Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

I was going to add the photos and commentary from this wonderful adventure, to the blog entry I made earlier this afternoon, but decided that it deserved a write-up of its own.

I have lived in Alaska for almost 7 years, and the one thing I’ve always wanted to do, was go for a dog sled ride. Every year, I’d mention to my musher friend Jan DeNapoli, that I needed to come out to her kennel and go on one of her riding adventures, but time would get away from me, and the adventure never happened.

When I saw Jan and Georganne (a musher who works at Jan’s kennel) recently at Badger Den for an Alaska Living meet-up, I decided it was time to set something up and then DO IT.

Georganne was off for a few days over spring break, and offered to take me out on a sled ride this past Thursday. Before noon, we were out at Muzzy’s Place (Jan’s kennel), preparing for the ride.  Three teams, with sleds, would be going out - giving more than half of the kennel a nice workout for the day. Along with Georganne, our team was accompanied by Simone Schalk and her team of dogs, as well as Trey Ravencrest and her team.  Jan drove along with us on her snowmachine, so that she could take photos of me on my adventure.

There’s a lot of work that goes into getting the dogs ready to go for a run. First, Jan and the other mushers had to decide which dogs were going to be included on each team. Not all dogs run well together. It’s important to know their personalities, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, most dogs have specific positions that they do best in. For example, there are “lead dogs”, “swing dogs”, and “wheel dogs”.

Lead dogs, are just as the title suggests; leaders. Lead dogs steer the rest of the team and set the pace. Leaders may be single or double, but most mushers have double lead dogs. Qualities for a good lead dog are intelligence, initiative, common sense, and the ability to find a trail in bad conditions.

Swing dogs are are directly behind the leaders. They swing the rest of the team behind them in turns or curves on the trail. They can be further identified as right or left swing depending on which side of the tow line they are positioned on.

Wheel dogs are those nearest the sled, and a good wheeler must have a relatively calm temperament so as not to be startled by the sled moving just behind it. Strength, steadiness, and ability to help guide the sled around tight curves are qualities valued in “wheelers.” Their job is to pull the sled out and around corners or trees.

The rest of the dogs are referred to as team dogs. They add power to the team. A small team may not have dogs in this position. Alternately, the term may be used to describe any dog in a dog team.

Here are photos of Jan’s dogs. The team of dogs who pulled the sled I was on are Teela and Riyah as lead, Mojo and Foxie as swing, Sarek and Ace as team dogs, and Khill and Beaver as wheel.

After determining which dogs would be running together, it was time to get into our winter gear. Even though it wasn’t as cold as it could be, with the wind in your face, it can be quite chilly. Also, because you’re not using your feet (standing on runners if you’re driving the team, or sitting in a bag if your riding), they can get cold quite fast too - no matter how warm your boots are. My feet were toasty warm when we started out, but my toes were pretty cold by the time we got back. Georganne offered me foot warmers to place in my boots, but I didn’t need them. Once I started moving again, things warmed up.

After getting dressed, Georganne, Simone, and Trey moved through the dog yard gathering up their team members.  Jan has several staging areas, where a long chain is stretched between two short poles, and additional chains come off of the long chain for attaching to the dogs’ harnesses. Georganne gathered our team in order of harnessing, and attached them to this long tie out.

After getting all of the dogs in one place, Georganne then had to place their harnesses on them.  This wasn’t as easy as it would seem, as the dogs were quite excited by this time, as they sprang up and down in place. They were ready to run!

Once they were all in harnesses, Georganne began attaching them to the tow line, or gang line. The gang line consists of the neckline, which is attached to the dog’s collar, and the tug line, which is attached to the end of the dog’s harness.

I was able to climb into the sled then, zipping the sled bag up to my waist, which allowed me to tuck my camera out of the way when I wasn’t taking photos.  I was glad for the pillow I brought with me. Although there was already a pillow in the sled, the extra pillow provided additional padding to alleviate the jarring of the wooden sled when we hit a bump.

Jan took off first (on her snowmachine), followed by Trey, Simone, and finally Georganne and me. It was snowing lightly as we took off into the woods.  The trail traveled through the trees for a while. Tall spruce, birch, and cottonwood trees surrounded us. The trail was well marked and obviously gets a lot of use by both mushers and other winter enthusiasts.

A little while later, we came out onto a pond. I was a little apprehensive about crossing the pond, but Georganne assured me that it was solidly frozen.  When we reached a second pond, Georganne allowed me to get out of the sled, and drive it myself, as she stood behind me on the runners. It was a lot of fun, and Jan was there taking photos of my mushing adventure!

All in all, we traveled about 6 miles. Before this ride, I had the misconception that mushers merely ride on the back of a sled, giving directions to the dogs as to which way to turn. I was so wrong! Handling the sled is hard work, even with strong dogs pulling it. You have to keep the sled upright, especially when going around curves quickly, or riding up on snow berms or into soft snow, and this takes a lot of work. In fact, the sled did tip over at one point in our ride, when the dogs ran up onto an uneven edge to the path and dragged the sled with them. Fortunately, we weren’t going too fast, and Georganne was able to tip me and the sled upright again. But I know it wasn’t an easy thing to do!

Also, when the dogs are running uphill, they get tired - especially when they’re pulling extra weight in the sled bag. Georganne had to jump off the sled runners and help the dogs by pushing the sled. I could hear her breathing hard with the exertion, another indication that this is not easy work!

I really learned a lot about mushing, but best of all I had a most awesome adventure! I don’t know why it took me so long to do something like this, but you can be sure it won’t be my last time.  In fact, if more people would come to visit me in winter, I’d surely include an adventure like this on the travel itinerary.  (*hint hint* to my friends and family!)

If you’re local, or planning a trip to Alaska during the winter months, be sure to contact Jan at Muzzy’s Place for more information about planning your sled dog adventure! I had a blast, and I know you will too!

What are you waiting for? Do it!

Until next time…