sure to join the expedition team members in this years first chat on Wednesday, February 13th at 10 AM to talk about Arctic Exploration!
So, in all of this of-course the two 12-foot sleds being used on the expedition were set to go long time ago. However, less than two weeks ago on one cold morning when the temperature barely hovered above minus 25 below, at the end of a training run one of the sleds slowly slid into a tree as the team was coming to a stop. The one sled runner simply cracked in half! This is unheard of, and in many ways we are lucky it happened now rather than later once we are on the expedition trail.
Also lucky, to help out with the last bits and pieces one of GoNorth!s Cool Scientists, Cody Strathe traveled down from where he lives in Alaska to join the team at Expedition Basecamp. Thus there was an extra pair of skilled hands to help in this last-minute-jam, so we will have two sleds going on the expedition after all!
But, it is with the greatest possible disappointment we have to report that not all of the Polar Huskies that were planned to take part in this expedition will be going. Of course the rowdy pups born last summer will not be going, and neither will the latest great Polar Husky pup Chitwa, nor the retired Polar Husky veterans Aksel, Timber or Peto. This leaves 19 mighty Polar Huskies to go. To enter into Sweden, Norway or Finland each Polar Husky needs their own passport which proves that they have their vaccination shots, are micro-chipped and have passed a vigorous 6-month rabies testing regime. The testing is because rabies has not been found in any of these countries for many years, and the authorities here have therefore implemented strict rules to make sure it remains that way. "Not many years ago, it was simply not an option to bring dogs or any other animals into these Scandinavian countries" explains Mille.
Paul goes on "We started the process in early August of 2007. First blood was drawn from all the dogs, then they were given a rabies shot and a microchip was injected into each Polar Husky for identification. Months later, the Polar Huskies returned for another blood test which was then sent to a laboratory in Kansas, US to be tested for rabies antibodies. This week we then returned to the vet for a final check of the micro-chips and to get the paper work for each Polar Husky. This I then send to the United Stated Veterinarian for final approval here in Minnesota. But we had some bad news" says Paul, "Domino, Ginger and Xena did not pass the test to the level that is demanded by the authorities in Sweden." There is nothing we can do about it. It is very unusual that it happens, but it has apparently been seen before in very large dogs on rare occasions. Guess we are just very unfortunate that this is the case for not just one, but three of the Polar Huskies.
When we were at Eden Lake Elementary this week kicking off GoNorth! Fennoscandia 2008 it was Ginger that many of the students were hoping would be there for them to meet! That is probably because this weeks first Polar Husky Superstar, Ginger is such a sweet and kind Polar Husky. Ginger can be very playful and gets all fired up if she thinks there is something moving in the woods, but Ginger is more than anything gentle and always ready for some loving.
That is pretty much entirely opposite of Domino who is this weeks second Polar Husky Superstar. Domino is a sweet guy - but Domino is all power. And Domino is wild. From Domino was just a tiny puppy he has shown very strong mind that wants to go, go fast and go full strength. Though he is a large dog, he is extremely athletic like his mother Nazca and he will often be the one launching his frame into the air to get the sled moving.
Domino's sister, Xena, is this weeks third Polar Husky Superstar. Xena is the smallest dog in the kennel and is the mother of the 8-puppy-strong new Polar Husky crew born last June. Not that you can tell. Xena is as crazed with energy as ever. Flying jumping across the backs of her running partners, always banging in her harness to go, there is no slowing Xena down and no end to her love of the trail.
Needless to say we sorely regret that these three Superstars will not be coming with us to Fennoscandia. We will surely miss sweet Ginger, the launching power of Domino and the high octane craze of Xena, but their spirits will be with us all the way and we will hear their howls with the rest of the gang.
Speaking of howls, don't miss Beacons first howling report from the dog yard this upcoming Thursday in the Beacon Blog.
