Snow!

The girls and I spent two days in the car getting home from the dude ranch fiasco. Imagine our delight, then, upon seeing fresh snow dusting the trees in the forest just behind the house when we arrived home!

We could smell winter. Oh boy!

The next day we went to the ski hill to find snow. At 6000' there was that same dusting I'd seen on the trees covering the ground in the open spots. No snow under the trees. As we climbed to about 6500' we found 2-4 inches of fresh snow that felt perfect under my feet - grippy, not slick, great for running.

The girls clearly liked how it felt on their toes, too. They found a large open area covered in snow and proceeded to prance, execute play bows, chase each other and roll in the snow. They enjoyed what I've come to refer to as their first snow orgasm of the season.

Anyone with a dog who likes snow knows what I'm referring to.

Northern breeds especially go nuts when encountering snow after a long break. As with humans who become childlike playing in new snow, it brings out the puppy in dogs.

I had a blast just watching the girls frolic. I laughed out loud. I didn't want to stop, or return home. It was the first time in four days I'd been able to put the mule incident out of my mind.

Photo taken during this run: The sign, on the right, says "To Bear" with an arrow showing the way (for skiers). Given our bear encounter in August, we elected to take the "Easy Way" down!