Off Leash Mountain Adventures: POW!

I was stuck for words regarding the subject of this post...I think pow just sums it up really! Sunshine, amazing snow, amazing company (who can ever beat a doggy welcome!) and 2 great hikes, with another new friend! I haven't even managed to go skiing in any of this recent fresh stuff, and yet I am as stoked as if I got first tracks on the glacier :) - ah, the power of dogs! So firstly, the regular crew and I had a great hike up into the forests...we climbed today, in soft snow with a crust just over shin height to support us, perfect!

Starting out..with Skip and Billie-Jean from WAG ahead. I left the dog-pack off Billie today, figured she had done great work with it recently, and thought she may want a break!

I broke trail as we climbed higher and the established boot pack ran out. We got so far today, and the trails was so beautiful, even when I got to the fresh stuff and had the lead the way it was still easy - thank goodness for great temperatures! If it had been a few degrees warmer the snow would have been gloop and I would have had to pull out the snowshoes!

Taking a moment to sniff, with Skip making sure we are going to be moving along soon as he would like to get going! He is so funny, he either stands on trail and waits for the others to be done sniffing, or takes an age delicately sniffing a particular tree or bush, as if forensic evidence is being collected!

Ever in the snow, such a pretty girl! After a while, we took a break, had a roll, a sniff, a treat or two, then headed back down...with a brief detour to bark at a squeaking squirrel that even I wanted to throttle after a while, it was yelling at us from a tree like an annoying squeaky toy! Skip barked his head off at it and stayed at it's tree a good few minutes after we had moved on...but in true Skip style he trotted up to us and sat nicely, asking to be told what a good boy he is! Love it!

And one other thing that cracks me up about Skip, (yup, guess he is the star of the blog today!) is his Hobbit style feet!, they are sooooo funny!

I then collected the lovely Julia and her buddy Cali for a romp around the valley trails and golf course; what fun we had in the sunshine and deep snow! We hiked around the perimeter of the golf course first, to get the initial excitement out of the dogs and for me to get to know Cali in a controlled situation...we met a bunch of lovely people to chat with and Cali, who is awesome, but pulls like a shire horse after too many oats, soon settled and responded well to the leash and hiked beautifully along with Julia

I then let Cali off, and put Ju on the longline for a run around - they were so good, playing so well, with me belaying Julia like a pro if I say so myself! Click the images to enlarge...I love these shots, and took soooo many pics of these two I should post an album just dedicated to this day!

It was then play time for sure as we went onto the open space of the golf course and into the full sun...lovely!

Check out Cali's tongue - booger licker, ha ha!

We then headed back to the trail and walked a little further to get the dogs calm enough for the hike home, they were both full of beans as was I! I like the warm-down part of hiking with them, to settle them and myself and get us alert and sensible for being on trail again! I love the below shot of Cali leaping back onto trail after a sniff at a tree as Julia watches.

Then back on leash with our smart blue Canine Energy leads that look lovely against the snow! the below shot shows calm re-established as we head home...I am exhausted! Hope the dogs are too!