Sledding and Huskies
Trip Start
Aug 13, 2010
1
20
23
Trip End
Nov 16, 2010
Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
Thursday, November 4, 2010
We met Judy at the Arctic chalet who briefed us on how to direct the dogs through the trails. "Chi" meant turn right and “Cha” meant left and there was no word for 'Stop' or 'Go', which I did find a little concerning. We got ourselves suited up with some sweet beaver-skin mitts and –60 degrees arctic boots and it was time to meet the huskies! Nanuk, a 2-year-old white husky, was the lead dog of my five-dog sled. A couple of minutes of playing around with our dog sled team and we were all set to head into the wild. We rode across two frozen lakes, which was pretty straight forward, before heading deep into the forest which was bumpy as nuts. My sled was easiest the fastest of the lot which was crazy fun but it did take a couple of wipe-outs and sucking face with the snow before I got the hang of it. The whole ride lasted about 90 minutes but would have loved to go on for much longer (although it was starting to get dark and I really did not want to get lost in the woods and get mauled by a grizzly).
This has definitely been the best part of my 14-week elective and one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done. Nothing can describe the feeling of piercing the freezing winds at reasonably high speeds with the enchanting white huskies. If anyone has a bucket list, pen this one in right now.
Last day in the Arctic tomorrow woop!
