Van Vleck Snowshoe

Drove up the Icehouse road and snowshoed a little way down to the Van Vleck bunkhouse. It was about 25 degrees F which is cold for sunny CA. I could have used my ear muffs, but they are hidden somewhere.

I made Commando wear his yellow slicker and I put a lap blanket under it. The blanket didn't last long, but he wore the slicker the whole way. I also made him wear some dog boots to protect his feet from the snow. He didn't like those either. He did the silly "high walking" step and then settled down with them. They were slippery and didn't give him a good grip.

The two on the right side kept coming off, so eventually I left them off. Then, I noticed a little blood in his paw print and put them back on. We'd been out for about an hour or so, so headed back. About halfway back, Commando kept lying down waiting for me. Hmm, unusual. I checked the boots and they looked okay. Finally I took all of them off again and he galloped around like the pup he is all the way back to the car. I'm not quite ready to give up on them so Commando is going to be forced to wear them at least once more.

It's a great hike. It slopes down relatively gradually (which means it's not a hard slog back up). The snow was hard and crisp. Even going off the road onto a meadow was good. There are great views of the Crystal Range too.

I'm going to have to think more about cross country skis. It would be nice to slide downhill instead of plod along. It's nice to not break bones too, so maybe I should keep plodding!