I've tried to sign up for this REALLY expensive day trip that involves
driving way out of the city, catching a ride on a musher's sled (yeehaw!),
crosscountry skiiing for a while, and then the sled dogs take us back to
the van.

Freaking most expensive day trip this group has, and even STILL it keeps
seling out before I have a chance to sign up.

Damn.

Ok Melinda...tell me how its really actually very uncomfortable, and that
while sitting there, the dogs are just running and farting in your face a
lot. Feel free to exaggerate this horrific experience and remind me how I
nearly wasted a ton of money on something sooooooo not fun at all.

Tara

In article 6,
Tara wrote:
Ok Melinda...tell me how its really actually very uncomfortable, and that
while sitting there, the dogs are just running and farting in your face a
lot. Feel free to exaggerate this horrific experience and remind me how I
nearly wasted a ton of money on something sooooooo not fun at all.

Sh'yeah. Right. Being in the woods in winter is magic,
traveling over snow is magic, being in the woods in winter
traveling over snow with a bunch of dogs could change your
life. If it helps at all, being with a mess of people
dilutes the experience and if they're jabbering a lot you'll
miss out on quite a bit of the experience. Also, if you're
riding in the basket you could get hit with flying poop; on
the other hand you'll get a view of dogs pooping while
running that's pretty unique. See if you can get to drive
the sled.

Where's the trip? There are a lot of different trips and
outfitters available within about a six hour drive (often
less) of NYC, so even if this one doesn't work out there are
options. In fact, there's a guy up at Tug Hill who used to
be a nationally-ranked skier and he's offering mushing and
skijoring lessons at Salmon Hills (a nordic center) with his
own dogs, and you can also ski on their somewhat snazzy
trail system and spend the night in one of their yurts.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

If you can't say it clearly, you don't understand it yourself -- John Searle

"Melinda Shore" wrote

Also, if you're
riding in the basket you could get hit with flying poop; on
the other hand you'll get a view of dogs pooping while
running that's pretty unique. See if you can get to drive
the sled.

That's something the left out of "Sgt Preston of the Yukon"...

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:44:56 GMT, (Melinda Shore) wrote:

Also, if you're
riding in the basket you could get hit with flying poop

hey, at least she named the thread appropriately!

--
Lynne

(Melinda Shore) wrote in
:


Sh'yeah. Right. Being in the woods in winter is magic,
traveling over snow is magic, being in the woods in winter
traveling over snow with a bunch of dogs could change your
life.

Yeah thanks. Thanks a lot.

That's actually what I thought it would be like. Especially contrasted
with the *lack* of silence living in NYC provides. Damn.

If it helps at all, being with a mess of people
dilutes the experience and if they're jabbering a lot you'll
miss out on quite a bit of the experience.

Another thing I was wondering about. The description was unclear on how
many people would be involved, or if you ended up sharing a toboggan.
And, yeah, I'd think a lot of people whooping it up and chit chatting
would spoil it for me.

Also, if you're
riding in the basket you could get hit with flying poop;

Wha?

Ewwww.

I think I'd have been riding in a toboggan....which would be THAT much
closer to the ground, if I'm not mistaken. Good grief.

on
the other hand you'll get a view of dogs pooping while
running that's pretty unique. See if you can get to drive
the sled.

I've never actually seen that. How does one teach that particular skill?

And I think we were going to get to drive a little bit.

Where's the trip?

Its a group here that organizes hiking, rafting and various day trips
out of the city. I don't think they tend to say who they've teamed up
with for the actual activities, since it wouldn't be that hard to go a
lot more cheaply by cutting out the middle man.

The description page is here though:
http://www.outdoorbound.com/EventDetails.aspx?id=133

There are a lot of different trips and
outfitters available within about a six hour drive (often
less) of NYC, so even if this one doesn't work out there are
options.

I would LOVE to get more info in places within reach here. And by
"within reach" I mean somewhere within 2 hours, and accessible by bus. I
only know one person with a car, and she's a stay at home Mom who looks
at me like I've grown a second head when I talk about doing stuff like
this. Though the distance would be more important than the access, since
I could probably talka few people into going (especially if it doesn't
cost $150!!!) and rent or borrow a car.

If you have any ideas on where to start looking, I'm all ears.

In fact, there's a guy up at Tug Hill who used to
be a nationally-ranked skier and he's offering mushing and
skijoring lessons at Salmon Hills (a nordic center) with his
own dogs, and you can also ski on their somewhat snazzy
trail system and spend the night in one of their yurts.

Um, what's a yurt?

Tara

Lynne wrote in news:Us-
:

on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:44:56 GMT, (Melinda Shore) wrote:

Also, if you're
riding in the basket you could get hit with flying poop

hey, at least she named the thread appropriately!


Ha ha ha ha

Tara

In article 6,
Tara wrote:
That's actually what I thought it would be like. Especially contrasted
with the *lack* of silence living in NYC provides. Damn.

Well, there's not a lot of real silence in the world. But
the sounds are different - the dogs panting, the runners on
the snow, the wind in the trees (and in your clothing,
believe it or not). If you're within 5 miles or so of a
road you can sometimes hear traffic in the distance.

I've never actually seen that. How does one teach that particular skill?

They teach themselves.

The description page is here though:
http://www.outdoorbound.com/EventDetails.aspx?id=133

$150 is actually not very expensive for that kind of trip.
The clothing thing is interesting - you need warm, insulated
clothing for mushing and pretty lightweight, breathable
clothing for skiing (elite skiers burn about 1700
calories/hour; as a shuffler you can expect to burn about
1/4 to 1/3 of that, which still means you'll be sweating).
Still, you can be uncomfortably cold without becoming
hypothermic, so since it's a short trip and probably
someplace warm given its proximity to NYC you likely don't
have to overdo it on the warm clothing. Hey! That's
probably pretty lousy advice I just gave.

I would LOVE to get more info in places within reach here. And by
"within reach" I mean somewhere within 2 hours, and accessible by bus.

That might be tough. There are places in western MA, but I
don't know of anyone closer. http://www.sleddogcentral.com
is a great resource for everything mushing, and they've got
a pretty big directory of tour operators.

Um, what's a yurt?

A big, cylindrical Mongolian tent. The ones at Salmon Hills
(and similar places) are on platforms.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

If you can't say it clearly, you don't understand it yourself -- John Searle

"Melinda Shore" wrote

Um, what's a yurt?

A big, cylindrical Mongolian tent. The ones at Salmon Hills
(and similar places) are on platforms.

Got a (picture) link?

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com

In article ,
Opinicus wrote:
Got a (picture) link?

http://www.yurts.com
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

If you can't say it clearly, you don't understand it yourself -- John Searle

"Melinda Shore" wrote

Got a (picture) link?
http://www.yurts.com

Oh my, yes. We got those all over the place here. Glad to see they're making
themselves known *in their original name*.

Here in Turkey, tent architecture is a separate discipline.

--
Bob
http://www.kanyak.com