Whitehorse, YT, was a 3 night stay that we enjoyed very much. Our group had a bus tour of the city and several points of interest including the SS Klondike, a “sternwheeler,” which was used to bring food, supplies and equipment to the city when the Yukon River was not frozen, which was only 4-1/2 months a year. The next day was the highlight of Whitehorse for us when we visited the MukTuc Sled Dog Kennel and Training Center. As you can see in a few of our pictures (we have hundreds more), each dog is chained with their own house, but the owner is a trainer as well as a musher who told us every bit of information on the dogs. There were 135 and they are all Siberian or Alaskan Huskies. I spoke to and petted each one. They are born and bred to sled and fed, watered and exercised daily. We also ate lunch at the lodge cooked by the owner’s wife. The menu – appetizer of elk blueberry sausage and smoked salmon, salad, bison burgers w/ condiments as well as blueberry chutney and dessert consisted of brownies with ice cream. It was very good and we ate it all because in this place you do not ask for a “Doggie Bag.” The owner also gave us a very informative discussion about how these dogs are trained and bred to love sled racing which includes 1,000 mile races like the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod. These races last for sometimes 10-14 days through 70 below zero temps with check points to rest the musher as well as the dogs. They are all checked by vets at each point and all supplies for the dogs and musher are on the sled. They definitely count on each other. Sorry, got carried away.
The owner also feeds a local eagle daily as you can see from the pictures. He places a piece of frozen fish down on the road and the eagle dips down and takes it away. The dogs don’t even flinch.
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