Training Log Archive: Bash

Easy ski with Dee, an experienced skate skier who just got classic skis for backcountry trails. It was her first time on ungroomed trails so we stuck to a novice loop. She did well!

Chatty ski around nearby fields and forest with our neighbour DR. 'Bent was skijoring with BazingaDog, who was tired after a weekend of playing in fluffy snow. He took his sweet time and made frequent stops to roll in the snow. (The dog, not 'Bent!) It's only a month until his 10th birthday, which is arriving way too soon. AdventureDog was more energetic but is sleeping soundly now.

'Bent and I skied a big forest loop on fluffy snow in brilliant - but very chilly - sunshine. Time deducted for a long lunch break.

'Bent and I did an easy ski with our neighbour DR, a new cross-country skier who is a triathlete and snowboard instructor in non-Covid times. It was her first time on narrow, hilly, tree-lined trails and she was cautious but picked it up well. In the final stretch, we made our own tracks through very deep, fluffy snow as the sun set. I love winter.

My final challenge of the Coast Mountain Trail Running Winter Scavenger Hunt was the Resolution Run. We're supposed to do a run or hike, then write down a resolution and complete it within 7 days. We can't claim the badge until we act on our resolution. Last night I finished cleaning and clearing unnecessary stuff from the the laundry room portion of our combined laundry/storage room, which had been neglected. I found an expensive SD camera card in the washing machine filter that neither of us is missing. It doesn't work anymore but we always download our SD cards before we launder them (!) so it's not a big deal.



The Winter Scavenger Hunt has been a blast once again, especially connecting with participants in the private Facebook community, which has been one of the friendliest, most creative, most supportive corners of the Internet over the past two months. People shared their cancer diagnoses, their 5K PBs, their GPS art of Michael Bublé and everything in between. This Challenge was extra fun because I knew more people doing it this time, including a bunch of Attackpointers. We all need some entertainment these days. I'm already looking forward to doing another Summer Scavenger Hunt!

First ski of the year at Hockleycrest! I really should go there more often. Conditions and grooming today were as perfect as they get. When I arrived, there were 6 cars in the parking lot on a Thursday afternoon - pandemic skiers, I guess. I don't think I've ever seen more than one other car on a weekday. It's a big trail network so it still felt like I had the place to myself most of the time. I ran into Dave Moule (the trail angel) going the other way a couple of times so I had a chance to thank him for all his trail maintenance work. Then I went home and sent him an Interac transfer since I don't carry cash anymore so I had nothing for the donation box - oops.

Ski around Palgrave West plus a loop around the south end of Palgrave East. I followed 'Bent's tracks part of the time, broke trail part of the time and dodged snowshoe tracks the rest of the time. It was a glorious winter day!

Snow Day! About 20 cm.



BazingaDog, AdventureDog and I went snowshoeing around Palgrave West as the snow came down. Lovely!



What wasn't lovely was seeing so many areas where huge ash trees have come down or look like they might come down at any time. When a breeze came up, I veered out of the deciduous forest into some healthier looking conifers. Some of the nicest places we used to wander are really not safe anymore. As a corollary, the Palgrave West orienteering map will need some updates after the rest of the trees come down.

'Bent, our neighbour and I went for a chatty Sunday morning snowshoe with four dogs. Breaking trail was hard work but we found tracks to follow for a while. The most notable thing about this outing was that I recorded 5.99 km, which I normally wouldn't allow to happen. I clearly wasn't paying attention! #numericalOCD

To celebrate all the new snow, 'Bent and I spent a few hours skiing through the woods in the sunshine. Pretty much perfect. :)

The Winter Scavenger Hunt includes a Dream Team badge where we have to come up with our own idea for a challenge. CMTR is going to borrow one or two of them for the next Summer Scavenger Hunt.

If I had been smart, I would have done this badge early. For weeks, I've watched as people have filled the Facebook group with terrific ideas until it became difficult to think of any ideas that might be left!

My Dream Team challenge is Puzzle Designer. If you're on AP, you might recognize this one.



Design an outdoor puzzle or challenge that will make someone else think while they're out for their run or walk. You might even inspire someone to exercise who doesn't usually go out.

I set up a snowshoe navigation course for our neighbour's young son who wants to learn how to orienteer.



'Bent, BazingaDog and AdventureDog joined me. We went out at dusk and finished by headlamp on a chilly night, mostly breaking trail in deep snow. The dogs will sleep well.







Additional text from my post in the CMTR Facebook group:

There are many ways to design a puzzle in your neighbourhood. You could send friends on a running route where they have to find answers to questions like, "What's the number on the hydro pole on the corner of Main St. and Maple St.?" "What year is on the plaque on the park bench?"

You could assign tasks along the way: "Do at least 10 swings on the park swingset." You could send them a sheet of numbered photos and ask them to mark the numbers on a street map in the places where they see those views on their run.

If you want to share more widely, design a challenge independent of physical location like an "every letter of the alphabet" run. That's a run where you need to spot items starting with every letter - in sequence, if you want to make it more challenging.

The CMTR Winter Scavenger Hunt includes a 5K Time Trial badge. There are people in the challenge who know their 5K PB - unlike me - and there are people who only ever walk. So it's definitely not a competition but like all these challenges, it's in the right spirit to make a special effort.

Running from our house means trails or gravel roads, both of which are hilly and icy with uneven footing. So I drove to the far side of our block to the Caledon Trailway, which is flat and icy with uneven footing.



The fastest place to run would have been a treadmill but I'm so close to the end of the Scavenger Hunt that I'd like to finish it 100% outdoors. Also, given that I haven't been running, there's no point worrying about speed. I did several out-and-backs to avoid bumping into people. My spikes were good enough to stay vertical but I couldn't push off too hard. Hence the level 3 intensity and the 32:35 time, which is definitely not a PB. But this is a Winter challenge so that's OK.

Foothab

Foothab

Too much (digital) paperwork this week! :(

I took a break to watch today’s inauguration and the incredible performance of the young poet, Amanda Gorman. Physical feelings of tension melted away, at least temporarily. It’s cathartic to see a woman of colour step into such a powerful role after 4 years of a president who was both misogynist and racist. I wore pearls today! It will be a difficult road ahead but it was nice to have a good news day for a change.

Heel drops + new slant board

2020 Year End Review, Part 1

I haven't felt like reviewing 2020 because it didn't feel like a real year of my life, let alone a year of real training, but I'll do it for record keeping purposes.

I got off to a big start by registering for 4 trail running races in 4 countries with 4 flights booked and one expensive, non-refundable hotel stay in Wales. Hahaha. I also registered for two adventure races closer to home. When they were all cancelled, I deferred everything that I could since I didn't want to take money back from race directors. I'm not sure whether I'll end up doing most of those events.

The racing season got off to a great start. Denise and I had what was probably our best-ever finish at the DGL Snowshoe Raid - 1st of 32 female teams and 5th of 80 teams overall. Browner and I won our category at the Stars Winter Adventure Race, and 'Bent and I won the Veteran category at the CNYO Snowgaine (with a big asterisk because our fellow Veterans, Bob Miller and Scott Ford, were awarded the overall medal instead of the category prize).

Injury-wise, it wasn't a great year. In early January, the back of my right heel started getting stiff and painful sometimes after running. A niggling pain is almost always there now when I push off on my foot. My guess is that it's insertional Achilles tendinopathy with bursitis. My AP log just reminded me that my heel also got banged hard while moving furniture in late January, which I'd forgotten. That aggravated the injury but I assume the setback was temporary.

I likely would have sought medical help and diagnostic imaging around the time that everything shut down. Given that the health care system was still catching up on more serious procedures after the spring, I didn't pursue it during the short window between the two pandemic waves when I would have felt comfortable going to multiple medical appointments. I tried some chiropractic treatments, which didn't improve it.

As a result, I sometimes took long breaks from running, and I did very few of my beloved long runs. I suspect they may be gone for good but I haven't given up hope entirely.
_________________________________

2020 Training Hours by Activity + Report Card
(2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 totals in brackets)
**Boring to read unless you are Future Me.**

Total Annual Training Hours = 372 hrs, 2193 km, 36,774 m climb
(387.5, 333, 468.5, 495, 494.5, 470, 557*, 505*, 612*)

*2011-2013 training totals were inflated by overnight/expedition ARs.

I logged about the same number of training sessions as usual in 2020 but they were shorter on average. That actually surprises me since I felt like a sack of potatoes much of the time. 'Bent and I often log training hours during active vacations but that didn't really happen this year. I'd envisioned lots of free time and energy when everything was cancelled but it turned out to be a busy year between dental office admin work (lots of Covid emergency grant applications), being an executor of Mom’s estate, and home reno work.

Top Five Activities - 2020

1) Trekking - 84 hrs
Top of the list because my foot was often too sore to run.
(27, 17, 47.5, 10.5, 64.5, 38.5, 19, 17.5, 16)

2) Mountain Biking + Road Biking - 65.5 hrs
Also increased because I had to cut back on my running. I like mountain biking so this was just fine! I gave away my road bike, Princess, so there won't be any more road biking. I'll still probably call my trainer time "road biking" though.
(21.5, 45, 53, 33.5, 37.5, 34.5, 60, 77.5, 89)

3) Running + Snowshoe Running - 59 hrs
In 2019, my average time per run was just over 2 hours thanks to two ultras. In 2020, it was about 50 minutes.
(193.5, 145, 222.5, 250.5, 188.5, 204.5, 153, 190, 138.5)

4) XC Skiing (Classic, Skate) - 50 hrs
Best year in a long time and it would have been even better if the XC ski places hadn't been forced to shut down in mid-March when they still had great snow.
(45.5, 26, 20, 30, 60, 38, 45.5, 55, 28)

5) Strength + Yoga - 33.5 hrs
We have lots of home fitness equipment and I did some Zoom fitness classes during the first shutdown. I could/should do a lot more of this. Nothing could be more convenient during a Stay-At-Home order!
(21, 30.5, 59.5, 82, 65, 65.5, 52, 36, 30)
_____________________________________________

Former Top 5 Activities that missed the 2020 list:

Paddling - 30 hrs
This included our canoe trip in Killarney (paddling + portaging) with Timato, K-Way, Mick, Laura and all the kids. I bought SUPs this year so we have multiple ways to paddle.
(33, 30, 32.5, 17.5, 22.5, 14, 48, 31, 74)

Orienteering + Snowshoe Orienteering - 30 hrs
The majority of this was snowshoe orienteering in the first two months of the year, thanks to the Snowgaine, DGL Snowshoe Raid and Stars W.A.R. We live a good distance away from most orienteering events so we've only done one event since the March shutdown.
(17, 23, 18.5, 36.5, 13, 57.5, 55, 66.5, 73.5)

Adventure Racing - 0 hrs
Thanks to Covid-19, there was no summer AR scene in Ontario. :(
(14.5, 8, 8, 18.5, 30, 0, 112, 26, 163)

Starting a programme of eccentric heel drops to see if it helps my heel pain.

AdventureDog and I went bushwhacking around Palgrave West in ankle deep snow - a mix of neighbours' lands and conservation land. Even in my 23rd winter at this house, I can still find corners of the forest that I don't know.

The deer had been digging up the snow, and there were tracks and pellets everywhere. We haven't had new snow for a while.





The porcupines have been busy too, unfortunately.





The bushwhacking was slow in a lot of places. A lot of trees have come down since the orienteering map was made, partly due to the emerald ash borer. This is one of our trails!



A-Dog and I wandered but we did have a mission. A neighbour stumbled upon the remains of a poached, butchered deer last week in a place that was hard to describe. We didn't find it this time but it was disturbing to know that hunters have been killing animals out of season on land where it's prohibited, and they'd probably never expect that other people travel off-trail through that area. I hope their freezer is full now.

Not surprisingly, a couple of the CMTR Winter Scavenger Hunt challenges are actual scavenger hunts. I thought I'd done all the Christmas-oriented badges in December but when I looked at the Trail Scavenger Hunt list, I realized that I would get 35 points by wearing a Santa hat and Christmas bells. Although I was certain that I would reach the maximum 100 points within the first few minutes, I'm competitive enough that I put on my Christmas wear and slunk nervously out the door.



I'd left a trip plan with 'Bent (8 pts) and carried the Ten Essentials (10 pts) so I was ready for anything. 'Bent rarely worries but when I stayed out longer than expected, he phoned to make sure I was OK. Awww. :)

I brought a "happy dog" along, which got me an easy 10 points. Also, there was snow, which was worth another 10 points. It was soft, mashed potato snow so the trails were slow and I did some bushwhacking too.



From this bench (3 pts), I could see cows (4 pts).



We got 2 pts for each trailhead sign. I know Palgrave Forest so well that I usually rush by them. For the first time today, I noticed that I could text a number to give a $20 donation to the TRCA, which seemed to fit the spirit of the challenge, so I did.



At first, I hoped to avoid people but that didn't work so I flashed an embarrassed smile and told them I was doing a scavenger hunt. And since I was speaking to people anyway, I claimed the 10 pts for saying, "Hello, how are you today?" to an unsuspecting couple.

I wrote my initials in white snow (5 pts) and had every intention of making an attempt at writing my initials in yellow snow (15 pts) in some quiet corner of the woods. I forgot though, which may be all for the best.



I didn't get a photo of Sarah "Crash" Caylor during our catch-up chat but I did claim 3 pts for seeing a mountain biker. As a runner-up in the Tour Divide, Sarah ought to be counted as ten regular mountain bikers!

Luckily, there were still random, decorated Christmas trees in the woods (15 pts).



"Elf" was on the list but even though I found elf houses everywhere, it looked like they'd all returned to the North Pole.



Before they built this huge bridge (3 pts), we used to just step over the creek. In spring, it was a short jump. I used to design bridges and this one always makes me laugh because it's ridiculously over-designed!



There was also a natural bridge (10 pts), which I crossed just for kicks.



There was one item on the list that guaranteed every competitor the maximum 100 points if they wanted it: "Hug a Tree - 3 pts per hug". I didn't need the points since I finished with 238 but as someone whose team name has been "Tree Huggers" for the past 20 years, I'm feeling some regret. The next time I go out, I will definitely give out some hugs.

Time to get back to the CMTR Winter Scavenger Hunt, which has 2 weeks left. I saved some challenges for January so I'd have the extra motivation.

I'd purposely delayed the Food Bank Run, thinking that Caledon's Exchange would be flooded with Christmas donations but might have special needs in January. However, it turns out they aren't accepting food from the public anymore for pandemic reasons, so I made a donation online and went for a run in Palgrave West’s soft snow in the spirit of today's Stay At Home order.



AdventureDog came with me. Poor BazingaDog was quite indignant, especially since A-Dog gets really noisy when he's feeling excited before a walk. We call him Barky McBarkFace.



I haven't been running lately so I'll see how cranky my right heel gets about this. It was a bit sore before I went out, which is its normal state. Early results: it doesn't feel any worse.

CBC Radio interviewed a Peel Regional Police officer about Ontario's new Stay At Home Order, which began today. People were invited to phone in with questions. Apparently, 911 lines have been flooded with inquiries!

Some things the officer said:

- Police won't be stopping people to ask where they're going. If you are stopped for another reason like a RIDE check, they can ask where you're going but you aren't required to answer.
- A caller asked if he could continue meeting 4 friends around a campfire to sing. The officer said he could definitely do that but suggested extra precautions like a mask because singing is higher risk than talking.
- No hockey games with more than 5 people.
- Another caller expressed confusion about the requirement to stay home except for essential trips, given that many kinds of businesses are permitted to sell things curbside. Although the Regulation doesn't say this, the officer said that a trip to a shoe store, for example, would depend on the situation. If you had no shoes, then it's an essential trip. If you already have 3 pairs of shoes at home, it's not essential.

I immediately thought of people like Baloney and myself. How can he say that 3 pairs of running shoes are enough?!?!

Here are the detailed regulations in case anyone hasn’t seen them. Amongst other things, it's legal to travel to a cottage for less than 24 hours or longer than 2 weeks.
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r21011

Before the Stay-At-Home Order starts tomorrow, I needed to do a couple of curbside pickups and drive up to Tree Hugger ABC to deliver special order materials for the contractors, who are allowed to keep working. Because they would rather spread out across different projects to avoid spending as much time together, they're starting some work that was going to happen in February. That meant I needed to do some advance prep like covering and moving furniture, emptying drawers, taking art off walls, etc. I also brought home a bunch of food since we don't know when we'll be going back, given the current situation.



As a treat on a long, boring day, I went out for a snowshoeing/bushwhacking/trespassing tour that started out more hard core than I'd planned. I scrambled over snow-covered felled trees, slipped down and caught my snowshoes between their branches, and did a classic "walk in a circle by mistake" route in a dense wetland. Then I headed over to more pleasant terrain and enjoyed the peace.

2020: The Musical (a month old but somehow I missed it before)
https://fb.watch/2_c-4Cn7mb/

Easy ski with 'Bent on the Bruce Trail, Kolapore Church Trail, Northwest Passage and some hilly fields. The last part was the best since there hasn't been much fresh snow lately so the other trails are slick and hard as rock.

Then we packed up as if we might not be at the chalet for a few months. We're waiting to hear Tuesday's announcement of a stricter lockdown.

'Bent and I went to Highlands for an early ski before the bigger crowds arrived. He did a loop of skate and a loop of classic. I stuck to classic, using my narrow Fischer crowns. Although they were good at handling the slick trails at lower elevations, they felt slow. I wonder if they've lost camber. I'd tested different types of skin skis last winter and had planned to buy a pair this year before Covid transformed cross-country skis into the new toilet paper. For now, I'll have to live with the crowns on days I don't feel like waxing.

It was a gorgeous, sunny, crisp day, and the snow on the Back Red trail was perfect. Tarno and Almageddon passed me early on. I finished by doing my first ski on the dog-friendly Teal's Tango trail. I ran into Tarno there and we chatted as we did the loop.

Family hike, snow angels, dog walking and marshmallow roasting with the Ford family - keeping lots of distance because of the nasty Covid situation in Ontario. We were impressed that 4-year-old Ivy was totally cool going a fair distance with a little help. Nobody asked to go back or complained about being cold until all of us actually became cold. We need some guest chairs or cushions for around the fire pit.

Easy snowshoe with our Kolapore neighbours and 5 dogs - a mix of fields and bushwhacking. Unfortunately, young Sam injured himself - something in his hip when he fell. He's usually tough as nails so we headed back with his Mom carrying him on her back. By the end, he was walking again but still hurting - poor kid.

It was a brilliant, sunshiney day with views for miles. Darcie gave us a fresh-baked challah for dinner. Yum! We'd planned a night ski at Highlands until we learned that having a stone fireplace built means that you get stone dust everywhere from your couch cushions to your coffee maker. So we vacuumed, dusted, washed, wiped and then did it all again. Then we sat and watched the fire.



'Bent is the Pied Piper of Dogs.

Instead of skiing and grocery shopping this afternoon, I watched in horror as a mob of domestic terrorists, incited by the U.S. president, broke into and vandalized the U.S. Capitol, and forced elected representatives into hiding during a Senate session. Sadly, no one should be surprised. Shame on everyone who thought there was no harm in supporting a pathological liar with no moral compass to lead their country. This is on them. And big hugs to most of my American friends who voted with the majority in both elections and saw the heart of their democracy attacked yesterday. May the way forward be peaceful.

For the CMTR Winter Scavenger Hunt Relay Run, several of us on AP planned a 7-hour streak of orienteers from across North America. The virtual baton (a rolled-up map) was passed from Pennsylvania to Maryland to 3 runners in Ontario, then to Colorado and back to Ontario. We ran, hiked, snowshoed, bushwhacked, ran city streets and navigated with maps and compasses.

Jill and I were the only ones who met in person. We passed a Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch because the CMTR Relay challenge deserves the very best!

JanetT led off the relay at 12 noon EST with a 6.8 km hike in Pennsylvania. (The first photo is from another day.)









PeggyD was up next in Maryland: "I printed out an o map hubby made last year; I hadn’t run in the woods here. I didn’t have enough time to run the 7k course so I did a score-o. The woods are on the edge of a huge soccer complex (mapped!). The woods are mostly open but with a lot of thorny things. There are several former farm fields, overgrown and thorny. But there were a few areas of beautiful woods that were so fun to run through!

I found 9 control sites, running out of time to get more. I would have been overtime in a real event, but I just stopped, took my pics, and walked it in.
Legs are a little ripped up from the thorns! About 40° but gray, humid, and maybe even a few sprinkles.

SO much more fun than just going on a trail run (or heaven forbid a road run)! Go AP relay team!"







Peggy wins the prize for the Run Closest to 1 Hour.



My local friend Jill, who has done several Dontgetlost Raids, was next. She ran in Palgrave Forest, my back yard.



Our race swag arrived in the mail this week!



Jill's twin sister is Caron, our longtime yoga/core instructor, and they live next door to each other. Caron's husband, Barrie, has been an Olympic triathlon coach, including for gold medalist Simon Whitfield. He was invited to run in the Olympic Torch Relay for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics so there just happened to be a perfect relay baton lying around their place.





The torch exchange video took us 6 takes, lol!



I took my snowshoes into Palgrave Forest and did some fairly gnarly bushwhacking with a map. I followed deer tracks across a wetland I've never crossed before and I didn't get soaked. It was all very wintry and lovely - a nice way to explore a forest I know well.





I got to wear all my Olympic paraphernalia for the torch exchange!



Who can you count on in a pinch? Super, that's who! A man who understands the importance of a streak, Super jumped into the 4 pm relay slot on short notice, allowing us to extend our Orienteer Streak. I hope he had a surprisingly beautiful walk in Burlington.

To quote his AP log: "CMTR streak making with the dog. This worked out pretty well in the end since I wasn’t really up to much and the day was about to become a zero from the exercise standpoint. At the very least this got me moving without aggravating my neck and, at its best, it was heroic, selfless streak preserving at its finest. I’m just glad I was here to actually save the world and all the life in it as well as to keep my exploits and their impact within a reasonable perspective."



He didn't exactly use an O map.



He hiked with a family member.



He gets the Sticking To the Schedule Award after starting at 3:58 pm and finishing exactly at 5 pm.



Kissy picked up the baton next in her new home of Fort Collins, Colorado. She originally planned to run but the wind was howling so she settled on a hike.





Kelly Cadeau of Toronto switched her run with her strength training today so she could extend our streak to 7 hours. She did a great job as our anchor runner - probably the fastest of our team today.

Moved this note down to feature the Relay!

If anyone in the CMTR Winter Scavenger Hunt is available to run/hike/snowshoe/ski in your own area from 4-5 pm EST today, we have an empty place on our Relay roster, which we've planned as a "streak" of navigators, currently from 12 noon to 6 pm EST although we'd be happy to go longer. (Yes, you *are* an orienteer, Super.) If you've already done the Relay challenge, please consider taking part to keep the streak alive a little longer.

We will carry an O map for the photo (likely a selfie for most people) but navigating is optional. Some people will use a rolled-up O map with the map on the outside as their relay baton. Of course, most people will be doing a virtual baton pass. The 4-5 pm runner will "receive" my baton pass and will pass it to Kissy in Colorado after 1 hour. I'll be collecting photos of everyone by email for a relay team post this evening.

I took BazingaDog and AdventureDog for a late afternoon snowshoe in Palgrave West on a beautiful, wintry day. We mostly bushwhacked, which was challenging, given that B-Dog needs to stay on leash. We were constantly negotiating our way between saplings without getting tangled.

I tend to wander aimlessly when I snowshoe on our block of land since I know it so well and want it to be a little different each time. I ended up crossing a big section that burned in the forest fire a decade ago. There were lots of logs hidden under the snow and some scratchy weeds above the snow. B-Dog didn't pull me over or cause me to trip on a log, which definitely would have happened when he was younger. In spite of the deer poop he rolled in, I sensed a little gratitude. :)

** 2020 Year End Review was posted on Jan. 18.

Storm, Browner, Scout and Contour came to visit so we snowshoed over to the Metcalfe Rock area on the Bruce Trail. On the way back, we detoured off-trail and tired the dogs out in the deep snow.







We went up the ladder on the Bruce side trail this time. Two of the four dogs had no problem. AdventureDog is a rock star on ladders and stiles!















Afterward, some members of our group were placed in Dog Jail on the deck while the rest of us enjoyed beer and snacks around the fire.

Mrs. Gally planned a group night hike up the Switchback Trail and a run down Alpine in honour of Dee's birthday. Mr. Gally and Emma were waiting at the top with a surprise of pizza, cake and champagne. There may also have been a group attempt at a dance Nicole found on Instagram. I spent a couple of days trying to learn it!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CI8-NbRjyT6/?igshid...

The Millers planned their workouts around a visit today. Hermes ran 10 km on Grey Rd. 19 to our place. (She had to run a few hundred meters past our driveway to get in the full distance.) Bob drove over with Hank and Heath.





BazingaDog gave Hank a toboggan ride.



We chatted on the deck while Hank had his snack. BazingaDog was extremely interested.



AdventureDog decided to be a lap dog.



Bob had planned a scouting expedition to see whether it was possible to ski between our houses. 'Bent and I headed out with him.





Conditions were crusty and somewhat treacherous so I wore my waxless "pig" skis, which give the best control. I knew I probably wouldn't be able to keep up with the boys if I used them, and that's how it worked out. They waited at trail junctions but I was worried that I might prevent the group from finishing in daylight. So after 40 minutes, I turned off to loop back to our place. I skied up Northwest Passage to the Bruce Trail and came back on the snowshoe tracks just for a change.





The Winter Scavenger Hunt calls for 45-minute runs/hikes on New Year's Eve and Day. I'm counting my two skis!

Out with the dogs. BazingaDog slipped his head out of his collar but waited for me to fix it - phew!