With all of our big mountain adventures occupying the summer months, I completely forgot the fact that we live two miles from the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills. Sure enough, digging around the county website I found enough trails to possibly fill our winter weekends with hikes. Once the weather settles in for winter (today warmed to 60F), we'll be ready for some 8 hour strolls. So today we took a quick three mile jog to scope out an 18 mile trip. It's called Devil's Backbone and I can see it from my sewing room. (For the big trip I would leave from my friggin' house and follow the front ridge of the mountains nine miles north to Horsetooth Reservoir.)

Not having looked at the weather, 8:30am sounded just fine to head out. The air still had bite to it and a jacket seemed like a must. Then the dogs were loaded in the van and we set off. This place was so close that the heater never reached warm before we got there. Stepping out into the sun made everything different. It was warm outside, but we were only out to gain a view of the overall terrain and objectives for later. Dogs were ready to roll, so rolled we did...






The formations that makeup Devil's Backbone...






Home is off yonder in the distance...


A Forest Service guy we ran into told us the early morning was filled with elk, coyote and deer. We only saw deer...


Doggies focused on them but didn't freak out or make a sound. Not sure I can ask much more from them...








This is a busy area with access shared amongst horses, bikes, people and dogs. Overall I would rate the pack behavior at 8.5 today. They flurried up a bit when a group of almost 30 college students came along, and Sioux jumped up at a guy who baby talked him. Other than that, the heat was the only thing we had to get past. It was a quick 90 minutes this morning.

Fin.

Love the pups sitting on the stairs! That cracks me up! Can't wait to get up to where snow is a possibility! Thanks for sharing!

Fun,
i took the doggies to the petco store opening on Sat morning and was 4th in line so i got a $10 gift card and a free doggie photo session! they did not behave that well but we got 2 good shots and should have them back sometime this week. let me know about some hikes!

Nice! We're going to take Koda on a hike very soon...I can't wait!

We went back out to this area yesterday and logged another five miles with full hiking weight. Not many pics since the trail had a bit of ice that required attentiveness.





















The straps on Coco's pack ripped apart at the adjuster loops. ¿What is with the construction on these packs? Every single one has needed strap repair. Probably just cost cutting side effects. I wish they would use the proper thread for the task. Ugh.

mybe coco just does not want to wear the pack? great pis as always

I'm surprised the packs even used thread. Last summer bought a nylon 30 footer for Adobo and the ends were only heat melted together. Jeezus she would have snaped that before leaving the yard. Ended up sewing the loops with dental floss and still holding together. Been a great lead but the contruction of it sucked. I wrote Gander Mountain about it told them my idea and they said they would relay my opinion to the mfg.

That's the response I expect when I fire off an e-mail to Outward Hound tomorrow.