Sleddin' on new trails

I finally got the crew out on the sled this weekend, in HUGE four-dog teams. Lookout!

Here's Loki, Pooh Bear! and Esther anxiously awaiting hookup.


Ray hadn't figured out the zoom on the camera yet (he's such a luddite), so here is a distance pic of me messing around with the snubline that won't let go.


WE finally made it though, and here is Loki and Octane leading the team. The blue-eyed leaders!


Aha! That's where the zoom is.


The new trails are so much fun. Except for the beginning where it's a bit hairy and bumpy, after a km or so you get in to these bushy areas, which go into some more meadowy areas, just beautiful! This was a lovely day.


Ray zoomed ahead on the snowmachine for the first run, then we both ran on the second run. This is a dark-ish me with Loki and ESTHER in lead! Yes, that's right, new dog Esther led half way on the way back after Octane (the oldster) needed a bit of a break. She was great. I also tried Pooh Bear!(exclamation point just for Sue and Monk!) but she was a bit of a disaster as she seemed to prefer coming back to visit me!


This is the second run, I tried with Ripper in lead at first just 'cause he's my ol' reliable guy. But I also forget that he's my ol' STUBBORN guy too. Because we were going a "slightly" different way this time, he could not get it through his stubborn head at the start. He whipped the whole team almost backwards to run the way we normally run, even though Ray and his yapping team were right ahead of us!! I saw Sage get totally interested in Ray's team (Ripper was totally oblivious to them), so I put Sage in lead, which I normally don't do. But he was totally awesome. It just goes to show that I should alternate them all in lead.

I chalk up Ripper's stubborness to his infatuation/distraction with the new girls in heat.


Sage, looking damned proud of himself after the run:

"Yes, that's right, I'm truly awesome..."

Ivy, after the run.

She is one kooky dog. Usually she is not sure about men, and she has been giving Ray a hard time lately. She'll totally avoid him when he's in the cabin, and even growl from the other side of the cabin. I'm not sure why this is, and one day he (god forbid) SNEEZED and she hated him even more after that. Then, suddenly last night, she ran up to him, totally curious and let him pet her for a good 15 minutes. We were amazed and as quick as she warmed up to him, he put his toque on and she reacted like this new stranger all of a sudden appeared before her eyes. And she hated him again. It was like Superman putting on his glasses and fooling EVERYONE!

Ah well, she's a sweetheart with me! :)


Ripper, Ivy in wheel and Sage/Rupert in lead.


Rupert - he's looking older these days, but it could be all that excitement with the girls in heat. Even though he's neutered, Pooh Bear! and him still have some, um, *fun*!!