Travel Tuesday - North to Alaska - Skagway and the Yukon - Part Two

First, a very happy birthday to my mom!

When we last left off, I was about to live a dream and go on a training run for sled dogs in Carcross, Yukon. Due to timing, I ended up being the first run of the day and got to go alone (which rarely happens). I was warmly greeted by 50 or so very excited huskies. They were all clearly well cared for and happy to be here.

I was led to the training cart, where my driver, whose name I have forgotten greeted me. She was the proud keeper of 38 huskies. She was on a 5 year plan to be ready for the Iditarod. 

My team. The last 2 dogs on the left are rescues. Yes, they are all huskies!

A little information about the Iditarod sled dog race. The race we know now, started in 1973 and takes place in March. There are two routes a northern and southern one.  The route length varies from year to year but is about 1000 mile/1600 km.  Teams of 12-15 dogs complete this race in 8-15 days, often facing extreme temperatures as low as -100F/-73C.  They have 26 check in points on the trail.  My personal favourite award in the race is the red lantern award. This is given to the team who crosses the finish line last. They are awarded for perseverance. The Iditarod is the most famous, but there are a number of other races that are shorter that some of the dogs I was with have or will run.

A slightly chaotic stop as the pups all have the option to cool off. 

Back to my run. The woman who took me out, runs her teams of dogs in different combinations to help her determine who is best with who. She also wants to make sure, in case a substitute is needed, they dogs can run with many others. We spent much of our run talking about how she had rescued two of the team with us that day, who had been abused. We discussed the great lengths she has gone to rehabilitate them. They are lucky to be with her.  7/8 dogs on my run were female and the other was a neutered male. Several of the ladies were in heat, so to help control the population were being kept from non-neutered males. 

Post run - happy dogs. Note, they were not pulling us, but rather practicing commands and directions as we followed in a cart. 

After my run, I got to go and play with some puppies who were looking for new homes. It is a good thing that the cruise ship does not allow dogs because, we all know I would have come home with one. 

While the highlight of Carcross was the dogs, there were a few other fun things. Given the success of our bear hunt earlier in the trip, I had some fun with some stuffed bears!

Next we headed into Carcross proper and looked around.

Stamped my own passport!

Gift shops

Businesses

After a few hours we were back on the road for the drive back to Skagway.

Given how long this post is and some even more exciting things happened this day, I have decided to make this 2 parter a 3 parter! Come back next week to see another dream come true!