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In the pack
DogPAC gives both dogs and skiing owners some space to roam and exercise in the groomed outdoors
By Katie Brauns / The Bulletin
Published: February 16. 2010 4:00AM PST
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DogPAC founder Kreg Lindberg, 46, of Bend, enjoys cross-country skiing with his dog Lani, 4, on a dog-friendly ski trail near Wanoga Sno-park Thursday morning. DogPAC, a nonprofit organization, was created in 2008 to provide dog-friendly trails and improve off-leash areas in Central Oregon.
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin
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Doggy dresses, hats and shades: a bit much. A groomed ski trail for dogs in Central Oregon: much needed.
Until recently, local outdoor enthusiasts had no groomed ski trails on which to work out with their canine friends.
“People work, they need places where they can take their dog and exercise their dog,” says Kreg Lindberg, founder of DogPAC, an organization that grooms and maintains a dog-friendly ski trail at Wanoga Sno-park 15 miles west of Bend on Century Drive. The group has also worked with the Bend Park & Recreation District to improve off-leash access at various parks in Central Oregon.
“There is a saying,” Lindberg adds, “that a tired dog is a good dog and a happy dog.”
Lindberg has paved the way for dog owners and their pets since 2008. The path at Wanoga is about two miles long and is groomed and maintained four days a week by DogPAC. Typically, the club grooms Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. DogPAC (PAC was originally an acronym for political action committee, but is now simply a variation of pack) is a nonprofit organization and has about a dozen core volunteers and a slew of supporters.
“What I used to do when I first got my dog is ski at (Virginia) Meissner (Sno-park) or ski at (Mount) Bachelor, and then I would go home and walk my dog,” explains Lindberg, 46. “And I thought, ‘This is crazy, because she can ski with me and dogs love snow and we can do this. We can make an opportunity where I can ski and have my exercise and she can have her exercise.’ ”
DogPAC’s trail was inspired by cross-country ski trails in the Methow Valley in north-central Washington and two trail systems in Idaho: one in Sun Valley and one in McCall.
“I’ve traveled to other places and skied there and they have dog-friendly trails, so we know it’s possible,” notes an enthusiastic Lindberg. “It just didn’t exist in Central Oregon. We are pretty restrictive for dog owners here. But if you look elsewhere, you see that that’s not the case. Most forests are welcoming to dog owners. ... (The trail at Wanoga) is, as far as we know, the only groomed trail in all of Oregon that allows dogs.”
So far, the expenses for creating a space for dogs and their owners have been borne solely by Lindberg, save for a little fundraising and some trailhead donations. He uses his own snowmobiles to groom. At the beginning of the winter he purchased a new groomer attachment for his snowmobiles, which cost about $5,000. He has also purchased shovels, receptacles and biodegradable bags for the inevitable waste produced when dogs hit the trail.
Lindberg chuckles about the costs, saying: “I’ll just retire a little bit later.” When not out on the trail, he is on the job as a tourism and outdoor leadership professor at Oregon State University-Cascades Campus in Bend.
Two other DogPAC groomers who volunteer regularly are Brett Crandall and Greg Evans.
“We have a snowmobile and it has a groomer on the back that looks like a trailer,” explains Crandall, 27, of Bend. “It makes the corduroy and it makes the double track.
“On a weekend we get about 10 to 15 (carloads of trail users) with dogs. ... We’ve been just recently getting the Meissner cat (larger groomer) in here to groom every now and then. That’s making it more desirable as well.”
The DogPAC volunteers urge trail users to be considerate of others and clean up after their dogs.
“If you own a dog, you own its poop,” Lindberg states simply.
Lindberg believes strongly in his quest. He thinks dogs have a way of forcing humans to interact.
“Part of what we like to see is that dogs actually help people socialize,” notes Lindberg. “So when you are out on the trail you often see people stop and talk to each other and pet the dogs. ... So the dogs give humans exercise and make them get out more often, but also help the humans socialize.”
Dog owners are not the only skiers who use Wanoga’s 3-kilometer loop. Some skiers — sans canines — just like the solitude found south of Century Drive.
“I don’t have dogs, but I like getting over on the Wanoga side,” says John Camna, 61, of Bend, as he clips into his cross-country skis at the trailhead. “It gets so busy over at Meissner sometimes. ... DogPAC really has made a difference up here as far as people coming up skiing.”
Usually most of the on-foot recreation — like cross-country skiing and snowshoeing — is designated to the north side of Century. Most snowmobile traffic is to the south. The Wanoga Sno-park trail system is different in that skiers and snowmobilers coexist.
The skiers and snowmobilers do not necessarily use the same trails — or at least they are not intended for multiuse traffic — but the machine and ski trails come awfully close to one another and some interaction is inevitable.
DogPAC has been working with the U.S. Forest Service to come up with a new, different location for groomed, dog-friendly trails.
“Our hope to expand the trail, and DogPAC is working with the Forest Service to explore options,” notes Lindberg. “We are looking for opportunities to have a longer trail — 10 or 15 kilometers — because right now people just get warmed up and then they finish the trail.”
The two short loops at Wanoga circle around a sloping open field with a few trees scattered along the route. Lindberg glides along as his dog, a black Labrador retriever mix named Lani, leads the way with her tongue bobbing. The trail is otherwise barren.
“We believe roughly half the people (in Central Oregon) that would be out snowshoeing or skiing would bring their dog if they had the opportunity,” says Lindberg. “Our goal is to create new opportunities for dog owners without reducing the opportunities for people who don’t want to encounter dogs on the trail.”
Dog owners who use the Wanoga trail say they love having a place to go.
“I come up here about two or three times a week with my dog and I love it because we can go out ... and get a good workout for both of us,” says Bend’s Lori Domarchuk, 50, as her English springer spaniel, Teah, trots around Wanoga digging her nose in the snow. “And she’s happy. She’s a happy girl when she’s out here. ... It’s just a great place for both of us to exercise.”
Katie Brauns can be reached at 541-383-0393 or at kbrauns@bendbulletin.com.
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