Sticky snow

Yesterday we awoke to more fresh snow than anticipated. I expected a dusting; we got four to six inches. Yahoo! Wet, heavy snow, but still - fresh white stuff to cover all the melting dirty old stuff.

This was the sort of snow I know will form snowballs between the girls' toes, and stick to the bottoms of my YakTrax. Only 33F.

But it was too enticing to ignore. I wanted to take the girls for a romp in the forest above the house. Who knows how many more mornings of fresh snow we'll get this season?

I sprayed both girls' feet with Pam. Often I don't bother with Maia's feet, as they rarely get snowballs. This time I really sprayed a lot on and worked it in deep between their toes on all four feet, both dogs.

Good thing. The snow was incredibly sticky. And deep. The snowmobile road hadn't been groomed in some time.

What I failed to spray, though, was the backs of their legs just above their feet! These photos illustrate how the snow balled on the fur of their lower legs (Maia in top photo, Meadow in middle photo). In Meadow's case, the clumps and balls were so big and heavy that they started to bother her and she'd try to chew them off. Their feet, though, remained clear of balls (illustrated by Meadow's foot, lower photo).

They were both having a blast, chasing each other in the deep fresh snow. I, however, had a hard time keeping up. I felt like I was running up a steep sand dune, in ankle deep sand!