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With my fascination for the famous Ididarod Dog Sled Race,
(see Blog.) I was very much interested in seeing the Sled Dog Demonstration
that is part of the Ranger programs offered in Denali
National Park.

It is an opportunity to tour the kennels, visit Denali's
sled dogs and observe rangers and dogs working together to demonstrate a
traditional mode of travel.

The tours start by taking a bus from the Visitor's Center to
the dog kennels. After a 10 minute ride, there is a word of welcome by the
ranger who is leading the dog demonstration of the day. We are cautioned not to
feed the dogs but invited to pet them!
Within the kennel there are some sled dogs enclosed in compounds
whereas others are on 3 foot high individual platforms large enough to allow the
dog to make a circle at the end of a tether . This almost lends a circus type of
atmosphere to the proceedings.

The first thing that hits you here is disappointment. I say disappointment because everybody knows what a sled dog looks like - right? It is those cute Siberian Huskies characterized by thick,
luxurious fur and blue eyes. It is hard not to like and admire the looks of this
dog. Unfortunately, these dogs have no resemblance to a Siberian
husky. These are Alaskan Huskies which is not an official breed of
dog but as a type of dog defined by its purpose - that of being a "sled dog".

So what are the characteristics of a good sled dog? As I
recall, it is long legs to provide clearance from the snow, tight paws that
don't allow snow deposits between the cleavages of the paw, a strong chest to
create the power of pulling, a strong will to work, a thick two-level fur to keep warm and a long
tail which is essential to cold weather survival. The sleeping dog can curl up
in a ball while wrapping his long tail like a ski mask over its snout and face
to warm the air it breathes in .

The end result is the impression of a dog which is a mix of several
breeds with German Shepard being one of them.

What is amazing about the Alaskan Sled dogs is that their
exposure to the public is close and personal. Visitors are invited to stroke
the dogs and not to forget the dogs which are in the kennels. There are
children everywhere in close proximity to the dogs. There is no warning about
the dogs biting or being dangerous. To me this is most unusual, a breed that is
so restrained as to be fully trusting with the public.

The bottom line is that while the Siberian husky may look
the part, in this business looks don't matter, and the Siberian husky would be
left in the (snow) dust by the Alaskan Sled dog when it comes to speed and
power.

After the visitors have been assembled in a staging area it
is time for the rangers to harness five sled dogs on a sled equipped with
wheels .

As the ranger starts to explain the hitching part, the dogs
come to life with a chorus of howls as if they perfectly well understood what
is being said.

It is then up to the rangers to select 5 dogs from about 40.
The dogs selected are lifted up by the scruff of the neck and moved to their
hitching positions while hopping on back legs. This reduces their famous
pulling power to zero and allows them to be directed in the desired direction.

They are then hitched to the sled in a formation of one, two
and two, with the one being closest to the sled. The single dog closest to the sled is the "wheel dog" which must have the ability to guide the sled through tight curves.

The two "swing or point dogs" in the middle must be able to pull hard and swing the sled around curves.The "lead dogs" steer the sled and lead the way. All of the above positions must be taught to the young pups who will be taking the place of the present team .

The ranger described the sensation of mushing as being closest to water skiing. I take it that means that body movements are essential to where you are going.

The next part of the demonstration was running the dogs
around a track while pulling the wheeled sled. This was the second disappointment as the track was only about a hundred meter oval which was run only once. Twice would have been a
bare minimum to get anywhere close to appreciating the sport of dog mushing.
Considering the eagerness of the dogs to run why not let them go for it and let
them run several times?

It was pointed out that the park continues to rely on the
dog teams as the major means of transportation for the patrolling of the park
during the winter. Patrols can takes weeks to complete.

Much was made of the ecological advantage which the dogs
have over snow mobiles for this purpose . To accomplish this task it was pointed
out that the dogs each require about 5,000 calories per day during the winter.

This point seemed to belie the argument of how ecologically
friendly the dog teams were over snow mobiles. Given that some patrols were
ongoing for several weeks it would be impossible to carry that amount of dog
food on a small sled.

I was told by the ranger that during the summer months dog
food is cached throughout various points in the park to allow for these
multi-week dog patrols. No mention is made of how the dog food gets out there.
Unless it is by mule train it would certainly take fossil fuels to get it
there.

It does raise an interesting point of how the original
mushers would be able to nourish themselves and their sled dogs. The obvious
answer would be hunting. But what do you do with the dog team while you are
around and about hunting?

In conclusion, I did learn a little more about the
fascinating world of dog mushing .

At the end of the tour I decided to take an hour walk
through the woods back to the Visitor's Center.

All the pictograms for walking trails I have seen here in Alaska
show two persons. That conveys the important message of not walking trails
alone. The reason is at least two-fold. Firstly, if anything happens out on the
trail there is someone there to help. Secondly, two people create a lot more
noise than one. The creation of noise is essential in not surprising bears
along the way.

Since I was by myself, I found myself a strong walking stick
which I basically dragged along the ground with every step. It was surprising
how much noise that did create in a quiet forest. That is one huge advantage of
European alpine regions where one does not have to consider bears as a potential
danger.

Having achieved my limited objectives here in Denali
National Park, I now headed in the
direction of Anchorage, about 300 km
to the south .

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