MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2019

56 ML BLUE WINTER 2019 It’s hard but fun work. We pass through Hank’s sugar bush (he has 2,000 tapped trees), and stop for snacks under the warmth of the sun. It isn’t hard to start falling in love with the dogs. Hank and Tanya now have 150 dogs and four kids just as enamored with the dogs as their parents. Winterdance runs on 2,100 acres between Haliburton Lake and Algonquin Park with 60 miles of trail. The company is an exemplary model of what a dogsled company can be; the dogs enjoy a 5,000-square-foot indoor kennel, complete with radiant floor heating, dog parks and some of the older dogs even get air-conditioning in the summer. None of the dogs are for sale, and none of them are ever put down. “A normal husky’s lifespan is 12 to 14 years; our huskies live 14 to 16 years,” says Hank. “We are determined to keep pushing that number higher.” Since falling in love with the sport, Hank has raced the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest multiple times. The three-hour tour that we’re on runs nearly every day (weather permitting) hosting 3,500-4,000 people a season. When we pull into the parking lot, Hank and his team start loading the dogs back into their custom GMC 3500 truck. We’re sad the ride is over. We want to keep going. Hank’s son unclips our leader (named Blitz) from the gangline and carries him over to the truck. With huge smiles on our faces we say goodbye to the people and the dogs of Winterdance Dogsled Tours. And on the drive home we start hatching a plan to buy five (at least) Siberian huskies. DIY winterdance.com We ride and run through the Canadian Shield, up over hills and through evergreen forests.