Oh Boy!

It was the 2nd time we ever let Valley off the leash for skiing. Skis
are scary for her well too much for her. So much so, I have been afraid to let her go because of the hassle of retrieving her.

Looks like very good times for her, skis or not


and



Valley loved to run behind us on the ski track, every time I turned around she looked happy


She was pretty happy until we stopped in the wind and snow for a short break and to turn around


If you have our calendar, we'd be looking over her shoulder at the view for Miss January. Definitely a different day today.


Nice place to take a break and look around.


She picked right back up on the return


A little "road side" maintenance on the 4WD


here she is right before I skied up to her with the leash


I was concerned about that, she was cautious but she let me ski up to her and leash her. Tired Malamutes are good malamutes.

Oh Boy, What a great day!

Moon Shot

A great day out skijoring again. Clear and cold makes for some fun skiing and great scenery.






Jago looks like she is having fun!

I gotta retire

This time off with the dogs is a whole lot of fun.



that's Valley on your left. If you were at the AMCA national specialty in Olympia this year and visited the AMAL booth that is the same dog. You thought she was sleeping alot, she was. Saving up energy to go out and have fun every day :)

Life Slides Downhill Fast

Another great day skijoring with the dogs. The cold hasn't slowed us down. In fact, looks like Nicki is trying to slow down but can't. Too much dog power :)

Day Off

It was a great day to have off from work. Cold at single digits below zero Fahrenheit but no wind, and cloudless skies, even if there is only 5 1/2 hours of daylight. We made good use of the day :)

Nicki skijoring Jago.




A rare photo of me, pulled by Rocket and Valley.

There is a small trick to wearing enough clothes to stay warm and not sweat when you exercise. Sweat freezes when you stop exercising so we try to avoid that problem. Its a lesson I need to relearn every year. (as always click on the picture to enlarge)

Bad Day at Work

After a bad day of work I find 4 inches of powder on my deck. What's a funhog to do? Clean it off, grab the fundogs and go skijoring. No more bad day effects after that.


Rocket in the front, Mrs. funhog on the tow and My Fair City Lights backing them up. (as always click on the picture to enlarge)

Winter Solstice

Shortest day of the year. 5 hours of daylight. Still a great day to get out and enjoy it, even if it was cold.

Devil Dogs

Sometimes you think you are being followed by evil. You turn around and look and nothing is there and you think, "hmmm am I stoopid or what?". Then there is the time you turn around and look and there is the devil, running right towards you. What are you going to do?

Clear and Cold

Clear skies and Cold temperatures makes for some great patterns of hoar frost. the pictures are from our recent ski trip out Rabbit Creek Valley. Mother Nature always dishes out pleasant surprises for us. (click on the picture for a larger view of the crystals).

Good Insulation

Insulation is a very good thing to have in Alaskan winters. A good Alaskan dog will have good insulation capabilities so it can hang outdoors regardless of the weather. Check out Jago, it doesn't look like the snow falling in 15degF temperatures is melting off her anytime soon.


Nor is it melting off anytime soon for Valley.


these malamutes are such good winter dogs, in 12 inches of snow it didn't slow Valley down from pulling me on an unbroken trail

The Newest Fundog

Rocket was returned to us after being adopted out 5 years ago. Sadly we are his 5th home in his life. He's older now, 8 or 9 years old, but he's still the good malamute we remember.

Rocket was originally from a 66 dog rescue down on the Kenai. It was a desperate situation where 4 or 5 dogs were found frozen in a school bus, and a few more were could not be saved.

Rocket was originally adopted out from that rescue then returned when his owner due to some medical conditions could not keep him, losing everything she had. I had been volunteering at AK SPCA when he was first returned. He had severe hip displasia, he could walk on flat surfaces like a road, but if he took off cross country he couldn't even get 2 blocks before he started limping. So I hunted around and found a veterinarian who eventually replaced his hip. His three month recovery was one of the hardest things we've done. Here was a malamute cross who loved to run, containing him was so difficult when the right adopter was took him home we were happy to see him go.

Regardless, the great care we gave in Rocket resulted in a late night winter call from Catherine White who at the time was the President of the Alaskan Malamute Assistance League(AMAL). Catherine wanted to know if we'd be an affiliate of AMAL and rescue malamutes within the state of Alaska. We naturally said yes. Rocket was the start of Malamute Rescue of Alaska.

While were at the AMCA national specialty in Olympia Washington we heard he had been returned to the Alaska SPCA. We called and said we were happy to take him and that we would be keeping him. he's that great of a dog. Now Rocket and I can grow old together.

Clear and Cold

It was a clear and cold day on Sunday which made for great skijoring. Archangel Road in Hatcher Pass is the perfect place to be on such a day. (As Always click on the picture to enlarge).

Pigs Can't Fly

But malamutes can!



A sunny day, with the fog rolling in and out, made for a great day to be on the snow.

n=1

Mother Nature gave Old Man Winter the cold shoulder and in turn he gave us six inches of snow. Mighty generous of him to help the funhog and a fundog out. Tonight was our season opener for the skijoring season.

here's Valley out on the trail taking a break:



My mom was right, Think positive thoughts and positive things happen to you. That big smile on my face must have done the trick, on our way back to the trailhead it started snowing heavily:



Like a famous leader once said, "Bring it on!" LOL

Laying In Waiting

Bad news, the first bull in the picture from my previous blog entry "More Bullcrap". First he's running by me charging another bull, then leading the charge towards me and he's the one peering from behind the tree. I read in the paper today where a bull had been gored in the gut then put down. I am sure its that bull, I haven't seen him since then. And judging by his behavior, charging a bigger bull, I bet that was him that was put down. There aren't that many bulls out there now, and he's missing. Survival of the fittest, call of the wild....


First moose of the day today,



Bull laying in waiting, I wonder if he'll get lucky?



A little bull looking for some action, but just hoping at this point.



Size nine bear.


this guy was laying smack dab in the middle of the trail, and got up when we went out of our way.



I love this time of year...Valley looks like she's enjoyed the day too!
.