Necessity is the Mother of Invention

making the best of an awkward situation.

the Rail Trail in Park City hasn't been groomed the last couple of times i've been out skate skiing with the dogs, so we've been looking for other places to skate that are still dog-friendly.  Round Valley is awesome, and we went there yesterday.  today, i sought out yet another spot, that being the pipeline trail that parallels US Highway 40.  it looked good enough ~ kind of windblown, and more uphill than i wanted it to be, but it served the purpose, and had been groomed recently ~ good enough to get out for a while and stretch the legs.

Artie ~ hot dog on a stick

the views are always amazing in the Silver Summit area between Park City, I-80, and the Heber Valley.  yet another small snow storm was threatening, and filtering the sunlight nicely.  there are always some nice dog-friendly people up in that area, too; different from in the Salt Lake Valley where dog-friendlies and the unfriendly types clash.

the wind in Franklin's ear

so we skated up the groomed trail and i was just starting to get into a good rhythm when Artie, my independent thinker, saw the kite boarders in the large meadow by the Justice Center.  problem was, she didn't realize what separated her  from the kite boarders was a 4-lane divided highway.  surely she would have ended up dead had she not gone against her instinct and chosen to (thankfully) listen to my fretful screams.  i could tell it was very difficult for her, and she wasn't rationalizing (unlike my boy Frank, whom i anthropomorphize often into a rational being who typically chooses the safer route, often going against his dog-instinct and instead siding with his human).  but after two attempts to call Artie back, mid-sprint to the fence that is only one foot high from the recent drifting snow (she could have easily cleared it) thankfully, crisis was averted.

we spent the rest of the 5-mile skate ski with Artie attached to the end of my ski pole, but i was kind of tired anyway and didn't feel like skating all that fast.  she even helped to pull me up a couple of the steeper hills.  necessity is the mother of invention.  and in this case with only an 18 inch leash, the ski pole became Artie's tether enabling us all to enjoy another adventure.