Many NDA students and faculty travel for spring break to places like Florida, Mexico, Hawaii, etc. However, Tracy Troge, head of Konop Services at NDA, went to Minnesota for a dog sledding trip.

“Our dog sled trip was for two days and one night.  For the one night, we stayed in a yurt on Gander Lake in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota,” said Troge.

Dog sledding is an activity where 2-16 dogs pull a sled that the musher is driving. The number of dogs depends on the sled’s size and how strong the dogs are.

Troge had 12 dogs on their trip between two sleds.

“Mike, my husband, and I chose to share a sled.  This way one of us could drive the sled while the passenger was able to look at the beautiful scenery that surrounded us, “ she explained.

According to Troge, the funniest moment was a wipeout.

“We covered 45 miles in the two days, and, yes, we did have a couple of wipeouts along the way.  There was one that the sled slid off the trail and we ended up in waist deep snow. It was a little bit of a challenge trying to tip the sled over in all of the snow.  As frustrating as that was, that was probably one of the funniest memories of the trip.”

While the dogs are cute, they are also working dogs because they pull the sleds. Troge explained that it was important to note that their dogs weren’t pets; nevertheless, she took notice of one special dog.

“There was one extra special dog named Taro, who was one of our lead dogs.He was the only one that was allowed in the yurt with us.  Taro is 8 years old and will most likely retire next year. It is our guide’s main lead dog and probably his favorite dog, and he allows him special privileges.”

Theo was their guide through the trail. He also cooked for them and taught them the golden rule for dog sledding: The dogs always eat first.

Troge said that her favorite memory was an especially dangerous turn that she conquered.

“My favorite memory of the trip is probably not tipping the sled over on this pretty sharp turn that we took.  I ended up standing on one leg and leaning to the right pretty hard, but we did not tip over. I was bound and determined at that time. “

After Troge covered 45 miles of beautiful scenery, hard trails, and funny wipeouts, she headed home with some great stories to tell.