Our snowy trip north began before sunrise on a Friday morning. After weeks of preparation and anticipation, our group was traveling north to dogsled, cross country ski, and camp outside in the winter. We packed our gear and ourselves into two Suburbans and headed north, certain that whatever we would encounter would be an entirely new experience that will not replicated for the rest of our lives.
The trip north was an adventure in and of itself. 
We had the opportunity to pass through the beautiful snowy mountains of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire before we reached our destination in Maine. At one point, Mr. Burns looked out onto a vista at one of our stops and commented that it was like "a snowy Norman Rockwell" painting with snow crested mountains in the background and kids setting up a backyard hockey game in the foreground.
After a day of traveling north, we arrived at the Mahoosuc Guide Services Lodge, our home for just that evening. We checked in, met our dogsledding guides, and enthusiastically attacked our pizza. After getting settled and fed, we had our first official dogsledding event: a meeting with Polly, our head guide from Mahoosuc Guide Services, and Nani, our cross country 
skiing guide. We discussed why we had chosen to go on the trip, and survival tips for living in the cold weather. Then we went to pick up our gear that Mahoosuc provides to mushers: sleeping bags, muck lucs (rubber boots), steel toed boots, parkas, and everything else needed to deal with the cold on frozen Lake Umbagog.
After that, we went to bed to be ready to set out for the frozen lake the next day. We awoke to a beautiful but cold day. We ate breakfast, geared up and separated for two different adventures. One group cross country skied to the campsite, and the other group mushed on the dogsleds to the campsite, but everyone had the opportunity to interact with the Huskies that morning. Each student met all of the dogs in their kennels before they mushed with them, had the opportunity to get to know them and their specific personality, and bond with a couple of dogs. And with that, we were off into the wilderness.
"I was super happy to accomplish cross country skiing across a frozen lake. I had never done that before. As we were skiing, we saw the landscape and adorable dogs running along." - Deborah Katz, 7th grader
Words really cannot encapsulate the experience of dogsledding, so I would recommend that you check out this video:
Upon reaching the campsite on the other side of Lake Umbagog, we established camp and worked through a few chores
like collecting wood and setting up our sleeping spaces. After that was done, we had to chip through the ice of the lake so we could get water to boil. All the while, we were continuing to learn about how to keep warm on a very cold weekend.After the chores were done, everyone had the opportunity to explore the frozen shore near the campsite, spend time with each other, cuddle with the dogs, and generally enjoy a frozen, beautiful landscape. We had a filling dinner as the sun set and began to get ready for bed. With negative temperatures, we were all very glad for the wood stoves in each tent, our warm base layers, and two sleeping bags that kept each of us warm. We all slept warmly and soundly through the night.
We awoke the next day at the crack of dawn, 
and had an entire new set of adventures awaiting us, along with the normal chores. The skiers and the mushers switched positions, and everyone went out for a midday exploration of a new part of Lake Umbagog. We met up for lunch, and then took our time returning to the campsite to begin the dinner and going to bed process.
It seemed impossible that time moved so fast, but by the time we woke up the next morning, it was time to start our journey off of the lake and back towards home. We caught some hanging time with the dogs, prepped camp for the next group of intrepid adventurers that would arrive in a couple of days and broke camp. After a whirlwind return to the Mahoosuc Lodge, we were on our way south towards Allentown again. We arrived the next morning (after a weather-induced stopover in a hotel), tired but satisfied. Speaking with each bold adventurer/musher it was unanimous that they were proud of all they accomplished on this trip and would love to take on a challenge like this again!
"Dog sledding was a tremendous opportunity. It was great to try something new and amazing that was really enjoyable." - Ben Kraft, 8th grader
