It took every ounce of focus to get the van loaded in time last Friday. I was passed out by 7:00pm the day before and that meant the roof carrier would be quite the ordeal. It was. Somewhere in the midst of my bumbling wine preps I had not even come close to securing it properly. So basically when I woke up Friday it was back to square one. Complicating things was the fact that my brother was riding with us. But in the end I had a perfectly packed van with just enough space for three people and 3.5 dogs. We eventually hit the road around 4:00pm for a 120 mile drive.

The drive west on HWY 14 was as boring and predictable as always. Being stuck behind a two car flock of Georgians made for one helluva slow drive for 20-something miles. I get it that the views are nice and the canyon is awe inspiring, but I've seen it more than some Seinfeld episodes. Let me go by! Passing the turn for North Michigan Reservoir and State Forest State Park, we started watching for a left on County Road 27 with a sign indicating the "town" of Rand. My concentration on the Suburban trying to keep up with me let the little green sign flash by, further obscured by a large white steel frame building. I made the next right like that's where I meant to go, and turned around to regain our route to Willow Creek Pass. The view of our goal was perfect...


Cutting across the North Platte River Valley on CR 27 saved us somewhere between 25-35 miles. I have not and nor do I care to check the actual mileage savings, it at least saved time. The road meanders around Owl Mountain and the State Wildlife Area and drops you on CO 125 at Rand. The speed limit through the south end of the valley is 65 MPH and before we knew it we were cresting Willow Creek Pass. Once on the south side of the pass we began a new watch for a right (west) turn off the highway on a forest road to find our camping spot. My limited research didn't show which road it is, but it's easy enough to find. Within yards of mile marker 21, it's west off of the bend and labeled with a flexible plastic post "2661"...




So... I still haven't gotten to the post on Jenn's birthday weekend, but it taught me an important lesson about my dogs, off leash and in the trees. On this trip I had them leashed (to their harnesses) and ready to hitch up right upon arrival at the campsite. Another lesson I learned form this camp is to have the long lines more readily available than the guns. We arrived and began the unloading process, during which time Coco and Ridik became fixated on chipmunks in the trees. They took off about 20 yards away and I figured they would remain there trying to find the critter in the burrow. Since Sioux stayed and looked to us for direction while the other two took off, he got a JACKPOT reward. During this bit of reinforcement the other two managed to get out of sight and out of sound distance. F**K. They were literally gone. I grabbed protection and took off through the forest in a straight line from where I last saw them. Knowing full well that the chances of them going that way were the same as how many angles they could have taken off in (1 in 360). Growing up in dense forest came in handy here. I would run flat out for a minute or two, stop and hold my breath so I could hear and then take off in the last direction of sound. I heard them a couple of times in the trees with their heavy sprint breathing, but never saw them. At least they were wearing collars, harnesses and attached leashes. As I kept plowing through the woods, the sound of Lindsay and my brother faded quickly. The trees absorb almost every sound out of 30 yards. Even at full scream, they couldn't hear me and I could not hear them. I ran my ass over a mile and a half in less than ten minutes and had reached a rock ridge around 1,000' above the campsite. From there I could see my brother wandering around and I could hear the van horn being honked repeatedly. To me that meant the dogs were found and secured. I yelled, cupped my hands and yelled, and strained my vocal cords yelling some more to convey my understanding. All to no avail, the van was still honking. So I fired off a shot from the pistol. Then the honking stopped. Go figure. Back at camp I saw the idiots tied up and we finished setting up. Secretly I wanted to find them myself so I could beat them where no one could possibly hear it through the trees. Ugh.

On Saturday morning, we got up at 5:00am and leisurely got ready. I went down to the highway to make sure my signal was still there for whomever might arrive. It was there that it really hit me how late in the day it was. The entire mountain was lit up in Colorado July sun...


The coffee was taking as long as it takes to boil water at 9,450 feet. Which is close to forever. Soon it was determined that no one else was showing up for the hike and we hit trail (forest road) at 7:01 am...








There isn't really much to say about hiking up forestry roads, except it's boring and this area can get a person mixed up real quick if not paying attention. There are side roads all over the place, and a couple of them are labeled. After a couple of miles the trees begin to thin just a bit and the view opens up...




The switchbacks just kept coming. With the sun beating down and the trees blocking any visuals, there was little chance of trying to shorten the path. We just kept plugging along...


We followed the road to a high point and flat campsite just south of Parkview's east bowl. From there it turns into a talus 4WD road and heads directly west getting steeper as you approach the base of the main ascent. When we were there there were two nice snowfields for the dogs to immerse themselves in...






It. Was. Hot. Even at 11,000+ feet it was sweat breaking temperatures at rest. My best guess was 70-ish degrees at that elevation. Knowing that we were on a different ridge than any I had read about only added to the pressure...


It turns out we were on the east ridge. Not the northeast nor the southeast, but east. The only reassurance I had was the "Continental Divide Trail" signage, and the multiple cairns marking the path south up to the ridge. Once above treeline, doggies went sans leash.




At one of the last grouping of trees shrubs, we took a final break before committing to the obviously rugged loose scree laden approach...


The cairn line heads up to the visual horizon and just to the right of the shrubs up there...




As the crow flies, the summit structure was at most .75 miles away. But that line was not an option...


This hike Sioux was trying his hardest to prove he could lead, and lead he did. Every time any of us were off trail he was just ahead at the next cairn waiting for the rest of us to catch up...






It was a tough slog up the loose dirt trail...






Finally treeline and open views...


Shrunken panorama from just above treeline...


Finally we reached the false summit at about 12,100'. This is where the rest of the group rested while Ridik and I headed for the true summit just a couple of hundred vertical away...


Our campsite was just to the left of that paved curve down there...


Ugh, almost there...


Summit!!! 12,296'. #7 for me and the Husky, and 28,021 feet vertical so far this season...


The northwest ridge looked much more pleasant than the way we came up...


Back at Lindsay, Matt and the other dogs...






The building on top is a fire lookout from 1916 built by the Forest Service. Currently, by my observations, it's a beehive. So I lasted about 90 seconds on the summit and then headed right the f*** back down to the others...


Panorama towards Walden, Co...


Off lead Husky...


Lunch break...




The trail back down was fairly steep. Just down...






Longs and company...


Malamutes were done. Luckily we used the two snow patches and this stream to cool them off. We were able to somewhat cruise down the road from there...




Instead of following the myriad of switchbacks back to the campsite, I opted for a more direct approach. Straight down through the trees...










The road crossing over and over again was a sure sign that we were on the right path...


Then it was on for the final jog back to camp...






Then we rested, did some target practice with the guns and commenced drink on. Not very long afterward I passed out, then Matt passed out and we slept for nearly 12 hours. The next morning Coco was still out of it...


All of our junk ready to be crammed back in the van...


Clark Peak beckons on the drive back. Looks dry and ready to be hiked...


Parkview Mountain, Round Trip:

10.15 miles
4,033 feet vertical gain. The road goes up and down WAY too much.
6 hrs 6 min

Well i guess by now you know why the rest of the party did not show up, sorry i missed that hike it did not look to rocky! i am ready for camping when we get back and hope Jacks foot is all healed up. i see you still kept the dogs off leach coming through the woods, will you learn? glad they came back to camp and you were able to find your way back to the site. the pictures seem elongated or something?

No, I won't learn. The forest stomping seemed to confuse them more than anything. It's a personal call and a general risk that in certain situations I'm willing to take. Try walking through dense trees with three dogs on six foot leashes wrapping around everything the wrong way. Plus, as long as Sioux stays it's all good. The other sled dogs rank lower and would be missed less since they annoy me more. I just wish they had been attached to choke chains so the leashes could have caught something and sent a meaningful message. My next step is a shock collar to make them terrified of wildlife. Idiot friggin' sled dogs...

Pics look fine from here. ¿?





* I suppose some clarification is in order, should some drive by lurker read this. There's a bit of sarcasm injected there. I would search high and low for any of my dogs for as long as it took. These idiots just can't stay still when we first get to a campsite. They want to keep moving and staying put while we setup fries their sled heads. But they will continue to be off leash when I see fit.

I have one question....HOW did you get them back once they were off leash?! Im so scared to take mika off leash I really want to Im just afraid he would take off and not be able to find his way back...

Eddy generally marches to the beat of his own drum. He lets his dogs off-leash in certain situations ONLY and has been working with huskies for years on end. He knows them quite well and knows the risks associated with it. His dogs are trained daily and even with that, their recall is not perfect

Huskies are NOT offleash dogs. It's a personal decision, yes, but not one that I ever advise, recommend, or condone unless extremely controlled. There is no trick. You can train for recall, but if these dogs want to run, they will. Regardless of training. That's why ours generally are leashed AT ALL TIMES. Even when I really really want to let them go. I've tested it in only very specific circumstances and I've still had them take off. They come back when they want and if they're not too far away that they're lost.

the only time i take mika off is on a local soccer field where he can run but still be contained he runs for about 20 min before i can obtain his full attention.lol ive been trying to work on some skijor/bikejor commands while walking him but he just seems confused... any advice?

There's nothing very special to what we do. On a hike they're loaded down so heavy that they can't really run. We do such extreme inclines and distances at high elevations that they naturally pace themselves. The times when they've gotten away were times that we didn't tire them out first. It takes many miles to get to an off leash point. I guess you can't really tell from the pics, but they were leashed for the entire three miles of road up to treeline. By then they were slowing down quite a bit as we started the 25-30ish degree incline to the top.

We got them back by knowing our dogs and knowing our terrain. I took off around the left and up the open side of a gulch, Lindsay went right and downhill following a creek towards the road and my brother zigzagged across the gulch near the campsite. On the opposite side was an extremely steep incline filled with a rock field. We had them pretty well contained, just needed to herd them back basically. They had leashes, collar and harnesses on. So... technically that wasn't an off leash incident.




You just started with the command training right? It took my dogs a few weeks to catch on reliably. It's just so much easier to let it sink in while walking. Make sure to use perpendicular turns when starting out, and make them fairly often. Also make sure the command is being given immediately when you turn/go/stop. I didn't give them any warning, just "gee"/right turn and they had to follow or hit the end of the leash. If you can vary your pace widely, it helps keep them involved and a little more eager. Plugging along at the same speed will make a Husky bored in no time.

Yes I am only working on commands and only on foot.lol no way Id tie him to me on wheels right now, HAHA (pictures self being dragged).lol His first owner(Im his third) Used him for pulling competitions but that was a while ago and I dont know how extensively she trained him and if he even remembers any of it....thank you for the advice! BTW those are some amazing pics I cant wait to go hiking...where we live now is FLAT.