We are very lucky to have access to so many cabins and vacation homes that members of our family own. We are never without a place to adventure! This week we spent our time visiting the snow covered mountain that is home to Silver Star Resort.
Riley has been practicing in his boots and Kurgo G-train the last few weeks to be ready for some snowshoeing fun! He’s still not loving the boots but they are not tripping him up anymore. So today, and this week, we hit the Trails!
Well, it was -19°C and Riley hasn’t been able to last more than 5 minutes outside at a time to potty without his coat and boots. So we had to plan to keep our boy warm when we adventure out. We bundled him up in his fleecy winter coat, wrapped his legs in vet wrap, and strapped on the boots! We were going for an adventure, and he was so excited.
We ventured out to tackle the 2.2km Crack of Dawn Snowshoe trail at Silver Star Mountain Resort.
We started the trail at the top of the Silver Woods chairlift, and within the first 5 minutes, we had a rescue mission! Riley ventured off the trail a bit and sunk into a hidden tree well. Me, thinking it was just some deep powder, stepped into the same tree well…got stuck. Riley was easy enough to retrieve and move to the compact path. Me, however, sunk one leg up to my hip. I wish I could say it was Riley that needed the assistance, but it was me. My husband and I had to dig out around my leg to my boot so I could pull it out. Safety first peeps! Always adventure with a buddy or at least have a self-recovery plan ready for the unexpected.
Once the tree released me, we carried on our merry little way. Winding through the forest in the trees, up and down the hills, crossing ski lanes, and taking in a few views. Along the way, we met a lonely little Chickadee who stopped to say Hi. Riley sniffed a few hare tracks, and he wasn’t thrilled that we wouldn’t let him chase them through the powder. We passed a couple girls on the trail who thought he was just the cutest little man and visited briefly before carrying on.
We stopped at a break in the trees that gave a view of the valley and took a few pictures. While it was not the perfectly sunny day while completely clear skies, it was still clear enough to see the beautiful Monashee Mountains around us.
Riley motored us through the trail at a good pace. It took about 1.5 hours from start to finish. When its this cold, you HAVE to keep moving to keep warm. We expected Riley to have exhausted himself in the first 20 minutes or so. We brought the Kurgo G-Train just in case he needed a break.
He didn’t.
He kept running and walking for almost the full 1.5 hours! The last 10 minutes of trail is when Riley started to limp. We put him into the Kurgo and I packed him up the last 100m of trail (a steep incline up the ski hill to the ski way above Silver Queen). We got to the top and he started whinning. So, out he comes, and he runs/walks the rest of the way home.
We are so proud of our Riley! This has been the most challenging, longest, and coldest hike he has done in recent years. And he conquered!
There were a couple of things that we used on this hike that were amazing! See the list for links to the items and/or the reviews to the items.
- Riley’s Gear:
- Serena’s Gear:
- Outdoor Research Aspire Gore-Tex Jacket
- Merrell Womens Gore-tex snow boots
- Buff
- Fleece lined Winter Hiking Pants Link
- Under Armour Base Layers 2.0 Cold
- Black Diamond Trailback Trekking Poles
Check back for regularly for the full reviews as we put them up. Once each of the gear items has been tested through 3 or 4 adventures we will add the reviews.
ASR Adventures 