New snow & new trails

I took the A team out for a run today. I'd planned to just do a shorter run, then head back and run the B team, but that was not to be. The plan was to run up "Oh-My-God" Hill, go up around the Fireline turn, then head back down via "Times Square" and the lake loop trail. Well, Just, who has been running wonderful lead, decided to completely mutiny today when I called a Haw. He KNEW we were supposed to go straight, and even though i walked up and pulled Just and Feather over to the left trail 4 or 5 times...each time I went back to the atv, Just had yanked Feather back over to the straight trail. Unfortunately, each time they would do this, the team yanked the atv farther and farther down the trail (I'm telling you, these guys are scary strong!), brakes locked, in low gear and all. So, eventually, we got to the point that I couldn't get the team turned, as we'd gone too far past the turn off. Grrrr! So, I decided that we'd just go ahead and see the lake trail and then go on through Times Square (tussock central....ugh!) on the way out. Not a bad idea, since I hadn't gone that way before, so it was good to do it in the daylight. Off we went. The dogs were doing a good 14mph down the trail...I was bumping around on the atv and when I called Feather on-by the normal turn, she took it smoothly and off we went across the lake. We hit the other side and I swear, we were in the spin cycle of the biggest washing machine, ever! Those tussocks are horrible!!!! But, we made it through and I even managed NOT to get thrown off the wheeler!

The run up the ridge was actually pretty nice. It's a bit narrow and twisty, with some side hills and trees...but all in all, it's a nice trail. I knew we were going to take some different turns, and since Just decided to mutiny, I took him out of lead and put ole' Taurus up there. He's not the speediest of pups, but he is a good command leader. With that, we went up to the fireline and took the haw to go back towards the barriers when low and behold (no Abbie...it wasn't the Big Guy with bells, tee hee hee)...there was a team of 14 dogs on a Sled! The other musher was just snacking his team, getting ready to go. We exchanged pleasantries...I grilled him on how hooks were holding (his 2 hooks were solid). He said he'd done an 8 hour run just yesterday out along the Winter trail and that hooks are holding alright. Both his team and my team were screaming and slamming harness, so the other musher took off and I gave him a bit of a head start. The dogs were running well, albeit a bit slow. After all, we were plowing through some fresh powder, which made for hard pulling and good ole' Taurus was manning the helm. We missed a turn coming back (musher error, totally), so ended up on another rough section of trail, before heading home. It was only 20 miles, but man, that was some rough, hard pulling and when we got in, the dogs looked great. Inu almost knocked me off my feet when I unhooked him! Jake did the same thing. I decided to let Just go and he headed to his own house. I did the same for several other dogs, because my back was already aching...I didn't need to fall on my butt to add to my misery.

I'm going to get the sled out and break the B team down into 2 smaller teams. It's kinda of hairy getting out of our yard with a sled, so I'm hoping we make it out in one piece. Would be nice, anyway! Stay tuned for up and coming adventures! (Gulp!!)