A Snowy Adventure

     SNOW!!  We finally got enough of the white stuff to hit the trails and the dogs couldn't take off fast enough at the trail head.  They had me off the sled and dragging on the ground for a few good feet after the first turn.  Training a yearling wheel definitely has some drawbacks....like skating along the trail on your belly after your newbie decides to cut the corner turn too tight and you didn't anticipate soon enough to swing the sled wide.  I proudly faced down that tree and managed to avoid it, while still remaining in once piece along with our sled.  From the look of things, Mac and I are gonna have to get used to how to do things together and I have to remember he's not going to run like Tundra in wheel.  Thank goodness my leaders, Revvy and Tundra, decided to obey my whoa! command or I'd still be somewhere on the trail being drug along by my lot of overzealous Sibes.
     Now, while being drug along behind a sled team, belly down, clinging stubbornly to the sled might seem like a bad day to some, I'd still match my worst day on the back of the sled to my worst day at work and still choose a day with the dogs.  Lately, with all the bruises I've been sporting, I've been asked repeatedly, why do you do it?  Why do you mush?  My answer is simple.  Sledding is my zen when I'm having a rough week and need to recharge....being out in nature, removed from people, with only you and a team of your best four-legged friends is hard to put into words.  There are no judgments, just a simple bliss.  My dogs and I are a truly bonded team and I wouldn't change it.  To those who would challenge me that running dogs is cruel and abusive, I return your challenge.  Come out to the races and show me a dog without a smile and one that isn't jumping like crazy at the sight of their harness.  They love it!

Alum Creek State Park 2013
Lead: Tundra (L) & Revvy (R)
Wheel: Mac Truck (L) & Kamrie (R)