The Ides of March 2026 blizzard was a Goldilocks blizzard for us in the Twin Cities region: about a foot of snow, more or less. A good workout to clear, and enough to provide a nice base for skiing over formerly bare ground.

Over in the UP of Michigan they got up to 52"/132cm of snow! Yikes!

Yesterday we swung over to Willow River State Park in Wisconsin to enjoy it on our Hok (backcountry) skis. The SW trails in the park had been groomed (not the best for the Hoks) but the rest was untouched except by some hearty hikers.

We did the 6 mile loop around Little Falls Lake. Skiing was better than all of our recent Gunflint vacation except for that first day on the freshly groomed Banadad!

#Huskies #Skijoring #BackcountrySkiing #HokSkis

Today did not go as planned. Wanted to take the pups to a snopark a short drive past Greenwater, but once I got to Charlie's Cafe in Enumclaw, the road was closed . Then decided, I'll take the pups to Nolte State Park instead, so turned left. I don't think I even went a mile and yep, another closed road. Ending up finding a park in Enumclaw for the pups to play in the snow. I'm only a few miles away in Orting, but no snow which is why I went searching for these huskies.

#wawx #huskies #pnw

Quick run with the pups!

It's been warm enough long enough now that most of the snow is melted and ice gone from the pavement. I got one short run in a month ago, and nothing else since last November. Legs feel good, but cardio needs some work!

Crossing the local soccer field (football to the rest of the world), Zeena went into Bouce-and-Rar mode, as she often does there. I tried to catch it on video, but wasn't fast enough with my phone.

But what I did capture was them attempting to clothesline me with the split lead TWICE. I managed to jump-rope over the first time, but decided not to test my luck the second.

#CaniX #Huskies #BounceAndRar

Skijoring vacation is over. We have returned to the land of brown and mud. 😢

But there were burgers along the way, which makes things somewhat better! 😋

#Huskies #Burgers #DogsOfMastodon

Day #7, Last day of skijoring 😢

We started out hoping to do one last X-C ski on the groomed E end of the Banadad Trail, but the stick and twig situation was as bad as it had been at George Washington Pines the day before. We gave up after half a km.

Stopped at the cabin to pick up the Hok skis en route to the "Moose Trail" (as it's known in Gaia and other online map apps), or Forest road 1335 (according to the locals). This was a gamble because it's not groomed so could be a deep slog.

To get there, you first follow 1/2 mile of snowmobile trail. It had just been groomed that morning and we were the first on it! It's a little TOO flat for our short, wide backcountry skis, but we made quick work of this stretch...

#Huskies #Skijoring

A symbiotic relationship. Is it Mutualism, Commensalism, or Parasitism?

#Huskies

Day #6, X-C Skiing George Washington Pines

This is the most dog-friendly and popular trail in the region groomed for skiing... but it's also multi-use, so there's a LOT of foot traffic. This shot is from the beginning of the 2 mile loop. Can you find the ski tracks?

The high winds a couple days before scattered twigs and needles all over the trail too! As well as some larger branches.

#Skijoring #Huskies