Flying Off Speed Bumps

Being a Monday after three days of snow, I figured I would get beautifully groomed trails to myself so I headed to the mountains for a run with Team Nookies.

Cedar, Trask and Koyuk waiting patiently while I locked the van.

The sky was the blue you only get at altitude, on a cold day, after a big storm. Wispy white clouds continually changed the light

The trail was hard, with frozen ruts, frozen snowmobile tracks and continual bumps from sun melt between tree shadows and several dozen snowmobiles racing along on new snow over the weekend.

The plus side was that the dogs easily stayed on top and had great traction allowing them to run at top speed while I held on tight as I careened from bump to bump.

The dogs also "caught air".

That was until squirrels crossed our path.

I tried to get pictures of the speed bumps but they became lost with the photo depth perception.

You can sort of see the bumps beyond Cedar's ears. Most of the bumps were between 2' and 4' deep and about as far apart. They weren't uniform across the width of the trail. I am impressed that my sled held together as we crashed and slammed along. Frequently my entire sled was in the air. 

Pulling a jerking sled was hard work. (As was staying on the narrow runners.) We took several water and snack breaks which unfortunately resulted in mega-tangles. How do three dogs with four lines get so tangled up?

The way back is slightly downhill. I let the dogs take a long, cool rest before we again flew, bounced, slammed and careened down the trail.

Needing to hold on with both hands, I had no opportunities to take any further pictures until we stopped at the van.

Guess who is holding the string cheese?

The sun was not in a good position but I decided to stop for pictures along the way back home anyway.

Odell Lake and Diamond Peak

In my mind's-eye this was to be a spectacular picture but the dogs wouldn't hold a pose; there were squirrel tracks just beyond where they are sitting; I had snow on my lens and; the light was all wrong.

 Worn out Team Nookies.

Whoops!

My good friend Sandy is nearly blind. She is also game for trying anything. Over the years we have shared adventures from sailing in Greece to alpine backpacking.  I got this sled in anticipation of taking others dog sledding. We finally found a sunny day with snow on the ground that both of us were free.
After driving 100 miles, up and over the mountains then unloading the van, I realized I had forgotten the dog's harnesses.

The only thing I had in the van that might work were two easy-walker harnesses.  These are designed to prevent a dog from pulling when on leash. I put them on upside-down on Koyuk and Trask and let Cedar run free.  It became quickly obvious that the dogs could not pull both Sandy and me while wearing harnesses designed to keep them from pulling. The dogs gave it their all. In fact Trask slipped his harness twice with his efforts to get and keep the sled moving. I ended up pushing the sled while the dogs pulled and Sandy rode.
But Sandy still hadn't experienced the thrill of "silent running".  To that end, I left Sandy standing on the break while I ran ahead. When I told her to stand on the runners, I really was not expecting that the dogs would be able to take off so quickly. They blew right by me and on down the trail with Sandy yelling "do I have to steer this thing?!" Did I mention that she is blind and the dogs were running really fast?

About a 1/4 mile down the trail she had finally stopped the dogs with a "Whoa" uttered within her laughter. By the time I caught up, Sandy was in a tangle of tug lines and sled parts with the dogs attempting to turn the sled back toward me. She had stayed on the runners the whole way, even around a couple of corners, and was so excited she was almost speechless.

It was obvious that the dogs in no-pull harnesses could move the sled with one of us. Not really wanting to push the sled I elected to let Sandy ride while I ran ahead.

That mode only lasted a few yards until Trask decided that Sandy's lap was inviting and her face at the right level for a kiss.

We did eventually make it back to the van. I will never forget harnesses again.
Our short sled run left lots of daylight to play in the snow so we checked out the nearby resort.  We were the only guests there so the owner allowed the dogs to run free. 

The lake near the shore did not appear to be frozen until Cedar broke through the ice in her attempt to get a drink.

Our side trip proved to be a really beautiful and fun adventure in itself.

Sandy and the dogs are so game for anything - finding joy in even unplanned adventures. A lesson to remember when things don't turn out as planned.

Pup News

Here are the BrownStone pup pictures I have received thus far this year.
BrownStone Cascade Mt. Koma (Liaka)

 Liaka and her human dad on their first skijor adventure.

BrownStone Iditarod Nome (Nome) - Koyuk's brother
Such a handsome boy.

 Nome with his new Christmas toy.

BrownStone Lupin (Lupin)
Lupin lives with two young girls who like to play dress-up.

 Lupin got her hair done for a neighborhood walk.

 All that play is tiring for a 12 year old girl.

 Enjoying that we finally have snow.

Merry Birthday

Getting the Lee/Brown family (my sister also married a Brown) together for Christmas proved a bit difficult this year. Out came the i-phones as everyone checked for an available date during Thanksgiving dinner. The girls have grown and now have their own families and with those, new holiday celebration obligations. December 2015 was booked. The first available date turned out to be Jan 23.
I left part of my house still decorated for Christmas.

The tree was too dry to make it to the party.

I was born on January 15 and Vanessa was born on January 16.  Our family Christmas party became a Merry Birthday Party. A friend made wooden flag "happy" "holidays" "birthday" banners for me to hang to commemorate the occasion.

I drew Vanessa for the gift exchange so got to have a lot of fun with the present wrapping and gift itself.

Wearing holiday sweaters is a family tradition. Emily, Natalie and Vanessa.  Amanda and her family were at their home in Los Vegas and Kendra now lives with her family in Kuwait.

 Vanessa and Emily

 Natalie (whose husband had to work). 

 Evan and Vanessa

 Emily and Tom

 Chuck and Linda

After dinner, when time came to cut the cake we noticed that the candles were no where to be seen. After a through search of the kitchen it dawned on me that while we were opening presents a cell phone had fallen off the counter. The culprit of course was Trask and I was pretty sure the cell phone was not his objective from the counter.  Trask takes his "prizes" under the trees out front of the house. Sure enough. A chewed open plastic bag with sampled birthday candles were scattered in the pine needles.

I was just sitting down to enjoy my piece of cake when all three girls screamed "Dog got cake! Dog got cake!" I practically leaped over the counter. The remaining cake slices were still there but the server was gone - to be found later under the trees.
The dogs were decorated during the gift opening. Unfortunately it was pretty dark outside when I took them out for a picture. They were not overly excited to be outside posing when there were free hands to give pets, faces to lick and bits of pizza to scavenge inside.

 "I'm pretty. I stayed off the counter. Don't you think I deserve a piece of pepperoni?"