This was one of the best adventures ever:
4 days over MLK weekend, we ventured out to the small town of Ely to go dog sledding with the Wintergreen Lodge crew. Ely is into Minnesota, in the far north, right at the Canadian border. The trip to get there is not easy, but well worth the effort. First you fly in Minneapolis, then drive 4 hours north to Ely.
We stayed a log cabin in Timber Creek lodges.
After just recently reading Gary Paulsen's autobiographical book 'Winterdance: the fine madness of running the iditarod' ( fabulous book by the way), I had dreams of iditarod swimming in my head all the way there.
We spent three days learning about the dogs and dog sledding. Our guides Ellen and Bria took us on a adventure each day. Their stamina is amazing- how do they keep up with the dogs on their skis?
The first morning harnessing up the dogs was quite a challenge and was quite the work out holding on to the dogs and not letting them run off with you.
But by day 3 I was I pro at the harnesses.
So we'd head out, just Mike and I driving our own sled of dogs. This is no Disneyland joy ride. The dogs will take off with or without you so you got to make sure you are on the brakes at all times. Got to get off and push on the uphill and duck to avoid the tree branches. Yes the tree branches got me few times and I fell off the sled. Yes our sled got stuck a tree once too.
On day 2, we had our superstar team: Steve and Sweet Pea as our lead dogs, the puppies George and Jupiter as our wheel dogs in the back and in middle Clark and Fudgie.
These dogs were such gunners, we could barely control them: 3 loose sleds and we each probably fell off 6 times that day. Our superstar team had to take on the role of breaking trail as we ventured into unbroken territory.
The first loose sled occured as we followed Bria off the icy road, sharp left turn up the slope, couldn't slow the dogs as the brake did not work on ice and sled flipped over.
2nd loose sled, down the hill to the lake: right after lunch the dogs were so gung ho, could not slow them down. Mike fell off first, I'm hanging on for dear life, the dogs take a sharp turn on the lake and leave me behind as they traverse the lake on their own at full speed. Ellen had to go a long way after them on her skis.
3rd loose sled was over the 4x4 terrain , breaking trail, got bumped off. Luckily Bria was ahead to stop them.
We returned that night at dusk, traversing the lake in the dark to return to our cabin. It was so beautiful.
We had lunch out in the open on days 2+3, having flatbread pizza's cooked over an open fire in the snow. Lot's of hot cocoa. Here's me cuddling Izzy while Bria fries up a pizza (in butter):
Each evening, we'd return to simple but delicious meals cooked by their French chef Bernard. How can it not taste good when everything is cooked in butter?
The dogs: They are so funny. They are so loud when you come down to greet them in the morning - howling, singing , barking. They are so excited to see me this morning: (look at the frozen lake behind our cabin in the background)
I LOVE George ('Georgie' to me). He's a handful to harness, but this little 1 year old puppy is so cute and so diligent. He is always ready to pull and the first up and at attention when we yell 'hike'. On breaks, he is always rolling in the snow and always has snow on his cute little nose. His tongue hangs out so far.
On day 3 after lunch, I decide to promote my Georgie to lead dog & he lead our sled with such enthusiam. He's a super star!
His brother Jupiter is love bug. He needs lots love and attention. He's always offering up his belly for a rub.
Steve with the red fur is the boss of all dogs. If there's a dog fight, he's probably involved. He'll put the other dogs in their place.
Here's Steve picking a fight (again):
Sweet Pea is in love with Steve. She's always offering herself to him!
Poor Fudgie- she's always being bullied. She's terrified of Steve. And she got dragged and stuck in a tree. But guess who is nice to her? Georgie of course! They lead well together though half the time, George was pulling her along.
Clark- I recognize him from the way he carries his tail down. All the other sled dogs have their tails up.
Yes, we learned a lot about dog sledding- some of it the hard way, eg which way to lean on the curves so you don't fall off. We learned when to bail and jump ship eg, when big log is approaching full speed towards your face. I also learned that I could never survive the iditarod- so much for the big dream.
So that's it. What a great adventure! I miss the dogs, especially Georgie. Can't wait to round up all my friends and go back next winter!
