[CHAPTER XV]
WITH DOGS AND KOMATIK
In considering equipment for dog and sledge traveling, we must constantly bear in mind the necessity of keeping down weight and bulk. Not long since, while visiting the establishment of a New York City outfitter, I saw an equipment which a sportsman ambitious for experience with dogs and komatik (sledge) had selected for a month's journey which he was about to undertake. Exclusive of provisions there was enough material to weight down four eight-dog teams. Among other things was a specially designed tent stove that would have tipped the scales at upwards of one hundred pounds.
The would-be traveler declared with pride that he "did not intend to have cold camps." It certainly gave me "cold feet" to contemplate his outfit. It was the most ridiculous and impracticable conglomerate aggregation of camping material that I have ever seen put together, and I doubt if the would-be traveler ever found a sufficient number of dogs at any one point to transport it.
While it is the aim of every experienced camper to obtain the greatest degree of comfort of which circumstances will admit, the voyager with dogs cannot hope to carry with him the luxuries of a metropolitan hotel, and one soon learns how little after all is really necessary to make one comfortable.
How much weight a team of eight good dogs can haul depends upon the character of the country and the condition of the snow or ice. Under very favorable conditions I have seen such a team make good progress with twelve hundred pounds. Ordinarily, however, eight hundred pounds is a full load, and if much rough ice, hilly country or soft snow is encountered six hundred pounds will be found all too heavy. I have heard of cases, when traveling was exceptionally good, of dogs covering upwards of one hundred miles a day. The biggest day's travel I ever made with dogs was sixty miles, but often I have toiled day after day, pulling and hauling with the animals at the traces, lifting the komatik over rough places, or packing a trail for the team with my snowshoes, to find myself rewarded with less than ten miles when camping time arrived.
In selecting outfit the region to be visited will be a factor to take into consideration. It would be quite impossible to discuss adequately in a single chapter all the phases of dog travel to be provided for. We shall therefore leave out of consideration polar outfitting, or outfitting for other unusual work, which the reader of this will scarcely be likely to undertake.
The clothing suggested in the chapter on snowshoe and toboggan travel is equally well suited to travel with dogs and komatik. Should the voyager's ambition, however, draw him within the sub-arctic regions or across the Arctic Circle some additional protection will be needed.