(dogs barking)
(dogs wincing)
- [Randy] Well it started
with the love of the dogs.
(kissing call)
(laughing)
Ah and they bring so many people together.
In our community we have loggers,
we have arts people,
we have ranchers and it really meshes them all
in to one cohesive unit,
you know, driving for a single goal.
- [Narrator] It's race day at the annual
Eagle Cap Extreme.
- We are very aptly named.
We get a lot of mushers that come here, in fact.
And after they run the race, they're like
now we know why you call it The Extreme.
- [Announcer] It's chow down time.
(crowd cheering)
They're grilling (mumbles).
Their dogs can't wait.
Let's count em down together.
(dogs barking)
Five,
four,
three,
two,
one,
Let's go! God speed!
(crowd cheering)
- [Narrator] The Eagle Cap Extreme is Oregon's
largest dog sled race.
It's several races actually,
held over three days each January.
Mushers from across the west come for a chance
to race their dogs in Oregon's
rugged Wallowa Mountain.
And the most extreme race this weekend
is 200 miles.
So challenging that it is one
of the few qualifiers of Alaska's Iditarod.
(dogs barking)
School kids from across Wallowa County
get the day off to come see the race start.
Many cheer for hometown hero, Morgan Anderson.
- Most people are like, "Oh I've never met
a musher before."
That's like the number one thing I get.
And they're like, "That's so cool."
(laughing) Kel put your ears up.
- Morgan Anderson I've known since she was,
you know, in school.
In high school she was old enough to help out
with the vet checks.
- I think I've been to every single race.
Yeah, you're a good girl.
- [Randy] Then she worked her way up.
Borrowed some dogs.
- [Morgan] Started with just one dog.
He's no longer on my race team.
He prefers to sleep on the couch.
He gets loved on.
(chuckling)
As a kid the school would take me
to vet checks and to race start.
- This one likes me.
Whoa!
(kids laughing)
- And then my dad and I would always
stay afterwards and I would go to the banquet
and get the mushers to sign a t-shirt for me.
(children chattering)
- [Narrator] Now, rather than Morgan being
one of the school kids coming
to meet the mushers,
the kids line up to meet Morgan.
- This is why I have no clean clothing.
(chuckling)
I don't think I ever thought I could race.
It's something that happened here
but I didn't think this was something
I could ever do.
We got a lot of books and we're like,
we don't know what it takes to own a sled dog.
But now I'm really happy that this is what I do.
- [Narrator] Morgan is competing
in the shorter 31 mile race.
It's a sprint compared
to the marathon 200 mile race.
(dogs barking)
- [Announcer] Five, four, three
two, one,
let's go.
- All right!
(cheering from crowd)
(upbeat music)
(dog barking)
- [Narrator] When it comes to the signature
200 mile race,
all eyes are on a father/son team
called Skinny Leg.
- [Brett] We've always called Spencer's leg
a skinny leg.
That's what he's called it.
It's his skinny leg.
And his brothers would always tell him
growing up that your skinny leg can go anywhere.
Your skinny leg knows no bounds.
- I as born with a birth defect called
Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita.
So that means that the veins in my left leg
are not properly developed.
It's about an inch shorter and about half
the mass of my right leg
so I can't do normal sports very well.
It was disheartening to just see all the other
kids be able to play and no matter how hard
I tried to just sit on the sidelines.
(dog barking)
I was reading "Call To Wild" by Jack London.
I thought it was just so cool that these people
were out in the arctic just them, the dogs,
and their wilderness.
One day I was driving home with my mom
and I said, "We should start dog sledding."
Hey buddy.
- [Brett] That evening we got together
and she said well I can see this being really
good for Spencer so a couple weeks later
we had six dogs.
- He just exploded.
Never in a million years did I think I would
end up with 40 dogs in my back yard.
- [Announcer] All right, company to the start
gate right now.
Ladies and Gentleman, would you welcome
Spencer Bruggeman.
Ready, set, go!
(crowd cheering)
♪We got a party goin' on and ♪
♪ It's a free for all ♪
- [Spencer] They love to run.
You can't, like, put em on a leash cause they'll run
and pull you over.
- [Narrator] When it comes
to controlling the sled,
you might think mushers have reins
like a team of horses
but they don't actually
have any control in their hands at all.
- [Morgan] It's all voice.
Up, up, up, come on guys!
- [Spencer] The only thing that keeps
em turning is words.
- And your brakes.
And that's about it.
- If you fall off, you better hope
you're getting your team back.
They don't know if the musher fell off.
They just think the sled got lighter.
(chuckling) They just keep going.
- [Morgan] All right, come back.
Good job, super try.
- [Narrator] Spencer's dad has raced
here many times and
has won the 200 mile race before.
But this is Spencer's first time
to the Eagle Cap Extreme.
- He's pretty sure of me but also he does
always look back for some reason.
- He probably would like it to be more of a
musher and musher relationship but a, (chuckling)
I try to stop myself and (chuckling)
try not to be too much of a father.
I've learned that a lot of times,
I just need to keep my mouth shut
and bite my tongue.
- [Narrator] In the middle of the race course
is an outpost called Ollokot.
It's a central hub where racers will
pass through several times.
(snowmobile thrilling)
One of the most important tents at Ollokot
holds the Comms Center.
- Net Control, this is Ollokot.
- [Radio Dispatch] Ollokot this is control,
go ahead.
- I have two pieces of information for you.
- [Narrator] Volunteers operate an elaborate
satellite tracking system,
to try to get accurate updates on where
each racer is on the course.
(sled scraping on snow)
- [Sledder] Ease up.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. - Ease up.
- [Narrator] Stopping at Ollokot is mandatory.
Here the mushers must prove they are carrying
the full list of items in their sled.
- [Musher] Sleeping bag,
first aid kit,
cooker.
- [Narrator] They could travel faster
without the weight but the gear is for safety.
The essentials,
if they have to spend the night
stranded in the wilderness.
- [Musher] Have a good one.
- [Volunteer] Stay safe.
Hurry guys.
(sled scraping)
(whistling)
Good boy.
- [Narrator] Father/son team, Brett and Spencer,
just covered 50 miles,
and make their first pass through Ollokot.
They grab supplies for their dogs
to cover another 50 miles
before returning.
(dogs barking and whining in the distance)
- All right, have a fun run.
- [Brett] I will.
See you later.
- [Narrator] For the dogs, that's nearly
as long as running four marathons back to back.
- So my dog team is all Alaskan Huskies
which are essentially just mutts.
They have everything from German Shepherd
to regular Siberian Husky to Whippet,
and Greyhound.
During the Yukon Gold Rush, they brought every
dog that could be used to haul gold
out of the Yukon.
It created this line of dogs which is now
come to be called the Alaskan Husky.
They're very loyal dogs.
They're very happy dogs.
They love people.
You kind of see em as an equal.
- [Narrator] It's past midnight.
With the race half run, Brett and Spencer
return to Ollokot.
- Spence.
There's your drop bag.
Grab em and we'll go put our,
- [Spencer] Yep.
- [Narrator] But they won't get to rest
until they take care of their dogs.
They need to bed them, water and feed.
- [Brett] There Squirrel.
(dog licking)
Really what separates the winning
versus losing is the rest.
Whoever takes the least rest with the freshest
dogs is the one that's gonna win.
- [Veterinarian] Hey guys.
- [Narrator] A team of veterinarians arrive
to determine if any dogs need
to be pulled from the race.
- [Veterinarian] Yeah (speaking to the dog)
We're looking for muscle problems,
foot problems.
Usually a wrist, a shoulder.
Little massage.
Right triceps moderately painful.
You can feel a knot there.
- [Veterinarian #2] Oh, right there.
- [Veterinarian #1] Yeah
- [Veterinarian #2] For sure.
- [Veterinarian #1] He just needs to rest.
- [Narrator] After caring for their dogs,
mushers can tend to their own needs.
They gather inside a tent nicknamed
the Ollokot Hilton.
(chattering in background)
Mushing can be a solitary sport,
but at the Ollokot Hilton,
the mushers get to mingle.
- I don't even know how they knew that this
place was here but I swear they did.
- [Musher #2] Well they smell it.
- [Musher] And it at like 10 miles ago.
- I was smelling the soup in the wood smoke.
- [Musher] Yeah.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] It's a small tribe,
in the middle of the forest,
in the middle of the night,
in the middle of doing what they love doing most.
(fire crackling)
(dogs whining)
- [Spencer] It wasn't the most comfortable
sleeping spot, but after in the morning,
after being very exhausted,
any where is good.
(dogs howling and whining)
- [Narrator] After the mandatory six hour layover
the Skinny Leg Team is ready to go.
- Dre, hike, hike.
- [Narrator] Brett has decided to leave
one of his dogs behind
to let her rest.
(sled scraping on snow)
- Good job, guys.
- [Narrator] At the farthest point
from the starting line,
they are deep in to the Wallowa Mountains.
- [Spencer] I like the silence of it.
It's just you and the dogs and there's
no other sounds except the dog's feet and breath.
It's just complete isolation.
There's nothing between you and any where.
It just smells kind of cold here.
You don't really smell a ton.
It's just kind of bliss.
You're kind of just tuned out to everything else
in the world but you and your dogs
and where you are at that moment.
Mushing with my dad is just kind of created
a bond that you can't get very many other ways.
There's not really much we couldn't do together.
Our entire winter is pretty much spent
in close quarters.
I'm very close to my dad.
- [Narrator] Meanwhile, the short distance race
is in the home stretch.
- [Musher] Looking good!
- Yeah, let's go guys.
Good job.
Up, up.
Up, up, up.
- [Lady At Finish Line] Way to go, Morgan!
Whoa!
- Right on sister!
- That was good.
- That was fun.
- That was beautiful.
I would guess I'm either in second or third.
(talking to the dogs) You guys are rock stars.
Is that fun?
It's always fun to be like, woo-hoo,
I like got second, got third,
maybe I'll pay for my gas
but in the end I had so much fun
and my dogs are all healthy and that's what
matters to me.
- [Narrator] Back on the trail, Brett and Spencer
still have many more miles to cover.
They'll be mushing all day
and even in to dark.
(dogs howling)
At the finish line, a couple of race volunteers,
family members and a few die hard supporters
wait in the cold to see who will win
the 200 mile race.
Thirty-two hours since leaving the gate,
Spencer crosses the finish line.
His first Eagle Cap race will now be his
first Eagle Cap victory.
- Thank you.
- How are you?
- I'm good.
- You're good?
- Yeah, I'm sore but I'm good.
Yeah.
- [Narrator] Two minutes later, his dad arrives.
- What's up?
Good job.
You made quite an entrance there.
- Hey.
- That was awesome.
(applause)
- Thank you.
- It's heavy.
Thanks for finally lettin me come here.
(crowd laughter)
I'd just like to thank my mom and dad,
just for (hollering in the crowd)
lettin me do this.
For lettin me have 36 dogs in the back yard.
(crowd laughing)
And I'll be back soon.
(Applause and cheering)
It's a great feeling.
You just,
you hit that finish line and
you know that you're done.
You don't have to get back on that sled
for however long you want.
And you can sleep.
You get a hot meal.
And then you have to wake up and
take care of your dogs
in like four hours.
(dogs crunching)