Photo by Michelle Williams

I was invited to the Wintergreen Dogsled Resort in Ely, Minnesota, by a friend of mine. I chose the lodge-to-lodge trip, four days of dog sledding between lodges.

The food at the lodges was wonderful, prepared by an accomplished chef. Dog sledding at Wintergreen turned out to be quite a workout, allowing me to consume food with a lot of butter. You can’t go wrong with that. I have heard sled dogs love to run, but in these temperatures — 45 below zero — I had to see it for myself.

My team of five dogs and sled were tied off to a tree. The dogs’ desire to run is so strong that all five dogs were standing on their rear legs, leaning forward in their harnesses just waiting to go. The rope holding my sled back was tight, and the tree was bending.

It was a great trip, and I think I burned off all the butter. I’d do it again, too, if it were a little warmer. I’m told dogs love to run when the temperature stays around 10 degrees. My comfort zone is more like 68-78, so I think I’ll stay in San Diego for awhile.