Today we did one of the coolest things ever. We went dog sledding in the White Mountains of New Hampshire! This was pretty high on my New England winter bucket list and I'm so happy we were able to have this experience. We went with a company called Muddy Paws Rescue. All of their Siberian and Alaska Huskie sled dogs were rescued from tough situations. Some ran the Iditarod back in their prime and were then abandoned and replaced with younger dogs. Others were saved from puppy mills, and some were house dogs that were abused. Now 140 dogs call New Hampshire home and get to run their hearts out. Once retired, they can be adopted as pets or remain at Muddy Paws to live out their days with their fluffy friends.
>> Scroll To The Bottom to skip my rambling and see the video!<<
The first part of our day included meeting the dogs and learning how to harness them. Every dog had their own look and personality. I didn't know how many other breads are intentionally bread into huskies (particularly the Alaskan Huskies) to make them what they are today. Bread like Great Danes, Wippets, Pointers, and German Shepherds are all a part of these dogs. This makes for a million combinations of coats, sizes, and shapes. The Siberian Huskie is what most people think of when they picture a sled dog. And of course their beautiful eyes.
^^ This is Jack. This is his last season. After a long career he will retire and is up for adoption. We basically became best friends. I tried to sneak him home with me.
^ This is Frost. I love her smirk.
Next we learned how to harness the dogs. We had 12 dogs on our team.
When these dogs get hooked up they are ready to go. It's amazing how excited they are to run. But then, one of the shyer dogs got out of her harness and got loose. All of a sudden the dogs went absolutely crazy! Caleb and I just stood in the middle of 140 huge huskies going insane while the mushers attempted to calmly catch Snow White. Video of the madness below:
After our mushers successfully wrangled Snow White. Caleb and I bundled up in the sled and off we went!
Below are two videos of our ride. Our musher even taught us how to drive the sled! I wasn't exactly heavy enough to put all my weight on the brake- but Caleb did great! I think I'm going to convince him to get our own team...
Clearly, an awesome experience.