Page 42 - K9 News Digital - Issue 11 May2020

Mike John

course our Malamutes loved the weather, but Kicki
is also not made to handle cold weather, so when
he saw our Malamutes, especially our woolly male
(Hugo), he immediately decided he needed to get
himself one of those.
He followed Hugo everywhere and when Hugo lay
down, he was on him, diving into his furry coat. Hugo
was immediately taken by this furry little critter, where
Kicki went Hugo followed. As the men were fishing,
the mallies would walk with them to the edge of the
waves as they cast their bait, so along went Kicki.
Each time a wave breaks the Malamutes would run
a few steps back and then play in the shallow water,
so with Kicki not being far behind, he ended up in the
waves and soaking wet, more often than not. Every
ten minutes or so Kicki would run to his “mum” and
she’d dry him off hoping he’d had enough but Hugo
would come by and off goes the two.
There even came a time when Hugo kept trying
to pick Kicki up, whether he wanted him away from Mt. McKinley
the water we wouldn’t know, but he was so gentle
he would grab Kicki, slightly pick him up, and then
realize that he’ll have to squeeze too hard to lift him CANINE CLIMBERS CONQUER MCKINLEY
and then he would just release him. In the Spring of 1979, shortly after their 9th and
This continued for the better part of the day. 10th place finishes in the Iditarod, Joe Redington Snr
Needless to say that evening neither Hugo nor Kicki and Susan Butcher, with 7 dogs in 2 teams of 3 and
made it past 7pm, they had their bath, ate and they 4, photographer Robert Stapleton and part of the way
were knocked out till the next morning. accompanied by expedition guide Ray Genet (who
sadly died later in the year after reaching the top of
We will be going to the coast for the December
Everest) relayed 800 lbs of dog food and 800 lbs of
holidays again with our friends, Kicki’s parents, so
people food from the foot to the top of Mt McKinley.
Hugo and Kicki will be able to play for an entire
holiday and hopefully we’ll have some more precious Contrary to scientific predictions that dogs couldn’t
photo opportunities. complete the ascent, they travelled upwards faster
than a climber could.
(From Thia & Romé Mostert, Windhoek, Namibia.)
At 14,000 ft, gear had been left at various camps.
Breathing became difficult and the humans in the
party felt they had too much power with 7 dogs, so
the three strongest were left staked out, to be cared
for by a woman suffering from altitude sickness,
whose own party had gone on up.
Wind proved to be the worst problem. Just 3000 ft
from the summit, they were holed up in their tent for
3 days while the wind blew with 60-knot force. One
dog was thought to be scared of heights, and got so
nervous he chewed on his harness the whole time.
It was a gloriously clear day when they reached the
summit, with no wind, only minus 8 degrees, and the
whole of the Alaska range spread out before them.
Meanwhile, the three dogs left at 14,000 ft were
busy making good an escape by chewing through
the cables that held them, and took off at top speed
upwards. The woman in charge was too late to stop
them, but timed their ascent which incredibly was 10
minutes to get from 14,000 to 15,500 ft. It seems likely
they would have made the summit too but being tied

42 - K9 NEWS DIGITAL