As soon as we got back to the truck we both came up with the same idea of what we "should have done". What we actually did was I strapped all the gear and everything on the OX frame and went the 300 yds up shore to cross at the "shallow" spot (IE: 3-4 1/2 ft deep!), while he would take the wolf straight across cause there was no way we could boulder hop that dog up the shore 300 yds with 2' of crusted snow that was breaking through with our weight alone. It was narrower here and we tied rope to the dog and he would drag it across behind him. Well the wolf got caught in a rapid and ended up dragging him downstream into a big hole where he had to grab a stick hanging from off a boulder and then while holding onto the stick untie a bunch of knots in the line to lengthen it out a few feet and was able at that point to swing the wolf into a small eddy/slack water. He then swam down and into the slack water. He was in the water for 6-7 minutes!
What we should've done: Had me haul the gear and go get the 100' of big rope we had in the toolbox, tied a rock onto it and tried to throw it across the river to him to tie to the dog. He could've walked up and crossed and have both of us drag the wolf across the river... I think we were both starting to think a little crazy by the time we decided to get him back across the river. I know I was definitely getting the chills and my whole body was starting to shake...
Mike
