the guy in the back

The guy in the back is Chema, in front of him is Zephyr, who ran the Iditarod twice, and 'Toba. He's gonna have to run pretty hard to catch those 2, LOL.


Looks to me like he doesn't mind being in the back


While we toil away checking snow conditions, Chema is keeping tabs on who is working and who is taking pictures.


and what better way to end they day than see this?


Merry Christmas!

friends

who could beat friends like this to ski with :) Michael, 'toba and Zephyr

Swimming lessons needed

Could somebody teach Chema to swim :)

Chema

I took Chema backcountry skiing today, it was his first time and I didn't know what to expect. I was hoping for the best and I got it. I was worried when I dug the snow pit for the Chugach National Forest Snow Observers Program, he might try to run off, bother me in the pit or chew his rope, but he just sat next to my pack while I worked away. You can see he's kind of got the Goretex Suit thing going with all the snow falling.







Then I skied back down the hill and he followed. I was worried he might run off, but he's into following me. Even when he ran ahead, I called him back, he was happy to follow me .






















what could a better day with a face like this?

Foster Dog

We've had Chema now about 2 months. He's been skijoring about a half dozen times. When we first got him, he'd hit the end of his leash and go in a circle. Big pain in the neck to walk him, but now-a-days he stays out in front, and pulls. Both walking and skijoring. On the skiing side, he's gone from running along side to staying in front and pulling, sometimes pretty hard. Pretty good dog to go skiing with. He definitely deserves an award for most improved.

Winter

Winter is full on at the house. We've been out skijoring and enjoying the snow. Valley seems to like it too. I've been really impressed with her this season, she's been leading and staying out front, she's even been breaking trail in chest deep powder. Shy dog does good!

MooseSki

What could be better than cross country skiing out and seeing moose. Soon they'll be dropping their horns but for now, seeing this is cool.

Caught in the Act

While out skiing with the dogs today I caught these Moose "in the act".


Our foster dog Chema pulls pretty good when somebody is in front of him. He pulls at times when he is out in front, but when he's tired, he just runs along side.

Game on!

Gotta love it when the weather man makes a mistake in the right direction. Enough snow to skijor on.

Yesterday we were hiking around looking at moose, today we are skijoring! WooHoo!

Out and about

I'd never get away with this if I tried it.

Well, what did you expect?

Its fall, and we'd be fools not to get up to Glen Alps to see the moose. Standing at one spot we counted 28 of them. So here are some more photos. Its real honest fun to spot one, then sneak up on it and take its picture. The big bulls are easiest, they seem more relaxed and not so disturbed by our interrupting them. None the less I give them plenty of room, especially giving them more than adequate escape terrain. (As always, you can double-click on the picture to get a larger version if you want).

Its that time of year again.

Its that time of year again where the snow is close enough to hike to.

Valley View!


things are looking up!

Gotta Love Fall

Gotta love fall. Cool crisp air, great colors and Moose in Rut.

Fall Colors Part 2

Our fall tundra colors continue their show.

Fall Colors

We are starting to get fall colors in the tundra. No snow, just color :)

Happy Birthday Ganik

It was Ganik's 11th birthday this weekend, what could be a better way to spend it than hiking Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park. Here he is with Denali, the great one, behind him. Ganik has been a constant companion since I adopted him from the AMHL 5 years go. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Let Freedom Ring

Yesterday marked the 5th Saturday in a row we let Valley run off leash. Some Saturdays are good Saturdays for us, and some Saturdays aren't so good for us. All Saturdays have been great days for Valley LOL.

We head to isolated areas in the nearby National Forest or State Park and let her go. She's been really easy to catch. Finding her sometimes is the critical point. She has a very healthy prey drive and trees have squirrels LOL. In the tundra she's easy to spot.


When we let her loose she always runs forward, looks over her shoulder and gives us this, "Are
you coming?" look.









The girl has places to go. Stand back.













Hey, she's behaving better than that dog in the back LOL.












You can't imagine how stoked we are to watch her running off leash...She's happy and loves to run.

Look who's in the neighborhood.

Out for a walk in the rain today and found a visitor in our neighborhood. The dogs spotted her first. Mom was concerned and went back to the chore at hand.

Happy Birthday Valley

Its Valley's birthday so we decided snow cones were in order since
somebody turned up the heat today. Birthday girl's get what they want!


Valley is enjoying her snow cone.










Ganik is enjoying his snow cone.






















After our snow cones we decided to go out for a walk.

You Go Girl!

We took the bold move of taking Valley out and letting her off
leash. We tried that disasterously last year. This year she seems
alot more trusting of us, particulary me.

So we took her out on a foggy day and gave her a good day: