Alaska: Dogsledding

This is Tom writing this time. My mom has been wanting to go dogsledding for a while but we didn't know how or where, but when she was here last week there was fortuitously a Groupon for dogsledding in Girdwood. So we went down and met our musher in a mountain meadow and had a nice ride. Along the way he would stop and give facts and tidbits about dogsledding history, techniques, and racing. While he was talking he stood up with the dogs, as in this photo, and at first we wondered why he spoke to us from so far away, but it soon became apparent as the dogs were so excited to run they would sometimes start on their own, and standing out in front of the sled like this gave the musher ample time to jump on and stop them again.

The night before we went about 2 feet or more of snow had fallen, making for some extraordinary backcountry scenery that would have been quite difficult to access on foot.

We were cutting new trails in the deep snow for much of the time, and the lead dogs had to leap like deer to keep moving forward.

On the way home we also stopped to take some pictures along Turnagain Arm.

And my mom was also pleased to be able to buy some moose antlers while she was here from someone on Craig's List.