Mushing, dog racing, dog sledding—no matter what you call it, it’s going to require a lot of snow. In Adin, California, 360 miles north of Stanford University, lies a long dirt road and a lot of snow, and six miles down this dirt road lies musher Hugo Antonucci’s pride and joy: R&R Huskies, his dog racing kennel. Antonucci is the owner of R&R Huskies and president of the Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers, a northern California dog racing club. Accompanied by April Cox, his training partner, owner of Sumbawa Siberians, Antonucci explained that he had moved to Adin with his wife (not present that day) more than 30 years ago to run his dog kennel and has lived there ever since.

Antonucci fell into mushing after he agreed to take in a husky puppy from his sister. The puppy became very destructive in the house, and after a few recommendations to find a companion for the dog, he took in another husky. He then joined a Bay Area Siberian husky club and decided to try a sled with the two dogs, which he found enjoyable. After a few runs, he started purchasing more dogs, bought a sled and started doing winter camping while taking the dogs out with the sled. After two dogs came four, then six and then eventually 12 dogs—Antonucci now has more than 30 dogs in his kennel.

“The logic behind was that the more dogs I had, the farther I could go,” he says.

Antonucci, a Bay Area native, prefers northern California to the rest of the state. After moving to Adin so it would allow him to run his dogs starting in September, he appreciates the friendly people and the rural environment.

“The difference between northern California and say, the Bay Area, where I grew up, is the people,” he says. “People are much different here. When I lived in Los Banos, I had neighbors—didn’t really know them, weren’t very social. Up here, I can tell you everybody that lives on this road. They wouldn’t hesitate to help me out if I needed it, and I wouldn’t hesitate to help them. Just the climate up here with the people is so much different. They’re maybe more down to Earth, if you want to put it that way.”

Aside from the people, Antonucci enjoys the wide open space taking his dogs out to the national forest, where they can run for miles with no one in sight. After passing the national park gate two miles from his home, Antonucci can take his dogs all the way to Ash Valley, 20 miles from Adin.

View Full Article