Backpacking!!

Pat, the doggies, and I hit the trails this past weekend, and what a beautiful weekend it was. Aside from a couple porcupine quills (ahem... Lincoln) and a sprained ankle (me) a good time was had by all.

We hiked in the Dry River trail about 5 miles to the junction with the Isolation Trail and found a great established camp site. Once we set up camp, we discovered that Luna REALLY liked the tent!

We did some trail maintenance on Pat's section of the Isolation Trail and then headed back to camp for dinner....

...the doggies were quite exhausted and made themselves right at home!

The next morning we got up and headed out for a hike up Mt. Isolation. We were hoping to get to Mt. Madison as well, but it was pretty windy and a bit cold, and we weren't sure how the dogs would take to prolonged exposure above treeline. So we headed up the Isolation Trail yet again. Lincoln got himself into a bit of a prickly situation.....

I wish I could say that was the first time that happened.... but he got quilled in the same place on the same trail the day before. You'd think he'd learn. But he was pretty good about letting us pull them out. And he really didn't seem to mind them that much.

And we made it to the summit. 7 miles from the closest road!


Look at that pack leader! Is that Cesar Millan??

Family cuddle time :o)



We started to hike over to Mt. Davis, and about halfway there I twisted my bad ankle... we decided it was best to hike back to camp and make an attempt to hike out in the event that I had done some serious damage (I didn't... just a mild sprain). There were places to camp before we reached the car if we had to. In the meantime, we stopped for some water.....

...and what hike would be complete without a quick nap right in the middle of the trail??

My body guard made sure I had enough energy to finish the hike... ;o)

We got back to camp and started packing up. Luna was unimpressed when her beloved tent came down.

But she found solace in a pile of Pat's clothes near this log.

Yeah, we really wore them out! And they loved every minute of it.

"Ok honey, I've got the food, you grab the sleeping bags... but who's gonna pack Lincoln and Luna?"

They made it all on their own... and promptly fell asleep in the car... not bad for a 10 mile day followed by a 13.5 mile day! And those are just the human miles... in dog miles they ran halfway to Australia....

It'll be strange hiking without these guys in Colorado the next couple of weeks... but they'll have their own little vacation spending time with Darcy, John, and Camden :o)

For your viewing pleasure....

It's been a while since we've had time to get pictures from the camera to the computer, from the computer to the website. But we're back and better than ever! Check out the doggies in action:

Sun bathing


Friends in Braintree!

Brandy is the boxer and Scully is the english bulldog.


And here's Scooby


On the trail again!!! Is that a moose? Nope, just Lincoln ;o)


HereIcome,HereIcome,HereIcome....






Nap time :o)


Confusion (with a cameo by my brother Kevin)

And here are some oldies but goodies.
(I know these first two are upside down - technical difficulties... but they're fun so they're here anyway)

My second and third true loves ;o)




"Aren't I pretty?"


Best friends

Play time and nap time

I am convinced that nothing can make me quite as happy in quite the same way as our two four legged friends. They're always up for an adventure, and even if we're not up for an adventure they can always find a way to make us laugh. I give you, exhibit A, the three headed monster:

They LOVE to be close to people - if we're up and about and doing stuff in the house, they tend to follow us around, wondering if we're going to take them for a run. Once we decide to settle down, however, they are right there ready to cuddle.



Yes, I am really asleep in those pictures. Pat invited Lincoln up to cuddle with me, and, well, let's just say that I'm not what most would call a "light" sleeper ;o) You can't tell from the pictures, but Luna is actually curled up under the covers at my feet :o)
These dogs are the definition of "man's best friend".

SnowPawing

We actually got some snow this week. On Wednesday we received about 10 inches. It's nice to have snow, but it's bittersweet because with the snow comes the snowmobiles. The trails near our house, where we take the dogs, are maintained by a snowmobile club. Given the lack of snow this winter, we figured the snowmobiles would be out in full force on Saturday. We still wanted to take the dogs somewhere to run, so we decided to take the dogs and see how busy the trails really were. The trails were quite busy with snowmobiles, but the pond wasn't, so that's where we took Lincoln and Luna.



Sometimes, like in the picture below, Lincoln will get in a real playful mood and chase after me.



Here's Luna catching a snowball . . .



and here's Lincoln running towards me.



We found a recently used ice fishing hole and were able to break the thin layer of ice over the hole. Lincoln and Luna weren't sure what to make of it, but eventually drank some of the water.



Here's Jodie and the dogs walking around on the pond. Lincoln and Luna seemed to especially enjoy the islands. I'm not sure if it was because there were strange smells there, or if it was the lack of animal smells.

Tower Hill Pond

A short distance from our house are some trails around Tower Hill Pond where we take the dogs running, biking, or walking almost daily. Usually we're running or biking, so we don't take any pictures, but we decided to go for a walk around the pond recently and I brought my camera along. It's a nice place. The trail around the pond is a 3 mile loop, but there are other trails that branch off for longer journeys.





And of course, they love their bones when they get home.

Reading Partners

Lincoln and Luna love to help us read. They especially like it when Jodie stays home to read files for work. (And yes, we are in our pajamas - we'd don't normally dress like that)

Symphony in L

I caught a front row seat to the most amazing concert last night! Pat and I brought the dogs home from their visit with Darcy, Foley, and Camden - Pat went to the grocery store, and I went out to shovel off the water and snow from the driveway. At first the dogs seemed to want to join me, but after their fun weekend with Darc and Foley they were tired and found their beds in the living room. After a while I heard a little howl and headed over to the window to see what was up. By the time I got there both dogs were in full swing. I expected to see them standing by the door, leading me to translate their howl as "hey let us oooooooooout". Instead, I saw Luna sitting comfortably on her bed by the Christmas tree, and Lincoln sitting in the middle of the floor - both with muzzles raised, lips pursed, and the most amazing sounds coming out. They didn't even seem to notice I was watching. After about a minute they were quiet. Luna was the first to spot me by the window with my mouth wide open in awe. I don't know that I've ever heard anything more beautiful.

I did a little searching to find out what their little concert might have meant and it could have been a number of things: they might have been bored or lonely (unlikely since they just got home and had LOTS of sniffing to catch up on and they knew I was just outside the door. Also, the howls didn't sound distressed or upset. They both seemed to be enjoying their song). They may have been trying to establish contact with their owners (this is a throwback to their wolf/coyote ancestry where howling was a method of communiticating with family members over distances). They could have heard a siren or other dogs howling in the distance and were trying to share their location. However, the answer I like the best is that they were bonding :o) Dogs sometimes howl because they're happy and just want to sing together. It was a beautiful sound.

We encountered a similar tone of howling when we were in Alaska visiting a sled dog camp. The dogs engaged in what the musher called a collective howl - they were just bonding and singing and having a good time. He said they do it at least once a day and it was just as beautiful with 60 dogs doing it as it was when Lincoln and Luna performed their little duo.

December Hikes: Tremont and Carr

As Jodie mentioned in her previous post. I've taken Lincoln and Luna for a couple hikes the past few weeks. The first hike to Mt Tremont was about 5.5 miles of snow free trail and relatively warm temperatures. The second hike to Carr Mountain had a small amount of snow from top to bottom and colder temperatures. The dogs seemed to have lots of fun on both trips.

I didn't get any good shots of the dogs on the Tremont hike (they are hard to get good pictures of when hiking - they don't keep still), but I did take few shots of some waterfalls along the trail.



On the Carr Mtn hike, I got a decent shot of Lincoln at the summit.



I also took this picture of both of them on the way down. It was a great picture until they turned their heads at the last second. My hand is on Luna's collar because she likes to get nice and close to sniff the camera, and I've already got enough nose prints on my lense.



This one of Lincoln came out pretty good, though he still isn't looking at me.