staying human

As winter wraps up here in Vail, CO, our lives are moving ahead. The snow lies only on the highest mountains or in shadows unkissed by the sun. Our final days at the Winterhawk kennel will be busy as we move the dogs to their summer, and hopefully permanent, kennel. It's location is where we ran tours for the last month, on the way to Leadville in an area called Camp Hale. It was a high altitude and winter training site for the 10th Mountain Division duing WWII. Lots of history and a beautiful place to run dogs. Friends, both new and old, are embarking on new stages of life and I wish the best of luck to everyone. A special thanks goes out Betsy, without whom this road in life may never have been explored. Before things get too deep and philisophocial, I'll pass on a quick update:

Toren has a summer job! She'll be the crew leader for a pika study in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. Life is hard when you're getting paid to backpack 4 days per week. The job doesn't start till mid-June, so we'll have some time to explore Colorado, drop through Montana, and then head out to Seattle for all the Johnson birthdays. My summer plans include some overseas exploring. A couple dozen job applications yielded nothing except a job offer in Sweden. I'll be heading over there for two months to see if I want to accept a long term position. Work time will be spent restoring an old farm to serve as a base for a racing kennel of 30 dogs. Play time will be spent sailing to islands in Norway to access climbing, sea kayaking the fjords, and backpacking under the midnight sun in Lappland. If all goes well, hopefully Toren and Denali with join me overthere!

I'll keep you all posted as this spring/summer progresses.