Eagle Cap Extreme: Locals, veterans and first timers are part of the mix in 2023

Published 9:40 am Monday, January 23, 2023

1. ECX Where are they now?

Wallowa County’s Eagle Cap Extreme sled dog races each year attract a combination of rookies and veterans – and that’s true for both mushers and volunteers. Here are snapshots of some of this year’s participants.

Maddie Longpre-Harrer

Longpre-Harrer from Calamut, Michigan, is a 19-year-old first-timer in the Eagle Cap Extreme race – and it’s her first race as well. She got hooked on mushing when she handled for musher Dan Kaduce at the 2022 Iditarod. 

Occupation: Dog handler/Professional adventurer

Hobbies: Playing guitar, hanging out with my dog, and napping.

Kennel name: Teton Snow Army Kennels

Number of dogs: However many Clayton has!

Number of years racing: First year

Breed used: Alaskan husky

Category: 100 mile race

In her own words: “I think I might want to qualify (for the Iditarod), but I’m not sure. I’m only 19 and have my whole life ahead of me, so we’ll see how this goes and if I get the bug, so I guess we’ll just see tomorrow.”

“I grew up around sled dogs, so I kind of realized that I know a good dog when I see one, and I saw Clayton’s dogs (longtime Montana musher Clayton Perry) and I said that’s the kind of dog I want to put in front of a sled.”

“I’m a little nervous, there’s not a whole lot of thinking up in my brain right now, but I am ready as I can be. Clayton has been giving me enough guidance and confidence as he can, so I am ready just to get behind some dogs and go have fun.”

“My goal is to finish with happy and healthy dogs and just hope to finish the race and take care of my dogs while doing it.”

Maddie finished seventh in the 100 mile race with a time of 20:59.

Morgan Anderson

Anderson is from Enterprise, Oregon, and started watching the Eagle Cap Extreme through school and as soon as she could she started helping with the race. One year a musher asked her to run his spare team, but she was unable due to lack of experience. However, this put a bug in her ear that she might be able to do this. The next year she was given a dog from another musher and it all snowballed from there!

Occupation: Wildlife Biologist

Hobbies: Mushing, biking, climbing, hiking

Kennel name: Teton Snow Army

Number of dogs: 24

Number of years racing: 9

Breed used: Alaskan husky

Category: 100 mile race

In her own words: “My sophomore year of highschool I started running dogs and as I started running more, my dad (Craig) got hooked.”

“I went to college and when I came back my dad had a bunch of dogs, so now he’s racing them.”

“Dad thinks I’m just going to leave him behind, he has no faith in me,” she said with a chuckle.

“This is a wonderful race that I feel is really safe, people take really good care of you here, and this race is a good place to start if you’re a new musher. It’s a hard workout on the dogs but you’re gonna be taken care of if anything happens.”

“Most years, the school kids get to come up and see the start of the race and I think that’s a great chance for them to get exposed to a new thing and come and have a really fun day up at the ski hill. Some kids aren’t able to make it up to there, so this is a time for them to learn about a wild sport that many of them don’t know about.”

Morgan finished sixth in the 100 mile race with a time of 20:56. 

Craig Anderson

Craig Anderson, from Enterprise, Oregon, started as a race volunteer and then got hooked with sled dog racing after he started running dogs with his daughter. His mushing highlight includes running dogs under the supermoon on New Years. Craig’s fall training included many hours chasing cats around the neighborhood on his cart.

Occupation: Retired

Hobbies: Playing with dogs

Kennel name: Sagema Kennel

Number of dogs: 10

Number of years racing: 3

Breed used: Alaskan husky

Category: 100 mile race

In his own words: “Morgan’s been at it longer than I have. This is actually the first race we’ve actually raced in together.”

“It’s a tough course in terms of terrain and motivation, but it is extremely well marked. The organizers do a great job in setting it up. If you talk to a musher after the race they will tell you how unique this place is.”

“The race itself is what got me into it. The race has been here for eighteen years now. I’ve possibly been to all of them, maybe, often as a spectator. I’m racing with the first musher I ever met in my life.”

“The mushing community is pretty darn small. There’s not a lot of them, especially in the west, and just by volunteering and working in the race we met a lot of mushers who became friends, and Morgan got offered to run some dogs, so it kinda just started snowballing.”

Craig finished fifth in the 100 mile race with a time of 20 hours, 56 minutes.

Clayton Perry

Clayton Perry, from Power Montana, started mushing in 1998 with hounds to hunt lions and check traplines in the wilderness. In 2008 he switched to mushing with Alaskan Huskies. He lists his mushing highlights as his first place finishes in both the ECX 100-mile race, winning the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown, as well as the Flathead Classic 12-dog Race along with running four Iditarod qualifiers 2020. His goal is to keep on loving dogs for 50 more years and the Triple Crown.

Occupation: Retired

Hobbies: Playing with dogs

Kennel name: Teton Snow Army

Number of dogs: 24

Number of years racing: 3

Breed used: Alaskan husky

Category: 200 mile race

In his own words: “Maddie worked with my dogs this summer doing tours in Skagway, Alaska.”

“She liked the dogs so she contacted me and made a proposal to come and work with my dogs.”

“It’s the beginning of a 1450 mile season between the two of us for our kennel. We’ll be racing in Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Michigan. We’ll have to get 150 snack bags, and thousands of dog boots.”

Clayton finished third in the 200 mile race with a time of 34 hours, 43 minutes.

Josh Kesecker

Kesecker is a veteran volunteer and coordinator at Salt Creek Summit checkpoint.

In his own words: “I started when I was back in 2015 so this will be my seventh year or so that I have been doing it. I live and work here in Enterprise and have for the last 18 years.”

“A friend of mine told me about this sled dog stuff and asked me to check it out sometime. At first I was like I’m not going to take vacation to do that, so I decided to go out after work one night and hang out and see what it’s like.”

We went out to Fergi and most of the folks who were there had been up since Wednesday, and they were all worn out, so I was fresh blood, so I got to take the night shift while everyone snoozed, and had to wake everybody up when the mushers came through, so they’d be there when a musher came through the finish line. I stayed up all night, and went out to salt creek summit, and I got hooked and have been doing it ever since.”

“This year, we’re low on people so we are working 12-hour shifts. In a race like this, there isn’t really the luxury of having shorter shifts.”

“I actually don’t follow mushing as a sport, it’s not about the sport, it’s about being there for them. When I have interaction with these mushers and when I learned what they’re doing, and how much it takes, the dedication to their dogs and all the miles and hours they have to do, it’s pretty humbling, and that’s worth supporting.”

“These folks are doing something rare and unique and I like to support them and being part of it. It doesn’t’ take much experience to become involved, there are hundreds of people needed to run this race and we can always use the help.”