Backcountry Ski Dog

What do you do when you have snow everywhere? I asked the Food Guy that question this morning when we woke up, and he had an answer before I'd even taken a mouthful of dog food. "Head for the trail, yellow buddy," was his reply. So we did.

We loaded up the mobile doghouse and met some friends in town to head out to Roaring Creek for some backcountry ski action. It was a nice sunny day and the temperature looked like it might even get above freezing today. The blue skies were a sight for sore dog eyes as we stepped onto the trail this morning.

We spent the first couple of hours working our way up the AT near Roan Mountain. I was having a blast following the people and playing with my new dog friends: Ruby and Rose. They're both Sug dog look alikes, so I knew I'd probably get herded a few times today, but I don't mind. I'm used to being herded around- My doggie friend Sug taught me that lesson when the Food Guy first got me. Anyway, after cruising along the trail for a couple of hours, we finally got the top of the first section.

The views were amazing, and the people had fun skiing through a "glade" (new ski lingo I'm learning). Well, the Food Guy took a couple of face plants 'cause he's still figuring out how this skiing thing works. It looked like he was having fun though.

I lost one of my shoes today.

The Food Guy said it wasn't my fault. The snow had a layer of ice on it in some places. When I broke though, it was chest deep. I lost my boot trying to swim my doggie feet back up the surface of the snow.

Once the people were done skiing through the glade, we headed back to the trail to get all the way to the top.

It was so pretty up there.

The trip down was really exciting. In most places the trail was only 10 feet wide. The Food Guy managed to not hit any trees, which I thought was pretty impressive. We finally made our way back down to the trailhead at about 4:30. After, 6 hours of running in the snow, I was SO tired. I'll never learn; I spent the first two hours racing up and down the trail. It always takes me a couple of hours to figure out that I need to pace myself. Hopefully, I can talk the Food Guy into taking it easy tomorrow and watching football most of the day. I think I'll walk really slowly by the wood pile in the morning to drop that hint that he needs to stay home and split some firewood to keep us warm this week.

Roan Mountain in the Snow

The Food Guy and I have been making the most of our vacation so far. Yesterday the Food Guy's sister, brother-in-law, and niece came up to Camp Z to spend the night on their way back to Mobtown. We had a good time hanging out. Haley and I played with all of my toys until I was ready to go to bed.

It was great having those guys up here for a visit. Today, Food Guy, Gregg, and Karen loaded up the mobile dog house to go hiking up at Roan Mountain. It was super-cool. That place got pounded with snow last week, so the Food Guy thought it would be a good time for me to try out my new winter hiking boots. He's always worrying that I'll get my feet cut up by the ice under the snow, so he brought some boots with us today for me to try out.

I wasn't so sure about them at first. I don't know if you have ever seen that cartoon dog Goofy, but that's what I felt like when I first put them on. I was running around lifting my paws over my head trying to figure out what in the world had happened to my dog-feet.

But, it didn't last too long. That Food Guy is pretty sneaky. He waited until I was having a lot of fun playing in the snow before he stopped and pulled them out of his pack. I was having so much fun that the boots were really just a momentary distraction. Before long, I was up to my normal tricks: rolling in the snow, snorkeling with my dog-nose, and racing up and down the trail making sure all the people were staying together.

Roan Mountain is a really cool state park. We hiked along the AT up past Jane Bald (5807 Ft.) for a couple of hours.

The wind was crazy up there, and the snow was so deep in places that I kept getting stuck. I have some pretty long dog-legs, and I still kept getting stuck in snow that was over my chest. The Food Guy had to come help me back onto the trail at one point. It was so much fun.

We should have some more good adventures this week. Sam and Rebecca are coming up from Chattavegas, so I think we're going climbing tomorrow if the weather cooperates. Y'all take care now.