Chicago. After wandering around the United States for
a few years he discovered Alaska and the world of dog
mushing. The true start to the world of dawgs started
though with Maverick, a yellow Labrador that taught
him more about life than any human could. "If one
animal could contain so much love and energy, what
about ten or twenty?" Hugh started working for sprint
musher Bill Mitchell, who along with Curtis Erhart and
a few local mushers in Fairbanks provided limitless
training and the opportunity to feed and clean up for
over 200 dogs on a daily basis. A few years later Hugh
would be an apprentice to Curtis’ legendary father,
Lester, in the native Athabascan village of Tanana on
the Yukon River. Lester taught Hugh about life in the
Alaskan bush as well as passing along dog wisdom.
From there it was on to Nenana where Jerry Riley, Ray
Fox and other assorted locals caught a glimpse of the
vision. During this time Hugh met Rich Doran who
was building a cabin at Murphy Dome. Rich’s support
helped to build the foundation of the Laughing Eyes
Kennel.
and Paddy Santucci in Minto and Manley Hot Springs. It was here that Hugh
first started with village races. Next Hugh moved on to Coldfoot and worked at
the “Northern-Most Truck Stop” and trained in the Brooks Range for the next
two years. There's nothing quite like travelling by dog team in the remote
Brooks Range and he hopes to be able to return there often. This northern
training ground helped Hugh and the pooches develop into long-distance
racing. Hugh’s first Yukon Quest in 2000 was with only ten dogs to start the
race, but they battled through and ended up finishing in 13th place, earning the
"Challenge of the North Award". In the summer of 2003 Hugh and Tamra met
while Hugh was working at the Yukon River bridge on the Dalton Highway
and Tamra was touring the north by army jeeps. Within a year Hugh had
moved to Skagway with the dogs to do summer tours and Tamra had moved to
Whitehorse, Yukon (an hour north of Skagway) to work for Gartner Lee. That
summer they found their home at Annie Lake and began to set up the kennel.
That fall the dogs and Hugh moved to their new winter home and began
training in the Wheaton River valley.
place in what is considered the "World's Toughest Race". In 2005 Hugh and
Lance Mackey lead the second half of the race, with Lance coming across the
finish line in 1st, and Hugh in 3rd (William Kleedehn snuck up from behind to
take 2nd) all within an hour of each other.
Lew Freedman’s Iditarod Classics, Hugh became obsessed with the Great Land
and "The Last Great Race on Earth". For eight years he prepared for the Iditarod
when folks would get a chance to see what the Laughing Eyes Kennel team was
all about. In his first year entered in the Iditarod in 2004, the team finished in
22nd place and Hugh earned the title of 'Rookie of the Year' for being the first
rookie to cross the finish line. In 2005 Hugh was one of the few squads to
complete the Yukon Quest and Iditarod in the same year. After a 3rd place
finish in the Quest, they went on to finish 26th in the Iditarod in one of the
most gruelling races ever. The temps during the race rarely dropped below 40
degrees and were often above 60 degrees making the heavy snow pack a difficult
slog. This past year (2006) the team finished in 21st place with a lot of new dogs
on the team - we're looking forward to next year! The history of the Laughing
Eyes Kennel however, is more than a story of people, places and races. The true
story lies in the dogs themselves.
Quest: Hugh, Lance and William
Shyela in 2005
