Hello Judi,
It was wonderful to have met you and experience first hand Dog Mushing in Canada's Northwest Territories! Thank you for such a wonderful, adventurous experience! I enjoyed my first experience, mushing through your rigorously-groomed trails, with the little birch and spruce trees on either side of us. It was such fun!
I must admit, when I realized we'd be riding solo with 4 dogs & a sleigh, my first thought was "Oh my God!, I hope I can do this!" I must tell you, it was so exciting, and definitely an experience not to miss!
I look forward to seeing your action shots of us, mushing down the hills and through the birch and spruce. Your dogs were so energetic & enthusiastic, it was hard not to be myself! I must tell you, this was definitely, one of my best Northern experiences!
Thank you for creating such a wonderful, true experience and memories of dog mushing, that Grant & I will treasure for many years to come.
~ Lila

Dog Sledding Adventure

Sarah Running Her Dogs
Originally uploaded by EclecticBlogs

Yesterday afternoon we finally did something that we should have done several years ago. Having lived in the north for over 15 years we had never been dog sledding. What a blast.

Judi Falsnes, owner of the Arctic Chalet and Arctic Chalet Dog Sledding was our host. Judi and her husband Olav have been raising dogs for many years and her dogs are white Siberian Husky/Malamute cross that originated in Colville Lake, NWT. We had 4 teams out on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Temperatures were a nice -16° and the sun was partially hidden behind the clouds but with over 6 hours of sunlight now daily it was very pleasant.

The trip started off with Judi making sure that we were properly attired. Once we had passed inspection, it was time to learn how to slow the sled down, how to stop the sled and the commands to make your dogs go left or right. Chee and Cha are the commands. The sleds all have a rubber pedal type brake that you step on to slow the sled down and it has a pick brake to stop the sled very quickly. The rubber brake is particularily important we found out going down a hill because if you don't slow the sled down the sled will run into the dogs and wipe them out.

The sledding trip took us about an hour and a half and was alot of fun. The trails that Olav has groomed take you across the lake, through the bush, down a steep hill, through some more bush and back onto the lake. There are 2 or 3 trails most of the way around and there are places where you can't see the people on the other track. This was way more fun than driving a snowmachine. We stopped at various places for pictures however I took most of mine on the fly because I thought the pictures would be better that way; you know, action shots. And I was right. It was tough in a few spots trying to watch the dogs and sled and take pictures but I managed. We all went the entire run without falling off or turning the sled over so I think we did good. A couple of Patti's dogs did get tangled one time but that was the dogs fault. Patti and I both had dogs that liked to roll in the snow when we stopped for a rest.

I have posted pictures from our dog sledding adventure. Take a look and let me know what you think. I can wholeheartedly say that if any of you are ever in the north n the winter this is something that you should try to do. It is quite the experience. And if you are travelling up here in the summer time and need a nice quiet place to stay then be sure to consider Arctic Chalets. It is a nice place just out of town and will add a great time to your northern adventure.

The picture here shows our friend Sarah with her dogs in full run. My team is running on the track beside Patti and Sarah.