Dog-sled races: Pellston, MI (Feb 5, 2005)

It is day one of the UMSC weekend trip to the UM biostation. We decided to check out the dog-sled races at nearby Pellston. This is at the Pellston high-school, where the dogs are being prepped and they are about to begin the race. We noticed 6, 8 and 10-dog sleds participating. I presume there is some kind of handicap system, or they are 3 separate races being held simultaneously!

Anxious to get started... barking incessantly and creating a ruckus.

Aren't they graceful...

And the race is on...!

They appear to be sprinting at over 20 mph!

Thats Meg, trying to get closer to the action...

Hooooold on to your "hats"... these dogs can accelerate like crazy!

Meanwhile, the local kids were having fun with their own sleds...

Action shots!

The sleds making the first turn...

We (Stephanie and I) found the perfect spot to capture the action shot as the sleds whizzed by... but phew! was that close or what? Looking through the lens, it appeared as if the dogs were about to pounce on me.

One of the sleds making its way across Lake Douglas. Interesting side-note: The lake is about 3 miles across at its widest point, and was completely frozen at that time. The ice was about 14" thick. (Yes, we actually measured it!)

Meg and Stephanie

Close-up, as one of the sleds rounds a mark on the frozen lake Douglas. A good pair of leader dogs can make this look easy. But we did see a few sleds get completely tangled up due to confused leader dogs!

Approaching the finish line... hope I can get out of the way in time!

Group Photo!

And here's the UMSC gang at the Pellston dog-sled race start/finish line: (from left to right, clockwise) Meg, Jim, Thomas, Ryan, Carey, Rick, Vijay, Stephanie and Lisa. (Saturday, Feb 5, 2005)