Experiencing Egegik: Spring Break Pt. 2: Unless you're the lead dog...

After the few days of a literacy conference and a late night trip out and back to Anchorage to pick up Mom from the airport, it was time to get the Spring Break activities underway! We sure weren't going to waste any time. There was a lot to do and we didn't want to miss any of it. First on the list, a dog sled ride!

Chugach Express is a wonderful place to go through if you are in Girdwood. Dario and his team not only provide a great experience, but his expertise and knowledge allow for good discussions about his life with his animals. He answers questions, takes you on a great ride and brings you down to his kennel to show and explain to you what it's like to be a musher. In addition to our ride and many others just like us, his big project right now is getting out into the schools to provide an opportunity to reach the youth and provide them with an experience to bond with animals, develop skills, and feel the sense of responsibility you get when someone depends on you. *of course, this sits very well with Mom and I!

When we arrived at the pick up spot, all you see is a field of snow. Tell-tale tracks in the snow show that there's probably been a sled through here at some point in time, you can't see them anywhere though. So much snow has fallen that it's easily knee deep and very soft. We waited a bit, looked around and wondered about how our ride would be. Listening to the silence was peaceful and pretty soon you heard some calls and whistles. Around the corner comes Dario with his team and the riders just before us. Dogs pulling tight, they come along the tracks they've made previously in the day to where our trail meets theirs. Of course this is our guy, he's got a sled made for riding, his riders have a camera, and he greets us right away.

The family before us tell us that we are going to have a great time, thank Dario and go about their way. We get a run down of how the sled works and decide that it's a much better idea for me to sit in front where the seat is very low. Mom will take the chair level seat. Well, wasn't she lucky? Not only does the scenery not change.....the smell doesn't either! Those dogs fart when they start running! I could not believe it! Let me tell you, you think a dog toot is bad with just dog food, try getting the food they feed sled dogs! The initial start was a big slow, not a big jerk like I was expecting. The large amounts of snow that had fallen the past week really made the trail slow. It didn't matter, the dogs loved it and I was having a blast too.

The ride around the meadow was amazing. We were told a few of the dog's names before we started. Ryan was one of them. We found that out real quick because he is a young dog and needs a lot of correcting. (Sounds oddly familiar for some reason.) As they pulled together as a team you could tell they were in it for the workout and they loved what they were doing. The whistles and the calls of "Gee" and "Ha" were familiar as I had used them several times before with Ciqu. I thought back to rollerblading with him and it was comforting, and then a little memory escaped out the side of my eye.

As we came up to the kennel, we slowed down, came to a stop and Dario had an anchor in the ground to keep the sled in place while the pups rested and we took a tour. Looking back at the meadow with the sled in the picture, the sky was beginning to clear and the beauty of the day was just amazing. Word got around that there were new people coming down and all the pups were interested, up looking around. Dario explained how things worked and how they trained in different locations for different parts of races. When explanations were done, word then got around the kennel that we were leaving for a run, and those that were not already on the sled were not going. Howling from those not going started, those already on the sled howled in return! Music to my ears.

We took our time getting back around the meadow, enjoying every minute of it I know that it might not be something I ever get to do again. I love that Mom was able to come to Alaska and experience this with me, that we got a chance to be pulled by a team of dogs through feet of snow in the middle of some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen and that it's an experience that really could only happen because of this year in Alaska. I've been so blessed because of this wonderful year, even with the heartaches of being gone, it's provided not only me, but now Mom with some wonderful opportunities too.