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Cargando... Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels with Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North (2008)por Polly Evans
   Ninguno Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. 1   sally906 | Aug 26, 2010 |  sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Polly Evans had a mission: to learn everything possible about the howling, tail-wagging world of sled dogs. Fool's errand? Or the adventure of a lifetime? The intrepid world traveler was about to find out. In the dead of winter, Polly Evans ventured to Canada's far northwest, where temperatures plunge to minus forty and the sun rises for just a few hours each day. But though she was prepared for the cold, she never anticipated how profoundly she'd be affected by that blissful and austere place. In a pristine landscape patrolled by wolves and caribou, the wannabe musher was soon learning the ropes of arctic dogsledding, careening across the silent tundra with her own team of yapping, leaping canines. Shivering but undaunted, Polly follows the tracks of the legendary Yukon Quest, a dogsledding race more arduous than the Iditarod, witnessing a life-and-death spectacle she'll never forget. Along the way she makes a stop at the Santa Clause house in North Pole, Alaska (where the post office delivers unstamped mail), and witnesses the astonishing northern lights weaving green and red across the sky. And before the snows melt in spring, Polly will have discovered a deep affection for the loving, mischievous huskies whose courage and enthusiasm escort her through the delights and dangers of living life at the extreme--in one of the most forbidding places on earth. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — Cargando...GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)798.8The arts Recreational and performing arts Horsemanship and Animal RacingClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio: (3.81)
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This is the third travel adventure by Polly Evans that I have read and I enjoyed the experience. This time she takes us with her to the Yukon Territory in the far north west of Canada so she can learn about sled dogs. We are introduced to the people she meets, get a vivid feel for the places she goes to, with interesting snippets about the history of the places she visits.
She has a steep learning curve as well; starting off with learning how to clean up the dog poo of 108 dogs, then feed them without leaving anyone out and then how not to allow the dogs to beat her in mind game for leadership. As she learns how to control a sled and dog team, she comes to love the icy beauty of the harsh Canadian wilderness, and the cheeky huskies. Advice is handed to the reader, such as the different ways of reacting to a hungry bear and a mother bear; how to know when a moose really wants you to back off, and how to not get asphyxiated if your car breaks down.
As she mushes through the snow in minus 44 degrees in the Yukon Quest dog race, and walks the trail taken by pioneers in the gold rush to pan for gold, she teaches you about things you never ever thought of and brings Canada alive for you. Canada is STILL on my wish list of countries to visit one day, but realistically I think this is as close as I am going to get. Polly Evans has lots of photo’s of her Yukon adventure on her webpage – also from her other adventures – which really bring the stories of daring do alive for me.
“…More extraordinary still was the fact that I was starting to enjoy the weather. The Yukon light was mesmerizing with its late blue dawns and the buttery glow of noon. One morning as I stood in the dog yard in temperatures of 30 below, I noticed that the snowflakes falling on my fleece were single, intricate crystals, breathtakingly perfect in their formation. Above my head, jagged gems of hoar frost glistened on the boughs of the spruce. And then, sometimes, at night, the northern lights weaved green and red across the starry skies…”
I really recommend Polly Evans’s books – she manages to portray a country, its peoples and its history without patronising or judging as many travel writers manage to do. I am so glad that I have two more of her books on my TBR pile ready to go. (