Telluride Dog Blog: Got Milk?

Ok so it isn’t milk….but it sure looks like I’m in one of those Got Milk ads doesn’t it? Whatever you call it, snow, nieve, neige, frozen water, a damned pain in the ass….I love this stuff . You can even see how hard my paws are working as I cut through the snow. I have grip extraordinaire; no yaktrax for me. This picture was taken on Sunday morning…it didn’t start to snow until Friday morning. Isn’t nature amazing?
It really helps that our huge snowfall has dried out a lot since it arrived. When I went out about 10 p.m. on Saturday night the road was booby trapped with thick snow over a lot of puddles. My owner and I both slopped right into a deep one (not fun!). The temperature fell taking a lot of moisture with it….that wet sticky stuff is really tough on my feet when it turns into ice balls. As easy as I found the River Trail today, it was tough for the humans to negotiate. Luckily some cross-country skiers and then some runners had been out and back several times. This pounded down the snow to allow them, not yours truly as I have good paws and even better claws, to make our unsteady way out to the old bridge and back. It was a slow trip as we had to take a lot of photos.

There will be no more climbing up to Ajax Peak, Ingram Basin, Blue Lakes or any of those places until June for us. Some people risk going up there with their snowshoes but they are much more mountain savvy than we are. We have no experience hiking into back country with avalanche danger. I mean who would want to mess with that kind of thing. You can see in the video below how powerful they can be. This one was dynamite triggered. Our ski area is avalanche controlled to keep us all as safe as possible. We have never seen a real avalanche but the raw power of this video makes us cautious about venturing out where we don’t belong. In the little town of Ophir the residents were held captive for several days a year or so ago from a big slide. Everyone took good care of each other and many little parties were held to avoid cabin fever.
Last December the Telluride area received so much snow that we couldn’t go for our morning walks without hearing dynamite charges going off up close to the ski area – before anyone was allowed on the slopes obviously. It makes you realise that real people are out there keeping the mountains safe for us to enjoy ourselves…..where they don’t go we don’t go. (sometimes the videos work better the second time through…buffering and all…make sure your sound is on! )

We tend to stick to the tried and true trails over the winter months. It was great to get out today and see that cross country skiers are already enjoying all this white stuff. The difficult question is where the heck am I supposed to go when they are passing me on their skis? Is there a rule about this?

Curly-haired Alpha seems to think I need to step off the path…well easy for him but it was up to my nostrils and I could have suffocated. To me the skier needs to get out of my way because they don’t sink nearly as badly as I do. However, he has never listened to me so he’s not going to start now.

I made a new friend that I thought was my old pal Rusty for a moment.

It only took a sniff to realise I was mistaken. We had a quick chat about how strange humans can be. He told me he was out on the prowl ownerless! Now that I would love to try. I’m no longer constantly under lock and key (read leash) but always under watch. They still have never allowed me head out alone and roam around town. Nine years old (X7) and never allowed out on the loose…excluding the one time I ran into the field where all the coyotes live. I survived so what’s the big deal? Of course there is that fine they would have to pay if I got nabbed by the dog catcher….but why should that bother me? My Rusty look-a-like pal took off on me and left me dreaming of what it would be like to be footloose and fancy free.

Just as he ran away we noticed more beautiful scenery. We had never before seen sepia tones that sang out loud. Before you know it this snow will have fallen and the ethereal effect will be gone until the next dusting. Even I try not to brush the snow off the lower branches. I don’t do this because I care about the beauty. The wetter I get the longer I have to lie on my mat in the front entryway.

Soon this bridge leading to Lift 7 will be lit up with fairy lights. It is hard to make a magical environment more magical but those lights do just that.

As the winter solstice approaches, yes I am a learned dog, change is in the air. Summer clothes have moved to the garage in special ziplock bags…who knew? Quilts have been replaced with comforters. Fuzzy slippers lie haphazardly in the hallway. I tripped over a pair yesterday which really irked; I am losing my sight it appears. Candles are being lit and lining our windowsills to warm the night for travellers to and from their homes. Our little heater is doing what it can to warm our toes. Specially spiced cookies are cooling on the counter. Who is going where for tree season is a topic of conversation along with do you want turkey or roast beef….I’ll eat anything folks. I have never been fussy about my meat. See ya later.