The Husky Homestead

Two days ago, I started reading a book Cold Hands, Warm Heart - Alaskan Adventures of an Iditarod Champion authored by musher Jeff King.  My mom actually got me this book (autographed copy!) while she was in Alaska last month....and I wanted to start reading it before reaching Denali.  We had an upcoming tour to see Jeff King's Husky Homestead when arriving in Denali....and I wanted to be prepared with some info before our visit.

 Jeff King is the "winningest" musher in sled-dog sports history - winning the 1,049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race four times, including the challenging Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, and over two dozen other first place finishes all across Alaska. 

Greeting us at his Husky Homestead were his puppies!  

Jenesa was in love at first site!  While she got cozy with the puppies....I wandered over to the puppy log cabin!  I must say these puppies have it made!

The rest of the adult huskies were chained to their kennels outside the lodge....and as we admired these Alaskan racing dogs, we got a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating a championship team and a demonstration that included the dogs running in front of a 4-wheeler.  They explained that the 4-wheeler sets the pace (at approximately 10mph), and the dogs are trained to maintain this speed during their training runs.  The dogs can go much faster....but pace and speed are two different things in a 1000 mile race...and it's important to train the dogs accordingly.  

Inside the lodge, Jeff King spoke to us with some of his stories and a brief explanation of his racing sleds, arctic survival gear and equipment used to traverse 1100 miles of Alaska’s most rugged terrain. The snow suit above (in the picture) can withstand temperatures at -40degrees F.  Jeff was a highly entertaining story teller....and I managed to meet him afterwards!