Chase

Enjoying some well-earned 'end of run' treats with my happy sled dogs!

"We sure earned them today!" says the happy & focused trio.

We went to the trails in Swan Valley this morning to run amongst the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures. My pals love encountering the teams on the trails and playing chase, flirt and/or pass with the teams. Today was basically a "chase day" as we kept coming upon teams from behind but then would miss the chance to flirt or pass before they turned off on different trails. Oh well, it was a very fun chase day!

Here we come upon a team rounding a right corner in the trail in front of us. We were closing in on them but they turned off this trail and went a different direction than us just around the corner.

"We see you! Here we come!" says the sprinting trio.
You can see the musher as the black blob in the middle of the trail in
front of us. You can barely make out a few "sled dog blobs" too.

Further along and we were again gaining on a team on the trail in front of us. Once again, though, this team turned off the trail and went another direction before we actually caught them.

Look in front of us and you again can see the black blob which is the musher.
You can also see 3 smaller black blobs which are pairs of sled dogs
pulling the sled (the teams have 8 dogs but the two leaders are already
around the bend in the trail in this shot)

On we go again and another team appears that we are gaining on once again!

"Wait for us - here we come!" says my sprinting trio.
But, alas, no luck as this team also turned off our trail and went a different direction
before we could catch and/or pass them.

Finally, once again with today's theme of "chase and almost catch". Here's another team just in front of us as you can see the musher in bright blue and the 8 sled dogs in front of her.

"Here we come again - wheeee!" says my excited partners.

Today's video highlight goes along with the team in the prior photo. Come along as we spot this team in front of us and begin a game of "sled dog chase". But, this musher is clearly "riding the brake" as we are gaining much too fast on them. I know there is a fork in this trail ahead but we are gaining too fast to not catch them before the fork. So, I slow us down for about 10 seconds to give them a head start and then release my pals again. Off we go, gaining again, as Zorro decides to change lanes and take the left side of the team. Then, just as I planned, as we are getting real close to the team, we get to the fork in the trail and I take us right while the team continues forward. What a fun game of chase!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

A fun day of "sled dog chase" this morning: 6.5 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 78 days on the trails covering 535.4 miles with 50,100 feet of elevation climbed.