March 13th Colony & Iron Mountain adventures

Spectacular views!

Aloha,
More gorgeous weather and crazy warm temperatures kept us looking for higher ground. The colony had plenty of snow and amazing views with groomed terrain and more of that slurpy snow that at times is quite difficult to manage, especially on the skinny skis. It wasn't pretty but I managed my way down. Believe it or not, going up is much easier than going down on those things. The dogs shredded down and were probably wondering what my problem was.
After hiking the Colony side of Iron Mountain we went to the official Iron Mountain trail head where one can poach the Canyons side until the homes are built and may be shut down to public access. Well worth the 45 minute hike folks and snowshoes are a good idea especially later in the day when the snow is soft. Always popular with the locals this is another terrific spot to be during the mud season until the snow really starts to melt and it becomes a mud pit for a short while. The trail is a natural bobsled run and many folks are learning about this and bringing their favorite sled to race down the mountain. We love this trail!!
Peace. Schwaby

March 12th adventure to Summit Park

Reo and Gus gettin' rowdy!

It's good to have friends...

Aloha,
The week started off warm and spring like after springing forward with the time change and more light in the evenings, Schwaby like!! Summit Park is always a great place to go when the mud season shows its dirty face and we want to enjoy more winter. The trails were nice and packed but snowshoes were nice to have and I always recommend taking them with you during this time of year. The snow is pure sugar in most of the hiking places that we go and post holing honestly sucks. We started out on the main trailhead off Parkview drive on Matterhorn next to the mail boxes and climbed the steep ascent to the old WOS site, i still miss that really cool cabin. The down hill run is a blast all the way down to Road to WOS and back down the Short Rib trail. A beautiful 2 hour loop with happy tired poochies. Life is good.
Peace. Schwaby

March 8th Daly & Bonanza flats adventures

This snow bank was twice as high last year

Aloha,
The snow gods have not been so generous this year to say the least. So the sun gods have stepped it up and yesterday was another gorgeous day to be outside. We are seeing more and more people and their dogs out lately with Mr Sun popping his head out and the temps starting to warm, it's looking like spring and everyone is coming out of the woodwork. Daly was really nice and the creek is starting to melt. One of my dogs rolled in fresh doggie doo doo....what's up with that, to this day I do not fully understand it. If any of you know the answer please fill me in. Thank god for Karens warm water outside hose!! Love ya girl! After washing the little turd off we picked up the second adventurers for a two hour jaunt up the Guard road down into Bonanza flats to do some serious running and soaking in of the sun. The openness and views in this area are stunning especially on a clear day such as this. Thanks to the snowmobiles and cats, the whole way was nicely groomed and very pleasant to hike on in just my boots, sometimes less gear is a good thing. The dogs had a blast as you can see and we all were happy campers by the end of the day.
Peace Love and Sun...M

March 6th Round Valley Robs adventures

MUDD season already??

Aloha,
Tuesday was a windy and somewhat gloomy day getting ready for our big storm that obviously did not happen, oh well, we will take the sun any day over gloom. Round valley sadly is not looking so great but still nice to hike on except for the mud. I really hope the mud season does not show up early!! Our second adventure up Robs trail was a different story with good conditions and plenty of snow to play in. Trees are the answer folks, plant one for Mother Nature this spring. We made a nice loop and had a couple very good compliments on my packs behavior and how nice and relaxed they were. Love that!! Gold stars for Roxy Zoey D-bear and Jasper with his fresh clean and beautiful coat-lookin' good buddy!!
Schwaby tip- If you as the pack leader have good and relaxed energy so will your pack. Energy, body language and tone are key elements when working and playing with your best friends.
Peace...Schwaby

March 5th Uinta mountains adventure

Aloha,
The Uinta forest is an amazing place to say the least and we had an opportunity to go monday having only one hike that day. The sun was out and the conditions were quite good for a ski up the Soap stone road with four lucky dogs and myself. The forest service grooms this road and the main road every Monday and Thursday so we hit it perfectly, well, only a couple of sled heads left their tracks, we were still stoked. Dryfus, Reo, Shadow and Gus were my four pack of crazy dogs who went absolutely nuts when we got on the trail, the Uintas usually does that. We skied about three miles up without seeing a single soul, human soul that is. Shadow was even playing with the others today, she is a shy girl but must have been feelin' the Uinta energy. Fresh clean air, groomed road, sunny sky's and fun happy dogs....life is good!
Peace. Schwaby

March 1st winter adventures

Empire pass bridge

Dumping in Pinebrook

Who is that powder hound?

Aloha,
It was an awesome start for March madness with stormy winter conditions in Empire Pass and Pinebrook!! DUMPING!! Nothing better than waking up to new snow and then being able to play in it as well. The dogs and I were jacked up and full of renewed energy after a weird winter. Let's hope that the storms pile up and there will be more powder to the people and dogs. Clipping into the skis for both hikes made for fast and fun turns down the mountain with happy happy dogs. The backcountry is still sketchy and we are still keeping it safe on the low angle hills and I advise everyone to do the same when back there. The pics are not the best due to the storminess of these fantastic days, but you get an idea how stormy it really was. The sun did pop out for a minute on our second hike in Pinebrook to take this pic of these fine lookin' doggies.
Peace. Schwaby

Feb 28th adventures

Aloha,
It's dumpin' dudes!! We have renewed energy and are looking forward to spring winter conditions!
Round Valley skiing, April Mountain skiing and a grand finally skiing down the freshy fresh pow pow in the Colony. Eight powder hounds in all and to all a fantastic day!!
Right on!! Schwaby