The Gondy Ride

Winter has met Winter at Mammoth Mountain, California. On Christmas Day, I turned 10 months old, and my puppy raisers decided to spend the Holiday in the snow.

I've never been in the snow before. There are so many different textures for my puppy paws to experience. There was soft snow, crunchy snow, ice, salt pebbles, asphalt crumbles, dirt,,,,,all of these textures are good for my paws, because it toughens the pads up. When I go "In For Training", I should have some awesome tough paws to train with.

After every walk, I would get a little mini spa for my paws. They would get washed and checked for any injury. With the ice, it's possible to cut a paw pad, and little pebble could get stuck in between my pads too. My little big paws got burrrrry chilly, but the nice warm water bath after my walks was super duper nice. I was in no hurry to get out!

Today I got to ride the "Gondy", aka Gondola! But first, to reach the Gondola I had to walk about a 1/4 of a mile very, very gingerly for my handler. The last thing I wanted to do was take her down. The snow and ice is very slippery for her, not so much for me. I have claws ;-)

We got up to the Gondy and it said NO DOGS. Hahahaha. Fortunately for me, I was dressed and ready to work. I sat and watched the Gondy cars go by for a few, before I decided to get on one. I was curious how this contraption worked. I've been on many car rides before, not one in the air!

I walked right up to the Gondy car and hurried on, with a little jump and I was in! Now what? Hmmmmmm. Not too sure about this. We are all sitting in a circle looking at each other, and uhoh, zoom,,,,,,there goes the gondola. We are in the air! Climbing, getting higher. The ground beneath me feels funny. My handler had me jump up on the seat so I could see out. Wow, what a view.

Now we are getting closer to the Lodge where we have to get off. A few bumps later and we are at load-out. The door opens and out I go. And the crowd goes wild. "AWE". "Mommy, look a puppy and he has clothes on." "What's his name?" ..."Winter" AWE!!

I had a really great time escorting my puppy raiser, Tina, to the hill and back home. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow. She said she would take me to the top of the mountain, over 11,000 feet on the Gondy if I get used to it. We'll see.