Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Zeena, the Amazing Disappearing Husky!

She was quite certain that there was an exciting snack waiting for her deep inside, but despite quite a bit of snuffling & scruffling, she came out empty.

Still, the delay meant Tonttu & Jeff were far ahead, & thus much fun zooming was needed to catch up!

A mostly white hind-end of a fluffy Siberian husky protrudes from a clump of cattail on the edge of a frozen lake.

The same clump of cattails, but with only the tip of a white tail sticking out.

One last shot of the cattail clump with hardly any evidence of canines at all, other than a red-and-black lead line disappearing into it and perhaps a whitish bit of fluff visible through the leaves.

February 7, 2026 at 8:54 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

And one last video of the whole pack in motion. Skijoring can be hazardous when your dogs get distracted!

February 7, 2026 at 8:43 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Tonttu is developing into a good, strong, fast puller... but only for short stretches, when he's behind and catching up. Once he's out front, he starts wandering about and following his nose.

Probably would be a good wheel dog if we had him on a team.

February 7, 2026 at 8:38 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

With warm temps cycling in and out, we ventured out onto Jensen Lake while temps were still below freezing. We hadn't been out on a frozen lake since last winter, but Zeena immediately recognized that this is a FUN place where you get to zoom from one sniff-and-dig spot along the shore to another.

February 7, 2026 at 8:33 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

The perfect photo/icon for a new contact on my phone!

Cropped closeup of Husky face from previous post. It's Scout, a black and white husky, but mostly her white face, icy blue eyes wide in excitement, rounded by black fur outlines, black nose, and muzzle partly opened to show off a couple of lower canine teeth. Her ears are back in play/excitement. She's looking nearly straight at the camera.

February 4, 2026 at 11:14 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Scout had spent the night free in the neighborhood after escaping her home, but now was safely back with her humans. However, the adventure left her coat FULL of burdock burrs! You might see bits of them in the photos, especially the tip of her tail.

Scout leaps after Tonttu, who dodges to the right, his head turned back to keep his attacker in view.

Scout mid attack, launching over Tonttu's shoulders, but one front paw misplaced under his neck. She has a wild look in her face, which is white, accentuating the dark markings around her eyes.

Scout rears up over Tonttu's shoulders in play dominance, paws on his back as Tonttu stands ready for the attack.

Scout dominates Tonttu, who's down on his belly in the snow. She has her muzzle partway open in a playful snarl. Tonttu's ears are back in play submission.

February 4, 2026 at 11:08 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Impromptu Husky Playdate!

Passing our neighborhood tennis courts we noticed Scout, a black and white husky, having some off-leash time inside. Tonttu and Zeena wanted to say hi! Scout's human readily agreed, so everyone got to run around off leash for a bit.

Three huskies on a fenced in tennis court in winter, the nets down and the court covered in snow. Females Zeena and Scout face each other on the left in polite greeting. Zeena's a gray and white Siberian husky and Scout Black with white legs, face and belly. She's also much of the Siberian type. Zeena, the 10 year-old elder has her tail over her back in polite dominance, while Scout, 5 years old, has a bit of tongue out, likely as a symbol of respect to her elder. To the right, Tonttu, a more lanky husky with mixed heritage looks at the camera with an open-muzzle smile that indicates he's having a good time. He's been enjoying more rough-and-tumble play with Scout.

February 4, 2026 at 10:58 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

The open prairie trail was solid, wind-blown ice, but at least there was snowy grass on the side with plenty of glide. Huskies enjoyed a lot of mousing. The final curving descent was fast & scary! Zeena barely kept ahead of the skis., but we all survived to skijor another day.

#Huskies #Skijoring

Skijorers Jeff and Tonttu ascend a low rise on a snowy prairie, staying to the left of a slab of ice created by winter hikers following a trail in the snow. Meanwhile, Zeena leads the photographer up the right side.

Skijorers Tonttu and Jeff stride across a snowy prairie, with a line of trees on the far horizon. They're under a clear blue winter sky.

Husky Tonttu leads the photographer down a well-trampled winter hiking trail, curving around trees on the right. Up ahead on a slight rise, Skijorers Dale and Zeena stride down a low slope of a hill, towards a wooded area to the right around the corner.

Skijorers Dale and Zeena approach the photographer on a snowy winter trail through grassland and woods. The trail is well traveled by hikers and snow-shoers, and now skiers. Zeena pauses to look back at a dead mouse in the snow.

February 3, 2026 at 2:40 AM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Back on the snow today! We second-guessed our plans to go further west & instead stuck to the more local Murphy Hanrehan horse/pet trails. It was heavily trampled, but good enough to ski.

Here, Tonttu and Jeff go off-trail for a straight, if lumpy, descent against a clear sky.

#Huskies #Skijoring

A skier and a husky descend a long low slope along the horizon on a sunny winter day. The two are silhouetted against a clear blue sky with a swath of white cloud low on the horizon behind them. They are distant, against the sky, with tussocks emerging from the snow in the foreground to give scale.

February 3, 2026 at 2:27 AM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

We even spotted some of @runmuppyrun.bsky.social 's long-haired distant cousins running the ice on the Mississippi! While their human was confident of the ice thickness, we were happy to stick to snow on land. The main river had open spots and big pressure cracks that we were happy to avoid.

February 1, 2026 at 11:43 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Tonttu was of course his noble and regal self!

#Huskies

Tonttu rolls in the snow on the beach at the point of Pike Island, while his skiing partner human watches on in amusement. Tonttu is on his back, rear legs pointing straight out into the air towards the right, front legs curled up to his chest, and big cheesy smile on his face, his blue eyes visible through a cloud of snow that his flailing has turned up.

More of Tonttu rolling in the snow, this time lying on his left side, face a moment of derpyness as snow continues to fly around his nose.

Tonttu has arisen! He's starting to shake off the snow, tail high, ears flopping slightly as he thrusts his muzzle up towards the sky.

And one last bit of shaking for Tonttu, his head turned sideways, ears still flopping about, and his back and coat a series of disorganized ripples from the shaking.

February 1, 2026 at 11:31 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Action shot! (Of a sort)

The trail was flat and wide, allowing us to pace/race each other side-by-side for much of the way, which we don't often get to do. There wasn't any particularly better track to follow, so we made our own.

#Huskies #Skijoring

February 1, 2026 at 11:20 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Finally Fresh Snow!

It wasn't much more than an inch, but it was enough to give us good glide and control on the icy base. Everyone enjoyed a chance to get moving faster than a hiking pace, and the huskies had fun "hunting" mouses and deer along the way.

#Huskies #Skijoring

Skijoring on the sandy point of Pike Island, where the frozen Mississippi River, seen in the back and on the right, meets the Minnesota River, out of sight on the left and behind the photographer. Jeff, dressed in dark, warm winter gear, skis with Tonttu a somewhat wolfish Siberian-Alaskan husky. Zeena, a fluffy white and gray Siberian husky skijors with the photographer, attached by a red lead. The dogs look at something offscreen to the left, while Jeff adjusts Tonttu's lead with his pole.

February 1, 2026 at 11:15 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Car battery was dead from the cold, so we had to alter our hiking plans yesterday to just a walk around the local lake.

Not the change of scenery we'd been looking forward to, but at least the huskies got some enrichment!

January 25, 2026 at 3:08 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

It's snowing, but it's also blowing, and the ground is ice, so there's nothing for the new snow to stick to!

Thankfully, anti-ice preparations kept us safe on today's walk.

January 16, 2026 at 11:02 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

We did a LOT of this on our first skijoring trip of the winter, just to clear the trail. Usually, just one tap of a pole and the tree would spring out of the way, but the only good video we got was this.

(The slo-mo was unintentional but happened to work out pretty well, if you're patient for it!)

January 10, 2026 at 10:45 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Zeena is not a counter surfer.

But if a house guest happens to pull half a lasagna off the counter onto the floor, she is not above helping to cover up the crime!

Zeena, the fluffy gray and white Siberian husky sits in the snow facing the left, eyes closed against a light breeze and flurries. There are tomato orange spots at the corner of her mouth and cheek ruff. She looks somewhat contrite, but don't believe it!

December 31, 2025 at 6:58 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Husky shapes in motion.

December 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM

Paws2Trail

@paws2trail.bsky.social

Part of our home remains in December, 2024, with Flame's gentle smile greeting you as you pass by.

We never got around to purchasing a calendar for 2025. And, honestly, we didn't look forward to what January 2025 was going to bring. So we left Flame up. And she stayed up, all year!