Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod

Paulsen lives with his wife in a cabin in northern Minnesota and runs sled dogs for transportation, hunting, trapping, and gathering firewood. However, his relationship with the sled dogs evolves. He stops using them for practical reasons and runs them simply because doing so is a chance to see “a thing of beauty” (25).

Midway through the chapter, the first of many surprises in the book occurs. After making camp for the night, Paulsen glances at his team and is stunned to discover that the eight dogs he came with have turned into nine. At first, he thinks his eyes are tricking him in the moonlight. He soon discovers that the extra dog is actually a brush wolf—also known as a northern coyote—that has taken up residence with his dogs as if she is part of the team. The coyote, which Paulsen names Marge, mates with one of his dogs, named Typhoon, and stays with the team for three days.

Toward the end of the chapter, Paulsen rescues a deer whose leg is caught in the snare of a poorly designed trap. Paulsen notes that snaring deer is illegal and says he sees “horrible things done to animals by trappers” (48).