A Day with the Dogs at Wapusk Dogsledding Adventure

During our time in Churchill, dogsledding is always a highlight of the week. This year we visited Wapusk Adventures with Dave Daley. Dave gave us a fascinating overview of what it means to be a dog musher and keep a dogsledding business in operation.

Dave has 39 dogs in his dogyard. There are also some very energetic puppies near the door to greet us and entertain us. Dave loves his dogs, and they clearly love and respect him. In fact the dogs we met seemed to love everyone!

Once it was time for the dogsled runs, the dogs began to go crazy. "Pick me, pick me!" they barked. There is no question that this translation is 100%accurate. Brian signed us up to be on the first sled so we could experience the full release of doggie power. It was a fast run!! By the time the dogs have done the ride a bunch of times, they are still fast but at a much more relaxed pace. As volunteers we had always gone last, and certainly savored every moment of the day's last ride. Now we know what it's like at the start of the day.

These dogs are true doggy athletes. Many have run in major races including the Iditarod. At Dave's place visitors do the Ididamile, and I have a snazzy certificate to prove I did it. In the photo above, you see a racing sled parked outside of the two outhouses. (there is a bird feeder attached to one of them and antlers to the other) And speaking of birds, we all had fun feeding the gray jays or whiskey jays from our hands or the tops of our hats.

There is a local race up here between Churchill and Gillam called the Hudson Bay Quest. The race is 220 miles long, and it is a very challenging course. If you'd like to read a little more about this race, follow this link. http://www.hbqrace.com/about-hbq/
Twice we have gotten to see the start of the race, but not this year. Here is a quote I loved from the link above.

 "It is a traditional race built on the history of the fur trade, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the early days of Churchill, Manitoba. It harkens back to a time when ‘There ain’t no law of God nor man goes north of 53°’ was a common saying."