Marian Pychowska

Sponsored by Amanda St Ivany

As a puppy, Marian would often find herself out ahead of her siblings, and would stop suddenly, surprised at where her instincts had taken her. What brought her to the front of the puppy pack was a dedicated focus to the trail we were on, and an efficient movement of her puppy legs. It had nothing to do with her wanting to be in front of the pack, but everything to do with a natural ability she carries with her. 

In the first few puppy runs, Marian displayed a seriousness and calm focus well beyond her puppy age. Some of this was shared with all her siblings, inherited from their super chill dad, but there was another layer to Marian, as she squealed to drive the team more when running. 

One puppy run, when preparing the lines and talking to the dogs about what we would do, I heard clear as a bell from Marian a request to be in lead. I heard it as clearly as I did when Spiller asked to be in lead, a communication that is an unconscious interpretation of all the signals they are sending, that my human brain translates into words. ‘I’m ready,’ Marian said. 

On the return mile home, I put Marian in lead with Jasmine. She never looked back, and launched forward when we’d stop. It was that same natural ability I saw on the puppy trail, coming together in the team. 

When talking to my friend Erin over the winter about when she knew how special her lead dog Beezus was, she said he was less than a year old. It wasn’t an age when he had fully matured and learned all the ropes, it was at this early moment when you see more than a glimpse of what’s possible, you see truly how special that dog is. 

Marian Pychowska is one of those dogs. For sure.

Over her yearling year, Marian never looked back, never got overwhelmed, and started stepping up and taking commands. Marian, in stark contrast to her grouchy sister Page, is an upbeat, happy, and eager to please personality. Getting along with everyone, Marian is a happy go lucky girl who is happy to be out with her team. I can’t wait to cultivate her as a leader.

Born: 6/24/2019

Fanzine x Hawkeye (Mahoosucs litter)

Race Record:

2022
Wilderness 35: 6th place
Can Am 100: 1st place

In the late 1800s, the White Mountains saw their first heyday of hikers and explorers. Traveling from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, by train and cart and foot they made their way to the Inns and hotels that nestled at the base of the mountains they loved. They cut new trail, they hiked on trails cut only weeks before, and oftentimes fought through spruce forests and slash piles from logging roads. And the ‘they’ I talk of were of course, for the most part, men, but there were some incredible exceptions of women who explored and climbed trees, while wearing the appropriate clothing of the day (heavy multi-layered skirts and corsets).

One of those was Marian Pychowska, and her mother Lucia; members of the newly-minted Appalachian Mountain Club, they began publishing their trip reports in the Appalachia journal, including their explorations of the Mahoosuc summits of Bald Cap and Goose Eye. As women in the world in general, especially as women who were leaders of their time, I can imagine the unhelpful comments and unconscious reminders that the world sent them about what was ‘proper’ for them to do. In reading their letters, as I’ve been doing all summer, they never indicate that they were anything less than welcome. Yet it is noticeable that when the women write to each other, their stories are populated with the men around them. Marian loved mountains, and either ignored or blasted through any barrier placed in between herself and her beloved wild spaces. For that, and for so many other reasons, she is an inspiration.