Roadtrippin’ 2024: AK Sled Dog Tours
TALKEETNA, Alaska (KTUU) - Nothing says “uniquely Alaskan” quite like the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but what does a six-time champion of The Last Great Race and his team of athletes do in the off-season? They open up their kennel to visitors looking for a taste of what it’s like to mush.
AK Sled Dog Tours by Dallas Seavey offers tourists a unique opportunity to mush their own team of dogs, either on dry land or for a few extra bucks, on real snow with their glacier helicopter dogsledding option.
The dryland experience begins with a tour of Seavey’s kennel, tucked away in the wilderness of Talkeetna, where individuals are introduced to the athletes that make up his team. After meeting some of the dogs — and yes, there are puppies to play with too — visitors will go inside a cabin to learn about the history of the Iditarod.
From there the guides will give a quick overview of how to operate the 4-wheel, chariot-style handcarts that the dog teams will be pulling. Each handcart carries two people, with one driving the cart while the other sits in a seat up front. Seavy said he uses this style cart to give people the most realistic idea of how it feels to mush dogs in the snow — even in the summer months.
“I wanted to develop something that I would want to do, and it is a blast,” Seavey said. “When we first got these carts I took them out every single day because it’s fun — it’s a lot like mushing in the wintertime.”
The carts are also intuitive for people with no experience mushing dogs, as the components are similar to that of a bicycle with handlebars and hand-operated brake levers.
Once each cart has four dogs in harness, guests take off from the kennel following a gravel trail through the Alaskan wilderness, with handlers driving side-by-sides both at the head and the rear of the teams for support.
The trail tour lasts about 45 minutes, with a short break halfway through at a turnaround point to allow the sled dogs to lap up a little water while giving teams to swap cart positions so everyone gets a chance to drive.
Once you return to the kennel, don’t forget to grab a picture with your team, as this is one experience you won’t soon forget.
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