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.