Hitting the trails on dog sleds and snowmobiles in Quebec

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Sitting under a blanket on a sled, I have butterflies in my stomach as malamutes and huskies bark and tug on their harnesses, eager for a brisk hour-long jog on the rolling forest trail near Lac Sacacomie in the Mauricie region in Quebec.

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Our guide to Hotel Sacacomie He gives us a safety briefing and instructions, including the commands for the dogs and how to brake and control the speed of the sled.

Although our pace is constant, you could call dog sledding a form of interval training for the musher. All six dogs can do most of the steering, but require a bit of help uphill with the musher getting off the sled to walk behind him, keeping his hands on the handlebars at all times.

It is late winter and some of the melting snow has formed icy patches on the trail making it a bit more slippery ride than if it had been on fresh soft snow.

And despite the best efforts of my musher and accomplice, Fiona, a fellow travel writer, the ice causes her to lose her balance and fall.

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Seconds later, a sharp turn pulls me out of our barrel sled.

That’s when the most important rule of mushing hits us hard: never let go of the sled.

But thanks to our guides, we were reunited with our runaway canines in minutes.

So our first attempt at dog sledding during our two-day stay at the Hotel Sacacomie was a bit difficult, but we got over our initiation by retiring to the hotel for a much-needed soak in the spa.

Perched atop the hotel on the hillside, the GEOS Eco Spa offers expansive views of Lake Sacacomie and the surrounding mountains.

The spa features two open-air geothermal baths, a eucalyptus steam bath, an ice-cold bath with a waterfall, and two saunas, one with lake views and the other with Northern Lights-inspired light therapy.

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Although dog sledding may not be for me, learning to ride a snowmobile was much easier to learn than commanding a herd of animals.

In fact, getting on a Ski-Doo is a must in the Lanaudiere-Mauricie region, as this area between Montreal and Quebec City has a vast network of more than 4,800 km of snowmobile trails.

When the icy winter weather takes over much of Quebec, that’s when snowmobiles rev their engines.

Many accommodations in Lanaudiere and Mauricie offer snowmobile rentals and guided tours, among other winter activities.

TO Auberge du Lac Taureau Just north of Saint-Michel-des-Saints in Lanaudiere, our guide takes us on a short drive through a well-kept stretch of the relatively flat trail that skirts the hostel’s namesake lake.

Although snowmobiling can be a fast sport (with a maximum speed limit of 70 km / h), the entire ride was quite serene as we navigated through a landscape resembling a white blanket.

GETTING HERE

Lanaudiere and Mauricie and are about a 90 minute to two hour drive northeast of Montreal.

For more information visit quebecauthentique.com and the official Quebec tourism website at bonjourquebec.com .