Here is the second part of the dogsledding photos from yesterday’s status update post!

Just shared a fresh batch of vacation photos with Facebook.com/Carrevsdaily — and want to highlight this fun outing here as well.

Dog sledding? YES! It is a hilarious way to spend a few hours when your legs are noodles from days of hard skiing. There are numerous tours in almost every ski town — usually advertised in all the local glossy magazines somewhere.

It is pretty cheap. About $50 a person in Breckenridge, and a bit more in Beaver Creek.

[Lift tickets are about $99 per day at both places, for comparison, and snow-machine outings about $350.]

So why dog sledding, and is it not a bit cruel? Or at least in bad taste?

Nope! These dogs love love love their jobs, and only the best-behaved of the groups can take out tours. All the pups stay home. These are working dogs, and typically are happiest burning thousands of calories per hour.

• Order of pulling: Big guys in back, smart girls lead most of the lines. They listen better.

• Quick fact? These dogs eat something like 50 pounds of meat per week, or some outrageous quantity.

• They all have little huts, and sleep on the roof every night unless it is seriously windy and cold.

• Dogs prefer to run at night or in the deepest colds, where they can really max their stamina.

This is a child’s toy badge from the Vail ski cop. Earned by saying, “Wow, but you’re so cool and relate-able!”

I highly recommend trying it. The Breck tour (darker photos) was deeper in the woods and had more snow on the ground, which cuts friction when carrying three “Average Americans” in back.

• Steering? None except body weight. Sled wants to move forward only, even as dogs take tight turns.

• Brakes? Not really. There is a hard pick used when taking a rest break, but otherwise it is a kick pedal with the shopping power of a worn-out Rollerblade

• How are they to drive? Fun, challenging, impossible without voice command over dogs.

• Here is me chasing the sled after being thrown off during my piloting attempts.

It is fun, especially for people who like huskies and puppies.

Final thought: How do I afford these trips?

A: these photos are from 2011, primarily.

B: in a previous non-automotive-writer jobs, I earned more than my current lean times as a very, very early-stage startup.

C: Here is my Dell PC from freshman year at University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2000. So funny in retrospect.

 

 

 

Stay tuned! Next time on Travel Adventures:

 

• The Lake Express jet-powered commuter catamaran between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

• Michigan Aviation Museum in Kalamazoo, home to the world’s only SR-71B

This is me today. A lesson in fast food fatness. For now, but not forever!