In Clyde River, Nunavut, dog teams are bred for speed

More than 40 days into their 120-day trip around Baffin Island, Iqaluit's Erik Boomer and Sarah McNair-Landrygave themselves and their dogteam a well-deserved rest.

The pair are retracing a route McNair-Landry's parents took 25 years agothat has taken them through Pangnirtung, Qikiqtarjuaq and, now, Clyde River.

"The coolest thing about coming into Clyde [River] is just how much of thedogsleddingculture is alive and well," said Boomer.

"We were learning so many cool tidbits and tricks and things that are very particular to this community's dogsledding culture."

Three days before Boomer and McNair-Landry arrived in Clyde River, population983, two local dogsledders came out to meet them and gave them some information about an incoming blizzard and routes they could take into the community.

Boomer saidone dogsledder spenta day in their tent waiting for a blizzard to pass and discussingthe differences between teams that are bred for a race, like the Nunavut Quest, and teams that are trained for expeditions.

"These guys really breed their dogs for speed," he said."We feel really slow compared to these guys."

The Clyde River dog teams frequentlyrun for 80 kilometres per day while training, saidBoomer; during the fastest days of their journey Boomer and McNair-Landry cover50 kilometres.

'I've lost a lot of weight'

After the long trek from Qikiqtarjuaq to Clyde River, Boomer saidhe and the dogs are feeling the physical and mental strain of continuous travel.

"I've lost a lot of weight and obviously the dogs have too," he said.

"We're at the point where the dogs are losing muscle mass, where we're really trying to conserve energy here."

In an effort to ease the strain pullinga heavy qamutik(sled) can have on the dogs, Boomer and McNair-Landrygave dog food to people in Clyde River who will store itin cabins further along the route.

But while Boomer saidit can be difficult to keep adog team focused and energized on such a long journey, henever forgets how amazing it is to have this experience.

"Once you're getting into that groove of working hard, I'll look up and just think of how I must be one of the luckiest people on earth to be able to do this and it just makes it all worth it."