BAXTER  (AP) -- What started out as a 75th birthday celebration turned into a wild ride for two women taking a sled dog excursion on the Paul Bunyan Trail near Brainerd.

The women were aboard a sled pulled by 15 dogs when their owner stopped to adjust a harness. As she was heading back to the sled, the dogs snapped a line and took off Friday.

Passengers Dianne Lindvall and Shirley Connolly were pulled by the unmanned sled before being thrown off. Both women were injured but not seriously, and Connolly - who was celebrating her 75th birthday - was taken to a hospital.

Officers stopped the dogs by grabbing their lines and jumping on the sled. The pack was halted nearly three miles from where it took off.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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