Enjoying the Real Thing

Running the Mid Distance Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon
Day 147, January 16, 2011
Team Buzzsaw / Stewart Taylor Printing

With 2 weeks to race day you would think we would need to run hard, long and fast every opportunity. But instead of loading all the dogs into the truck and taking them 10 miles to start the 30 or 60 mile run, I hooked up 8 dogs right at the Stetson homestead and ran on the 3.5 mile loop for just an hour. Breaking trail, running on the lake and then back through the woods 3 times. It was refreshing and fun. No racing or split times to worry about, just dog sledding in it's natural form, the way it is meant to be. Once on the lake, I was able to Gee (right) Haw (left) the dogs at will. Watching them react to my commands and making them go where I wanted them to go was a thing of beauty. It was a great day of learning what these Alaskan Huskies can do in a different enviornment from a race trail, where they just go straight ahead. Tight corners, deep snow and no real trail on the lake. It was vastly different than race training but more natural and enjoyable. Today was a special day as I enjoyed the real thing with my team.