A tired team
A tired team |
As I pondered options for a winter return to Michigan, I recalled reading somewhere that a chap from McMillan, Michigan had run the 1100 mile Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska. A search of the internet revealed Nature’s Kennel in McMillan, operated by Ed and Tasha Stielstra. A cross search for finishers in Iditarod revealed that Ed had indeed been the Iditarod finisher. After an exchange of emails, by the end of September I had made a deposit to take an overnight sled dog trip on February 27-28.
When the dogs see people with harnesses, they become quite agitated. I’m not sure that’s the right word. They start barking and tugging on the chains linking them to their own site. "Take me, take me!" PETA to the contrary not withstanding, these dogs are not abused when they are running! They are enthusiastic, eager, don’t want to stop.
They hold their heads up, waiting for the harnesses. When Badger gets his harness and is fastened to the cable leading from the sled, he rolls in the snow -- can hardly wait to hit the trail. Indeed, the sleds have to be tethered or the first couple of dogs will be gone.
Running from the sled is a center line to which the dogs are attached. This line is called a gang line. Each gang line was equipped to handle six dogs. Loops on the end of the gang line would permit extension of an additional six dogs. Individual dogs are tethered to the gang line by foot long lines which attach to specific spots, preventing dogs from running into one another.
We got a brief set of instructions about the sleds and how to ride them. Stand on the runners in back. Between the runners, there is a brake, a big hunk of snowmobile tread. To slow the team, stand on the brake. There is a rope with a carabiner to serve as a tether. And each sled comes with a snow hook, a double-hooked piece of steel to be dropped in the snow to keep the team from running off while the tether is hooked around a tree. And a final brake, two steel pins behind the sled and just ahead of the snowmobile tread, which the musher jam into the trail.
Riding behind a team of sled dogs is lots of fun, but it’s no piece of cake. At least for me. I got pitched from the sled 6 times in the two trips. The first time, we had gone a couple of miles. I was feeling pretty confident. I did not fall during the morning run. The dogs did not need any coaching from me. The trail was a little bumpy in spots, but I was not having trouble staying on the runners.
We came to a sharp corner. The wheel dogs cut it a little short -- seems, to me at least, they often do. The sled ran up on the piled snow and sand at the edge of the trail. In a trice, I was flying parallel to the ground. Thump! I landed at least 20 feet from the spot where the sled tipped.
What did I learn about staying on the runners? 1) Stay low. 2) Lean toward the inside of the turn. 3) Don’t go too fast. 4) Don’t go too slow. When I slowed way down coming into a corner, the dogs pulled the sled into the snow piled up along the trail. And faster.
Jack London wrote, "There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive." (The Call of the Wild) Indeed, and the dogs are most alive when they are dragging a sled through the snow, even with a duffer like me behind.
Tim Mead is a professional outdoor writer and has allowed me to post this abbreviated version of this story. Tim has written a much more complete and detailed account of this adventure. If you are interested in publishing it, please contact:Tim Mead
7124 Chapparall Lane
Charlotte, North Carolina 28215
Click the mailbox to e-mail. Last updated on ...April 7, 2007
