Labrador
Day 1 — Dog Sledding

The dogs will have to pull me many miles beside the ocean and through the Labrador trails that the locals, mostly Inuit, use. I’m out in the middle of nowhere halfway between a small town called North West River and another called Rigolet. The dogs are beautiful, but a lot of work. Running them alone can be exhausting and even dangerous …

With each other they are not at all unlike a pack of wolves, even killing their own in a display of dominance and positioning. I have, on many occasions while sledding in my past, had to jump in to the middle of a five dog, dog fight with my fists and boots swinging to break up the fight …

At the end of the day I had my greatest challenge with them. Though I bellowed and yelled at the leader, a pale-faced sweetheart named Chimo, I couldn’t get her to run towards the shore. I had to do it twenty feet at a time with her always wanting to turn back towards the safety crew many miles away …

And then the worst happened. Chance — the young up and coming male got loose from his neck line, turned behind him and got in a three dog fight with the big brothers, my wheel dogs (closest to the sled — the main pulling position) Jack and Guluk. Guluk is Chances father. While Chimo kept the rest of the line the dogs are attached to tight (thankfully she didn’t turn back on me into the dog team) I was able to jump into the fight before any blood was spilled. By the time I got it all straightened out I was dripping with sweat, late in the day. Not good …

For the full story, go to Les Stroud's Official Blog.