Dogsledding at Wiggi's Mountainside Huskies, MI

Jack London popularized the idea of a dog and/or wolf in both The Call of the Wild and White Fang as powerful friend and means of transport in fiercely cold weather. The Dane, Knud Rasmussen, arctic explorer and Inuit anthropologist, was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dogsled. Every year the Iditarod is run, a dogsled challenge of officially 1,049 miles (1688 km). Friends went dogsledding last year and have since talked excitedly about it. I had to give it a try!

There are many sites in Michigan where a person can go dogsledding ... costs fluctuate a bit but weight restrictions pretty much max out at 300 pounds. My friends who went last year sat on a frame of webbing and the two of them were draw-stringed in a sack to keep flying snow off. That didn't sound like much of an authentic dogsled experience to me - sitting in a sack on a webbing with the potential of hitting a stump and getting a permanent implant. So did a little sleuthing online. Most of the sites offer rides for 30 minutes, 1 hour, and custom rides. Almost always, however, there is a weight cut-off of 300 pounds, of course this limit is to protect the dogs from over-exertion. The problem with the weight cut-off would force my brother and I to go in separate sleds at double the expense. Looking further, we found one place that was more rustic than others (perfect - not so commercial!), was three-generation family operated (a family passion and tradition), and way-lah, had a weight limit of 350 pounds. Yeah, a shared experience is so much more fun than going separate ways. We booked!

Guest riders are encouraged to pet and greet the dogs. Wiggi's had 14 dogs and 16 maturing pups. This year three litters had been born and each of the litters had been exceptionally large; I think they originally had 20 or 21 pups before selling some. The first dog we met was three-legged and she had the heart of a runner. A male dog had bit off her leg when she was a rowdy pup, but she had the pluck of a champion and could keep up with the other dogs, but the owners just didn't have the heart to hook her to a sled no matter how much she begged and positioned herself to be hooked up and run. She had the run of both the house and the woods as a much-loved member of the family. The other huskies were friendly, and wow did they get excited when the home-constructed light-framed sleds were dragged out. The dogs seemed to be vying for attention and getting chosen to run, otherwise I can imagine being chained in the long dog-line-up waiting for their turn made the day drag. The young man who took us out was telling us that animal rightists sometimes came by and threatened reporting them for making their dogs "work". Those animal rightists don't seem to understand that some dogs, like huskies, are "work" dogs and die inside without stimulation.

The dogs in line-up ... when the dogsled is positioned for going somewhere, then the dogs really come alive!

Hooking the dogs up. The back left dog is actually a pup in training. In his excitement to run he kept jumping the traces and getting himself tangled. Once out on the trail though he got right in with the concept of RUNNING :)

For the "Kodak moment" I started out sitting, but once a few shots were taken I got on one runner, my bro on another with the musher behind on both runners and controlling the kick-brake and off we went. From our runners we kicked going uphill to help the dogs and maintain speed and, going down, the musher applied the brake as necessary to keep from plowing over the dogs. 

The weather was perfect out! This winter 2013-2014 has been awesomely beautiful ... if one likes snow. Up until today when we went out dogsledding, Michigan has already gotten 88 inches of snow. Of course that all depends on where in Michigan a person is looking at accumulation. Anyway, the day before we went, another several inches fell and we were worried about driving on the back roads north of Cadillac because those roads can't be kept clear fast enough. Had to leave my bro's car, which is rear-wheel drive, behind and use mom's front-wheel drive vehicle. Wouldn't have made it otherwise!

Couldn't have asked for a more picturesque setting!

The snow was perfect for dogsledding though. And with the recent blanket of whiteness, also perfect for pictures. On the dogsledding route weaving through a large wooded expanse, we passed a horse pasture. The poor horses weren't enjoying the snow so much, and just a few days before one of the horses had lain down in the snow evidently to roll but then couldn't get up. Took a couple of hours to dig the poor horse out. Nope, the horses weren't enjoying their little confining trod-down area much.

Well, we did very much enjoy the snowy day. I wouldn't call what we did as an adrenaline-spiking adventure but it sure was a novelty and a wonderful winter-weather experience. Have to say, though, after the 30 minutes of virtually no hand movement on the back of the sled, my front paws were cold. The dogs, on the other hand, were blazing hot ... and were rewarded with venison to say "thank you" for their great effort. 

From my research on what's available for dogsledding in Michigan's lower peninsula, this seems to be the most authentic and uncommercialized. Wiggi's Mountain-side Huskies: wwhuskies@netscape.net and 231-362-2651. They're on FB too.

Dogsledding at Wiggi's Mountainside Huskies, a family-owned business. Have to say, this 30 minute new experience - and in such a fantastically clean pastoral setting - was the highlight of my winter vacation!