ABOVE PICTURE: Guest on a dog tour
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work in Alaska at Northern Sky Lodge and Kennel and discover more about what the life of a musher and kennel worker is really like.
I first visited Northern Sky in August 2007, while in Alaska. I’d happened across the lodge’s website months earlier and thought it looked like a fantastic place to visit.
It was. The moment we pulled into the yard I knew that I liked this place a lot. I talked to Pascale, the lodge owner, about coming back.
I returned to Northern Sky in March 2008, this time to work and help out. Feeding, watering, scooping poop, hooking up teams for guests, helping these same guests get out of the yard on the sled when the dogs are ready to go and the trail is fast, exercising teams on days when there aren’t many dog tours. Basically working as a dog handler. I also did everything I can to help out in the lodge.
Northern Sky Lodge & Kennel is located halfway between Fairbanks and Nenana, Alaska. Run by Pascale, Northern Sky is a bed and breakfast offering sled dog tours during the winter months. There are currently 22 dogs in the kennel, all of them Alaskan huskies. There is also one Golden retriever named Sid, who is not a sled dog but loves to go on walks.
This experience has taught me a lot more about the life of a musher in Alaska, and it has taught me how much I still have to learn, even though my sled driving skills have improved tremendously. I learned the names of the 22 Northern Sky huskies during the first two days I was there! It’s amazing how quickly one becomes attached to the dogs. Spending lots of time in the kennel doing chores and just playing and petting with the dogs, I really got to know and love them.
ABOVE PICTURE: Northern Sky Lodge
To read my blog posts from working at Northern Sky, please click the Alaska category.
I have put together a video about my experiences at Northern Sky. To watch the teaser trailer, click here.
June 2008 update - Life goes on in Alaska and I wish I were still there. It’s Summer at Northern Sky now and the sun doesn’t set. I see what is going on through pictures and words of others. Check out these midnight sun photos taken by a musher from the kennel next to Northern Sky.
THE SLED DOGS OF NORTHERN SKY
Click pictures for larger image
Click the dogs’ names to read a short bio
Page last updated July 10, 2008