Winter in Canada is looooong. You either embrace it and have fun, or you try and conquer it and...well, good luck with that!
Over the years I've tried many winter activities. There's skating, on Ottawa's world famous Rideau Canal or on our local rink. There's cross-country skiing, which is less exciting than alpine for some people, but the right amount of excitement for me. And there's tobogganing plus a few activities.
But one thing I've never tried before is...dog sledding. That's one of those bucket list items that I've never been able to try before - until now!
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| Getting ready to launch |
As a fun start to 2022, Glosette Girl, Margot and I have booked 3 nights in Notre-Dame-de-Pontmain, QC, which is a village in the Upper Laurentian region of Quebec. It's just under two-hours away from Ottawa but it feels a world away. The snow is deep, the terrain rugged and the people hardy. In short, the perfect spot to enjoy a winter break and try something new.
The first thing you notice when you go dog sledding is just how many dogs there are. I was imagining a couple of dozen at most but there were 100 dogs yapping excitedly when we arrived at Expédition Rêve Blanc, which is the local dog sledding operator.
It felt a bit overwhelming at first, but once we were on the trails, which meander deep into la réserve faunique de Papineau-Labelle, it was actually very peaceful. My favourite part was when we glided onto a frozen lake. With a smattering of snowflakes in the air and snow covered trees as far as the eye could see, it was magical.
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| After 10 minutes training we were off into the wilderness. Easy as that! |
The guide, Thibault, led the way, followed by Margot and I on one sled, with Glosette Girl leading up the rear.
Thibault
only spoke French but I figured out the most important details: brake
when you go downhill (to avoid the sled getting ahead of the dogs),
pedal off the sled going uphill (to help the dogs out) and then hold on!
We also enjoyed a hot chocolate break half way through the two-hour
experience, which was a nice touch.
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| The nearest dog, Buzz, is at the back of the team as he's less social with other dogs. | |
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| The dogs are bundles of energy but also very friendly |
Honestly, it was super fun and I 100% recommend it to anyone needing a break from the worries of the world as it's one of those things that you will just enjoy in the moment.
oh wow! couple questions, you were on a sled without a guide? so really the dogs were doing their own thing? And how fast!?
ReplyDeleteYup, everyone (except kids) gets their own sled. The guide is on their own sled up front. And dogs pretty much do one thing - run! But sometimes as they were running they would grab some snow to eat and rarely look to the side a bit. But they were well behaved and fast - google says 25-30 km per hour!
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