The countdown to the 33rd annual dog sled mail run has begun with the event planned for Feb. 7 to Feb. 9.
Each year teams of dogs carry mail to Barkerville. It will start at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 7 at Troll Ski Resort where mail carriers will be sworn in. Day two will be at the Jack O Clubs Pub in Wells and around 11:15 a.m. on day three, mushers and their dogs are expected to begin arriving at Barkerville's post office.
Ric Raynor is the president of the Gold Rush Trail Sled Dog Association. He's been involved with the mail run for over 20 years and said after the letters reach the Barkerville post office, they get mailed out around the world.
"The mail run is one of the only events that we're aware of where you can have Canada Post mail delivered for the first part of its journey by dog sled," he explained.
It started as an event to showcase northern B.C. during the 1993 B.C. Northern Winter Games and became a qualifier for sled dog races after that. People would come from around North America and Europe to compete, because of the need for volunteer work it went back to being a recreational event in 2000.
"Some of the scenery that they go through is just absolutely amazing," Raynor said. "The quiet of the dog sleds as they're going by, they're howling to get going but once they're on the trail it is so quiet. You can barely even hear them coming."
He first got involved through a scouting group which used to cook meals for the mushers on the trail. Scouts from Quesnel are still involved with the mail run, helping mushers keep to the trails.
Raynor said the best place to watch the sled dogs will be at Barkerville the day they arrive at the historic site.
Envelopes that will be part of the mail run can be bought at:
- Canada Post downtown - Quesnel
- Shoppers Drug Mart - Quesnel
- Total Pet - Quesnel
- Bosleys - Quesnel
- Little Red Pony - Quesnel
- Four Rivers Co op - Quesnel
- Rocky's - Bouchie Lake
- BNC Mercantile - Wells
- Jack O' Clubs - Wells
- Books & Co. - Prince George
Information for how to order envelopes and how to mail them can be found at the event's website: sleddogmailrun.ca. The first envelope of the year was bought online from someone in Australia.
The image on the envelopes for this year's mail run is a photograph taken by Pat Suter of his great niece Nevada Jones from a previous year's event.
