Talk about a “ruff” life…okay, that pun was pretty bad, but stick with me here because this story about dog sledding in the Canadian Rockies is one you won’t want to miss. Even if you’re not the adventure “type” this is one extraordinary TRAVEL THERAPY! When you’re visiting the Banff and Lake Louise area of Alberta, Canada, there are several dog sledding operations you can choose from but only ONE, Kingmik Dog Sled Tours, is allowed to operate inside the Canadian National Park, so of course that’s the one I picked for this TRAVEL THERAPY.
This two hour tour is offered several times a day out of Lake Louise and I have to admit when we first showed up for our ride I was shocked at how small the dogs were. Where were those fat, fluffy dogs you see in the movies? Some of the yappy dogs I was looking at were only about 30 pounds and seemed too skinny to pull a sled. I quickly found out that’s because the “sled dogs” you see in the movies are usually Siberian Huskies and these were Alaskan Huskies, basically “mutts” that have been bred specifically for dog sledding and speed.
Our musher told me you need to look at it like this. Siberian Huskies are the 16 wheeler trucks; they’re big and strong but not very fast and nimble, where the Alaskan Huskies are bred to be more like a sports car, fast and sleek. This made me feel much better.
For our 10 mile trip there were about six different sleds and each sled fits two people with the musher on the back. Before you start out the noise of the dogs barking was almost overpowering, you could just see it in their eyes that they wanted to GO. It was such a contrast to after we took off when it was almost silent except for the sound of the dogs paws pounding against the snow. It’s also surprising how fast you can go, around 15 miles per hour which trust me you can feel when you hit the bumps.
One cool part of the trip is at one point we crossed over from Alberta into British Columbia and then we had a chance to try “mushing”. Standing on the back of the sled on tiny one inch pieces of wood you learn how to balance and brake to keep the sled under control. The view when you’re mushing is completely different from the one you have when you’re at ground level in the sled and it’s almost impossible to take photos because you’re hanging on so tight. Our two lead dogs were Sloop and Cooter I was told they were picked to lead because they were the smartest and most obedient…a winning combination and I swear you could see the smiles on their faces when they knew it was time to “run”. In the middle of gliding across the snow sometimes one of the dogs would chomp on some snow and as soon as we stopped they’d all roll around and play and then be ready to go again in seconds.
The journey is magical.
This is one of those TRAVEL THERAPY trips you truly have to experience to understand. Coming up…more about the dogs…the real stars of this adventure.
