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.

They Take Winter Serious Here

It's cold, y'all. For real cold. When the Food Guy and I woke up this morning it was -2. I'm not talking -2 with some wussy windchill temperature; I'm talking for real, ambient temperature. And, it was windy too. It warmed up to a balmy 7 by the time the Food Guy drank some coffee and took me for a walk around Ztown. On the good side, we have lots of snow. There's a drift behind the house that's as tall as my back. Most everywhere it comes up to my dog elbows.

I like playing in the snow. I spent about an hour this morning running around with my friend Daisy from across the street this morning while the Food Guy sorted out some firewood. We ran around jumping in the snow drifts and throwing snow up in the air with our noses- pretty good stuff.

Yesterday morning we woke up to about a foot of fresh snow, so the Food Guy decided it was time to put our sledding hill to the test with his new skis. He got some telemark skis so we can head out in the backcountry and get some exercise. The cool thing is that you can also ski downhill on them. Best of both worlds. Put skins on the skis and go uphill, and then take them off and you're ready for some cool downhill action.

I think he had a lot of fun. He must have liked it because he and Greg decided to go to the local ski hill last night for some nighttime skiing.

He said it was pretty cold up there, and I believed him after he showed me a picture of the weather station up there. It was 9 degrees, which I suppose isn't all that cold if you're just going outside to post up on a tree or something. But, if you're riding around a on a pair of skis for a few hours, I suppose it's pretty cold. Check out the 26 Knot winds that were kicking around up there.

We are supposed to get more snow tonight. Luckily, the Food Guy doesn't have class until Tuesday afternoon, so hopefully he won't have to have his class cancelled. Well, I actually would rather they cancelled classes so we could go play somewhere. But, I doubt he wants to start the semester by losing the first day of class. We'll see. Stay tuned for more adventures. You know we can't sit still for too long.

New Year's Eve

Happy New Year, y'all. The Food Guy and I closed out 2010 in style today. Sam and Rebecca came up from Chattavegas to hang out last night, and we got lucky with some sunny weather for a little New Year's Eve trip to the Dump.

We got this morning to clear skies, and strong coffee brewing. After a leisurely breakfast at Mountain Bagels, we headed up to the Dump to meet Greg for a little climbing. Alabama stayed home, so I didn't have my doggie crag partner to hang out with. We still had a good time though. Check out some pics from today's adventure.

Rebecca did a great job on Son of White Trash. And she got a little lead climbing in too.

I was happy to get out and enjoy some sunshine while the people got some winter time climbing in.

The Food Guy seemed pretty happy to get out climbing after a couple of weeks of snow.

I'm sure the Food Guy and I will head out for a good run or hike to ring in 2011. Stay tuned, y'all.

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.

Christmas Adventures in the Snow

Merry Christmas, everyone. The Food Guy and I have been hard at it on the adventuring front since the semester ended. We've had lots of help from the weather when it comes to finding things to do. We've been getting pounded here with snow, and as y'all know: Camp Z is a winter adventure destination not to be trifled with. As more snow rolled in, we upped the ante on ways to have fun. Last week, the Food Guy decided that sleds and snowboards were not enough; he decided it was time to break the kayak out.

I don't know what possessed him to decide it was time to carry that beast up the hill, but he sure looked like he had a good time sliding down towards the creek in that thing.

After he finished all of his grading, the Food Guy and I jumped in the mobile dog house for a trip up to see the folks in PA. The drive was epic with a capital E. It was ridiculous, really. It snowed the whole way up there, and we got stuck in traffic for hours. It was so cold out that I even talked the Food Guy into letting me ride up front when we stopped for gas. The trip up there took 10 hours. You know we're not good at sitting still that long, but we managed. Once we got there, we went for a couple of good runs in the snow and saw some cool stuff.

I had fun hanging out with my northern grandparents.

I liked hanging out up there.

My grandma spoiled me and bought me a really cool toy shark to play with. After a couple of days up north, our visas expired and it was time get back down south of the ol'l Mason Dixon line. Being a couple of Georgia crackers, we can't stay up in those parts too long, so we jumped back in the mobile dog house and headed for Camp Z. I got to ride up front again because the Food Guy's Mom loaded up the back of the truck with a bunch of stuff. Big ups to her for hooking me up with a cush, warm ride home.

We spent the next few days chillin' at Camp Z. We went for a couple of good runs while the snow had mostly melted away, and I hung out while the Food Guy chopped up a bunch of firewood to keep us warm. Thursday, we got another huge load of firewood, and I watched while the Food Guy split wood and stacked all the wood. I think he was pretty tired by the time he got finished. I mean, heck I was tired from just watching him.

We headed down to the Lake to hangout with my southern grandparents and the Food Guy's sister, bro-in-law, and niece for Christmas day. We had a good time down there. I put in some serious time sleeping on the couch with the Food Guy's dad. That couch is so comfortable, I can't imagine why I can't always sleep on couches. Someone should talk to the Food Guy about that. It's unjust, I think. My dog-cousin- Gracie- was there, and we had lots of fun running around. She's a pretty cool dog, but you have to get one of the people to watch her when it's time to eat. That dog has a serious Napoleon Complex, and she is always trying to steal my food. All in all, it was a great holiday. The Food Guy and Dennis sat around playing the guitar and the banjo (I think they might have also drank a little Jameson), and I caught up on my sleep. We did get one good run in while we were down there, and it was nice to run when the temperature was above freezing. That didn't last too long though, it was snowing by the time we finished our run yesterday morning.

Today, we braved the blizzard and trekked back up to Camp Z. We came home to a foot of fresh snow.

If I were a better dog (and I am), I'd put all of my dog bones on me and the Food Guy getting into something cool tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

Camp Z sledding and Trout Lake

It's been a pretty fun-filled weekend in the snow up here in Boone. The Food Guy and I woke up to a pile of snow this am, and we figured it was time to test out the hill in the pasture.

Greg, Lem, and Alabama came over this morning with a full compliment of sledding devices: a sled, saucers, and a snowboard.

I'm happy to report that no hospital trips were required. I was a little worried when the Food Guy strapped on the snowboard since he has no idea at all how to ride one. It worked out OK though:

It was a pretty sweet morning, which we followed up with an afternoon hike up at Trout Lake. It was snowing like crazy, but my mobile dog house is a 4 wheel drive palace. The hike was so much fun. I had a blast running around in the snow. There wasn't much in the way of long range views, but there were so many cool things to see. The trees up on the bald at the top of the mountain are so cool.

Check out this cool rhodie cave we walked through.

The whole hike was pretty amazing. The Food Guy has a ton of grading to do this week, so we'll be pretty much on lockdown all week. Plus Bob nominated the Food Guy for a dissertation award, so he'll need to spend some time writing up some stuff for the submission. It'd be pretty cool if he won. Keep your paws crossed for us- there's a small cash prize that will buy me some dog food.

Holidays, Snow, and Heat

Hey, everybody. The Food Guy finally got us a real heat source. Check it out:

I'm pretty happy about this because it's ridiculously cold up here.

Y'all know I'm a Georgia boy, and I'm just not used to all this cold weather.

Have to say that I'm a pretty big fan of it though. Now we don't have to drive anywhere to go hiking in the snow. Check out our first good snow of the season.

It's still coming down, so we oughta have more in the morning. I hope we do, 'cause the Food Guy promised to take me on a cool hike tomorrow afternoon once the roads thaw out a little.

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks around here. The Food Guy and I went down to the Lake for Thanksgiving. It was a great trip. We went for a few good runs down at Lake Norman State park, and he a lot of Turkey. I got a pretty good supply of dog bones while I was there, so I was happy. Then, his sister and brother in law came to visit Camp Z on their way home.

Dennis talked the Food Guy into finally buying a guitar. I don't mind because that means I get to spend more time laying on the floor inside with the Food Guy after we finish our outside activities every day. It's a pretty sweet guitar. Check it out.

I just hope he learns to actually play a song on it before too long. I got to spend most of last week hanging out with Alabama Star. The Food Guy had to go to Texas for a conference. They don't let dogs go to these conferences, which I think is pretty weak. But, that's OK, hanging with Alabama is always a good time. She's so much fun to play with. She let me play with all of her toys.

The Food Guy said he had a pretty good trip. The conference kept him busy, but he got a few urban runs in. I'm not sad I missed them. I don't really like running in the city. I'm a trail dog, you know.

I spent most of the day today sleeping inside while the Food Guy went to the App State playoff game. A buddy of his played at App back in the day, so he got them passes to watch the game from a VIP skybox. It sounds pretty swanky. They even got to go into the locker room after the game to hear the post-game coaches speech and all of that jazz. Sounds pretty cool. It ain't SEC football, but it's still pretty cool. Mostly, I think he was happy to see some of his Athens friends. They stayed with us last night, and it's always good to have some company out here at Camp Z.

Well, I'm gonna run. The Food Guy wants to go outside and move some firewood around, and I have snow to play in. See ya later. Keep warm, y'all.