YUKON-TOMBSTONE
ITINERARY
This dog sledding adventure begins just south of the Arctic Circle on the world famous Dempster Highway, traversing through alpine terrain surrounded by beautiful mountain peaks. The legendary spires of the Tombstone Mountain Range fade from our view as we travel by dog sled into the heart of caribou country and the Hart River Valley. Here winter is still found in abundance, and while the spring days are warm and the days are long, the snow is still several feet deep, making for ideal dogsledding.
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Our route follows the West Hart River trail, wedged between these awesome peaks which we will be travelling on by sled for the duration of the week. This is the wintering grounds of the woodland caribou of this region and it is very unusual to not see these majestic creatures as we glide by on our dogsleds. The incredible mountain scenery and long, warm days combine with our amazing sled dogs and famous Snow Forest Adventures hospitality to create a once in a lifetime dog sledding adventure in one of the last truly wild places in North America
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DAY ONE
Guests arrive in Whitehorse and are picked up either at their flight that afternoon or at their hotel if they arrived the day earlier. They are then driven to the Base of operations to be outfitted with personal gear followed by a “Mushing 101” lesson. After a delicious meal guests may review maps and fine tune their personal equipment.
DAY TWO
After an early breakfast, guests are transferred back to the Whitehorse airport for their 8:00 a.m. flight to Dawson City. Upon arrival in Dawson City, guests are picked up by their guides, outfitted with their arctic gear and driven to the trailhead to meet their dog teams. After a review of mushing 101 and an introduction to our specific dog-teams, this afternoon we will mush into camp on the famous Yukon Quest Trail on the Yukon River. In camp we eat in a large cook tent and sleep in 4 person winter expedition tents (2 people/tent) that have small stoves to heat them up for an hour or two each evening while we dry out damp gear, read a favorite novel and get ready for bed and again in the morning as we emerge from our cozy sleeping bags to prepare for the day ahead.
DAY THREE
Today we go on a day trip from our camp up river on the Yukon. It is an incredible place and amazing to think that we are actually mushing on water. We pass the odd prospector or trapper’s camp, stopping for a fireside lunch, then mushing back to camp. By the end of today you will feel very confident on your sled and ready to tackle the alpine of Tombstone Territorial Park.
DAY FOUR - SEVEN
For the next five days we will mush into Tombstone Territorial Park and will follow the West Hart River Valley enjoying the ample snow, and absolutely spectacular mountain scenery. We will have plenty of time to enjoy the comfortable camp and savour the heat of the spring sun as we relax in our camp chairs, looking for caribou on the flanks of the nearby mountains.
DAY EIGHT
Today we mush back out to the roadhead which will be a long but great day of mushing. We load up the dogs and drive back to Dawson City after dropping of the dogs and our gear enroute at our basecamp. By late afternoon we are in Dawson and check into the famous Bombay Peggy’s saloon and hotel. Tonight guests may choose to party in the gold rush saloon with the locals after a delicious dinner, or turn in early to relax in the luxury of fresh duvets and pillows!
DAY NINE
We have a chance to tour around the period buildings of Dawson City after sleeping in and enjoying a hearty breakfast. By 1:30 you will be driven to the airport to catch your flight back to Whitehorse. Snow Forest Adventure staff will be waiting to drive you to your hotel for the evening with an early departure for your homeward flight the next morning.
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