>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

A lead dog looks to his musher and seems to ask, “Is it time to go yet?’’ The dogs are excited get back on the trail, even after covering 150 miles of snow-covered trail, during last year’s 200-mile race . Photo/Dr. Randy Greenshields

The Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race and the the fifth annual WinterFest sponsored by the Wallowa County Gamblers Snowmobile Club are running concurrently this week.

The Eagle Cap Extreme Sled Dog Race, with events planned Wednesday through Saturday, is Oregon’s only qualifying race for both the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Quest.

The 100-mile race stretches up the Imnaha River to the Ollokot Campground, which is the 50-mile mark, and then returns.

The 200-mile race continues on to the town of Halfway where the mushers and their teams take a mandatory eight-hour layover in Bigelow Field, the 100-mile mark, before returning to the finish point at Ferguson Ridge Ski Area, southeast of Joseph.

There is a total purse of $8,000 for both races with $2,000 going to the first-place team in the 200-mile race and $1,200 for the winner of the 100-mile race.

To make the event even more exciting, Oregon Public Broadcasting will be filming the race for “Oregon Field Guide.’’ Ed Jahn, producer of “Oregon Field Guide,’’ will be documenting the race with an OPB television crew from Jan. 15 through Jan. 17.

A new tangent for the sled dog races this year is the opportunity to cooperate with Fishtrap, the local non-profit organization that supports writing in and about the West, on the third annual Big Read project. The book selected to promote reading in the community this year is “Call of the Wild” by Jack London, the story of a genteel dog abducted and sold to pull a dog sled in the gold rush in Alaska.

The Eagle Cap Extreme organization will provide a display at the opening of the Big Read Tuesday at the Odd Fellows Hall in Enterprise. Dr. Rene Fleming, one of the assistant veterinarians, will be on hand to answer questions and add to the opening festivities.

The sled dog races will most certainly be entertaining, but for the students in the schools of Wallowa County, they will also be educational. Education Coordinator Michelle Cregger has worked hard, according to Vice President Randy Greenshields, to provide activities for students.

The vet checks in Joseph and Enterprise are scheduled to allow elementary students to visit with the dogs and mushers.

A musher and dog team will travel to Wallowa to give the students at Wallowa Elementary School an opportunity to participate in the event. A coloring contest, which will be judged by the mushers, is slated at the elementary schools as well as a reading race where minutes equal miles in a contest of speed and distance.

“We have made every effort to make this truly a family event for the community. We are really excited. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Greenshields said.

The mushers and their teams will have their usual pre-race veterinarian check on Main Street in Joseph Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. and on Main Street in Enterprise at 1 p.m. This is an opportunity for the public to come and meet the mushers and the dog teams, ask questions and learn about dog care on the trail. Visitors should not bring their pet dogs to the vet check, and should ask permission before touching the dogs.

A potluck dinner and mushers’ bib drawing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center in Joseph.

The dog sled race starts Thursday at 1:30 p.m. The exact location will be determined by the weather. Spectators are encouraged to check the website eaglecapextreme.com for updates on the start and finish locations and times.

The teams will be arriving early Friday morning in Halfway. This is another opportunity for the public to see the mushers and their dog teams and observe them in “race mode.”

The eight-dog teams in the 100-mile race will be finishing at various times on Friday morning. The 200-mile racers will be finishing sometime early Saturday morning to early afternoon.

A dinner and dance begins at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Joseph Community Center.

Ferguson Ridge Ski Area will be open for skiing and the food services will be open throughout the finishes of both races. A finish arch has been assembled to welcome the mushers across the finish line. Communications in place at Salt Creek Summit, about 12 miles from Ferguson Ridge, will provide an early warning for spectators at the finish line.

So far nine dog teams are registered to race, and there is time for more to sign up. The mushers this year include Charlotte Mooney from West Yellowstone, Mont., who is registered for the 100-mile race and has five years of racing experience. She won the Ashton-American Dog Derby in 2007. Dee Ogden from Boise, was the 2007 Eagle Cap Sled Dog Race winner and is running the 100-mile race again this year. He is a veteran racer from 2006, ’07 and ’08. Frank Caccavo is from Deer Park, Wash., and has been running dogs for four years. He won four races in 2007 and participated in the ECSDR in 2008. John Greenside hails from Truckee, Calif., and is registered in the 200-mile race. He has been racing for 10 years and ran the ECSDR in 2006 and 2007. Rick Katuki also ran the Wallowa County race from 2006 to 2008 and has been racing for seven years. He is from Eagle, Idaho.

Roger Vincent is competing in the 200-mile race and has six years of mushing experience. He traveled from West Yellowstone, Mont., to compete. Scott Thompson is also registered in the 200-mile race and has 15 years of racing experience. He is from Trout Lake, Wash., and is new to the Eagle Cap Extreme. Steve Madsen from Cougar, Wash., has 12 years of racing experience, including the Alaskan Iditarod. He participated in the Eagle Cap Sled Dog Race in 2008 and is registered this year in the 200 mile race. Steve Riggs won the Black Hills Race for the Gold last year and is running the 100 mile race in Wallowa County with 10 years of racing experience. He comes to eastern Oregon from Condon, Mont.

Officials for the Eagle Cap Extreme include Terry Hinesly from Southern Oregon as race marshal. His past experience includes being a judge in the Iditarod for six years, the John Beargrease in Minnesota and the Seney 300 in Michigan. He is helping the Russians organize the first race in the northwestern part of their country.

David Boyd is the trail boss for the race. He got started with sled dog racing in Central Oregon by volunteering with the AttaBoy sled dog race. He worked his way up from cleanup to trail boss in three years of volunteering.

Cari Hinesly is the head timer for the Eagle Cap Extreme. She enjoys being connected with sled dog racing by working races like the Eagle Cap Extreme. She has run many sprint and mid-distance races.

Dr. Vern Starks from Ketchikan, Alaska, set up the veterinary program for the Eagle Cap Sled Dog Race and has served as chief veterinarian for the race since 2005. He has also worked on the Can-Am race in Maine and the Cascade Quest race in Washington. He is currently serving on the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association Board.

Assistant veterinarians include Dr. Randy Greenshields from Enterprise. He is co-owner of the Double Arrow Veterinary Clinic. This is his fifth year working this race. He is the Eagle Cap Extreme’s vice president this year.

Dr. Kathleen McGill from Ohio has served as a trail veterinarian 18 times since 1997. She worked the Yukon Quest Race for six years, three as head veterinarian.

Dr. Jerry Vanek from Bemidji, Minn., has been a vet at more than 60 races since 1992 including the Iditarod, the Yukon Quest and the CanAm Crown. He is a wilderness EMT and a trained canine sports medicine rehabilitation practitioner and therapist.

Dr. Rene Fleming from Joseph worked with the volunteers of the Eagle Cap Sled Dog Race as a trail veterinarian at Ollokot Campground in 2007 and 2008.

Dr. Jim Leach currently lives in Big Lake, Alaska. He has been the chief veterinarian for 10 different sled dog races and has been a trail vet on several other races including the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest.

The board of directors includes Clyde Raymer, president; Randy Greenshields, vice president; and directors JR Ewing, Shelley Curtiss, David Boyd, Lynnie Appleton and Michael Fleming.

Race coordinators include Andy Osborn of Joseph as chute boss, Randy and Jeni Greenshields of Enterprise as musher coordinators; Michael Fleming of Joseph as webmaster; and Michelle Cregger of Cove as educational coordinator.

WinterFest

The Fifth Annual WinterFest sponsored by the Wallowa County Gamblers Snowmobile Club will run concurrently with the sled dog races this year.

The festivities start with a snowman building contest in Joseph on Jan. 13. First, second and third- place prizes will be awarded during the Crab Feed on Jan. 17. The entry fee is $20 and the proceeds go to support the Wallowa County Gamblers annual Winterfest events. A chili cooking contest begins at 10 a.m. at ToZion on Main Street. The chili is for sale at $2 per cup and there will be a first place award and a Peoples’ Choice Award.

Loomix Tub races will be held on Main Street in Joseph in front of the Stubborn Mule at 6 p.m. on the Jan. 16. There is a $25 entry fee and winners receive cash and crab feed tickets. The Polar Bear Underwear Race follows at 8 p.m. Contestants race in skivvies and running shoes.

At 7 a.m. on Jan. 17 an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $8 in the Thunder Room at the rodeo grounds in Joseph will get everyone ready for a scavenger hunt for all ages at 10 a.m. It begins at the Stubborn Mule in Joseph along with a town poker walk for those without sleds. It begins at the Embers Brew House at 10 a.m. Hands will be $5 and there is a 60 percent payout.

This year’s Winterfest Poker Run for snowmobilers will have a $2,200 guaranteed purse. Sign-ups will be at the Thunder Room from 9 a.m. to noon. The first hand is drawn at sign up and the run will start in town, snow permitting. Start will be at the Salt Creek Summit Snow Park if there is no snow in Joseph. The poker run is a total of 35 miles with six stations.

An all-you-can-eat crab dinner will be served in the Thunder Room at the rodeo grounds from 3 to 8 p.m. for $36. This price includes admission to the WinterFest Dance where music is by the Jeff Carman Band. Dance-only tickets are $7.