Basecamp Bigfork brings dog carting to valley
Diversification is one way to keep a business open and busy year-round in Bigfork.
It’s the method Base Camp Bigfork is trying as Mark Schurke and his wife Samantha open a rental spot downtown next to Eric Thorenson’s gallery and introduce dog carting, kayaks and mountain bikes to their outdoor activity hosting line-up.
“If people are going to do multiple activities, they might as well do it from me,” Schurke said. “It’s like a one stop shop for multi-recreation.”
Brand new this summer, he has five mountain bikes, four single kayaks, and one tandem kayak. All can be rented and for an extra $65 he’ll guide you.
Perhaps the most out of the ordinary thing on their list of summer activities is dog carting, but it seemed like a natural fit because Base Camp Bigfork’s specialty is dog sledding. Plus, those 17 Inuit sled dogs that pull all winter long need a summer activity to keep them in shape for winter.
“Unlike snowmobiles, I can’t just put these dogs in storage after the winter months,” Schurke said “My goal isn’t to work the dogs, it’s to keep them limber, because you know, my season starts with the busiest months. So for me, it’s what can I do to keep them ready.”
Dog carting involves a motorized golf cart, stripped down to just the base, a hitching get-up and usually just four dogs. Rather than having them pull the heavy cart on their own, he helps them a little with the gas pedal, and they do the rest.
It’s about keeping them moving in the off-season, and it’s a way of seeing the countryside off the beaten path during Bigfork’s busy tourist season.
“If you come all the way here, you might as well take it all in,” Schurke said. “You get out in the countryside and you get to see how people really live.”
The trip is usually about two miles total and Schurke takes visitors from his Ferndale home to the public lands adjacent to his property and along the Swan River. Base Camp Bigfork is able to use the public lands through special use permits with the Flathead National Forest Service, the Department of Natural Resources and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
From November to about April, Schurke keeps the dogs busy with dog sledding. This is his fourth year operating, and he said he’s always meant to have a year-round business, it was just a matter of when.
This year seemed ideal to Schurke because had the time and a little bit of extra money to make the expansion happen.
Schurke has a background in dog sledding, adventure guiding and recreation management. He received a degree in parks, recreation and tourism from Michigan State University, and from there worked in Colorado and Idaho as a mountain biking, kayaking and river rafting guide. Schurke also spent four years working for his uncle in Minnesota doing dog-sledding.
After a few years of moving around, the Schurke’s started looking for a place they could call home and start a family. The recreational activities and small-town feel of Bigfork seemed perfect to them.
When the Schurke’s first moved to Ferndale they called it Minnesota with mountains because it’s got that lake country feeling with mountains rising up in the background.
“We live in an area that we think is paradise, but in reality, it’s hard to make a living year round,” Schurke said. “Really, it comes down to what we can do to continue living in paradise.”