Hittin' the Trail...

Now that I'm feeling better and the weather's cooperating, we've been getting out on the sled dog trail a lot more.

The trail's been extended out across the valley, goes over the ridge there, then loops back down to the trail that takes us home.

Andy took this video of our last run, crossing the road on the way home. It'd snowed several inches the night before, so it made for a slow run.

Now that we're running a few extra miles, the dogs are getting a lot more exercise. A good husky is a tired husky!

Earl the Squirrel...

 It's hard to believe, but Earl, the pup we got a while back (My Name is Earl 11/17/21) is now almost two years old. While he's doing quite well as a sled dog, he's also developed some unique mannerisms.

Whenever he lies down, he crosses his front legs, even when he's lying in the snow. Then he arches up his belly, just enough, so that only his lower legs and feet are touching. Never seen a dog do that before.

Now that there's a squirrel nest in a spruce tree near the dog yard, Earl's obsessed with catching it.

He runs around the tree, jumping up and down, it's pretty amazing how high he can jump, but so far the squirrel has eluded him. We're guessing one day the squirrel's going to get over-confident, he sits on the old dog houses eating his spruce cones, so he's not afraid of the nearby dogs. Then he'll become a doggy snack! (photos from Andy's iPhone)

January Cold...

No, not the weather, it's actually been pretty warm for January. It was a nasty cold I apparently caught at a local coffee house where I met my friend Bill. Normally we get stuff to go, but he wanted to eat his soup inside, in spite of how crowded it was there. Well a couple of days later I was in the soup when I woke up with a sore throat. It only got worse for the next few days and just started feeling better today. Hell of a way to start the new year.

But before I got sick, we did get out on the dog sled for the first time this winter. The new trail reroute wasn't too bad and I only hit one tree!

The sunsets are still pretty decent, but kinda early at around three in the afternoon.