All in a Days Hike

Out for a day hike, saw a bunch of nice critters. All in all 9 moose and 27 sheep. Its been awhile since I've seen sheep up so close down low.

5

today we celebrate our 5th anniversary with Babe. It might be five years since we brought her home but it feels like 5 dog years...well it has been 5 dog years but you know what I mean. I knew when she arrived in our home we were going on a unique journey, I just didn't know it both of us were going to grow this much.

Even a year ago I could have never said, "Babe booted St. Nicki off her 4 inch foamie while car camping making for a night in the pickup for St Nicki". I never thought she'd sleep between Nicki and I while we tent camped, at least she doesn't steal the sleeping bags out from underneath us. Who would have thought she'd push whatever dog I pet out of the way, plant her bottom down and insist I pet her? Her Perry Como sweet singing voice turned into a baseball announcer--play by play and color.

So here we go, embarking on another year, but first I need to get the pot roast with carrots out of the oven for her dinner.

Another Day at the Ballpark

When we go to the ballpark sometimes we get to chase the ball. Ganik usually get's there first :(



Damnit! I want the ball!



I can Fly! I can Fly! I love chasing that ball.



Get it! Get It!



Now What?

Season Opener

Enough snow had fallen at one of our favorite ski spots, it was time to venture out with Valley and see if we could enjoy the day skijoring. We found 2 feet had fallen, a bit too much for skijoring, so Valley accompanied me instead of trying to pull.

She's looking pretty happy at the start of the skiing. "Finally ski season is here", she seems to be saying.





Now that its snowing she is still looking happy. When I took the second picture, I am sure I heard her say, "Hey I like this skiing sport even if it is snowing".




Finally, we are in the pass, its snowing heavily and blowing pretty hard. She's kind of saying she doesn't like it here and would like to leave now thank you. Mouse Click the picture to really see what's going on :)


Everybody had a fun time, for once I didn't get hurt on opening day.

The Jersey is Back On

We put Ganik's hiking jersey back on for a trip up Tincan today. His back seemed so much better and I thought a hike up a soft trail would do him good since he never likes being left behind. Of course we kept him tethered so he wouldn't over due it. Post hike he's tired but fine.

Here's a pic of both him and Babe on the ridge we ski off of.



Me and Valley. What a gorgeous day.




Valley napping. We all tried that routine. :)



Saw a black bear up near the summit ridge. A big one!

First Snow

Today we received our first snow of the season. More like afternoon flurries but it was snow! Didn't get a picture of that, but did get one of Ptarmigan Peak while out walking.

Here Kitty Kitty

Its moose rut which provides some great wildlife viewing opportunities. So no kitty cat but moose.

About 15 meters off the trail this first bull appeared.






Followed by the cow and calf hidden back in the hemlock.




With moose so close to the trail, one has to be very very careful. Its actually nice to have the dogs because they are good about detecting the bedded down moose who otherwise would turn into the boogey monster.


Occasionally, the Malamutes don't let us know when Bullwinkle is around. That means one still have to be on your toes.

Without any notice the cow appeared (the moose is upset by the way, LOL) out of the brush. I had stopped to take a leak and was unaware of what was around in the grasses and brush.



That's Saint Nicki and Babe backing up after the bull surprised us by popping up out of the brush after I walked by. Maybe not apparent but she's walking backwards away from the small bull.






Its nice to let nature run wild.

Play Ball!

Its pretty common for folks to take their dogs to the little league fields for exercise and play after the baseball season has ended. The ball parks are completely fenced in, folks will not enter the field if another dog and owner are in there, and we found it a wonderful place to work on recall.

They love to run run run when they are first released, then we start walking around practicing the recall and finding ways to play. This time we didn't expect to find not only a baseball but a golf ball as well. We found this evening they love to chase after the ball, play catch with themselves and when the ball escapes, all 3 get in the action to scoop the ball up and play keep-away and bitenecking.
In the first picture you can see the golf ball below Valley's left eye and next to her schoz-ola. Tthe 2nd picture shows Ganik playing catch.

Twenty or 30 minutes of this kind of fun make for some dead tired dogs after dinner. I know the Lathrop High School in Fairbanks has the Malemutes as a mascot, maybe I can sign these guys off to play for a little league team next summer.

Batter Up!

Fall Colors

Fall colors are full out on in the tundra. Great time of the year to get out and ooooo and ahhh at Nature's Lightshow. We walked into the first snow of the season. Snow mixed with Rain. Woohoo, winter is knocking at our door.

Row Row Row your Boat

We launched the FV Ganik tonight. That's FV for Funhog Vessel not Fishing Vessel.

I added the rowing mechanism to the canoe so I could maneuver the boat by myself and gave him a lifejacket since nobody gets in the boat unless they are wearing one. He was a little nervous at first but settled right down and enjoyed the view. We chose the lake to see how it goes, if he keeps it up, we'll gradually improve to some running water. The Ruff wear Lifejacket fit well and seems well constructed. You can see its a color easily seen even on bad days, has a sturdy handle on the back to grab him with and the life jacket holds when you lift him with it.

With his back, this might be a good ticket to enjoy the out of doors with him.

It'd definitely be the way to go if I could teach him to fish. I'd be happy to run the net if he could reel them in.

Time to Play Hockey

Well not playing hockey but playing in the hockey rink. The rink is fully enclosed except for an entrance so we blocked it off. Let the dogs loose, then they chased each other. After a bit of that we had them chase us. Then we practiced their recall. Baseball diamonds, like the little league down the road are good for this, if they are fully enclosed like ours is. A much softer surface, but they were working on it so we went with our 2nd choice, the neighborhood school hockey rink. Fun for all!

Here we have Valley giving chase to Ganik, and Valley coming to her call. (As always, click on the picture to enlarge.)

Winner of a Day on Winner Creek

We had a winner of a day on Winner Creek. Looked like it was going to rain at the house today. As I drove south saw a whole different situation developing. A sunstorm!









Valley seems happy with the view from the pass doesn't she?

Mrs. Bullwinkle

Out on Bullwinkle Patrol and a fall color check in the Tundra. Mrs. Bullwinkle and calf were out looking for somebody to shoot their picture.

Bullwinkle

Valley and I were heading back to barn today after visiting Rabbit and McHugh Lake when I looked to my left and saw this rack protruding from the bushes. Hmmm, I said to my self, I wonder if there is a bullwinkle to be seen.








So I walked around the bushes and Bullwinkle appeared, giving me this full frontal shot. My lucky day.










Valley, as you can see, is as interested in Bullwinkle as I am and was held back. No disturbing the Bullwinkles Valley.



















That's a nice rack you have there Bullwinkle.











All good things come to an end, Bullwinkle goes off and we headed down the trail back to the rig.

Hanging Valley

That's the name of the valley we hiked to, not what we did to our dog :)

On the way back we picked a bunch of blueberries. Saw some sheep up high, and while taking a break near where this picture was taken, heard some ducks coming into the lake sounding like a jet landing, that was cool.

I think I should have fallen over and died.

I can't believe it, I think I should have just fallen over and dropped dead when it happened. A buddy I went hiking with let Valley loose in a very busy parking lot, with 4 young women bearing down on her. I asked her to sit, probably in a frantic voice, she sat and let me walk up and get ahold of her. She definitely was uncomfortable, she had that look on her face. But I can't believe it, she did it! Oh my, and I am glad she did.

So I guess all our love, kindness and practice paid off.

Anyway, here's a picture of Valley earlier in the day (far away from moving cars and girls bearing down on her). She's our Girl!

Another Hike :)

We started out hiking like we wanted to scramble up Manitoba Mountain. The same place we ski, but when we got to the bridge crossing Mills Creek we saw the Bridge Closed Do not use signs. Looking at the spans we could see one was broken and while it might have supported an individual. There was no was I was going to cross the bridge with a dog tethered to me and risk falling in the water if it did go, so we decided to head to Summit Pass. (Click on the image, to enlarge)







Even though it was cloudy, it was great hiking weather, not too hot, not too cold. Even so the dogs need to roll in the snow to cool down. They love it!

Gold Rush Dogs

Check it out, here's a picture taken back in 1898 by Eric Hegg. This is from the Special Collections of the University of Washington Library Digital Archives. I changed the contrast on the original photo as displayed at Uof W so I could see the dogs faces, harness and "gangline". The engine is the same as now-a-days, but the gangline and harness are different. The sled is kind of too, but one still sees some of those up here. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see some of the detail that I am talking about.

I am sure the dogs are freighting loads for the Klondike Gold Rush.

Just Passing Through ...

Kodie is the latest dog in the funhog--fundogs foster program. Kodie is a 1 yo and playful as a pup, in fact he's in the back yard ripping around with Valley and the neighbors dog. Poor Valley though, she's tuckered out from all the hiking this weekend. He's going to be a fun dog to have around, kind of fits that daffy looking noggin of his.





You can see his profile on petfinders at: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6713383

Weekend Dayhiking.

Out for a day hike at the South Fork of Eagle River. We couldn't believe we arrived at the trailhead at 9 am which is plenty early and the parking lot was full! We had to park on the road which is no big deal but a surprise. Lots of folks spent the night at the lake including a group of Native Alaskan students in town for a month to learn the 3Rs. One student in particular took a liking to the dogs and she petted Ganik and talked to us for 20 minutes about dogs. It was kind of fun talking to Jen.

Yesterday we walked from Glen Alps to indian via Ship Lake Pass. Quite a few folks were out on the Glen Alps side of the pass, and we were surprised to see two horses and riders past Ship Lake. but after that we didn't see anybody. Easy to see why. Once you get to Indian Pass there is knee high to chest high grasses making travel difficult. I was pleased Valley snaked her way through the high grass. Not a pleasant thing to do. She eventually tired and let me lead. Slow going but we made progress. Eventually we were met by Nicki half way to the pass and walked back with her and the dogs. It was exciting to hear the WooWoo from Babe when I spied them on the bridge. She was stoked to see me again.