We had our first run on our old stomping grounds. The conditions were a little sketchy, the well groomed trail was hard hard hard. The bits down the center that had been churned up by snomo traffic were chunky and gritty. But it was great to be climbing up our mountain again and cruising down the pretty trails.
I ran the B team first, thinking it was going to get pretty warm. They are all fairly heavy coated. I had to put Nikka back in the truck, she was acting like she didn't want to go. The other 9 were happy on the trail, it was not as bad as I thought. I kept their speed down low. The dogs were gee'd over so hard that they were on the glare ice where no snomobiles had dared to travel (they always go down the center of the trail).
On the A team we were still short Rainy, who is still limping slightly. The other 9 pulled like crazy and I was using the drag on uphills to keep the speed down! I am so impressed with Bodhi in lead. He is a Good Boy! And really goes. Twinkle likes him too, they make a nice lead pair. But what an age difference...she is 8 and he is 3. Oh no...the "find another leader" game will be back in play soon I fear. No worries for this year though. Twinkle loves to run with Bodhi and though he is sometimes a step faster she works hard to be up front and is showing she really does know commands after all. (She had a bad year running with Tula, neither wanting to push or pull the other into a turn....)
I love my dogs!!! They are fit and ready for the busy vacation week doing dog sled tours and dog sled rides!
