Dogsledding to Granite Hot Springs

With today being Laura’s birthday, I wanted to make it memorable by taking advantage of this beautiful area. I thought, "Should we go hot air ballooning? Or snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park? Or snowshoeing in Grand Teton National Park?" There are so many great outdoor options in this area that I knew I couldn't go wrong with this decision. But, I also knew that my decision was made when my friend, Justin, told me about a dogsledding trip to Granite Hot Springs. I thought this trip would be the perfect way to spend Laura’s birthday, as she'd absolutely love the combination of dogs, soaking in a natural hot springs, and the great outdoors.

After being picked up by a shuttle van at my apartment, we drove the 45-minutes southwest to the Jackson Hole Iditarod Sled Dogs Tour kennel. On arrival, we were greeted by over 150 howling Alaskan Huskies of all ages. One of the great things about this operation is that they keep all of their dogs, no matter their age. Most of the dogs are used for their daily tours, while two to three dozen make up a pool for their race teams.

Once we met our guide, he walked us over to our sled. Each guide is responsible for four customers and two sleds. After taking a look at his group for the day and giving us few instructions, he chose me to mush the second sled that would follow his lead. Then, our group was off on the 10-mile tour to Granite hot springs.

Almost immediately, Laura and I found ourselves in trouble. We hadn’t even left the kennel five minutes ago and were headed down a small hill and around a bend. At the bottom of this hill, I unsuccessfully steered our pack of six dogs around the bend and found ourselves off the trail and on a hillside. The dogsled tipped over and Laura slid out of its basket and slightly down the hill. She has a nice black-and-blue to show it. I'm happy that she's going home with this souvenir.

What a start to the tour! I couldn’t believe that we crashed in a matter of minutes. Our guide stopped his sled and came to our rescue. After up-righting the sled and straightening the line, he said, “You wouldn’t be a musher if you never crashed!” It felt good to be a musher... at least that's what I told myself.

The next few miles went more smoothly than this initial incident. Our team closely followed the guide's sled, as we followed a narrow trail that ran parallel to a running stream and through snow covered rolling hills. Laura remained in the basket until she wanted a piece of the action and took the reigns with me. For the second half of this inbound trip, each of us stood on the back of the sled and on a rudder. It was fun working together as a team by properly weighting the rudders to change the direction of the dogs and the drop pad to shave speed of the sled.

Our next adventure on the sled was navigating a sharp turn. Our guide made calls to his team and took him and his team cleanly around the turn at a fast pace. Because our team was following his team, they decided to take this turn early and climb over a three-foot snow bank. Obviously, their chosen path wasn’t the best route, so we went for a little ride.

Laura realized that this situation could go very wrong, so she jumped off the back of the sled into the small powder field of the turn. With one less person on the sled, the sled went faster. At this moment, I found myself about to go down the snow bank and wondering what happened to Laura. So, I held on for the ride. I was able to go down the snow bank, stay on the sled, and stop it so Laura could run to the sled and get back on it. We made it. And, the dogs were ok.

Shortly after this wild episode, we were soaking in the hot springs and enjoying the breathtaking views. We were also laughing over this morning’s incidences. After spending an hour in the hot springs, we were served a gourmet four-course lunch, which consisted of: a cheese and vegetable platter; minestrone soup with warm French bread; barbequed trout seasoned in herbs and a side of creamed mushrooms; chocolate fondue with pretzels and assorted fruits. This lunch that was served with hot apple cider made the day that much sweeter for us.

On our way back to the kennel, we enjoyed the bluebird day, the company of our guide, and mushing the lead pack of eight dogs. We also enjoyed a food coma and the lingering warm and relaxing effects of the hot springs. Unfortunately, our guide was feeling a bit different than us, so he thought it’d be fun to take the sled off trail into powder and experience the most grueling part of the day. We broke trail and mushed through tightly-spaced trees and over short, steep hills. We were sometimes running beside the sled to lighten the load, while at other times were pushing the sled up hills. At this moment, it was clear to me why dogs are considered the strongest pull animal pound-for-pound. It wasn’t the speed that I was hoping for after the relaxing lunch break, but it made for a really fun ride once we got our mushing legs back under us.


Overall, this tour was awesome and a great way to spend Laura’s birthday. It was a lot of fun experiencing a new activity together on a beautiful day in a breathtaking area. I think everyone should go dog sledding, especially the dog lovers among us.