7:30 am. 23 degrees.

The boys were convinced we weren’t going to run because it was snowing and we’re trying to get the trail packed down. I knew we would because it’s been a few days since everyone has been out.

Our first round, I had Darryl who ran the day before. He must have been worn out as he ran with the dogs but chose not to pull most of the time. Halfway around I switched him out with Scarface so I could get a little more speed. It seemed like the dogs were struggling. We were going slow and steady, but they were working hard with snow drifts to pull through.

We brought back in four teams, turned around and took the last three teams out. I stocked mine up with Tampa and Hahns, brothers who are ridiculously strong. Much better than the first run. My leadrs were Savage and Smith. Savage was more interested in pulling the team off trail to get some fresh snow to eat than lead. I switched them at the first stop and put Junior up. Junior is a handsome red dog with blue eyes, one of my favs. He fell into place pretty quickly and did a good job of leading. At the halfway point I switched Smith with Heiniken who hasn’t run in lead yet this year. He’s a small dog, nicknamed Whinikin because he screams like a woman when he’s excited and is constantly making whining sounds to get attention. He did a great job although he turned around quite a bit to see if I was still there and paying attention.

All in all, things went pretty smoothly. The dogs are ready for tours. Just a little more snow!