Monday Musings and A Most Leisurely Ramble...

Ramble On....(also my fave Led Zepp tune!)

 

Another rainy day, but it stopped about an hour into the hike which was awesome. We stayed on an fsr today - it seems to be the Monday routine to ease us all into the week of hikes and shake the cobwebs away! Pics include Ever, Buddy and Nia strolling up the road, and stopping to sniff the creek, then just moseying over the bridge...maybe sniffing here and there...taking a relaxing roll and grunt in the snow,...all in all, very chilled. It was pretty funny to observe! Halfway up there was a burst of energy from Nia which in turn encouraged Bud and Ever to rage round for a little while, then we resumed our stately stroll, very refined today!   

 We also found this 'interesting ' feature...Luckily none of the dogs were too interested in playing fetch!

So we continued on our leisurely amble, stopping for a drink here and there, Buddy found a ball which was exciting for a while, but in general a nice chilled way to start the week to be honest! Sunshine in the forecast tomorrow, I'll bet that'll boost our canine energy! Until then, aroOOoooo..zzzzzzz!

Beautiful Days Always Seem To Follow The Rain

Well after yesterday's deluge, we ventured back to our regular haunts, and what an amazing hike it was! Found some funky animal prints, we followed Deer, and something else...not sure what - anyone else know? (see below)

...and here are some familiar friends!

 

Taking the easy route on the packed down trail....and Ever has a good roll while Buddy sniffs the tracks! That's all for this week - see you all Monday!

A tale of Whistler lakes in the rain!!

Well, the rest of the gang had a day off, so Buddy and I went exploring round the lakes in Whistler as a treat...we never normally get to these trails as a pack of dogs in public is not a good idea! Retrievers love the rain, and as long as humans are Gore-Tex clad, we don't mind it either! I didn't get the camera out much, but we did get a few good ones:

 

Galloping for the water at Alpha ....                                          ...swimming in it at Alta...

 
...and rolling aound just for the stoke of it! I did not join him today, I only roll in light fluffy pow thank you very much! See ya tomorrow!!

What a difference a day makes!

I must admit yesterday was noses to the ground somewhat as the weather was not that fun, today however...lovely sunshine and snow, and wow does it make a difference! I could feel the buzz as we got out of the truck, the dogs were so excited, as was I! We literally danced along the trails today, it was nice to find some hard packed snow as opposed to post-holing everywhere! I must get snowshoes soon...anyway, we had an awesome hike - we were out for 2.5 hours (oops, got carried away) and Buddy made me laugh sooo hard as we stopped for a break at one point, and I surprised the dogs by rolling around on my back going "arooooo!" just like they do; I WISH you could have seen their faces!! Buddy actually joined me at one point :) Thank goodness nobody else was around, I must have looked like a mad woman - ha! Anyway, enough from me...here are some pics from today:

did ya hear that squirrel?                                              hiking in the sunshine :)

yeah I know, no dogs in this one, but the Sproatt Mountain looks so beautiful poking through the clouds! See you tomorrow :)

Taking it easy...

Monday morning, raining a bit - it then turned to snow...we took a chilled-out hike today. Found a new access road that was ploughed nicely, so we explored that before hitting the usual loops. Ever and Buddy were my partners in crime today. I love the second shot here - buddy was taking every opportunity to roll in the snow, even on the side of the trail - Ever just politely watched until he was done then they strolled on together!

We then found some nice snow to roll in, eat and sniff...a lovely, peaceful, day on the trails.

 

Ever says Hi and Bud just keeps rollin' - see ya tomorrow, arooo!

Deep into the woods today

Small crew today, just Buddy and Ozzy, who joined us with his owner for a tramp around in the woods. The snowpack at our hiking elevation was wet to ground which actually made travel way easier, kind of like wading out in the ocean! We set a great track through the woods via one of our regular routes, so a neat little trail network will make travel easier for next week! Buddy and Ozzy (both Retrievers) had a lovely time while us humans tramped down the trail...they wuffled* about together and dove in and out of snow as we threw snowballs for them - good times! Have a great weekend everyone, see ya Monday :)

Where did that snowball go?!!

Ozzy says 'pleased to meet you!'

*wuffled - my word for the snorting and sniffling dogs do in deep snow!

Wading In It!

Oh. My. Goodness...so much snow! It was literally over my knees to mid-thigh....ahhhhh lovely, and I am exhausted! You see, dogs are smart...and after the inital play time they realise that the pack leader breaks trail! Billie-Jean from WAG actually made a good effort to  take it in turns, and Buddy also obliged...but only after I asked him nicely!

...anybody in there?! Billie Jean was like a dolphin leaping - so funny!

We snuffed about in it, rolled, and tramped our way up the trail and back in 2 hrs, through a section that would take 30 mins normally, I kid you not! What an epic start to the season :) See ya tomorrow!

Three Amigos

Me and two of my best friends set out on a deep, snowy and SOOOOO beautiful day! We hiked, I broke trail (so tired) we played, took pictures, made some funny videos (watch this space) and enjoyed the loggers lake trails all to ourselves!

Me, Ever and Buddy at the start of our adventure

We stopped at an amazing viewpoint to eat snow, roll in snow, stretch and run around stoked (and that was just me! ha ha) I also got some lovely portraits of Ever and Bud - such pretty dogs (sorry Buddy , not a very manly description!)

We then made out way to the lake - which was so beautiful!

Stopping to admire the view

Then back down to the truck, an awesome, super chilled out hike, so much fun, so much snow - yay! Can't wait for more tomorrow, bye for now!

Please can I have a treat before we go home?

Eye of the Storm!

Wild and windy, snowy and rainy...then the sun broke through as we entered the eye of the storm and it all became calm, albeit briefly. What an exciting day! We stayed in the woods, narrowly avoiding tree-bombs of flying snow, then opened out onto a wider trail before delving back into the woods again! Not many pics today, camera was getting really soggy, but we had a great hike and were out just over 2hrs without noticing the time going by...must be getting in shape at last!

We still found some good snow, it was best for photos in this clearing, the forests were too wild! Here Ever pauses to regard a noise in the hedgerows! Turned out to be a squeaking squirrel that soon hushed itself up after Buddy crashed around the trees towards it! Ha ha! See you tomorrow :)

Billie Jean thinks, Buddy wades...

Welcome to a typical West Coast downpour! After gleefully shovelling out our trucks and skiing all weekend, the wet n'warm joins us once more to turn all the lovely white fluffy stuff into squishy cold yuck. Ah well, still good to get out there, although no musing at the views and playing together in it today - we just hiked, noses to the ground. And as always, once you get going, it's actually quite refreshing and really nice to get some wet and warm exercise in the forests!

In today's pics Billie Jean from WAG thinks what we are all saying right now, as Buddy in true Retriever fashion wades around in the torrent quite content...he's great, we should all take a leaf out of his book and be permanently stoked on life!

 

See ya tomorrow, arooo!

Friday 13th....and what a perfect hike!

well...apart from me leaving the camera battery on charge in the office...nooooo! The pack looked so awesome today with their smart Royal Blue collars contrasting against the snow! And other than me being forgetful this was probably the best hike I have had so far, no really! We had Jayda, Buddy, Ever, Indy, and from WAG..the beautiful and sooooo gooooood Rosie! I cannot wait to get some pics of her up, she is only a few months old and is a cutest little Husky mix. She is like an android puppy in that she is so well behaved I wondered if she was real (I tested, and yes she squeaked when I petted her, ha ha!) We didn't climb as high today, rather we wound through forest trails then finished up on a fsr that was wide and ankle deep in the lightest, fluffy pow; oh it was bliss! I made snow angels, the dogs all rolled around with me, we had games of snowballs and a good 5 mins break where everyone got a big cuddle...a really great doggy bonding session :) I cannot believe how amazing today was, we literally moved as one, we played, ran, sat, and had treats all together...a wonderful day. It was snowing lightly and everything looked so beautiful, hooray for winter! I can't possibly end a post without a picture, so I have taken one from the already growing Canine Energy archives:

From yesterday here is Jayda post roll, and Buddy in the midst of one :)

Have a great weekend everyone, see ya Monday!

Into the sunshine..with some fun along the way!

Wow...shin-deep powder snow, big blue skies, amazing scenery...and dogs!!! What more could you want in life? I think anyone that spends anytime in the mountains can share that amazing feeling of suddenly being bathed in sunlight after a long hike up through the forests, it is just so amazing and your spirits soar! I am odd in that I actually love the uphill part too, especially when a bunch or furry friends are sniffing, rolling, snorting and just loving life right next to me.

..and we are off! noses to the ground already, three friends lead the way while Bam-Bam trots along behind, looking back every now and then to eyeball my treat pouch. He always takes a couple of minutes to realize that we hike before we get any treats, and soon he is swinging round the others, doing his small hyperactive doggy thing :)

I love this shot of Buddy! He was snuffling around in the snow and was taken by surprise as I walked by with the camera! That twig balanced on his head for a good couple of seconds, making the whole thing even funnier!

We got to check out some beautiful views..the below shot shows the dogs and I looking North, back in the direction we have climbed...well I guess if you look closely I am looking at the view, and the dogs have noses in the snow as usual! To their credit they all take a moment to appreciate where we live - I am just not fast enough to capture it with the camera!

Check out Rainbow Mtn above the clouds...so cool, and Jayda taking a break from her galloping looks pretty darn cute too! She had the honour of the doggy backpack today, and carried it well!

Then we made it into the sunshine...so beautiful :) See you tomorrow!

Lest We Forget

No hiking today. While we observe Armistice day, you may be interested to know that animals often played important roles in the War alongside the heroic soldiers. 

 

The Animals' War is currently on show at the Imperial War Museum North. Here a German messenger dog leaps a trench on the Western Front in 1916. source: bbc.co.uk/news

I found the following article:

Dogs had a vital part to play in World War One as the complexes of trenches spread throughout the Western Front. Dogs were used as messengers and proved to be as reliable as soldiers in the dangerous job of running messages.

The complexities of trench warfare meant that communication was always a problem. Field communication systems were crude and there was always the very real possibility that vital messages from the front would never get back to headquarters or vice versa. Human runners were potentially large targets and weighed down by uniforms there was a chance that they would not get through. In the heat of a battle, there was even less of a chance of a runner getting through as the enemy's artillery was likely to be pounding your frontline and the area behind it. Vehicles were also problematic as they could breakdown or the 'roads' could have been reduced to a mushy pulp and travel on them made impossible.

Dogs were the obvious solution to this pressing problem. A trained dog was faster than a human runner, presented less of a target to a sniper and could travel over any terrain. Above all, dogs proved to be extremely reliable if they were well trained. A dog training school was established in Scotland and a recruit from this school traveled over 4000 metres on the Western Front with an important  message to a brigade's headquarters. The dog traveled this distance  (war records classed it as "very difficult" terrain) in less than sixty minutes. All other methods of communicating with the headquarters had failed - but the dog had got through.

Dogs also had another role to play on the Western Front. For men trapped in the horrors of trench warfare, a dog in the trenches (whether a messenger dog or not) was a psychological comfort that took away, if only for a short time, the horrors they lived through. It is said that Adolf Hitler kept a dog with him in the German trenches. 

For many soldiers on any of the sides that fought in the trenches, a dog must have reminded them of home comforts.
source: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/dogs_in_world_war_one.htm

We have many to thank and pay our respects to today.
See you again tomorrow!

getting in shape!

At this time of year the snow line is all over the place - we are in rain one minute, slush the next, then lovely thick powder at the highest point in our hikes! For those of you that maybe interested the real good stuff was just above the 900m mark from our hiking location...soon we will be waist deep in it (hooray!) but for now we travel through a few different weather systems first..I like that, changes the scenery, and keeps us on our toes!

On the way to the trail-head, a few remnents of snow remain but it's raining pretty hard here!. Bammer leading the pack with Buddy at number 2, and Billie Jean (sporting a new dog backpack!) takes a quick drink from a puddle.

So we are getting a little higher here...the high tree line on the horizon of this photo is actually our high point in the hike - we are all getting in shape that's for sure :) Buddy leads the way, followed closely by Jayda, Bam-Bam and Billie Jean.

Bam Bam leads the way here as we climb up the forest trail, the tree canopy is so thick here there is barely any snow...it makes for a icing sugar dusting on the moss and looked beautiful, photos can never do it justice!

Snow at last! Jayda gallops round a rolling, snorting Buddy!

Then it was noses in the snow for the next 5 minutes..perfect for me, I could take a breather! It was so funny, all I could hear was snorting dogs with their furry butts in the air and tails wagging furiously! Gooooood Times!

   

Snow Snow Snow!

Pouring rain in the valley meant we warmed up under the cover on the forest canopy for the first hour...then it was up into the snow! So fun...I cannot think of a better way to spend a rainy day than running round the forest with a bunch of dogs, climbing up to the snow to play and roll around before the long hike down. It was awesome -  nobody else around just me, the dogs, and the great outdoors, no offence to you humans or anything - haha...

Are you ready..? Lets go!!

Billie Jean, (our WAG pal) Ever, and Buddy ready for the off in the dark dark forest...

then we are off!

We then made it to the snow, yessssss! Big smiles all round and we all had a good roll in it :)

Ever, Billie Jean, Buddy and me! We played, ate snow and enjoyed ourslelves before winding our way back down to the valley and the green forests.

Down we go...see you next time!