Scott's Adir...I mean Frontenac hike

Plan for November 29th : Adirondack hike with Scott. We are ready for a fun scenic day. Scott is in Ottawa for work and has planned to join us on our Saturday outing to the mountains.

Email1, November 28 th:
Scott wrote:

I am an idiot- I forgot my passport at home! Can I still cross the border?

Sorry!

Scott

Reply:
Murielle wrote:

Turkey! (Mark asked me to call you like that)

You wouldn't happen to have your birth certificate or certificate of
indian status with you?
If not, you'll at least come down for diner. I have a roasted chicken on
the menu...a big boy  :) 

See you later
Murielle

Reply:
Scott wrote:

I don't have my birth certificate or certificate of indian status with me. I think I could provide a certificate of 'idiot status' thought.

Could we go for a hike in Ontario? Perhaps Frontenac? I could head home after the hike on Saturday. I think it would be a great day and, better yet, a slightly later start.

I hope you guys are still up for a walk.

Scott

And this is how our Adirondack hike was traded in for a gorgeous day in Frontenac Park.

Full size slideshow

A mudo-swimo-bikejoring ride

On this very wet and sad looking day, taking Marley out didn't seem like a very appealing activity but it has been a few days since I have exercised properly my canine friend and she needed to burn some energy.
The end of our road ends as a public trail which leads to a 100 acres forest and trails owned by a horse farmer. We have access to those trails but use them very little in the summer as it is buggy and can be pretty muddy. Under poring rain I could expect to get back home wet and mucky either I ride on a gravel road or a muddy trail, so I picked the muddy trail....

500 meters of riding in the rain was enough to make me 8 years old again, 500 more meters turned me into an absurdly muddy 8 year old. Yep, that first mud glide sure turned around the casual trail ride into a "well-we-can't-get-much-dirtier-must-as-well-keep-going" ride. It happens fast. First you're screaming along on the bike with a happy dog enjoying every second of the soft ground; next you're laid out flat experiencing the effects of inertia on a body thrown in a mud bath. Quick shake, quick thinking...am I hurt? am I cold? no, lets keep going.
The beauty of being 30 is that you can still do things you loved when you were 8 without worrying about getting in trouble when you get home. Saying that I don't think I to often got in trouble for coming back home muddy when I was a kid. I think it became so normal that my mother wouldn't even bother.
I like throwing myself once in while into a small adventure, just enough to break the day to day routine. It can be the matter of an hour of unplanned fun to brighten up a grey weekend.
As for the less planned part of the adventure....the trail became rather wet. From ridding threw the odd puddle I soon found myself pedaling threw what would be best described as an ankle deep swamp. My options? Step down and turn around, or keep going and hope for the trail to get dryer. I kept going, but before the trail got dryer it sure did get wetter. While I kept pedaling in water close to my handle bars, Marley ended up swimming. How do we call this? Swimo-bikjoring? A complete sleddog training program? Doesn't really matter, we enjoyed the moment...when nothing really matters...just having fun, taking on the challenge....no matter how wrong the situation may seem.

A very wet and sad looking day turned into wet but happy adventure. If the weather is bad must as well enjoy the all good from it.

Run Marley Run

Marley doesn't run for me, we run together. I have done many sports, most for the adrenaline, some for the challenge, others simply because I like to move. Bikejoring and skijoring are different, my drive is hard to explain, I could simply say it's all about the team. For the time of a run Marley and I work as a team, a tight and synchronized team. An observer may only see a dog pulling someone on a bike or skis but there is more to it.

I started hitching Marley to my bike because she painfully liked to pull, she had an excess of energy that made her difficult to handle. I soon found out that she also liked to go fast and more so, loved racing. A car, an other dog, the school bus, anything passing by would prompted Marley to speed up. I found funny to find out a dog can competitive.
It became a game for us, go fast, go faster, go faster longer. Over outings a few rules naturally took place. Rule no 1: we both work hard, we achieve our goal from a combined effort. I work hard, she works harder. Some slacking from my part will get me the Marley dagger look. She wants to go fast and knows she will go faster if I help. Rule no 2: I trust Marley. She has figured out what represents obstacles for me. Marley does not like me falling and rather avoid jerkings on her line. She has surprised me by her ability to discriminate obstacles. I have seen her come to a complete halt for a low branch when skiing or detour for a big rock when biking. Rule no 3: Marley trusts me and follows my commands. She's great, as much as she'll take initiative to avoid accidents she also concentrates on my calls. If I say something the pup doesn't understand she'll slow down and give me the "what are you saying one ear up look". Rule no 4 and none the less: No chasing cats or other critters, they do not exist in running world.

Yes, it may just look like a dog running on front of a bike to pull some lazy bugger but there is so much more. There is the great feeling we can work together and can trust each other to achieve a common goal. I provided Marley with a job she really likes and for fifteen minutes of full collaboration on a run she thanks me with the same collaboration all day, day after day. For fifteen minutes of following our rules doing what Marley likes, she will happily follow the same rules doing what I do (maybe not rule no4 though).

Why the races? Because I like it, it adds a social aspect to a generally solitary activity.
Here's pictures of our latest, the Run Dawg Run. It takes place in Lake Placid in a gorgeous setting. Saturday was unfortunately miserably rainy and cold but luckily the site has a building were to keep warm and dry. Sunday turned out into a stunning sunny fall day. The trail is not necessarily one to kill yourself on, but offered nice challenge as sharp turns, hills, sandy and rocky portions...
The best of the race? Marley was awesome, she ran with all her heart and did great times.

Full screen slide show







Most of the pictures of Marley and I are from Sandy Payne Photography

Home Sweet Home

Before we moved to Canada, my first homes have been series of apartments in Brest. In Moncton, New-brunswick, we lived in a little bungalow for three years. When I was 9 years old, my parents came to Gatineau where we lived in a big house in the richy suburb. My parents separated and I went on to live with my mother a street further. Teenage cought up on me and I then would of called my car home. I finally met Mark and I slowly went from squatting his apartments onto living with him. After rebuilding the Marie Ty we moved on our boat aboard which we lived for two years. We are now living in our cute farm house circa 1885 out in the deep country where we are building the next home, our next boat.

Threw all those years and changes there has been one house where I have evenly felt, from the day I was born, I was at home . My grand-parents house was built for them over 50 years ago. It is a modest semi-detached britanny house, but sweating of all the character half a century of living and loving can provide. The Concarneau house is for me more than a roof and walls surrounded by a colorful garden, it's my warmest memories. You could bring me to it blind and deaf that its smells alone would remind me my best laughs, my best meals, my best hugs.
It smells like a mix of the seas iodine and of my grand-mothers on going laundry. On Sundays the roasting chicken would overcome all the usual smells and on damp winter days you could guess a hint soup in the air.
I spent there much of my toddler life and all my childhood and teenage summers. The house faces the sea and opens its windows to a view on the Atlantic. Down the road there is the beach and the nicest coastal trails but there is no need to get out to feel Concarneau's beauty. The small yard is a colorful garden weaved threw by small stone alleys. As for the neighborhood, people have moved, but I remember getting ice cream from neighbors just for the cost of dropping by to say hello....I grew up and the ice cream became beverages. My grand mothers house is still the stop of many when they feel like having a chat... maybe also get a drink or a bite to eat. I have never known the Concarneau house without regular visitors mostly the neighborhood ladies with there nosy stories from around town but also family and friends who will never miss an opportunity to enjoy there a happy moment.

Is it the flowers, the stones, the view or simply my grand mothers welcoming smile? I know anybody who crosses the gate can immediately understands why I love this house I always have been able to call home.

Pretty Brittany - La belle Bretagne

Pictures say it all. I could try to praise some more Brittanies beauties but that would be endless. Plus, I already do it enough, I am probably getting annoying to those who know me.
Can I show you though? Enjoy the pictures...



Full screen slide show


And the fun Brittany

We certainly didn't have time to get bored. Meals only would of been enough to keep us entertained. We spent most of our spare time (read: not eating) walking along the sea, foot fishing clams, shrimps, oysters...collecting blackberries (and eating them too). We did enjoy some motionless moments laying in the sunshine on the beach, on the rocks, along coastal trails.
Two weeks is not long but we did get to see a few friends and family, if only we had had just a bit more time.



Full screen slide show

De retour de Bretagne - Back from Brittanny

Marley is now a well traveled dog with her second trip to France in less than two years. My mother, Mark, Marley and I, just spent a much to short 16 days in Concarneau. Such short vacation doesn't leave time for much, it is barely a tease. A tasty tease as our main occupation has clearly been eating and this from the minute we arrived. Indeed, when we stepped in the house, in Concarneau, the traditional langoustine platter was served. There is no way around it, my grand mother can not help starting to feed us the minute we walk in her home. Also, with the sea food, cold meats, melon, fruits, cheese, bread.....she had, on our request, not prepared too much ... or it would of been a week worth of food served in the first hour following our arrival.

Avec son deuxieme voyage en moins de deux ans, Marley est maintenant une grande voyageuse. Maman, Mark, Marley et moi venons de passer seize jours de vacances beaucoup trop courtes a Concarneau. Un sejour aussi limite laisse a peine le temps de voir les jours passer. Mais on en a profite... surtout a table, ou on s'y est donne a coeur joie. En effet, a peine a-t-on mis le pied a dans la maison que le traditionnel plateau de langoustines etait servi. Il n'y a pas moyen d'y echapper, ma grand-mere ne peut pas ne pas nous nourrir a la minute qu'on se presente chez elle. Je vous met a l'epreuve de trouver un temoignage contraire. Aussi, viandes froides, melon, fromage, pain, fruits....elle n'avait, a notre demande, pas prepare trop de bouffe...ou il aurait fallu s'attendre a une semaine de bonne chere servie dans l'heure suivant notre arrivee.

From Breizh2008

Put weight on? Wrong! It's the French paradox....you eat good, fat and tasty but throw the pounds away. If anybody finds Marleys 10 lost pounds she would need them back, as for my small kilo, feel free to keep it. Other than at the table, we did keep quite busy walking around, enjoying scenery and fresh air. Of course I will post back to show some good times and beauties in my prettiest country.
Leaving the Brittany I love feels tougher each time I go. As I will have either gone to visit again or knowingly to settle, I know one day I will stay. Roots are made of very strong rubber that may stretch very far but will not let go.

Prendre du poids? Non! C'est le paradoxe francais...on mange bien, gras et bon mais on rejete les kilos. Si quelqu'un trouve les 10 livres perdues de Marley, elle aurrait bien besoin de les recuperer; pour ce qu'y en ai de mon petit kilo, sentez-vous libre de le garder. Autrement qu'a la table,nous nous sommes tenus occupe a marcher, explorer les paysages et profiter du grand air. Bien sur je vais rajouter des photos de nos bons moments et des beautees de mon plus beau pays.
Quitter la Bretagne que j'aime est de plus en plus difficile a chaque fois que j'y vais. Que j'y retourne en visite ou en sachant que c'est pour m'y installer, je sais qu'il y aura un jour ou j'y resterais. Mes racines sont faites d'un caoutchouc suffisement elastique pour partir loin mais toujours revenir.

Little note on the weather. It was fantastic, all sunshine and it seems to be holding after our depart. After a very wet summer we have been called lucky and I will concur as it has become clear over the years that I attract good weather in Brittany. Therefore, if you are planning a vacation or simply want to enjoy some good weather in Finistere, feel free to fly me over and I will make sure to pack up my sunshine charm.
Petite note sur la meteo. Le temps a ete fantastique, que du soleil et ca semble tenir apres mon depart. Suite a un ete miserablement mouille on nous dis que l'on a etait bien chanceux et je confirme, car c'est devenu tres clair au court mes visites des dernieres annees que j'attire le beau temps en Bretagne. Ainsi, si vous plannifiez des vacance ou pour simplement profiter du soleil dans le finistere n'hesitez pas a me mettre sur un avions pour la france et je m'assurerais d'emmener mon grigri beau temps.

From Breizh2008

The strongest link one can have with a country is people

To fall in love with a country you have to fall in love with its people, to keep loving your origins you have to keep loving people from where you came. It is painful to feel so torn, home has become here but home has remained over there. The blessing must be that , here and there, I always feel as welcome as if I was home.

I am antsy to taste the salt of the sea, to smell the iodine in the air and to here the accent of Brittany in Concarneau's gossips.

Lead soup?

We are deep into August, summer seems to have flown by and we are not quite where we had hopped to be by bow on the boat. Neverless, we are doing great progress and I would say we are in a good boat building phase. The past few weeks have gone on the theme of lead melting but I am happy to say that it is now done....well except for the trim ballast, but there is no need to think of it now.

First round, two loads to melt about three tons of precious lead. A big fire as heat source and a bath tub for a container, we needed something big to melt down two keels.



And this is where that lead went, contained against the hull. It's welded shut we can now forget about it.



Second round of the month, an other ton and a half contained under the water tanks to be.
We found the easiest way to do this would be to melt it right in the boat and ladle it hot in the keel.



Don't worry, I'm well protected. A mask with positive pressure a proper breezing air feed...I at least had that to cool me off. I also blow fresh air threw the boat to eliminate c02 and cool it off.

Well, that's for the lead. I also been working a few other details: water tanks, crap tank, mast collar....I'll try to post more but should really get to the boat now.

The storm that shreaded my garden - La tempete qui a detruit mon potager

Wednesday was a tough day for my garden, the challenge was such that only part of it will make it through. I sighted the storm about half an hour before it hit. The lightening strikes were stunning , as much by there intensity than frequency. I saw the storm approach as if it was stepping up to South Mountain on long skinny bright legs. I sat on the pool ladder as long as I could, watching the monster run towards us, when the strikes reached the back of the field I made it into the house rather fast. Taking pictures of the lightening was much harder than I expected and I was lucky enough to get a few good shots. From the number of pictures I took, I figure that I watched between 50 and 70 strikes. Marley calmly sat by my side watching the show. Thunder and fireworks is probably the only thing that doesn't scare the silly dog.
Next came the hail! I had never seen hail like that, ice cubes were dropping from the sky. I'd believe the gods were having a party and a rather tipsy one dropped its icy drink on us.

My garden did not appreciate but to be fair I should say the neighboring farmers field suffered a lot too.

The great cottage break

One week by the water, we couldn't of asked for better as a break. Windsurf, swim, read, eat and drink...I think that my resume the week for us.

On for a bit of a story? Of course a vacation wouldn't be one without a bit of an adventure...would it? We knew Marley was a very loyal and focused dog but didn't quite know how stupidly she could be loyal and focused. The wind was nice so Mark and I wanted to go for a windsurf together leaving Marley behind. Scott and Karen stayed at the cottage with Marley and Dave. Away we went. Scott hung out with the dogs for a bit but eventually went in the cottage for a few minutes. When he came out Marley had disappeared!
At our return, both Mark and I were stunned, Marley wouldn't of take off...it's just not her. Never less, we started to search and call. Mark took the car and went down the road in case she had felt in an urge to run. I took the kayak and went call along the shore.
I suddenly had this horrible vision of Marley swimming away after the saiboards....what if she had left off shore? It seams like a nonsense to us but Marley running away from the cottage (and us) is even more of a non sens. I quickly turned around and started scanning the horizon. OH MY GOD! Out in the chop I could see two little black spots, either the wings of a dead bird or Marley's crazy ears. I never paddled like that...was she ever far out. Marley had followed Mark and I out on the lake, I was just as flattered as I was mad.
We swam back together, the story ends fine. Marley still loves water and next time we'll know better.

La visite de Martine et Caesar

Un apres midi chaud mais une brise rafraichissante. On a bien mange a l'ombre de l'arbre et bien jouer autour de la piscine. Mais au fait...c'etait quoi le jeu? Faire plonger les chiens? Prendre des photos des chiens qui plonge? Ou faire plonger les chiens pour eclabousser Caesar qui prend des photos?

Il faut savourer les bons moments quand ils passent...n'empeche j'aurais bien aime une journee de plus a ne rien faire d'autre que d'apprecier un jour d'ete en bonne compagnie.

Avis aux interresses: Les phares ont trouve leur place sur le mur.

Summer is here - Voila l'ete

The blog has been left a little aside this spring. We just didn't do anything nearly as exiting as our fun hikes or skijor races. This spring has been more about boat work, the garden and kitchen renovation. I'd love to post a picture of the kitchen but don't want to until most have seen it in real...so that will be for later. I'm so happy with the result. We just had enough of the shaky counters, falling cupboards and mouse shit in the dishes. The kitchen has become quite classy...anything without mouse shit is classy to me at this point. Thank you Ikea.

What about the boat? Even though the kitchen took much of my time I have accomplished something on the boat. Ballast has been a bit of a puzzle problem. Not about were to position it but how to get it neatly contained in the right place. We can only have so much permanent ballast as the boat needs to be lite enough to be trucked, so as we position that weight we also have to consider how the trimming ballast will be contained a fastened down. I ended up making some sort of integral tanks to be filled with lead a and than sealed. We also didn't want to melt lead inside the boat so I made interlocking containers to be filled and then fitted in the tanks. Enough blabla, here's simply a picture.

The side tanks have there lids on each contain 3 containers like the lower tanks. A total of 24 odd shape boxes...don't mention boxes to me anymore...please. Next step melt the lead...

Visit from England

Good weather and good company made it for a good weekend. Marianne and Colins two day visit to South Mountain has for sure been a highlight of our summer. I'm still amazed how an English man made my Canadian home feel so much like a little bit of France for a couple days. Wine, petancle and expressive story telling, he does it perfectly. Now just look at pictures of this man, I am certain he spends hours on front of a mirror practicing every single movement and expressions enriching his daily activities.

Sugar shack....at home! - La cabane a sucre...a la maison!

Some good ideas could be better if kept as ideas...but what the hell, we only live once, so why not. We have a small bush of about an acre or so, mostly sugar maples. Every year, we think we should try out tapping the trees and making maple syrup and for some unexplained reason this year is when it happened.

The maples sap rises threw the sap wood only with very particular conditions. Temperatures must be under freezing at night and above freezing during day time. This only happens in our region of the world (East Canada and North East of the US).
On Sunday we decided to go ahead with making maple syrup and went buy enough spouts and buckets to "milk" eight trees. Monday, I tapped the nicest trees under a cold rain, never less it was neat to see the first drips come out the spout I just placed. The trees were dripping so well that by the time I was done tapping the trees I could already collect from the first ones. Now, don't ask me what went threw my head, probably the excitement of the moment, but I decided to go get more equipment and tap more. By the end of the day I had 19 trees dripping and and a cup of maple syrup ready for enjoyment.
It is clear that evaporating the sap in the house is not a good idea as to reduce the liquid by a ratio of 40 to 1 it makes a lot of water to vaporise. For some reason I didn't like the idea of doing it outside neither, we are still heating the house and it seams inefficient to waste all that heat outdoors. I came up with an idea, I figured if I piped my pot on a chimney exhausting threw the window with an inline fan I could keep the house dry and in bonus would collect some of the heat to keep warm. Bingo! Tuesday, I tuned up my system and had a home maple syrup evaporator.
Now my biggest problem is that I'm getting more sap than I can evaporate. This consumes way more time than I expected. Collect , boil, can....run, run, run...clean, clean, clean. My kitchen is sticky, my soles are sticky, my stove is sticky, my fingers are sttttiiincky, ooops my key board is getting sticky. Well it is messy, but it is sooooo good.

Portholes - Hublots

We received our super New Found Metals bronze portholes! Happy-happy!!!
It is exiting to get boaty components. Makes us feel that much closer to having a boat for not to much effort.

On a recu nos superbes hublots en bronze de New Found Metal! Wouhou!!!
C'est tellement exitant de recevoir des composantes bateau. On se sent d'autant plus pres du but sans trop d'efforts.

Horsy day

So...who's the best cowboy? Mark, gone to Texas to find a cowboy hat? Or Murielle riding a horse in Quebec with no cowboy hat?

The plan was to go skiing with the dogs in Wakefield but it snowed more than planned and it would of made it a slow ski. We opted to go out for a ride with Nelligan and Chaman instead. Tommorow will be Marley's day. Back to skijoring, but with my new skis....fast, fast, fast....

Skijoring in Wakefield

We had an other good day with Marley. It will most likely be our last skijoring event of the season as I don't think there are any other races being organized close to home.
It was the last race but also the toughest and the most fun one we entered, a roller coaster skijor. If Marley is still keen to run next year, I will not miss this event.
It was organized in the Wakefield hills, a fantastic location where to enjoy a warm winter sunshine.

We waited a long time for our turn. I was surprised by the 5 minutes laps between teams and thought it was a little long...until I was on the course and understood how inconvenient it could be to pass someone while screaming down a steep hill, across a narrow bridge or a tight corner. We left tenth, so Marley had to hold her horses for fifty minutes, a challenge for an exited puppy.

Marley is becoming quite famous for her controlled starts. The routine is clear, she knows she's about to run and is happy to sit and concentrate on a final "stay". I think she figured out the countdown, she now gives me a brief look and slightly lifts her bum of the ground when it starts.

And off we went threw the gorgeous rolling hills of Wakefield for a 4 mile ski/run. Up, down and around...what a ride. The snow was fast and Marley happy to run. If only I could stay on my feet we could do great. I unfortunately passed a few gravity storms, most of them on fast down hills. For some reason, each time I realize we were picking up speed I ended up feet above head.

The down hills went on for ever. It seemed to me like we were going down, down a little bit up and down again...to much down. I little alarm triggered as some gain and loss rule is quiet clear about having to go back up as much as one went down to get back to the same point. Nasty hills...walls I'd say. It's not fair to have to go so much up when your legs are about to give up. They close to the end of the course, someone had some nasty fun setting up this trail, probably giggled making us go threw that...oh well, isn't challenge what it makes it fun?

I did have my giggles on the course too. On most intersections some Christmas trees had been layed down across the trail to be avoided . I would see the intersection soon enough to instruct Marley on which way to go. Close to the end of the course in a wooded area we came to a split which I didn't notice as the Christmas tree wasn't laying across but planted in the middle, hiding the trail and looking fine in a forest setting. I didn't give any instruction to Marley and she picked the wrong trail. All goes fast, but when she realized her mistake, Marley ran over to get back on front of me and our line, now tangled in the branches, threw the tree on the ground between Marley and I, and over our tie. I felt somewhat silly, tangled with my dog in a Christmas tree on a race.

I was asked why Marley picked that trail with a tree in the middle of it. Well, I believe this confirms what I have suspected in previous races. Marley follows her nose. She was slightly to the left of the trail, the side of the wrong trail and even though it wasn't physically wide open Marley saw a scent highway, just like we had been following, the tree was meaningless to her.

Typhaine and Sam were there again, they had there adventures too. Typhaine's harness broke and she had to finish holding on to the line. Nice style :)

Well, this is it for racing this winter but as long as Marley is happy to do it we keep skiing and biking together. She needs to burn her energy some way.

Back to the weekend hikes now.

More pics slideshow

Very short hike and boring pictures

Mark took the day off Friday to go for our weekly hike. We planned to say hello to mount Ester and White face as they are neighboring peaks but ended up skipping White face. The forecast was for light flurries which is not ideal for good view but not bad for good hikes. The weather turned to aggravate to become miserable wet snow. We are hiking for fun and not to be cold, wet and grumpy .

As if the crappy weather wasn't annoying enough the trees were extremely aggressive. They kept stealing my hat, poking my head and whipping my face...boy was I ever grumpy. A good husband sure knows when it's time to turn around and head to subway.

We ended up doing 11km, our shortest Adirondack hike ever. I don't know what was in the air, seems like the mountains just didn't want us there that day. Even Marley got particularly joyful when we turned around.

Moon eclipse

What a wonderful show. Only one complaint to the organizers, why not have this happen on a warm summer night. It was way too cold. Apart from the temperature, the weather did spoil us though with a very clear sky (and one more opportunity to play with my camera).
For the event we pushed back our bed time and went for a late dog walk. Happy Marley. The strangest of the eclipse, and I'm not sure it's noticeable in the city, it's how a bright full moon evening slowly fades into a rather dark night.

Legend say we should see an old man on the moon, I see a rottweiler.

Two days of racing in Kemptville

I am feeling pretty soar this morning. Marley and I worked hard at going fast.
The Eastern Ontario dog sledding championship is held in Kemptville, 20 km away from home, so there was no way I wasn't going to enter. The race was two sprints of 4 miles run Saturday and Sunday with cumulated times. The 4 miles, were brought down to 3.8 mile and I'm not even sure it was that long. What ever, we run for fun and the trail is the same for all.
For a Bouvier, the shorter is better. Marley is very fast and powerful at the start but slows down (from very fast to fast) after about 12 minutes.
I slow down after 5 minutes, drag myself after 10 and dream of collapsing before 15. I really do this for the thrill and the intensity of that short time working hard with my dog and my dog working with me.

Marley seems to become more intense as we do more races. She now anticipates, her level of excitement increases throughout the steps leading to the race. As I get changed, suit her with her harness, clip in my skis... by the time we line up she's ready to go.
Both Saturday and Sunday she started like a bomb. I'm going to have to find a good starting position for myself as each start feels like my hips are ripping apart from the rest of my body. Seventy pounds lounging forward at full speed gives a good choc.

These first pictures are form the Sunday race. As we were waiting for the two minutes lapse between teams, people are asking me questions about Marley, someone asked what was her name. I answered that in these circumstances she likes to be referred at as the " Fluff Bullet".

The fluff bullet literally flies through the first stretch. The start goes so fast, it's pure fun.

Typhaine was at this event too. She came ahead of everybody on Saturday with a good advance that maintained her in first place for the overall results. Sam ran amazingly on the first race.

The tough thing about the end of the race is that you know everybody is looking at you, and they are all taking pictures. It's the last sprint and even though all you want is to double pole, let the dog do the work there is the ego pushing to concentrate on a nice skiing so you do your best.

It seems like most dogs do this, they're either scared of the flag, the line, the crowed...they all slow down or even stop before the line. A poor girl with a dog sledding team had all the dogs stop just at the line, it took her 45 seconds (over an 11 minute race) to get the dogs to cross. With the skijoring the nose of the dog has to cross before the tip of the skis to not be disqualified, so you can not pull the dog threw.

First move after the finish line, drop in the snow and cool off. We take a few minutes to get our legs back, reward our racing partners, comment on the trail, compare how many times we fell and head over for a coffee while we wait for results.

Typhaine arrived first at on Saturday and third on Sunday. I arrived fourth on Saturday and second on Sunday. For the overall, final results Typhaine came in first and I came in third. We have great dogs.

More pics slideshow

Marley, the fluff bullet

Great is the best word to describe it. The weather was great, the trails were great, the race organization was great, I felt great, but above all Marley was the greatest.
I entered this race with a bit ambivalence, I was afraid I was going to have to do all the work, or even worst, have to drag the dog along.
Marley has been a little picky lately about what she will pull or not. She will put all her heart and soul into keeping the bike going fast but my stubborn puppy (I have called her that a few times now) rather trot along when it's time to pull me on skis or on a sled, sometimes she won't even budge at all.
All my hopes were on Marley's competitiveness and, once more, my black fluffy devil demonstrated that dogs can get in the racing spirit. It didn't matter anymore what I asked her to pull, she was there to go at it hard and fast.

Superbe est le mot qui convient pour decrire ce dimanche. La temperature etait super, le sentier etait super, l'organisation de la course etait super, je me sentais super mais surtout et par dessus tout Marley a ete super.
Je me suis presentee a la course avec une certaine d'ambivalence, je craignais d'avoir a forcer plus que ma part, ou au pire, je craignais d'avoir a trainer le chien pour les 5km de la course.
Marley a ete quelque peu difficile c'est dernier temps quand il s'agit de tirer les skis ou le traineau. Il est prete a mettre corps et ame pour faire avancer le velo a des vitesses affolantes mais mon chien tetu (je pense l'avoir qualifiee ainsi plusieurs fois maintenant) prefere trotter nonchallement quand je l'accroche au traineau ou suit en ski. Parfois, il lui prend l'idee de ne pas bouger du tout.
Mes espoirs misaient sur son instinct de competition, et une fois de plus mon demon poilu m'a prouve que les chien on tout un esprit de course. Ca n'avait plus d'importance ce que je lui demandait de tirer, elle etait la pour aller vite et fort.

The Ottawa fun race is, like the name says it, a race for fun. It was a good one to start. All three, Typhaine, Mark and I, entered. Typhaine and I both went in for the 5km skijor with each our own dog, Sam and Marley. Mark entered the 2 dog sledding race with them.

La "Ottawa fun race" est , comme le nom l'indique, pour le plaisir. C'etait une bonne course pour commencer. Tout les trois, Typhaine,Mark et moi y avons participe. Typhaine et moi avons courru le 5km de skijoring avec nos chien respectifs, Sam et Marley. Mark c'est inscrit a la course en traineau a deux chiens de 2 km.

First race, the 5 km skijor.

La premiere course, le 5km de skijoring.

Step 1: prep my horse. I didn't want any booties on Marley but with the warm temperature an sticky snow I was almost guarantied snowball problems, so after I waxed my skies I greased my dog. The usual vaseline between the toes and baby oil on the rest of her feet hair (as a bonus it makes her smell pretty).

Premiere etape: preparer mon cheval. Je ne voulais pas mettre de bottines a Marley mais avec la temperature chaude et la neige collante j'etais certaine qu'elle aurait des problemes de boules de neige dans le pattes. Apres avoir farte mes skis je me suis donc affaire a graisser mon chien. Comme d'habitude de la vaseline entre les orteils et de l'huile pour bebe sur le reste du poil de ces pieds (en prime ca la fait sentir bon).

Once more I was allocated a lucky number, 56. I won't elaborate on the reasons that make it lucky, I'm certain it is.
The races start in waves with a minute between each competitor, dogs don't always run in good sports and it's wise to avoid contact during a run. With about twenty competitors it makes a fair lineup at the starting gate. We started 4th, I think, Typhaine and Sam ran just after us.

Encore une fois je course avec un numero chanceux, le 56. Je n'elaborerais pas sur les raison qui en font un numero chanceux, mais je suis cerine que 56 l'est.
Les departs sont donnes par vagues separant de une minute chaque equipe, les chiens ne cours pas toujours avec un bon esprit sportif et il est sage d'eviter le contacts durant la course. Avec une vingtaine de competiteurs, ca faisait une longue ligne d'attente au depart. Nous sommes partis 4eme, je crois, Typhaine et Sam sont partis juste apres.

Maybe I should explain the shorts I'm wearing, it's not about style. I've had issues about skijoring harnesses. They tend to slide too high over my hips and I find it affects my balance to much. I tried the climbing harness but it's tight and obstructive. What I really wanted was a harness that would wrap around my butt, just below the iliac bones and pull from there. Unfortunately a harness won't hold there on its own or without any annoying strapping....the ideal would be if the harness just floated on it's own....what if I sewed it into shorts!!! This worked really well for me, the dogs pulling force doesn't affect my balance anymore. For whoever is interested into the harness heres a non sexy butt pic that shows it well. Harness

Peut-etre que je devrais expliquer les shorts que je porte, ce n'est pas pour le style. J'ai des problemes avec les harnais de skijoring. Ils ont tendances a monter trop haut au dessus de mes hanches et je trouve que ca affect trop mon equilibre. J'ai essayeun harnais d'escalade mais c'est trop serre et derangeant. Ce que je voulais vraiment c'estait un harnais qui m'enroberais au niveau des fesse, juste dessous les iliac et me tirereais de la. Malheureusement un harnais ne tiendrai pas bien la sans des sangles au-dessus des hanches...l'ideal serait si le harnais flottait la...et si je le cousait dans un short!!! Ca a tres bien marche, la force du chien n'a plus affecte mon equilibre. Pour ceux qui sont interresse par le harnais voila une photo pas tres exy de mon posterieur. Harnais

Back to the racing. Marley started getting very exited in the line up. Now, that's all relative, Marley doesn't get exited like true sledding dogs, her excitement would be considered really calm beside a husky. Never less, I nice gentleman helped holding her back because when she saw the starting stretch, Marley was ready to go. No need to say my apprehensions all went away, I knew she was going to do her half of the job.
When our turn came, she did a perfect Marley start. She sat at the starting line, with subtle tremors and great expectation to go. Actually, when the timing lady gave me the twenty seconds heads up Marley's bottom came up and she almost went ahead. She gave me a mad look when I told her to hold.
And finally...3..2..1.. Run Marley....Gallop...I just can't ski at the start. The acceleration is just too much and I would trip over my skis, the best I can do is to double poll until Marley reaches her pace. Then we're on for a really nice ride. It's really neat how motivating it is seeing the dog working hard ahead, it pushes me to ski harder. I don't think there any other activity that makes me feel that team bond with Marley better than racing. All along I talk to her, instruct her were to go, ask her to slow down or pull harder and she responds as if her life depended on my commands. On her behalf Marley does take some initiatives, which are usually good. I tripped over some branches on a slightly narrower part of the trail, Marley slowed down right away (without stopping) avoiding me to fall, gave me the "everything ok back there?" look and as soon as I was balanced again she went back to her gallop rhythm. She also seems to know before they are in sight when we are catching up on some other concurrent because she would considerably speed up just before someone would appear ahead. I think Marley is a little competitive.

De retour a la course. Marley commencait a etre exitee en dans la ligne. En fait c'est plutot relatif, Marley ne s'exite pas comme les chien de traineaux, sont etat enerve serait considere calm a cote d'un husky. Neanmoins, un gentil monsieur m'a aide a tenir Marley parce quand elle a vu le droit de depart elle etait prete a partir. Inutile de dire que mes apprehensions sont vite disparues, il etait clair que mon chien allait faire sa pert du travail. Quand notre tour est arrive Marley nous a fait un depart, a sa maniere, parfait. Elle s'est assise a la ligne de depart, avec de legers tremblant et la hate de partir. Quand la dame du chrono m'a donner le "20 secondes avant le depart", le derriere de Marley s'est leve du sol et elle est presque partie. Elle m'a envoyer un regard mauvais quand je lui ai demander d'attendre.
Finalement, 3..2..1..Cours Marley...gallop...Il m'est impossible de skier au depart, Marley va trop vite. L'acceleration est trop vite pour moi et je trebuche dans mes skis, le mieux c'est de garder mes pieds parralleles et de pousser avec mes batons jusqu'a ce qu'elle atteigne sa vitesse de croisiere. Puis on est partis pour une bonne ballade.

Behind us the great Typhaine and Sam team was following, probably at a consistent 1 minute behind considering our arrival times.

This 5 km turned out to not be as painful as I was afraid it could of been considering I haven't skied any more than a grand total of about 4 km this winter. What could of made it a little....slightly (said with irony)....easier is if I hadn't lost half my pole at the first km. What a pain to skate with a single pole. I was going along very well, when just after I give a good push, I bring my hand back up and there's only a handle in left, the pole stayed behind. Quick debate on what to do and I decided to not stop, keep going and rely on my legs. Now, skiing with one pole is just too easy for me (again said with irony), so a little before the last kilometer my right boot came undone. I like to make those precisions as on the pictures of my arrival I look like I may be a little tipsy. I challenge anybody to try skating with one pole, one boot undone and tied up to a dog that's starting to back off as she see's the crowed. Marley still has that issue about running towards an unknown crowed. I can't really blame her, she ran amazingly the whole way, I won't hold against my pup her weariness of groups of noisy cheering people. We ran for fun and had lots of it.

Typhaine arrived a minute and 13 seconds after me. So our times were 13 seconds apart, I was really hopping we would do similar times and we did over a 20 minutes race. We arrived forth (20:06) and fifth (20:19) over 23 runners, I'm really satisfied considering my goal was to do under 25 minutes.

The sister debriefing, talking of our adventures and starting to think of the next race.

Marks race came after lunch. The plan was for Mark to run the 2km 2 dog sled race with two dogs working on different commands (German for one, French for the other) with a newly built and barely tried out sled... An other little detail, and my sister did warn us of it, Sams loyalty is above his love of running and pulling. It wasn't a given that he was going to work well, but Typhaine was curious to see how it was going to work out and Mark was keen to try the two pups.

The start looked awesome, until my sister was out of sight of Sam. Then, he decided to turn around and got tangled with Marley which wasn't about to slow down. Mark didn't give up he got them untangled and kept going. Apparently Sam never really pulled but eventually went with the flow. They had a few other scrambles and Mark had to run in snow for most of the race as Marley alone was working to hard to pull the load.

The last stretch, on the packed snow was the best as Sam started pulling when the arrival and Typhaine came in sight. Mark had to work really hard but he did his loop, we got great picture of his funny team and he got the third place ribbon.

Just I final picture of the site. Not many bouviers running, actually, only one. The Super Nobleair Calypso Marley, the no 1, best of all racing bouviers des flandres.

More photos

Up, up and down, down. The Giant and Rocky Peak climb

A little bit more sun shine would of been welcome, but still, what a gorgeous day was last Sunday.
We left home just before 5 am. We usually try to make a bit of a hike day schedule, just as if we had to catch a tide or race a storm when sailing. For hiking mountains we are just making the best of the limited day light available. This weekend we were only going for a 14 km hike and time wouldn't of been much of an issue if I hadn't been hoping for a bit of shopping time in Lake Placid, so the plan was to be on the trail by 9am and back to the car by 3pm.
We arrived in Keen Valley quite early and since circumstances (full bladders) lead us to a nice little breakfast spot on the side of the road we opted to stop for a tasty, greasy plate... our conscience could afford it.
What a mistake. From our first steps on the trail up to Giant mountain we regretted this so delicious and decadent meal. Our struggling, still sleepy legs had to fight with our so busy digesting stomach for a little bit of blood flow. Never again...now on, we will keep heavy breakfast and hikes for separate occasions.
Anyway, we survived this difficult start and quickly poked out of the taller forest to enter the more mountain like landscape. The trail climbs at a steep rate and we started getting nice views within the first half mile.

Bien qu'un petit peu plus de soleil aurait ete bienvenu Dimanche dernier était une journée splendide.

Nous avons quitte la maison juste avant 5 heure AM. Comme si en mer on avait une marée a attraper ou une tempête a courser, on essaie généralement de se fixer un horaire les jours de randonnée. Pour nos balades en montagne il s'agit de profiter le plus possible de la clarete du jour. Cette fin de semaine on avait que 14km de prévue et le temps n'aurait pas ete un problème si je n'avais pas espère aller faire quelques courses a Lake Placid. Le plan était donc d'être sur le sentier a 9 heure am et de retour a 3 heure pm.

On est arrive a Keen Valley relativement tot dimanche matin et vue que les circonstances (des vessies pleines) nous ont amener dans un agréable petit café sur le bord de la route, nous avons décide de nous arrêter pour un bon déjeuner graisseux....notre conscience pouvait se le permettre.

Quelle erreur. Des nos premiers pas sur le sentier du mont Giant nous avons regrette ce repas délicieux mais décadent. Nos pauvres jambes, toujours engourdis devaient maintenant se battre avec notre estomac pour un petit peu de flot sanguin. Plus jamais....Désormais nous garderons les déjeuners graisseux et le randonnées pour des occasions separees.

Neanmoins, nous avons survecu ce depart difficile et atteint rapidement un terrain de montagne apres avoir parcourrus le premier kilometre en foret. Le sentier du mont Giant a pic des le debut et on commence a avoir de belles vues tres vite.

I say nice views but the truth is that Sunday was rather overcast and the visibility limited, yet a few sun rays did break threw the clouds and add a bit of magic to the sight.
The air was warm (it's all relative) and humid causing favorable conditions for some heavy frost on the vegetation. As we went up, the frost became a crust of ice and the trees eventually started disappearing to become some crystal sculptures. The walk pace started slowing down as with the changing light and the glowing trees, it was just impossible for me to put my camera away.

Je mentionne de belles vues mais la verite c'est que dimanche etait plutot couvert et la visibilite limitee. Les nuages on quand meme laisse passer quelques rayons de soleil pour ajouter un peu de magie aux paysages. L'air chaud (tout est relatif) et l'humidite on permi des conditions favorables pour une gelee sur la vegetation. Avec l'altitude la petite gelee est devenue une croute de glace et eventuellement les arbres ont commence a disparaitre pour laisser la place a des sculptures de crystal. Le rythme de notre marche a ralentit avec le changement de lumiere et les arbre luisants au soleil, c'etait juste trop difficile pour moi de ramasser l'appareil photo.

After an hour of an exposed walk on the ridge we got back into some forest which the ice didn't spare. I sometimes feel bad to find so pretty the harshness of weather on the nature. Isn't it like if someone gained some pleasure from my misery? Never less, I click away.

Apres une heure de marche sur la crete nous sommes entres de nouveau dans une foret que la glace n'avait toutefois pas epargne. Je me sens parfois coupable de touver si jolie cette durete du climat sur la nature. N'est-ce pas comme si quelqu'un prenait plaisir de ma misere? Quoi qu'il en soit, je prends des potos.

At 3500ft, the trees become small again, but are now completely covered with frosty snow. To my food oriented mind it looks like everything has been smeared with a thick sugar glaze.

A 3500pi d'altitude, les arbre redevenaient petits, mais completement couverts de neige givree.

We past the split of the trail to go to Giants summit before coming back to head over to Rocky Peak.

Nous avons passe l'intersection des sentiers pour continuer jusqu'au sommet de Giant avant de retourner sur nos pas et prendre le chemin vers Rocky Peak.

I guess there is no need to say that with our head in the clouds there was absolutely no view to be seen, only a thick white nothing. Wrapped in that silent world of white, I couldn't decide if it was peaceful or wild... it certainly felt somewhat awkward (and cold).

Je suppose que je n'ai pas besoin de preciser qu'avec notre tete dans les nuages il n'y avait pas de vue du sommet, seulement un rien blanc et epais. Englioutis dans un monde de silence blanc, je ne pouvais decider si je me sentais paisible ou angoissee....etrange, pour sur (et froid, certainement)

We didn't stay long at Giants top and quickly left that strange dream world to go for a quick visit to Rocky Peak. That meant going down 800 ft the other side of giant and up 600ft to Rocky's summit. Of course, we then had to back track down 600ft and up 800ft. I really wonder what drives humans to push themselves through such effort...certainly not the views last weekend.

Nous ne sommes pas restes longtemps au sommet de Giant et avons quitte ce monde bizarre pour aller faire coucou au sommet de Rocky Peak. Pour se faire, il nous fallait descendre 800ft (en altitude) de l'autre cote de Giant pour remonter 600 ft vers le sommet de Rocky. Bien sur, pour le retour, ca voulais dire redescendre le 600 ft et remonter le 800ft. Je me demande parfois ce qui ammene les humains a se pousser comme ca ...certainemement pas les vues la semaine derniere.

That would be giants back side and hidden top from the valley between it and Rocky Peak. The problems with mountains, is all that walking up and down, it's a lot of work...don't they have some hiking video game out yet?

Voila l'arrier de Giant et son sommet cache par les nuages vu de la vallee entre celui-ci et Rocky Peak. Le probleme avec les montagnes, c'est toutes les montee et descentes, c'est beaucoup d'effort....n'y a t il pas encore un jeu video de randonneur?

Well we did make it up to Rocky Peak's summit. Mark and Marley poked there noses up and went strait back into the trees, calling me crazy for standing in the wind to take a few shots of the very white world. I call crazy going threw all that effort to get somewhere and not spend a minute to enjoy being.

So no summit view, but no complain. I feel lucky I get to see some of the hidden world, and more so, I get to do it with my best friends.

Bon, on est arrive au sommet de Rocky Peak. Mark et Marley y ont pointes leurs nes et sont redescendus dans les arbres, me prenant pour une folle de rester dans le vents pour y prendre quelques photos d'un monde trop blanc. Moi je prends pour un fou celui qui fait l'effort d'aller quelque part et n'y reste pas plus d'une minute.

Finalement, pas de grandes vues, mais rien pour me plaindre. Je me sens privilegiee d'acceder aux mondes caches de la nature, et encore mieux, j'y vais avec mais meilleurs amis.