Some 60 teams are on hand for the weekend to compete over courses of two to 24 miles with teams of four, six, eight and as many as 12 dogs. The event is staged by the Southern Oregon Sled Dog Club. You gotta love em. There are dogs everywhere, hundreds of dogs. From thick-furred huskies to various hounds to border collies that Neumann brings not to race but just for companionship.
Dogs roll in snowbanks, pull at harnesses and jump yelping over each other in their frenzy to run.
Teams go out at one-minute intervals and race the clock. There is a gap of 20 minutes between the last finisher of an event and the start of the next race. Times are posted on a scoreboard near the starting line on the way down to Diamond Lake Resort. Not everybody is racing. I like running them out and back, but I might take all day to go around the lake.