Mark's Secret Of The Sapphire ~ "Bud"

Go Rest High On That Mountain
By Vince Gill

I know your life on earth was troubled
And only you could know the pain.
You weren't afraid to face the devil
You were no stranger to the rain.

Chorus:
Go rest high on that mountain
Son, your work on earth is done.
Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and Son.

Oh, how we cried the day you left us
We gathered round your grave to grieve.
I wish I could see the angels faces
When they hear your sweet voice sing.

Chorus:
Go rest high on that mountain
Son, you work on earth is done.
Go to heaven a shoutin'
Love for the Father and Son.

This is Bud's Story
as told
by Mark Robitaille

Bud truly was a wonder dog to me.
He was my "shadow" and went everywhere with me.

I live in Kenny Lake, Alaska a rural farming community 85 miles northeast
of Valdez and about 320 miles east of Anchorage.

I came to have Bud because I agreed to "babysit" him for my daughter who
lived in Anchorage in an apartment building that didn't allow dogs.

Bud was the first dog I ever had weighing less than 60 pounds.
I had two Airedales, and a St. Bernard/Great Dane mix then.

When I first laid eyes on Bud, he was five months old.

He gave me a "Silky smile" and melted my heart!
"I'm the baby, gotta love me!"

It didn't take long for him to take to my dog pack and
got along in the rural environment just fine.

When my daughter moved out of her apartment and headed to Juneau,
she came to Kenny Lake to collect Bud. I had been "baby-sitting" for
three months and had bonded "big time" with him. I told her she could take him,
"Over my dead body!"

When she got to Juneau, my daughter made me buy her a
Miniature Schnauzer to replace Bud.

Jester

That was the best investment I ever made!

Bud went everywhere with me, even to work. My shadow.
He loved to ride on my snowmobile, four-wheeler ATV, and jet ski.
He had a leather jacket, sweater, life vest, and down coat for his motoring adventures.

His down jacket was cannibalized from one of my old down jackets.
I sewed up one of the sleeves then cut it in the shape of a vest I had bought
at the pet store. I'm not a very good seamstress, but it worked! It wouldn't have won any beauty contests, but Bud was a plucky little guy and wore it to please me.

When working in Cordova, I got a 16' skiff to go fishing for salmon and halibut.
Bud would get up on the front seat of "The Budarky Boat" and watch intently for those pesky seals, sea lions, and sea otters ~which I'm sure he thought were dogs~ that would "Arf!" at him.

I got him a larger life jacket that had a "grab" strap on the back.
He became known as "The dog with a handle" to all the
commercial fishermen in the small boat harbor.

We had some fun!

My Bud was a typical male Silky, 12 pounds, and had NO FEAR!

I am a construction Project Engineer for the Alaska Department of Transportation.
The majority of my assignments are to construct roads, airports, ferry terminals, and public transportation facilities in remote Alaska villages and towns. This requires travel at any time through mountainous regions in some of the worst weather conditions the Alaskan environment can confront you with.

Early September 25, 1994, a Sunday morning, I was traveling from an airport
project in McCarthy, a small historic mining town in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, to Valdez, where I was to meet a ferry to go to my next project in Cordova on the Copper River Highway. I was in my personal vehicle with my Silky Bud, Lady Rough House Airedale, Missy Elkhound, and Jason Husky, the members of my faithful dog pack that traveled with me everywhere I went.

The night before I left, the first snow storm of the year blew up on Thompson Pass dumping a foot of snow and creating a blinding ice fog on the steep mountain roadway. I was crossing the Pass about 6:30 AM. At the elevation where the roadway transitions from the high altitude arctic weather conditions to the lower warm river bottom climate, a slick "black ice" area had formed. My 3/4 Ton Chevy 4x4 spun out despite having studded tires all around.

When we hit the edge of the gravel shoulder, the truck rolled over on it's side and plunged over a 450 foot cliff and down a rocky slope. Bud and I were thrown from the cab to the rocks below. I broke my neck, back, hands, and had serious head injuries. I was not wearing my coat at the time of the accident, so I lay seriously injured in a foot of snow. I was in a bad way.

It was 11:00 AM when two men out bear hunting noticed my thermos laying on the shoulder of the road and stopped to pick it up. The fog had lifted enough for them to look for bears down on the bench below the cliff, after hearing what they described as "a sound like two bears fighting". It was then they spotted me below laying in a patch of bloody snow and rocks. Lady, Missy, and Jason were guarding me when they approached. Bud was found a little later, laying dead in a scuffed up area that looked like a fearsome fight had taken place.

I was med-evaced to Valdez Hospital, then to Providence Hospital in Anchorage.
When I arrived at Providence Emergency ward, my body core temperature
was only 83 degrees.

I have very little recollection of events of the crash to this day. But I have had a recurring dream, and I am convinced, that little Bud fought off the angel of
death from me, and gave himself in my place.

The other dogs received minor injuries in the accident and healed quickly.

My daughter located and arranged for me to adopt a beautiful female Silky
from Sandra Sharpe's Woodlynd Kennel.

Alaska Princess Amy

I named her Alaska Princess Amy.

Her job is to help me through my recovery.

She is doing a great job!

My brave heart Bud will always be my hero.

He truly had NO FEAR!

A year ago September Dogpak member, Jason Husky, went to be with
his friend Bud at the Rainbow Bridge.

This past March, Lady Rough House Airedale joined them there.

The Kenny Lake Dogpak, Rainbow Bridge Coalition

They are missed by Mark and the other members of The Kenny Lake Dogpak,
but it is good to know Bud is with his old friends once more.

Mark is still recovering from the injuries he suffered in that horrible crash, but is doing well and is again traveling the beautiful backroads of Alaska with his Dogpak!

Missy
Alaska Princess Amy
Ziggy

Click on the image of above to go to see
The Dogpak Of Kenny Lake Web Page

When I first read Mark's heartwarming story of Bud I thought to myself that there must have truly been a band of angels watching over him and the Dogpak that day.

Shortly after I 'met' Mark online, he sent me a URL for web cam located at Valdez ~ the area he was in the morning of that terrible accident. When I went to the site to view the area the most remarkable and breathtaking image opened up on my screen.
I was so stunned by the image I saved it:

A trick of sunlight in the camera lens?
Perhaps.
Personally, I see the very band of angels that came to mind
when I was thinking about Mark's fateful accident.

This special web page was made in friendship to honor the memory of
Mark's Secret Of The Sapphire ~ 'Bud'
One terrific Li'l Silky Terrier who won the heart,
the love and the unending respect of his owner and friend,
Mark Robitaille.

Thank you Mark, for sharing Bud with the rest of us!

Zac's Mom
November 1998

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