Jordee Reid, president of the Yellowknife Dog Trotters Association with sled dog Felix.
Winter is the busiest time of year for mushers in Yellowknife and Kam Lake is home to some of the oldest dogsled tour operators in town.
The citySA国际影视传媒檚 industrial area is a uniquely Northern patchwork of businesses, where busy truck routes intersect with a network of dogsledding trails.
SA国际影视传媒淲e hit up a lot of roads and what we do for safety is we bring a pilot vehicle to tell the team to stop if there is traffic when you have to cross a major road,SA国际影视传媒� said Jordee Reid, president of the Yellowknife Dog Trotters Association.
Reid also works at her family-owned business Tugah Northern Experiences, located next door to the Dog Trotters' lot backing onto Kam Lake.
Dogsledding trails on Kam Lake. Tugah Northern experiences backs onto the lake but other businesses like Beck's Kennels have to cross a road before accessing the trails.
SA国际影视传媒淚n the wintertime, our business, Tugah, doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 cross any roads. We go straight out onto Kam Lake and then onto another lake from there,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
But dog mushers who train for races have to cross Kam Lake Road to get onto Grace Lake, said Reid.
BeckSA国际影视传媒檚 Kennels' property is bordered by Curry Drive, meaning they have to cross the road every time they take a team out.
As a safety precaution, they bus visitors onto Grace Lake to avoid crossing the road in the winter, said Grant Beck, owner of BeckSA国际影视传媒檚 Kennels, which operates Aurora Wonderland Tours.
SA国际影视传媒淲e cross the two roads with snowmobiles and dogs only,SA国际影视传媒� said Beck.
Accidents between dogsleds and vehicles are rare, but they do happen. Several years ago there was a collision between a dogsled and a vehicle on Deh Cho Boulevard, said Reid.
SA国际影视传媒淚t was with a local dog musher who was training his racing team,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淗e and his family were out there.SA国际影视传媒�
To improve safety, there could be more signage warning drivers that there are dogsled crossings in the area, said Reid.
SA国际影视传媒淭hereSA国际影视传媒檚 no sign on that road where that collision happened,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
Beck agreed that more signage would be helpful, a stop sign in particular at the dogsled crossing on Curry Drive.
Two signs in front of Beck's Kennels mark a dogsled crossing on Curry Drive. The dogsled teams cross the road to reach trails on Kam Lake and Grace Lake.
Some drivers still speed down the road, but SA国际影视传媒渋t helped when they cut the speed limit down,SA国际影视传媒� said Beck, adding that Curry Drive is not typically as busy as Kam Lake Road.
A few years ago the city put a culvert underneath Kam Lake Road between Kam Lake and Grace Lake to help mushers bypass the busier road.
SA国际影视传媒淧art of their reasoning of why they wanted such a big (culvert) was hoping that the teams could go through there,SA国际影视传媒� said Reid. SA国际影视传媒淏ut when the water level rises thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no way, and then it takes a long time for it to freeze so itSA国际影视传媒檚 open water for so long.SA国际影视传媒�
Last year Beck said he cleared 45 centimetres of ice out of the culvert with a chainsaw to make it passable for the dogsleds, but it was SA国际影视传媒渁 lot of work.SA国际影视传媒�
In addition to vehicles on the roads, dogsledders also have to be aware of snowmobiles on the trails.
And while the city has bylaws regulating the use of snowmobiles in town, there are none pertaining to dogsleds.
SA国际影视传媒淲e try to work a lot with the snowmobile community in town because we cross over multiple lakes and so we have to go through portages that have really narrow trails,SA国际影视传媒� said Reid.
Those portages can be dangerous if a snowmobile is going too fast and the dogsleds meet them head-on. Fortunately, there have been no accidents involving snowmobiles, she said.
SA国际影视传媒淢ost of the snowmobile community is good,SA国际影视传媒� said Reid.
Creating good working relationships with other businesses in Kam Lake is essential, she said.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 kind of like this little community we have down here," Reid said. "YouSA国际影视传媒檙e in business long enough here, you get to know everyone else around the area too.SA国际影视传媒�
Residential development
Both dog-mushing businesses said they anticipate the road crossings might become more dangerous as the residential area in Grace Lake South is developed and regular traffic comes along with it.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 doable now but I think going forward in the future if they develop that way weSA国际影视传媒檙e going to start thinking about something else,SA国际影视传媒� Beck said.
Beck's Kennels has been in business for 30 years and predates Kam Lake, so they've seen the area evolve over time, he said.
SA国际影视传媒淭here's been many changes. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 not new to us that the development is going to come, but weSA国际影视传媒檙e adjusting as we go,SA国际影视传媒� said Beck. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e been there and done that.SA国际影视传媒�
For the most part, people who are familiar with Kam Lake know to be aware of dogsleds, said Reid.
SA国际影视传媒淧eople that have owned businesses in the industrial area for years know thatSA国际影视传媒檚 what the dogs do, and theySA国际影视传媒檙e really good about it,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 kind of new people to town or new people to the area that just donSA国际影视传媒檛 quite know yet.SA国际影视传媒�
Other than getting the word out about the fall training season, Reid said thereSA国际影视传媒檚 not much more they can do.
SA国际影视传媒淭he dogs, we canSA国际影视传媒檛 train them to look both ways,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey just run.SA国际影视传媒�
