Dogs leave musher behind; one found dead

WILLOW — After 44 hours of searching with snowmachines, dog sleds and a helicopter, a team of sled dogs was found Wednesday after getting away from its musher Monday afternoon.

Jan Stevens was running her 10-dog team east of the Parks Highway north of Nancy Creek when she was knocked off the sled.

The sled and dogs sped away, and Stevens contacted the Willow Dog Musher’s Association for help. Volunteers searched for the team late into Monday night and all day Tuesday.

When there was still no sign of the team on Wednesday, Stevens contacted a local air service for help. Erin Mclaron, a friend of Stevens, went up in the helicopter and recounted the experience in an e-mail.

From the air, they searched the area east of the highway and south of Hatcher Pass Road. On the eighth to 10th pass, Mclaron spotted what she thought might be part of the sled. The helicopter landed 100 yards away and the team was found tangled in its harnesses.

However, one of the 10 dogs was dead. Mclaron said the cause of death is unknown, but it appears to have been killed in a fight with the others.

The nine remaining dogs were walked out to the nearest road and returned to Stevens’ kennel.

In the e-mail, Mclaron said the dogs were on private property when found. The trail was never searched because the gate was undisturbed, and the sled must have gone underneath without getting caught up.

“The dog’s loose adventure was probably about 10 miles,” Mclaron said, “and how the sled never tipped over I’ll never know.”

The snow hook must have finally fell off the sled and stopped the dogs, Mclaron said.

Mclaron’s husband, Paul Mclaron, is a member of the Willow Dog Mushers Association. He said dog teams getting away from their mushers is rare, but it does happen. When it does, he said, the teams are usually recovered fairly quickly.

“Two nights going on day number three, it’s getting pretty long,” he said before the team was found.

Stevens did not care to comment about the ordeal at this time, except to thank all the volunteers who helped the search.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.