...and ready to go they were...imagine a dog barking...
times sixty!
They were so excited to go...but while the mushers were preparing the sleds...Emily was excited to get to know the dogs a little better!
{please stop taking pictures already!}
Our favorite dog with the prettiest eyes...Cha Cha
Ready to hike...
{look at the dog howling behind us...let's go!}
Alex rode with me half of the way...
...and once we were off...I had to hold onto to him going downhill and over bumps...because they were fast!
Sarah...our musher...assured us that if anything fell off...the team behind us would pick it up! ha! I think she meant things like my gloves or camera...not Alex! Hold on!
Hike!
She also made me giggle because she said when you go back to look at all your pictures...you will see a lot of dogs' behinds...but the scenery was beyond amazing...and the dogs' backsides are only a small distraction!
Emily kept me company on the ride back...and she and Alex even got to be the mushers for a little bit!
Emily yelled hike...and they were off!
{Emily mushing! I wish I had a better picture, but I could only hold the camera up in the air and point it behind me and hope she was in it!}
{Alex mushing...}
This was my favorite part of the tour...stopping in the woods...and listening to the complete and utter sound of quiet! I'm not sure I've ever heard it so calm and peaceful before! The dogs were even silent...you could only hear your own breathing!
I loved hearing about the animals in the woods...and the evidence on the Aspen trees that they are nearby...the bear claw scratches...and the antler marks from the deer...I didn't know this, but deer lose their antlers every year and they rub them on the bottom of the tree trunks...people go antler hunting and find them in the woods and sell them, apparantly they can be worth a lot of money and are used for decorating!
It was such a fun and unique experience and the dogs are beautiful just like their surroundings!
I can't imagine how much work goes into training and taking care of so many dogs...but they are truly amazing and so sweet!
I love Colorado! It is fun having the opportunity to visit other places...it is just a different lifestyle being in the mountains!
We decided Skipper might have a little mush in him...
...when we got home we kept yelling hike! ...his ears would perk up and he'd run over to us! To us it's meaningful becuase he's losing his hearing...and rarely lifts his head when we yell his name!
{such a good old boy!}
So much fun! What a great experience for you and the kids. My mom went to jackson Hole, Wyoming last year and the boy scouts there collect the antlers and sell them as a fund raiser. The city even has an arch built out of antler that the boy scouts collected. It is really neat looking. Mom said it was cooler in person than on the post card she sent us. Glad you all had so much fun.
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