On Monday we drove out to the Seavey family homestead which has access to a national park that we mushed through. This was an amazing experience. so beautiful & coooold. I do not know how the mushers keep their hands warm, but I am here to investigate that. One great pointer I learned is that the mushers race in what they train in, so they would never wear brand new equipment for the race.
Mike, our tour guide, gave us about a 5 minute talk about how to operate the dog sled. He would not let us even try out the equipment. It was very intimidating and scary. Luckily, it was just as easy as he promised it would be. We discussed as teacher the importance of modeling and letting children really explore & put their hands on equipment before you dive into the objective of a lesson.
The other thing that Mike talked about is the life commitment that these people have to their dogs. If they are actually racing, they are on the trail all day long working, racing, mushing, tending to their dogs and definitely not resting. He said it is isolating but it is a passion for the trail and the dogs that keep them going.
After we finished our 16 mile trek, it was amazing at how quickly and efficiently the dogs were happily loaded into their truck to take them home for food.
If you were mushing in a race, there would not be a hotel with heat, a warm shower, a break from taking care of your dogs, food from a restaurant, computers or cell phones. What do you think the best and worst part of mushing a 1,149 mile race?
Mike, our tour guide, gave us about a 5 minute talk about how to operate the dog sled. He would not let us even try out the equipment. It was very intimidating and scary. Luckily, it was just as easy as he promised it would be. We discussed as teacher the importance of modeling and letting children really explore & put their hands on equipment before you dive into the objective of a lesson.
The other thing that Mike talked about is the life commitment that these people have to their dogs. If they are actually racing, they are on the trail all day long working, racing, mushing, tending to their dogs and definitely not resting. He said it is isolating but it is a passion for the trail and the dogs that keep them going.
After we finished our 16 mile trek, it was amazing at how quickly and efficiently the dogs were happily loaded into their truck to take them home for food.
If you were mushing in a race, there would not be a hotel with heat, a warm shower, a break from taking care of your dogs, food from a restaurant, computers or cell phones. What do you think the best and worst part of mushing a 1,149 mile race?