For the love of dogs, outdoors (5/4/05)

A passion for dogs and a love of all things outdoors overcame a disdain for the cold for musher Karen Land.

Land, an Indiana native who has completed two Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Races, shared her experiences in the race and with the sport in general with an audience Tuesday at the Jay County Public Library.

But Land arguably wasn’t the most popular visitor Tuesday. That honor belonged to Borage, an Alaskan Husky who is part of Land’s team.

The program included a digital slide show from the Iditarod, a look at one of Land’s sleds and plenty of love for Borage — especially, but not exclusively, from the younger members of the audience.

“One of the most beautiful things about dog mushing is the silence ... It’s a wonderful way to travel,” said Land, who told the audience the Anchorage-to-Nome Iditarod is the equivalent of traveling from Indianapolis to Miami, Fla. behind a team of dogs in 10 days or less.

A full-time devotee to the sport who is supported by sponsorships and appearances such as she was making Tuesday, Land admits that she is “freezing” anytime the weather is cold. She said she uses hundreds of chemical heat packs while training and during races.

Land, who attended parochial schools in Indianapolis, now lives near Boulder in west central Montana.

She said she lives on a mountain “in a cabin by myself and 35 dogs.”

Land has competed in three Iditarod races (2002-2004) but was forced to quit relatively early in the 2003 competition. She sat out the 2005 race, which is held in March, because her recently-acquired kennel of dogs was too young to race.

An animal lover who grew up around horses, Land’s dream of a life with sled dogs came while hiking the Appalachian Trail with her terrier Kirby. While on the hike, she purchased a book about the Iditarod by musher Gary Paulsen.

While covering a sled dog race in Maine in 1999 as a freelance writer, Land was hooked on the sport.

She took an apprenticeship with Iditarod veteran Dr. Terry Adkins, DVM, and in 2002 ran her first race, finishing 49th. Land finished 56th in 2004.

Land, 31, said she has love and admiration for the dogs, whom she said are like “marathon runners. It’s amazing. They have such big hearts.”[[In-content Ad]]