Mushing in Montana

My sister tried dog-sledding years ago when she visited Calgary and reported that it was a disappointment. The dogs bark a lot, seem semi-wild and apparently are a bit flatulent as they pull you through the snow. She was not enamored.

However, the report in a recent New York Times is more positive. The reporter, Greg Breining, signed on with Jason Matthews, owner of Yellowstone Dog Sled Adventures in Immigrant, Montana. According to Breining, "Dog sledding is an exhilarating and nostalgic way to travel through wild country--quieter than snowmobiles, faster than skis or snowshoes."

As he and his fellow travelers traversed sections of Yellowstone, they learned the art of controlling a sled pulled by Alaskan huskies, a breed, according to Matthews that is bred to run fast and last forever. The dogs did not disappoint. "Anything that can run 150 miles in a single day, nine days in a row and just live on raw meat and water is pretty impressive," Matthews notes. "Running dogs isn't hard. Stopping dogs is hard."

According to Breining, who found himself upside down a snowbank at one point, this is most definitely true. These dogs run fast, hard and never seemed to get tired, except when the snow was very deep and the altitude very high. At that point, they all took turns stepping off and pushing the sled to help the dogs progress.

It seems that solitude is one of the big lures of this past time--solitude, silence (except for barking) and the opportunity to see nature, like a herd of elk, up close and personal.

The final verdict: "I enjoyed every bit of it, but it was more work than I anticipated." Still sounds like something I might like to try one day.

What about you?