Wispy clouds dot a blue sky, fresh snow on the ground, and an unfamiliar sound cuts the silence.
Ron Miller and his Alaskan huskies dog sled through the snowy landscape.
Miller is a musher, the person who drives the sled and directs the dogs.
“This is Greer, and he's a relatively new dog to the kennel,” said Miller. “This is Snowflake. She's actually named by my daughters. And this is Delta who is Snowflake's mother, and they're a pretty good lead team here.”
This is sunrise at its best and Miller knows you don't have to leave Arizona to race dogs.
“People are very surprised when they hear about sled dog racing in Arizona. The Arizona Mountain Mushers are a club right here Arizona, started originally in Flagstaff. We now have members throughout the state, probably 30 to 40 families that are mushers,” he said.
Miller got his start in Alaska and has been racing for 18 years.
“Racing here is just as fun as Alaska, it's just that the season is much shorter,” said Miller. “Fortunately here in the White Mountains we have enough snow that we are able to enjoy this sport, enjoy our dogs and be out there.”
Every January, the White Mountain Winter Games transform the area to look more like a scene of the Iditarod.
And the dogs are fast – on a nicely groomed trail during racing season, they can go up to 15 miles per hour.
“The sleds themselves are changing, some of us still like the traditional all wooden sled,” Miller said. “This sled is an actual - is made from ash just like baseballs are, and that's because they're a good strength to weight ratio in the ash wood. These sleds are built to be very flexible.”
The dogs seem to be having just as much fun as Ron.
“They're born and raised to run,” said Miller. “They absolutely love to be out here on the snow and just running with their buddies. Of course, in Arizona, we don't have snow all the time, so sometimes we have to run with carts or with bicycles.”
Mushers use horse commands. “Ha” to tell the dogs to go left and “gee” to direct them right. And they usually start their dogs with a whistle or the word “hike.”
“It's a wonderful sport, you're basically out there by yourself with your best friends, and that's your dogs. They enjoy it and I enjoy it, it's a lot of fun,” Miller said.