Imagine my surprise when I discovered that only 5 out of 10 spaces were taken up =| Perhaps its the cost that put most people off. I was pretty hesistant too, blowing CAD$400 on a 2-3 day trip. But I eventually convinced myself that it was worth it - how many people in sg can say that they've gone dog sledding in the Canadian winter? Heehee.
And it sure was worth it! Okay, the trip started off being pretty screwed up - I didn't get all the emails flying around because someone typed my address wrongly, so instead of gl--- it became gt---, and it was nearly derailed because there initially wasn't any transport available, and then the meeting times got changed time and again and at the last minute! So I was pretty annoyed at the start, plus I didn't know anyone else on the trip. Anyway, it all got sorted out eventually, and we finally got going towards Algonquin Provincial Park!
The drive took... hmm... we left Guelph at around 4.45pm and reached pretty near 10pm. It was snowy that night and everyone was going/leaving Toronto so the highway was pretty slow for some stretches. The sky was starry as we approached Algonqin Park though, but it soon clouded over.We stayed at Algonquin Motel on Friday night, and it was the most groovy (to borrow a word that was plastered all over the place) motel. Ever. The owner came to the door decked out in a blue bathrobe with yellow ducks all over it. He had pretty wild looking hair and huge red plastic frame specs on. I was pretty amazed!
The entire place was painted in bright colours. Right down to the washroom in our room. It was so fascinating and happy and cheery! His wife ran a bead shop in the motel, and we came back after our dogsledding adventure to pick up a few beads... (all the while smelling of dog, seriously.)The next morning, we had breakfast at a restaurant (Name of the restaurant? "Mmm... Just like Mom's." I kid you not.) some distance away from the motel.
So (from left), that's Ali, Nora, Andy and Sandra. Nora and Sandra are from Germany, currently TA-ing for german lessons. Ali and Andy (both are shortened forms of their names) are bio-ish students!After a supremely good breakfast (I've never eaten such a rich breakfast since coming to Canada, what a cheapskate/lazy bum I am.), we set off for the Chocpaw office! Arrived a little too late for the start of the briefing - because we woke late(r), and breakfast was slower than we though. They said not to arrive before 8.30am, so we arrived at 8.45am to find that the briefing was in full swing!! Oops.
Anyway so after the briefing part was over (with the help of a really cute "couch" dog aka retired sled dog Myna), we hopped into the car once more and drove down to the kennels, where our adventure was about to begin!!
My sled! Its kinda different from the others because I was the only one without a partner, so I shared a sled with our guide, Matt. Which was both a good and bad thing: he did everything from the packing and tying down, while I stood around and used my eye power to help other people pack their stuff. So on one hand while I didn't have to worry about whether my knots were tight enough or whether my barang was secure enough, on the other hand I didn't get the "full" sledding experience.
And of course, not forgetting the frantic barking in the background! Presenting to you, the 370+++ dogs!
The dogs assigned to our sled. The other groups had 6 dogs, while we had 7. Later, Matt unharnessed a dog from Andy/Ali's sled and put it on ours, so we eventually had 8. Which meant that I couldn't handle the sled on my own, because let's face it, a rudimentary brake and an anchor which level of effectiveness depended on my strength coupled with my relatively puny frame essentially meant that there is no way I'm gonna be able to make 8 excited running masses of muscle, fat, fur and drool stop once they're off and running.
So that's Vodka, Treat, Squrrel, Thumper, Gunner, Frank and Red. Plus Tony, the 9 month old puppy that was larger than his elders e.g. Squirrel, and who took me for a walk, no, drag in the snow when I first brought him out of his kennel for Andy/Ali's sled. Ugh. But he's such a sweet thing ^^Laying out the harnesses next to the chains and ropes before getting the dogs out...
The dogs have been trained to walk on 2s... so we drag them/make them walk to where we want them to go. Of course, all these sounds easier than done. Try walking an excited sled dog (read: happy mass of squirming muscle) half your weight on its hindfeet and you might get an idea of how I felt. When you approach the one dog that you're supposed to get, all the other dogs in the area goes crazy too, barking and straining at the chains holding them down. Then your dog, excited that you've come for him/her, runs around in circles. Which is all well and good and funny UNTIL your leg is actually caught in the chain, and the dog is still happily running circles around you. After you've freed yourself, you're supposed to put the dog between your legs so that its sandwiched and can no longer jump about. Of course, it didn't work for me, because the dog was so freaking excited, there was no way I could shove it between my legs and hold it down for long enough to unfasten the hook from its collar. There was another dog which thought I was mounting it or something, because everytime I put my leg over it it would slip away and start growling at me -_-". So after all that's done, you're supposed to grab the dog by its collar and make it walk on its hind feet. Which is of course, again, easier said than done, because the dog is still an excited mass of muscle and fur, and would 1. struggle to get away from you so that it can run, failing which; 2. it would hop faster than you can walk in the snow.Or maybe that's just little me, everyone else didn't seem to have problems on my scale.
What they forgot to mention was that, making it walk on its hind feet is absolutely crucial, because the moment it gets on fours, its gonna be walking you. Which was what 2 dogs did to me, bless their little canine hearts. I slid along the snow, dragged by an excited running dog, until a kind soul managed to catch and restrain the excited doggy while I dusted the snow off me and nursed my wounded pride. Such an (humiliating) experience. =|
After all the doggy drama, we were off!
Squirrel (Or Gunner? Hmm.) and Tony.
The outhouse, for all your peeing and pooing needs. ^^
Red pines!
Thumper and Vodka, our 2 lead dogs.Left and right position
Smelling of dog and bacon
8 dogs instead of the usual 6
Treat and Tony
Pooping along the trail
Lunch with a leg between 2 dogs
Mittens are useful things
Thumper and his pawing antics
The harder route back home
The run through the quarry
Meeting another expedition on a narrow trail
Breaking a new trail, literally
Falling off the sled twice, losing my hat once.
Being dragged by a dog twice. (Thanks, Tony, and Brier.)
Dog entanglment
Dogs love going out, and going home too.
The warmth in the tent
Cooking dinner for everyone
Peeing in the outhouse. (heh)
The muscle ache zomg.
Algonquin National Park, Jan31st - Feb 1st
Dog sledding is everything, and beyond, what you can imagine.(Too tired to create a full blog post, shall leave it till another day.)
