The Home Run: mushing through history and tough weather

Justin Allen, a 34-year-old musher, says wolves are challenging his dog sledding journey home to Saint John, New Brunswick.

“I didn’t have as much sleep as I would have liked,” he said, “I would have to stay outside with my dogs to protect them from the dangers.”

Allen started his expedition this year at Churchill, Manitoba. That’s where he fell in love with dog mushing after moving there six years ago. He hopes to be home with his dogs by May.

His 12 dogs love pulling him, either on a sled when there’s sufficient snow or on an ATV four-wheeler for the roads.

While they were mushing, Allen said some challenges included a constant battle with a cold, swimming in six feet of snow and finances for dog food.

“We’re just getting used to it,” he said. “It’s becoming life a little bit, you know?”

Allen knew he was passing through Indigenous traditional territories and wanted to share his experiences with those communities.

“I’m giving back to the First Nation people, acknowledging the stem of their culture with dog teams and doing presentations in schools,” he said.

He has about 20 destinations on his list, which included Attawapiskat First Nation, Moosonee and Cree Nation of Nemaska.

“We chose to go to Nemaska, based on the weather conditions,” Allen said. “It fit a little better in our whole plan.”

The weather in April has been inconsistent in eastern Canada, where high winds, ice storms and blizzards could potentially impact the journey.

“We’re going to try to chase the minus temperatures for a little longer,” Allen said. “We may not end up in some of those communities.”

On his Facebook page, Boss Dog Expeditions, Allen wrote he had to make a hard decision and put his dogs on his truck because of large, sharp boulders on the Route du Nord to Chibougamau.

“We went through almost every bootie we had, and they wouldn’t last even half an hour of running,” Allen wrote on Facebook.

He put boots on the dogs to protect their feet, and reflective jackets on them so the heat from the sun bounces away from them to keep the dogs cool while running.

“Thankfully, the dogs’ feet are fine. We didn’t overdo it,” he wrote on Facebook.

Allen is halfway through his journey and hopes to reach New Brunswick soon.

“We’re going to settle in New Brunswick once we’re finished,” he said, “open a dog sledding business there, would love to have people come visit us, learn about the dogs, go for rides.”

Allen said he wants to open up a club for dog owners and offer free membership to his kennel, where they can practice mushing and give dog owners a place to socialize with other dogs.