If you’re not from Alaska and your only exposure to dog mushing is what you’ve seen on TV, then you’re probably like me. The only dog sled race you’ve ever heard of is the Iditarod which is a race in Alaska held in March every year. What I learned while enjoying The Musher’s Camp and Sled Dog Adventure, one of the excursion during our Alaskan Cruise, was quite eye opening.
We started our adventure on a 30 minute van ride from the Cruise ship through town and out to Klondike Gold Rush National Park. As you might imagine, the scenery was out-of-this-world! We happened to see an eagle circling and finally landing in its nest at the top of a tree.
The van dropped us off for our one mile ride on the wheeled dog sled that would take us to the camp. What a ride!! It's really hard to describe the odd sensation that you get while being pulled by a team of dogs. The dogs simply don't run in nice straight lines. They're all over the place. When the lead dogs start making a turn, you're still going straight.
My imagination was running wild! I could just see us being whipped around the corner and either being dumped over or landing in the trees on the opposite side of the road. But when it was all said and done, I was wishing we could ride some more!
Once we arrived at the camp, we were given a tour of the camp and shown where the adult dogs and the puppies are housed. I was surprised to learn that the dogs aren't owned by the camp and don't live at the camp during the winter. All of the dogs at the camp are owned by the mushers and handled by their owners while they are there. It turns out that the camp is a really good way for the mushers to keep their dogs in shape during the summer and earn extra money to maintain their life style during the winter.
After our tour, we were taken to a covered area where one of the mushers gave a brief talk about the sport of dog sledding and told us about another 1,000 mile race that takes place in February. It's called the Yukon Quest and sounds like a much more difficult race than the Iditarod. It's amazing to me that people and dogs are able to endure the harsh conditions of Alaska's winter.
