We took yesterday off to decompress and celebrate Gypsy's long life with a hike at Banning State Park, a place we'd not had a chance to visit in a while.
While we miss Gypsy greatly, it is nice to return to hiking with one dog each, at a pace where we can all keep together...
Chilly day for some canicross/trail running with Zeena and Tonttu at Frontenac State Park on the bluffs overlooking Lake Pepin, a widening of the Mississippi River (and one of two claimed birthplaces of water skiing!).
I run them on separate leads instead of a single split lead to give them more freedom and independence, which is fine on the wide prairie trails, but creates some challenges on narrow, bluffside forest trails!
While Darn Tough claims these are Ladies' size large, they fit me just fine, and the feet are even longer than the Men's size large running socks that I got at the same time.
I may have to get an extra pair or two as these might get worn out quickly!
Urbanists and cyclists 🚴♂️ in Naugatuck Valley #Connecticut are encouraged to complete an online survey examining habits, preferences, and challenges to walking/rolling and cycling in the community.
Finally! Proper skijoring. Got Zeena and Tonttu out for a nice long trek on the surface of Poplar Lake along the Gunflint Trail. It was 6.3 miles from our cabin at the Rockwood Lodge to Trail Center and back.
We were cautioned against bringing skis for this trip, but I'm glad I did because the skiing was great, all things considered! We followed the edge, where all the best smells and sounds were. Everyone got some good exercise.
I would have been happy to take a wider loop around the lake, but the pups were intent on following our trail back along the shore to home.
Ice isn't as thick as most winters, but still plenty thick for a human and a couple of dogs. Best to get out in the morning before the sun warms the surface. Worst were some of the drifted areas near shore where water collected in pawprints (but still on top of ice).
So much adventure! It's been hard to keep up with posting.
Yesterday we took Kio out to the Magnetic Rock, a large glacial erratic with high iron content that will deflect your compass if you get near to it.
We weren't sure if Gypsy would make the trip but she did! She fell a bit behind the youngsters, but caught up at the Rock and kept up with the pack for the trip back.
Gypsy continues to surprise us with her energy and drive once we get out in the wilderness. Back home, she seems to slow down on the easy, routine loops around the neighborhood, but the challenging terrain up here seems to loosen up her achy joints and gets her mentally engaged in exploring the world.
Having Kio along means a LOT of great photos that are hard to choose among for posting...
Hiking with a friend is great because it gets us a chance to pose for some nice family photos with everyone in the frame. Amazingly, we got a nice photo with everyone staring at the camera with smiles all around.
Despite the warm, sunny weather during the day (40-50F/4-10C) it's still below freezing at night. Cold enough to keep the lake frozen and safe enough for skijoring with the youngsters Zeena and Tonttu across the crusty snow. We got going VERY fast over some sections!
We discovered that resorts to the east of us had cleared an ice-skating trail between them, so you could have cocktails at the Poplar Haus, and dinner at White Pine (or vice versa!) But even by mid-morning the dark ice was already covered in a pool of melted water.
Still, Tonttu loved running on the skating trail over the snow, for some reason.
The gray fur is from Rio, our first husky. She was 5 when she moved with Jeff to Minnesota back in 2002.
Rio gave us our first experience with skijoring and joined us on many hiking adventures. She was also our husky most prone to giving an actual, proper "woo" when excited, especially when greeting other dogs or people.
She particularly enjoyed finding clam shells when wading in the Mississippi River.