anyone been dog sledding before ?? /// BEEN THERE, DONE THAT ///

[Scottintexas]

My son's boy scout troop is talking about going to a scout camp in Ely, MN next winter that has dog sledding as part of the program. You dog sled out, make camp for two days and then return with additional dog sledding during the day to see the surrounding area.

I'm wondering what the bang to hype ratio is. Is it something that get's boring fast?

 

[KXCam22]

Do it! It will be an experience that he will never forget. Cam.

 

[Andy S]

A few years ago we went dog sledding on one of our skiing trips. The ride was on a trail that was about 2 miles long. Even though it was on a designated trail it was tremendous fun and exciting, we would definitely do it again. It is an experience that the Scouts will never forget, a must do!

 

[RightStuff]

And Ely is just gorgeous to boot, such a cool area of our state. the boys will be amazed by the wilderness up there.

 

[eastcoaster]

Great opportunity . It's been a few year but went for a four hour dog sled run in Quebec. It was cold so geared up with my long underwear ski pants and jacket etc. Long story short it was a workout as the terain was hilly and had to run behind the sled on steep inclines. Overall it was a blast but challenging . I was overdressed despite the cold temps so was soaked in sweat. This would be a major concern if camping out as the # 1 rule in winter camping is do not sweat as you will freeze later. If it where my son would want to know more about camping conditions and if they are are just riding on sleds or other. I remember as a scout in my younger years going winter camping with an inept scout leader and half the kids coming home with frostbite, fortunately I was not one of them.

 

[MikeyL]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .............
I sincerely hope this is appropriate ............
But I heard "dog sledding" and IMMEDIATELY my mind went bonkers ........

'Cuz down here in the South ..........

We go Dog Skiing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Y'all play nicely now, y'hear ? !!!!!!! (LOL) - Mikey Lulejian - - Lake Oconee, GA
(PS - And Yeah ! That IS one of our PROUD Georgia BullDogs !)

 

[Scottintexas]

We had our winter adventure! Two dads and four scouts spent 4 days in Ely, MN.

Colder is definitely better, they had some days in the 30-40's before we arrived so the top layer of ice on the lakes became slush and when it would refreeze you could still break through to the lower layer. Instead of making a base camp on the lake or doing a loop trip out to the Canadian border we had to hike our gear on sleds about 3/4 mile from the lodge and make camp and just run the trails and roads around the camp. The first day was 43 and at night 20 with an inch of snow, the second day was high 15 and night of -2 with 3 inches of snow, the third was high of 5 and low of -12 (we slept in ingloo/quinzhees that night). They gave us all the gear we needed and did a great job feeding and monitoring us to be warm and safe although when in was about 0 anything other than active movement you got a chill pretty quick. We put our sleeping bags inside their -20 big browning bags on top of two sleeping pads with tarp folded over to help against the wind. Nobody was cold at night.

The dog sledding was fun. It was very demanding as you had to jump off and run along side the sled going up a hill to help the dogs. You really had little to know control over the dogs. We had four sleds and two guides. The following sleds lead dogs just followed the front sled but even when you would want to stop you could have all your weight on the brake and if they really wanted they could start pulling you (like when my dogs saw a chipmunk in the snowbank!). We had to feed the dogs twice a day and harness and put them up twice a day so we stayed pretty busy.

I would definitely recommend trying it even for a single day. If I took my daughters that's probably what I would opt for next time.