Tales From the Trail

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Taking a break along the trail. The dogs are howling, impatient to get back running. (Photo: Courtsey of Hannah Moderow)

February 1—Pre Race

Denali Highway Training

Every day is different when it comes to dog training. Some days require every ounce of patience, while others seem to fall from the sky in perfection. Today was one of those perfect days where I had to blink to be sure it wasn’t a dream. We loaded up 18 dogs and three sleds in the truck, and drove 20 miles south to the Denali Highway. The Denali Highway is a road traveled by cars in summertime and left unplowed in the winter. Many mushers train here, as well as skiers and snow machiners.

Mom and our new handler Patty planned to mush a team of 10 dogs. I took eight by myself. How can two people mush one team? It is a setup called double-sledding. This is where you hook up two dog sleds (one in front of the other) and the dog team pulls both of them. This is an invaluable way to train dogs if the trails are icy. With two mushers instead of one, you can stop more easily. Also, one musher can stay on the sled while the other makes adjustments in the team.

Mom and Patty left first, while I finished strapping booties on my dogs. The wind blew hard in the parking lot, but the sun shone down brighter than I had seen in months. Winter in Alaska is very dark, and any glimmer of sunshine is a reason for celebration.

I clipped Zeus and Sydney in lead, followed by Pokey, Toklat, Rosie, Stoney, Lily, and Abbott. They leaned into their harnesses, and took off from the parking lot as if they wanted to run for days. I had to keep my foot on the brake to slow them down.

Have you ever run too fast in a gym class, and realized you should have started out slower? It is the musher’s responsibility to make sure the dog team preserves energy to finish each trip as strong as they began. You don’t want to let the team take off like a wild hare, only to be passed by the slow, steady tortoise in the end!

View from the sled. (Photo: Courtsey of Hannah Moderow)

The dogs were flawless. We traveled between 10 and 11 miles per hour. At the sight of caribou, they zoomed up to 13 mph. I looped the team around after two hours (approximately 20 miles). Once pointed toward home, I tossed chunks of beef to the dogs, and turned on my iPod.

Music is a great way to stay peppy and alert. I have learned how to match music with moods. If I am sleepy, I crank up the rock music. If I am worried, I switch to happy country music. If I am grumpy, I find the music that reminds me how lucky I am, and how I should seize the day. The dogs pick up on my moods, and music can be a great way to set your mind straight.

One exciting thing happened on the trail home. At the top of a hill, I noticed two brown spots below. At first I thought they might be pieces of wood or signs on the side of the road. Then they moved. I quickly realized it was a cow moose and her calf. Moose can be very dangerous for a dog team, and especially a cow moose protecting its young. Instead of mushing right by, I stopped at the top of the hill, hoping that my barking dogs would scare them away. Moose have been known to charge dog teams. I didn’t want to take any chances.

A few minutes passed, and though the cow moose motioned towards the barking chaos, she didn’t budge from the trail. I was beginning to think I would be there for hours, when the barking grew louder, and I realized Mom and Patty’s dog team had pulled up behind us. Now, 18 dogs were barking. Within a few minutes, the two moose trotted up the bank from the trail, and we sped by before they could change their minds. Phew. I was relieved to have escaped the danger, and the dogs were glad to be moving again. Even the most perfect day of mushing wouldn’t be the same without these obstacles along the way.

Hannah Moderow is a musher and writer for Scholastic News Online.

Serum Run 2007
On the Shakedown this weekend, I was privileged to take four young pups on their first big mushing field trip. Roo, Abbott, Pokey and Lily took each mile in stride, and proved to be mighty campers. They were eager to learn the ins and outs of long distance mushing, and I think they will be seasoned professionals before long. This is great news, as the upcoming Serum Run is an 18-day field trip!

Serum Run 2007
Sled dogs need new shoes often. Called booties, these black corduroy shoes are used to protect a dogs' paws from cuts and scrapes on icy trails.

Serum Run 2007
I spent five hours with butcher Don today, cutting and packaging beef for my dogs for the Serum Run. Exactly how much meat are we talking about? For 20 days on the trail, I will feed approximately 300 pounds of beef to my dog team. I may not need it all, but it is best to be prepared with extra in case we are delayed by a storm.

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