Mushing in Washington

Some find solace in quiet woods, deep snow and running dogs

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Tuesday, February 12, 2002

YELM -- The woods ring with barking and yipping as eager dogs strain against their harnesses.

The moment they get the command to go, the woods go quiet.

The dogs bend to their work, and the sled whisks away. The only sound now is the hissing of the runners on the snow and the panting of the dogs -- puffs of steam coming from their mouths like little steam engines when it is cold, says Steve Loper of rural Thurston County.

"It's a blast," he says.

Dog sledding is not confined to Alaska or the Canadian arctic -- dog sled groups and races can be found in 30 states, including Washington. The Northwest Sled Dog Association has more than 50 members, Loper says.

Instinct

Heather Rey's family has owned sled dogs since she was 10 -- about 13 years. The family now have 20 dogs at their home outside Yelm -- mostly huskies picked up from newspaper ads or from the pound. They kept the ones that took to pulling a sled, and they found a home for the others, she says.

"Most of them take to it naturally," she says. "It's like an instinct." But lead dogs take more training to learn to respond to commands.

The family often take their dogs to the trails -- motorized and non-motorized -- in the Rimrock Lake area east of White Pass or on Skate Creek Road near Mount Rainier when the road is closed in the winter.

They unload the dogs, harness them and hook them to the sled via ganglines. A "snowhook" on the sled keeps it in place while the dogs are hooked up, but most mushers also tied the sled to something more substantial -- like the truck that hauls the dogs -- until everything is ready.

The rope is released, the snowhook pulled up, and the dogs know it's time to go. They instantly quit barking.

"There's almost no sound," Rey says.

And there is the quiet that is one of the attractions of having a team of dogs pull you through peaceful, snow-filled woods.

On a typical outing, Rey and her family ride up to 14 miles, with a stop for lunch. Sometimes they split the dogs into two 10-dog teams. But 20 dogs can easily pull the sled with two passengers and the driver, she says.

Commands

When it snows in Washington, it is some of the best sledding snow around, says John Conrad of Redmond, who has 18 rescued Siberian huskies -- from the pound or from people who could not keep the dogs.

The term musher comes from the French word for march, Conrad said. And common commands to sled dogs are just like commands to a horse: hike to go, gee for left turn, haw for right turn, and anything goes for stop.

But some mushers have only one command, Conrad says.

"If the dogs look like they're going the right way there's no need to say anything," he says. If they're going the wrong way, the musher simply says "no" to make them stop. He or she then turns them in the right direction -- and off they go.

Conrad enjoys racing for the contact with other dog owners -- and just for the fun.

"If I just get around the track, that's enough, even if I finish last," he says.

'Pastime for all seasons'

Before the snow flies or for those winters when it does not, Conrad races wheeled carts on logging roads near Shelton. There are sled and cart races in Washington and Oregon and all over the Northwest.

"You could race every weekend," he says.

Steve and Cheryl Loper, who own Silver Hollow Samoyeds in Yelm, started 20 years ago when they picked a Samoyed as a family pet. Things grew from there when friends got Steve Loper interested in dog sledding.

"If one dog could pull a bicycle, two dogs could pull a sled," Cheryl Loper says.

They now have eight dogs, although the number varies with litters.

Steve Loper says he started dog sledding to keep the dogs exercised.

"It's hard to jog with eight dogs," he says. He now has a short track on the farm where they live, and he hitches the dogs to a wheeled cart to run 5 to 10 miles on local logging roads three times a week.

"It's like training for a marathon," he says.

Loper sometimes races the dogs in the cart races near Shelton, but mostly it is recreational. He likes to take the dogs on excursion runs of 20 to 50 miles on the 200 miles of snowmobile trails around Orr Creek on the north side of Mount Adams.

But he doesn't wait for the snow to fly.

"It's a pastime for all seasons," he says. Loper hooks the dogs to a two-wheeled scooter. "You stand there and let them pull you."

Years ago, Loper joined a club to learn dog sledding from others. He soon started learning to make his own gear. Over the years, it has become a lifestyle more than a hobby -- like owning a boat or a snowmobile, he says.

Now Loper is mentoring young people -- including his 25-year-old son -- interested in learning about mushing.

"This is a pass-on sport," Loper says.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5445.

Sled dog guide

Information sites

- www.sleddogcentral.com

- www.dogscooter.com

- www.iditarod.com

- Information: Alpine Outfitters, Marysville, 360-659-3800; Silver Valley Samoyeds, 360-446-7764

Dog-sled rides

- Arctic Odysseys, Seattle, 206-325-1977.

- Enchanted Mountain Dogsled Tours, Sedro Woolley, 360-856-9168.

- Malamute Express Dog Sledding Adventures, Twisp, 509-997-6402.

- Mt. Hood Sled Dog Tours, Welches, Ore, 503-622-5879.

- Oregon Trail of Dreams, Bend, Ore., 800-829-2442.

Kennel license

Thurston County requires the owners of four to 10 dogs to have a kennel license. Owners of 10 or more dogs must have a commercial kennel license. But kennels are not allowed in some developed parts of the county.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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