Merry Christmas

I just want to wish everyone a wonderful Holiday from Eldora, Colorado.

Snow Bombing

I am not sure what the really name for it is, but Kimo and I call it snow bombing. It comes out of nowhere, scares him to death and gives you an instant brain freeze. It turns out to be another one of those hidden winter time dangers after a really heavy snow fall. You walk along a path and as the sun warms the pine boughs, they drop their loads of snow on unsuspecting victims. After hearing a few go off and having some drop on his head, Kimo decided he did not want to venture away from the road where he could see the clearing.

New Snow

Well, the front range of Colorado got what they call dumped on, with as much as two feet of fresh snow yesterday. I could not get the old Honda out of the Goulet driveway so I had to borrow their Subaru to try and get some fresh tracks. Luckily the main roads were plowed so I could still get to the slopes. Too bad all that snow just came to mess up traffic since up in the mountains where the ski areas are there was only four or five inches. Still a blast to break in the new skis.

Making Friends

I am not sure Kimo knew what to expect when I told him he was gonna make some new friends this week. He walked in the door of my friend in Boulders home and saw Sid with his back arched and hissing. Later he met little sister Sadie, who was really curious about the slightly larger "kitty", it being the same color and all. Kimo is still not sure what to do since the cats are used to an older dog that slept with them so they are trying to rub and cuddle with him. It makes him really nervous but he loves to play chase when they run from one room to another.

Day in the Woods

Got a tip from a local in Nederland, Colorado yesterday. Seems there is a hut at the top of a hike that heads up the backside of the Eldora Ski area. Since the snow in the area is a little light and I did not want to fight the crowds before the holidays, it made a perfect adventure for the day. It is part of the Eldora Nordic Center trail system and is less than 5 miles in the trees above the resorts eastern flank. Threw on the skins, left the dog since he is not allowed on the trail and hoofed it up to a gorgeous overlook of the Colorado Front Range north into Rocky Mountain National Park. The cabin sleeps 14 in true bunkhouse fashion, but since I was only out for the day it was perfect for my lunch break. The trail is very well marked, just follow the snowshoe orange blazes till you get to the sign. A little more snow in the trees and the decent could be perfect.

Sled Dog Training

Took Kimo the wonder dog out to get in shape for his tryout as a led sled dog today. He had to break a little trail of his own since he can not always follow me. The snow around Nederland, Colorado was a little deeper that lower on the front range. He finished the day with a white beard of his own to match mine.

A Walk in the Woods

I took a nice, long walk along a frozen creek today above Boulder, Colorado with my dog. Gorgeous views and very relaxing getting away from the hustle and bustle, except for the look I kept getting from my Kimo. He would march ahead a little ways and look over his shoulder with one of those impatient little kid looks. As if he was saying "Come on you slowpoke old fool. Can't you keep up". All I could muster was a "Hey, the altitude is getting to me."

Woman Speedster

American skiing speed demon Lindsey Vonn does it again as the FIS Women got a chance to race on the Birds Of Prey race course in Beaver Creek . With the women usually racing in Val d'sere this week but there is no snow in Europe, the races got moved to Colorado and Lindsey got a chance to race on her home turf. Looks like the home course advantage helped as she won the Super-G race on Wednesday.