Hearts race and pulses quicken as the teams head into the starting chute, the breath of the anxious dogs filling the air with steamy blasts. Then, as the sun rises over the frozen heaves of Lake Superior, the signal is given and they’re off in a blurred fury of brilliant colors and snow, charging ahead into the raw wilderness to the encouraging calls of their mushers. Which team has what it takes to brave the icy challenges that lay ahead? Who will be crowned this year’s champion? 

Source:  bayfield.org

Another first this last weekend – sled dog racing.  Cyndie and I joined our friends in Bayfield, WI for the 20th Annual Apostle Island Sled Dog Race.  I must profess that the whole scene is pretty exhilarating.  There was a palpable excitement in every sled dog preparing for the race.  Some sat quietly waiting, but only for a moment before their passion-filled song and dance moved them once again.  They are a vocal and energetic lot.  They returned to the finish line a bit more subdued.  

Watching the teams race out of the chute was fun.  Photographing them was challenging as they raced toward you through the crowd that had gathered.  Each musher had their own phrase to encourage their dogs on.

There were two main races: a 10-dog, 80-mile race and a 6 dog, 60-mile race. There’s also a 40-mile Sportsmen’s Race, a 6 to 8-mile Family Race and a 6 to 8-mile Youth Race (16 and under).  Half the distance was completed each day.  You can see the course of each race on the map.

http://www.winterlong.com/

You can see it in every dog… the drive and determination radiating from their eyes.

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