I went to take a nap last night at about 6 pm after feeding the dogs and when I went to bed then it was sleeting pretty hard. It had already snowed about a half inch but on the way home right when we turned into the road, a big snowcloud burst and the snow was coming down really good, almost so much you couldnt see. When I awoke from my nap (ha, actually it was more like going to bed.. I didnt wake up untill 1 am) I went to the door and it was froze SHUT. When I did manage to get it open, I could only crack it because the porch was covered in snow.. 4 inches!!!
the kennels
I couldn't believe it.. It was beautiful. Snow was still falling very lightly but everything looked so soft and blanketed. I stayed up from then, got everything ready and hydrated my 5 dog team. Everything was frozen, my shed lock, every clip on the ganglines and picketline and even my rig steering. I got it melted down, worked with my speedometer (got it back to working) and lined out the lines and hooked everyone up. Everyone was SUPER fiesty today and they rolled around in it, especially Waylon.. man that boy was one happy camper! :)
dogs on the picket before hooking up
Of course the snub froze so it took me a little while to get it open, and then I got on the rig.. left the brake locked because I found out it naturally keeps the teams speed down. Unfortunatly, I had NO braking power whatsoever.. VERY VERY SCARY. I told Calamity "OK" and we were off... I tryed yelling but if you run dogs, then you know how that works lol Anyways they took the turn out of the driveway too sharp and I managed to duck down enough and flipped when my rig tilted sideways. I had my 'death grip' on the steering and got drug a few feet before the girls stopped. I wasnt hurt but realized how much I had come to appreciate helmets, because my head was not even a foot away from a huge tree. I could have hit it... thank goodness for the soft snow too. I got up, brushed off and somehow the girls read my mind and turned around for me as if to say "my bad, we'll listen" so I hopped on the rig and went towards the hill. My neighbor was watching us (he is truely fascinated by it) but I told him to watch out because my brakes were weak and frozen. We went off like a shot but I managed to swing into the corners to control the speed. We went up the hill and I told them "ok, yall... you wanted to go fast, well heres a hill" LOL
We made it up to the top of the road and I picked some of the snow/ice balls that was wedged in the brake, finnaly getting something. I still had the brake locked all this time, mind you. I was glad to be out of the sharp twists turns and downs of the road and up into the neighborhood.
The scenery was AMAZING. I had beat the snowplow (thank goodness) so the road was still solid white, crispy and glittering in the morning sun. Trees hung over the road covered in snow, and when the wind blew it sprinkled snow dust everywhere. The dogs ran mostly on the shoulder, where deeper snow was. I was averaging a pretty nice speed so I was really relaxed and the dogs had some big smiles!
we had to stop for this one
Waylon after rolling in the snow
I had decided to take a different route today, but It was kind of troublesome. The road looping back to the house was kind of busy and icy, not really snowy. We finished it and went back to our old route, where it was much easier to navigate (even though I slid on black ice several times). The dogs were a little more tired coming back to the last mile, but all went well and we continued on our way back home. Little Red, one of my rescue dogs and pretty much our 'mascot' followed us the entire time, staying right in front of my leaders like she was one herself. It's always pretty funny to watch all of her 25 pounds keep up with my team.
Little Red
I had to walk the team down the hill coming back to the house, because I dont even like coming down that hill when its dry, moreless with snow on it! We made it back, I unhooked everyone, hugged them and gave them a bowl of meat water to regain what they had lost. The sun was all the way up now and I could hear the snow falling from the branches on the trees. I sat there for a minute, studying the dogs and taking a few pictures of them on the picket, soaking up the morning sunshine. Just another really fun run.
calamity on the picket
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