Hi everyone, here I would like to explain a bit about what you can expect on your dogsled adventure.

Customers arrive any where's from 8:00 am to 9:30 am, or 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, your arrival time is set at the time of your reservation.

It's at this time that you have to leave the cares of modern living behind because you are now entering the dog world. A place where time is not measured, snow is deep, temperatures are cold, nobody is in a hurry (except at hookup),  and folklore of old abounds.

When you do arrive you will be greeted first by 1-100lb Black Lab who's name is Ben (good thing to know when you meet him) and 60 to 100 fired up, ready to run Alaskan Huskies and, oh, another thing to know about Ben and his greeting the "Be Nice" words used in this phrase - now remember it "Ben be nice" because Ben always makes sure he is the first greeter and you will want to remember those three words "Ben be nice", one other thing about Ben having a stick or tennis ball when you get out of the vehicle will make Ben fall in love with you!!!!! then one of us will venture out to bring you inside. You will meet everyone working the kennel that day and if you are early enough coffee or hot chocolate or tea is always on hand. Questions seem to abound so do not be afraid to ask, we always welcome people arriving early.

Participant agreements need to be signed and any balance on the bill is taken care of at this time.

Once we have taken care of all the items mentioned, and every one going is present, we head out into the kennel for you to meet the stars of the day-50 to 100 beautiful, fired up, friendly Alaskan Huskies. We give any one who would like to the time to walk around and scratch the ears (they love that) of these awesome kids (dogs). Pic below is the right half of kennel.

Now that the introduction to the kennel is over and the kennel is quieted,  one of the guides will call everyone over to a dogsled and start a comprehensive course on driving (mushing) the sled and what to watch for with your team. While this is going on the other guides/handlers will be situating the sleds-harnesses-ganglines in their prospective places.

Picture above is Rick giving a class to a group

You will learn always hold on to the drive bow see pic below

And other things about the dogs and sleds

With the class over, your adventure begins and the controlled chaos begins, every single dog in the kennel knows what is going on and if you have never heard a kennel of Huskies barking you are in for a treat because everyone is hollering "take-me, take-me". At this point it is uncontrollable and here is where we hurry. A guide/handler will have the passenger get into the sled and the driver will get up on the brake bar, while other guide/handlers are hooking up the team on the gangline. Each second that goes by excites the dogs more and more, you can even feel the adrenalin rushing in your own body. Once we have the teams hooked up, every musher will be watching the front guide, when the front guide releases then the next team releases and so on. As each team is released it becomes quieter and quieter because the moment you cut a team free they shut up to a point that you could here a pin drop. But wait, the excitement is not over, leaving the kennel has been described as "being shot out of a slingshot". Trail dogs can reach speeds up to 24 mph in the first 40 yds so hold on.  After 4 to 6 miles the team burns out their initial energy and they settle into their 4 to 11 mph pace.

We generally stop once per hour to check the dogs , but do not hesitate to stop if you would like to take a picture.

We generally stop for lunch after 2 1/2 to 4 hours, we get a campfire going and cook your lunch with hot chocolate/tea to drink and snacks. All the dogs are generally resting at this point, we stand/sit around the open fire and talk about the days trip and what to possibly expect for further trail conditions, past trips, etc. After lunch we break camp, we all get situated with our sleds and travel on for more dogsled fun. We arrive back at the kennel in about 2 1/2 hours. Getting the dogs fed and watered is done as soon as we return, the dogs recoup faster from the run if fed a broth within 20 minutes of being back, feel free to help out if you would like, otherwise, coffee and hot chocolate are always available for those who would like to sit around the house or campfire when we return, so please do not feel that you have to leave when the trip is over.

There has been years the temperatures were so cold that most people opted for running the trail and having lunch back at the cabin, in that case we packed snacks for the trail.

A few notes:

some people helped more with the dog-care so feel free to let us know what level of participation you would like.

We are experts at staying warm in the cold, please listen to your guide with his/hers instructions.

Foot-warmers and hand-warmers and goggles proved to be a must last year, especially for children.

Please read our "Lodging and Clothing" page for what we wear and places you can get gear.