Raid the North Extreme
Taiga trouble
Susan McKenzie / 20.08.2003
“I really started feeling lousy yesterday,� he says, his sleeves pulled up to reveal the countless scratches and scrapes from the brush. “We were going so fast and pushing too hard. Our pack rafts didn’t arrive in time for the race, so we had to trek the whole way. We stopped and rested a lot, but then we reached this point on the trek where I just realised I couldn’t go on.\"
\"I kept thinking I could fight it, push through it, but it just wasn’t happening. If I had gone any further, we would have been in some really remote spots where it would be heard to get out of. My teammates are going to continue through as a three-member team.�
A few hours later, moments after a fierce thunderstorm has swept through, Stranc’s Taiga teammates trek the rocky shore along White Otter Lake to CP5, White Otter Castle.
“That was some storm,� says Sven Brouwer. “I gave Jody the metal poles to carry.� At the CP, the new Taiga trio prepares for the next paddling section, which will take them along the lake and across several portages.
“We think Anton must have had some bug, before he got here,� says team captain Jodi Bigelow. Even at a slow pace, the sweat pours down his face. “On the bikes, he’s usually the Anton Express, but he wasn’t full speed even then.�
Still, the team managed to remain in contention until Stranc’s health and safety became more important than winning the race. As an unranked trio, the new Taiga triad will continue on the whole course, but will share one canoe.
“Whoever sits in the middle has to serve the other two,� declares Sven Brouwer.
“Well, since I’m sitting in the middle, I guess that means you both have to be nice to me,� says Wendy Powell. “Because I have the food!�
SleepMonsters
