Over the weekend, our family crossed something off our bucket list: seeing a dog sled race event in person! We’re trying to add more unique experiences to our calendar and the girls were super excited when I suggested we check it out.
Maine has multiple sled dog events in the winter months, the biggest one being the Can-Am Crown up in Fort Kent, but being that we live further away, we opted to check out the Wilderness Sled Dog Race at Moosehead Lake. The furthest distance in this race is 60 miles which means we could see the teams take off and come home in the same day whereas an event like the Can-Am Crown spreads out across multiple days. So this was more doable for a day trip.
We woke up bright and early at 4:30am in order to make the 3 hour drive up to Greenville before the first event began. It snowed for half the drive up which added a solid 30 minutes to our road trip. Thankfully we arrived with just enough time to change into snow gear and make it to the starting line for the first event.
This has been on my bucket list for a long time now and it was insanely cool to see all the teams head out. The announcers gave a lot of background information too on the teams and commonly asked questions about the sport which allowed us to learn a lot while there.
I thought it was really interesting to see that the sleds had to be held back by an ATV due to strength of all the dogs. This is in addition to people physically holding back the dogs until it was go time. Their energy was through the roof and it was much louder than I anticipated it being with all the dogs barking and jumping, waiting to be let loose.
The teams went every 3 minutes in order to give everyone enough space on the course which allowed for us to ‘get to know’ a little bit about each team as they waited. They were also divided into four events: 60-mile, 35-mile, 4-mile four dog sprint, and a 1-dog skijor race all of which had their own start times. Because of this, it took about 2 hours for everyone to get onto the course.
The temps were pretty cold over the weekend, with a high of about 15 degrees. I packed the girls a ton of layers and spare clothing so they could play in the snow and get changed later if needed. Hailey lost interest after the first round of dogs (she was cold), so she played in the snow quite a bit while I was watching and taking pictures of the event.
In between events, we went inside to warm up and I really appreciated having this option. The girls were able to get some hot chocolate, eat donuts, and readjust their snow gear which was really helpful. They also had a silent auction going and, once all the teams were on the course, they began the children’s program.
The children’s program consisted of a story time (Balto, of course), poster making for the mushers, snowshoeing, lunch, arts and crafts, nature walk, Bingo, group journaling, etc. There were many things for them to do both inside and outside and all activities were free!
The highlight of the day was definitely the girls getting the chance to be their own mushers. Hailey was just along for the ride, but Allie got right into character like she was in the middle of the wilderness with her own team of dogs. The individuals in charge of this activity were also giving out free puppy stuffed animals so, of course, the girls were very excited about that as well.
We had planned to stay for the entire event (hence why we picked a race where we could see them leave and come back in the same day) but the cold was just a bit too much and everyone was getting cranky and uncomfortable. We were able to watch the skijor conclude, but after that, we made the executive decision to start heading back toward Southern Maine.
If you’re looking for a unique winter event, we highly recommend adding the Wilderness Sled Dog race to your Maine winter bucket list this season!
