Spring weather snow romps

With our ongoing pattern of cool nights, we're still skiing here in spring weather. Conditions remain surprisingly good both on packed trails and out in the woods.

On Saturday morning we awoke to fog.
We heard a few rumbles of thunder last night.
It did rain some too.

Nice to still get to run on the Boundary Road Trails,
without any mud in sight!

Bridges are losing their snow coverage.

Puppies are not that brave!

Pilgrim River is up!
We were surprised to see the big rock almost under.

This section of southern exposed trail is snow free.
Snow was good most everywhere else.

Puppies have to be alert for any sort of wild game.

From the single track, we then went up the cut-across trail.

Let's head back!

Trail head picnic table will be snow free soon.
We're so glad we can still ski!

Easter adventures in Ely part II

 We had the best Easter adventures, with lots of romps out in the snow.

We didn't know why, but the 2-leggeds said
we needed to get out and do some running.
Something about too much noisy
tussling in the house.
So we headed to our favorite close-to-town yet
in the woods trail, which goes around Bass and Dry Lake.

Ya, this is shelf rock country.

We had to practice jumping up on things here.

Today we went around Dry Lake, rather than
the longer romp around Bass Lake.

Dolly was glad there were bridges over the scary creeks.

At this very same location 4 years ago,
a certain puppy WOULD NOT get near this creek.
Puppies are always sure they will fall in and
get washed away in the torrent. Even if the stream is a trickle!
This stream connects Dry Lake to Bass Lake and has a
pretty little (scary?) water fall.

Kinda hard to believe we did an overnight back
pack trip here at this same time of year,
4 years ago. But we don't mind a late spring.

Last year some of the trail was re-routed. The crew
also build this bench from a fallen tree.

The 2-track from the trail head to the lake is open
for snowmobiles, and it's a fairly popular
ice fishing spot.

Now on an island at Semer's Park in Ely.

Never fear! We still had plenty
of energy left over for tussling.

Later, the holiday Potica was assembled.
Dad is the pro roller, but he lets Sandy help a bit.

MMMM walnut and honey filling.

Then the rolling.

Just like the pros! Dolly approved.

Easter adventures in Ely!

 On Good Friday, April 15th, we packed up the dog truck to head over and up to Ely for some Easter adventures.

We even brought and used the skis!

It snowed a few inches overnight!
Dolly, you better stay close. The truck is being packed.
You don't want to get left behind!

The roads were snowy in Houghton County.
As soon as we crossed into Ontonagon County, they
were just wet.

After a lunch stop in Ashland, the
next stop was After Hours Trails in Brule!

This is such a nice chalet.

Snow was on the shallow side here,
although other areas were much better.

Now in Ely!

Dolly demanded attention from Grampa
as Wally kept an eye out for squirrels and deer.

We had to show off our tussling tactics.

Everyone went in the basement so the
pressure was on the puppy to follow. Dolly
says, "This is so, so scary."

Doesn't seem to bother Wally none. 
Guess I should be able to go....
Maybe I can leave my rear paws at the top?

Later, we went to Hidden Valley for a romp.
Good thing me and Wally can't read!

We romped on the new bike trail.

We are practicing out "jump" skills here.

Kinda scary for puppies but it's old hat for
older, experienced trail mutts.

There were some thin spots but overall not
bad for snow depth. Although, it was
on the warm and sticky side.

A particularly shallow spot.
And check out the snow stuck to the bottom of her ski.

This is such a nice trail system.
Shame it's not dog friendly.

After that romp, it's nap time.
Next up - more Easter fun, including
Potica making and hiking around Dry Lake.

Excellent spring ski adventures!

 This has been one of the better springs for getting out to ski in the past few years. This post features recent romps at Boundary Road Trails and other locations.  Starring spring skiing and birds!

Do you know how scary this is for a puppy?
Dolly creeps across the first few feet of the
bridge, then sprints the rest of the way....she could
fall off and into the raging torrent below, ya know!

Getting to look like spring. Recent ice storms
really stripped off the pine boughs and needles.

Corn snow made for surprisingly good skiing.
This was in Churning Rapids.

On the way to the trail, we stopped by
to checkout the CG cutter, Hollyhock.
She was tied up at Lilly Pond.

Oh! We even got to meet a friendly crew member.

Earlier this week, we realized we'd not yet skied 
through the cemetery in Hancock. As you can see,
they've plowed the road ahead of the melt, so we
hoofed it up to the top.

Plenty of snow up here!

The 2-leggeds used klister-like wax on their old rock
skis. Worked great!

While skiing around Mud Lake, we were
serenaded by the Sand Hill Cranes which
nest here each year. Sure sound of spring!

Whee! Oh wait, glide was pretty slow today.

Finally we spied them....surprisingly, there were three
Sand Hill Cranes. Mom, Dad, and yearling??