Pure blue skies. -15 degrees. No wind.
The perfect day for a Sled Dog Race.
Our day at the races started long before the sun came up. Granted the sun doesn't come up anymore until about 10:30am.
We rode with the mushers to the site of the race, Montana Creek, about an hour north from where we live.
After 34 pups were unloaded and relieved of full bladders, the mushers signed up and the sleds were put together.
Not the wooden toboggan you were expecting, huh?
Today sleds are fast, collapsible, and incredibly lightweight.
The dogs that were up to race were unloaded from the pup truck and harnessed.
That is Austin harnessing DeWalt, also known as Big D!
First was the 4-dog 4-mile race.
Then the 6-dog 6-mile race.
Sounds short, right? This is Sprint Racing.
There are fewer dogs and shorter distances equalling faster speeds and times!
When most people think of Sled Dog Racing they think of the Iditarod. And while the Iditarod is an amazingly intense physical and psychological challenge, and finishing it is a major life accomplishment, it is also, as Sprint Mushers nicely put it:
"a camping trip".
Over a week of camping in snow and below zero temps?
Boring, say our musher friends. Give them 6 dogs and 6 miles of trail and let the dogs rip at speeds around 20 MPH!
Adrenaline junkies.
Beautiful as the day was, it was cooooooooold.
Lucky for us observers, we had a toasty warm car to thaw out in while we waited for the mushers to return.
You know its chilly when the thermometer reads negative zero!
It was so cold Austin's mouth cave formed stalactites. . .
. . . and the freezing air caused tears in Katrina's eyes that immediately turned to ice on her eyelashes.
The last race Sundog Kennels did was the 8-dog 8-mile, and then a 14-dog 8-mile training run when the races were over.
We have really gotten to know all the dogs who are the sweetest pups. Meet some of them:
Lark
Speedy
Irma
Kai
Frosty
Wren
We love them like we love The Beast!
We dogged from sunrise to sunset.
Which isn't saying much when you only have 5 hours of daylight.
So maybe we should say from before sunrise to after sunset!
Still it was an awesome day.
Our day at the races started long before the sun came up. Granted the sun doesn't come up anymore until about 10:30am.
We rode with the mushers to the site of the race, Montana Creek, about an hour north from where we live.
After 34 pups were unloaded and relieved of full bladders, the mushers signed up and the sleds were put together.
Today sleds are fast, collapsible, and incredibly lightweight.
The dogs that were up to race were unloaded from the pup truck and harnessed.
First was the 4-dog 4-mile race.
Then the 6-dog 6-mile race.
Sounds short, right? This is Sprint Racing.
There are fewer dogs and shorter distances equalling faster speeds and times!
When most people think of Sled Dog Racing they think of the Iditarod. And while the Iditarod is an amazingly intense physical and psychological challenge, and finishing it is a major life accomplishment, it is also, as Sprint Mushers nicely put it:
"a camping trip".
Over a week of camping in snow and below zero temps?
Boring, say our musher friends. Give them 6 dogs and 6 miles of trail and let the dogs rip at speeds around 20 MPH!
Adrenaline junkies.
Beautiful as the day was, it was cooooooooold.
Lucky for us observers, we had a toasty warm car to thaw out in while we waited for the mushers to return.
It was so cold Austin's mouth cave formed stalactites. . .
. . . and the freezing air caused tears in Katrina's eyes that immediately turned to ice on her eyelashes.
The last race Sundog Kennels did was the 8-dog 8-mile, and then a 14-dog 8-mile training run when the races were over.
We have really gotten to know all the dogs who are the sweetest pups. Meet some of them:
We love them like we love The Beast!
We dogged from sunrise to sunset.
Which isn't saying much when you only have 5 hours of daylight.
So maybe we should say from before sunrise to after sunset!
Still it was an awesome day.
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