Friday 23 January 2009 – Lost and Found on the Burma Road

Hello, I’m Bluey. This is my first attempt at blogging, so please bear with me. I’m actually lucky to be here at all!

My most recent adventure started last Monday. The Boss was having trouble going up the Burma Road. Her ankle was hurting. Apart from keeping her little hands toasty, I have other roles in times of crisis such as this. And so it was that I was withdrawn from the security of another pair of gloves and used as a sort of ankle support.

I wasn’t very good at this!

It was cold and draughty and the sock I was cuddling was very smelly.

So I made my escape…

Mistake!

I was run over by several long thin bits of wood.

Soon I heard a gentle swish and was swept off the ground by a very sexy leathery mitt.

I thought it was my lucky day!

I tried to cuddle the mitt, as I was Very Cold by now, but whilst its boss had a cheery countenance, my luck was out.

I was placed on a cold twig beside the Burma Road.

I spent the next four days clinging to this twig, about three feet above a deep drift of snow. If I fell off here, I knew I may be lost forever (until spring, anyway) and my twin would be pining for me as we always do things together.

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, lots of people passed by, on those ungainly wooden planks that seem to be in vogue at this time of year. I waved frantically at them, but nobody noticed, and I had to be careful not to fall off my twig.

I spent four nights and three full days out in the cold, but at least it didn’t get too dark, and one or two people even went past during the night. They didn’t notice me shivering beside the trail.

Today it got even cooler. By 11am it was around -14°C, but with a chilly wind it felt much colder. How, I wondered, would The Boss be managing without the benefit of my tender caresses?

Then a Miracle happened.

I heard from afar the distinctive swish of the two grey planks I’ve looked down on for many happy hours. It’s me, I whispered in my loudest voice, shivering on my twig….

It’s you! It’s Bluey! Exclaimed The Boss.

I’d been rescued at last. I spent the next 30 minutes secreted deeply in a pocket, my Vapour Rising through RAB’s wonderful pores. I was home at last, as this is where I spend much of my time.

I heard The Boss discussing the day’s route…

“P10 and Fortune Parkway, up the Khyber Pass to Huron Cabin. We stopped there to light the fire and enjoy a flask of tea and some trail mix. There was nobody else around. Then we headed back via Trail 3 – The Burma Road. I knew Bluey might be there somewhere, and to my amazement she was! Bluey was found! So that put me in a very good mood for the descent back to P10, and my sore ankles and bad back didn’t seem so painful now I knew Bluey was safe.
I think we skied 12km today, from 10.00 to 11.55, including a 20 minute tea break at Huron Cabin.”

And I think I heard her talking about strange men with sledges on the Fortune Parkway…