if you can't laugh [at yourself and your dogs] they you shouldn't be out there...

Lori throws down some decent turns through the sugar.

Today was an attempt at ski touring with the fluffy dogs.  Simply stated ~ my dogs will never be avalanche rescue dogs.  Maybe nursing home therapy animals, but mountain powder masters, they are not.  My friend Lori and I headed up to Daniel's Summit, out Highway 40 from Heber.  It was a beautiful sunny morning, with temps in the 40s.  The snow was knee-deep and rotten today, and the dogs were wallowing pretty badly.  (Except for Ofer, Lori's little 40 pound Springer Spaniel, who seemed to be floating on top of the snow pack compared to my 75+ pound fluffies.)

Dogs figure out it is easier to walk in the skin-
track than wallow in the deep snow.

Needless to say, the dogs are sleeping soundly after all of their hard work now that we are home.  They gave us some good laughs while we were out.  Bounding up the trail initially, then slogging through the deep snow (still smiles on their faces), then we skied down and thankfully they figured out to stay in our tracks to make the going a little easier.  Then Ofer stole my glove and wouldn't give it back.  Lori put it best, "We are like a doggie junk-show out here!"  Dogs stepping on skis, laying on skis, kicking snow on skins, attempting to render them useless.  Man, was it fun.  And lots of laughs.  And as if I couldn't laugh enough at our cute dogs, look at the picture Lori captured of me.  Yeah, I'm a dork.  I have my skins stuffed down my pants and the front of my jacket so that I wouldn't have to tour our 150 foot hill with my pack on (lazy... ).  The turns on our low-angle hill were surprisingly sugary and good.

We did three laps on our little hill (my dogs did the third lap leashed to a tree.  They only barked until I was about half-way up the hill, then settled down.  Panic ensued when I got back to them and "couldn't get the leash off of them fast enough" in their opinion, I'm sure).

Yup, I'm a dork. 

A great morning ~ stretching the legs in the fresh air.  It was no epic ski day, but it sure was entertaining.  If you can't laugh [at yourself and your dogs] then you shouldn't be out there, in my opinion.