Dream a Little Dream of Me

Owen and I have been learning a lot, living with a husky these past few months. Denali loves chasing squirrels, taking naps, playing with squeaky toys, and boy does she have a fluffy coat. This dog was built for the snow! So we had no choice but to take her to the mountains in search of snow as much as we could this winter. There's been even more to learn...

This was totally not staged  

Lesson #1: Denali doesn't mind when it's 20 degrees and snowing with 50 mph winds, but Owen and I do! On this particular outing to a National Forest south of Lake Tahoe, I wouldn't have been warm enough if I wore every piece of clothing I owned (though that's not saying much because I have a pretty small wardrobe... I digress). Also: if it's going to be icy, we need booties for her. She left a small trail of blood in the snow from a cut paw :( 

Totally oblivious to the freezing temps, playing with a sprig of pine

A successful first snow day!

Lesson #2: Denali can't tell it's a powder day when she wakes up, but Owen and I sure can! Hint: if you hear a loud "whoop" early in the morning, look outside your window. There may be a foot of powder blanketing South Lake Tahoe just waiting to be played in! Before we adopted Denali, Owen literally had reoccurring dreams about our future dog waking us up in the morning to play in the snow, so we were pretty stoked when this (almost) actually happened. Also: Denali can go snowboarding. By snowboarding, I mean running alongside us in the snow while we snowboard, but still. This was pretty revolutionary. 

Still teaching Denali the art of the family selfie 

Our sled dog in action!

Lesson #3: Well, we don't always have to bring Denali to have fun. Just the two of us went snowboarding a couple times this winter. We had a range of conditions from east coast ice to two feet of powder. I even survived a short black diamond run. And you know those little kids that you see zooming down the mountain? Some of them are so small they can't even get on the lift by themselves! I know this because I was directed by a kid's ski instructor to pull her onto the lift by a strap on the back of her jacket! I now have even more respect for these crazy, tiny athletes. 

The ultimate powder day

We balanced out all the snow with a motorcycle trip to the desert back in February. There was the slight complication of what to do with Denali, since she can't exactly fit on the back of Owen's motorcycle. Fortunately we found a great sitter who was willing to make sure she didn't get into too much husky trouble over the weekend. The objective for this year's trip: finally conquer Titus Canyon, the infamous back-country road that we have been itching to ride for years. It was worth the wait, though: we rode through canyons painted every shade of red, brown, and purple, we saw bighorn sheep grazing, and we marveled as the canyon squeezed down to less than 20 feet wide in some places. We finally got to witness why it earned its nickname of "Tight-Ass Canyon."

In the depths of Titus Canyon

For all the times we've visited the park we hadn't done much canyon hiking, so we spent the next couple days doing just that. What I didn't expect was how damn hot these canyons can get, even in February! Still, we had a grand time exploring side canyons, hauling ourselves up vertical ledges, and watching a family with four youngsters climb up a ledge that I could barely pull myself over.

Hiking during the hottest part of the day- oops

Zipping past salt flats

Now, as you might have heard we are essentially stuck in the house for 3 weeks with a husky that literally bounces off the walls if she doesn't get enough exercise. Plus, she's blowing her coat right now (mom, stop reading here). As a new dog owner, I was surprised at just how persistent those hairs are, and they're everywhere: on my clothes, in my hair, on my face, no matter how much we vacuum...how?! So, our mission these next few weeks is to survive, unscathed. We're armed with a bunch of books, some booze, and not much else...wish us luck.