An amazing morning – we left at 9am to go to a nearby Husky ranch. We were taught all about them and then we were taught how to drive our sledge and off we went. You put one foot on brake to slow down and both feet on it to slow done more. Note the absence of the word “stop”. There is no steering! I can see why so many describe this as the best part of the holiday – it was exhilarating, unique and so much fun.
There are hundreds of these dogs, everywhere. I always thought they were vicious – and they certainly snarl at each other, but they are so friendly to humans. Even I cuddled a husky puppy! Steven wants one! They are clearly very talented because they can run fast pulling a sledge and at the same time fight the husky next to them, eat snow, urinate and defaecate – Husky multitasking!
As usual brains beats brawn! The front two dogs are the leaders, they do the steering and don’t really pull much of the weight. They are usually female, of course! The back two are the brawn, without brains. They pull the weight of the sledge and are usually male. The middle two are the runners and can develop into leaders.
Steven drove and steered us expertly so we missed the trees and stayed on the track, just. Others weren’t so lucky (or skilled!). This was the first time I felt the cold, and it’s mild. The wind chill factor only took it down to -5. I don’t know what I would have done without the excellent snow suits and boots that the Lodge gave us.
Watch a video here Huskies
The lights returned again for the third night running. We are so lucky. Thankfully they were much earlier, it was just about dark so they weren’t as powerful. I was relieved they didn’t come back later as I needed some sleep – only had 3-4 hours a night for last three nights. I shouldn’t complain really!