Hannah's First Time Attending a Sled Dog Race (& Scooterjoring!)

Last week’s “How It All Began” newsletter left off with Blair finishing her Iditarod run and me joining the Uglydogs community to learn more about mushing and sled dogs. The next big step in my journey happened a few months later, in October 2019.

I had been hearing about Doty’s Dusty Dog Dryland Race in Wisconsin, where dozens of mushers compete in races on rigs, bikes, scooters, and on foot with sled dogs. Now, I’m not typically the kind of person to drive 500 miles, to a place I’ve never been, to see people I’ve never met. But for some reason, I did. Or, we did. By this time, Beth was also hooked on sled dogs so we went together.

We booked a room at Crab n Jacks in White Lake, Wisconsin, which was recommended by the Doty race hosts. When we arrived, it was quite a shock from what I was expecting. If you’ve stayed there, you probably know what I mean, although some of the rooms have been updated in the last year or two. Crab n Jacks rooms are not fancy. They’re very basic. There is no heat in the rooms, unless you ask for a space heater. Lady bugs are in abundance. I may have blown electrical circuits in the rooms on multiple occasions.

You check into your room via the bartender in the adjoining restaurant. If there is a second floor riverside room available, take it. Crab n Jacks sits on the edge of the Wolf River and the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, and provides amazing views.

After we settled in, it was time to head to Skinny Dave’s, a bar in Mountain, Wisconsin, for the musher meeting and bib draw. This was the one time they held this event the Friday night before the races. This is where I met Blair and Q for the first time!

The musher meeting consisted of the race officials going over the race rules, safety instructions, bib draws, and sharing a meal together. I was honored that Blair and Q gave Beth and I wristbands to designate us as handlers for their team during the race weekend!

The next morning, Saturday, I woke up bright and early to head to the races. The International Dog Bus arrived and I quickly learned how to harness dogs.

The first race of the day for team BraverMountain was four dog rig with Q. He ran with Pepe, Clem, Spike, and Colbert. I finally got to see sled dogs in action, in person! After helping them to the starting chute, I ran off down the trail into some bushes and corn to get photos.

About an hour later, Q ran six dog rig with Pete, Boo, Biggie, Willow, and Tenzing. If you’re counting, you’re right - that’s only five dogs. Weegee was the sixth, but he got out of his harness on the way up to the starting chute so Q had to leave without him.

I believe it was in this race that the brakes went out on Q’s rig. He ended up taking a spill after a big downhill, but was able to finish the race. At the end of the race, he asked for help to stop the dogs and the rig since he didn’t have working brakes. Fellow Uglydog Addison stepped in, literally, to stop the cart…with his shin.

Next up, it was Blair’s turn with two dog scooter. She ran with Jules and Zagat, and it was their first time racing! Their full race was captured on my GoPro:

After that, Blair raced in the one dog scooter event with Slim. I believe it was also his first race, and he got a little distracted at times. Especially when he saw me in the bushes - oops.

The last event of the day was canicross. This was the first time I met Erin Schouweiler from Otter Run Kennel, and of course started following them on social media as well! She raced with Ebb.

After the races, several of us went north of Mountain to Big Easel Gallery and Bistro. This was basically a restaurant based out of someone’s living room where they served us a seven course meal! It was unlike any place I’d ever been before. Just take a look at the bathroom…

Sunday’s races were a repeat of Saturday’s races, so I won’t go through everything again.

But when the races were over on Saturday, I TRIED SCOOTERJORING FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! Blair is looking like a proud dog mom in the background haha. Spike and Willow were great sports. I had no idea what I was doing, besides hanging on for dear life. Clearly, once I tried it, I was hooked.

Between races throughout the weekend, I was able to cuddle a lot of sled dogs…including BOO!!! I had always loved seeing Blair’s tweets about Boo. He has such a big personality and so many feelings, how could you not love him?

Boo is generally a shy dog. But for some reason, he seemed to have a connection with me and Beth right off the bat. Obviously, this will be a recurring theme in future newsletters lol.

Of course, I also met many other BraverMountain dogs during this race, but unfortunately I don’t have time to talk about each of them. If you’re interested in seeing them, check out my Twitter @95hannahlouise. 

If you’ve never been to a sled dog race, Doty’s Dusty Dog Dryland Race in Doty, Wisconsin is a fantastic opportunity. It takes place around the third weekend in October and is very fan-friendly.

What was your first sled dog race experience like? Share in the comments or reply via email!

Check back on Friday for our next newsletter that includes some fun outtakes from our holiday card photo shoot!