Following breakfast, Polly arrived and we suited up. And I mean really suited up. The four of us began to feel like marshmallows as put on layer after layer. Thankfully, appropriate footwear was provided in the form of large reinforced rubber army boots to protect us from the cold and damp (but not from falling down, which I immediately did as soon as we set foot out the door.)

Despite our total inexperience with large dogs, Polly enlisted our assistance to help bring them out of their kennels. Our arrival at their pens triggered excited bursts of howling and barking. Each dog had their own name, their own kennel and – as we soon discovered – their own personality!

Kevin and Polly own over forty dogs, but know each one of them by name and even by their bark. Yukon Huskies are gentle and friendly in nature, however, like people, they don’t get along with everyone. Polly engineered the loading of the dogs to ensure they only met their best friends and not their acquaintances! One by one we navigated the icy dog yard in our Rambo style boots, retrieving each canine and bringing them to Polly. Each dog had a small hay strewn compartment on the back of the truck that scarcely seemed large enough for a baby let alone a grown Yukon Husky. But Polly assured us that they were comfortable and even thrilled since they were about to do what they were bred to do: pull.

After loading the dogs into the truck we drove 20 minutes to the (frozen) shores of Lake Umbagog. I have to admit that even though the icicles on my eyelashes were in the process of gluing themselves together, I really couldn’t feel the cold and seemed to forget exactly what the temperature was. All I could think about was the breathtaking scene in front of us. Twenty four dogs, previously howling and barking with excitement were wriggling with silent joy in anticipation of pulling us to the other side of the lake.

Everything was so still, so quiet... especially when you block out the nearby snowmobiles doing donuts on the ice. Silently I vowed to join the Sierra Club upon my return.

Each sled was organized according to the strength of the individual dogs and their ability to get along as a team. Then we received a crash course on how to control the dogs while maintaining their safety as well as our own. We were taught the various commands (none of which are “mush”), how to use the brake and the importance of monitoring the dogs’ ropes to ensure that they not become tangled.

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