Travels & Adventures with three Siberian Huskies
(quick links to each adventure)
3 nights at Chatuge Lake
April 3
A warm afternoon walk across the Chatuge dam.
Early morning on Chatuge Lake …
We’re waking up late today. The old man is moving at a 3 legged armadillos pace. It’s almost 8:30. Breakfast hasn’t been started. The suns not having an easy time poking through the clouds. Even the geese sound weary.
A fisherman on the lake is just drifting aimlessly as if even his boat doesn’t want to wake up this morning. Other than the haunting call of a solitary loon echoing across the lake and the occasional squawk of the geese, all is quiet and peaceful. The morning belongs to the sleepy; almost as if everything on the lake – even the lake itself has agreed to sleep late today.
The girls are looking at me for their breakfast. I told them breakfast is going to be late this morning. If you have a problem with that call your lawyer. Ravyn picked her sleepy face up to me and said, “That’s ok old man, we’re happy to just sit here together and just chill.” Even Canela is sitting against the screen door quietly watching the lake sleep late.
April 2
This is our second night on Chatuge Lake and Canela’s first trip in the Punkhuskies camper. Yesterday, our first trip this year was an absolutely gorgeous day. We arrived just after lunch to sunny skies, warm breezes off the lake and no one else was here, except for the camp hosts. Today was their first day of opening for the 2025 season.
This morning we woke up early to a beautiful morning sky. The lake was calm and the geese were already squawking.
We all had a fairly good nights sleep considering there were two huskies and an old man in the small camper bed with one more husky in her bed on the floor. It took some maneuvering at first for each of us to figure out the best way we could all fit in the bed. At one point Canela decided she would just sleep on top of me spread out over half the bed. It took some effort to get her to move off of me. She finally did and we all eventually settled into comfortable spots in the bed and we all drifted off to a peaceful nights sleep.
When I woke up I couldn’t find Ravyn. She was not in her bed or anywhere in the camper. I started to panic. The camper door was shut so she had to be somewhere in the camper! Then I noticed in a very small space alongside the bed I thought I saw a tiny white paw sticking out of the darkness. I got a light and put it on the floor near the space and there impossibly tucked away in the space was Ravyn. I have no idea how she was able to get into the space and was concerned if she would be able to get out. A few minutes later she walked into the kitchen so all was fine again.
The really nice thing about this trip was it is Canela’s first camper trip with the 3 of us. I was very concerned if Canela woubld be ok in the camper and if the 3 of them would get along in such a small space as the camper. But as it turned out the 3 of them got along perfectly. I was amazed at how well they did get along and how well Canela took to cramped camper life.
Ravyn loves to sit outside and watch all the goings on around the place. Especially when there are small groups of geese swimming in the lake just off of the camper space.
I’m still amazed that the 3 of them are getting along so well considering that Canela has only been with us for less than 2 months. But then Canela has a very loving, kind and giving personality. She is filled with energy, happiness and a joy to be with the 3 of us and the 3 of us couldn’t be any more lucky to have found Canela. The husky gods along with Canela’s ‘mom’ worked a miracle in placing Canela here with Cabela, Ravyn and the old man. The 3 of us absolutely love Canela and she seems to feel the same way about us.
Every once in a while I notice Canela gazing off into a distant place and I know she is probably remembering her previous family and thinking about them. I know she probably misses them but then Cabela or Ravyn pops up near her and reminds her that she is also loved by her new family too.
Good night Cabela. Good night Ravyn. Good night Canela.
Good night old man…..
March 23 – A day at the North Carolina Arboretum
Today we took a day trip to the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the arboretum was bustling with folks out for a Sunday walk. This was Canela’s first visit to the arboretum and she had a great time. Probably half the folks walking around had their dogs with them and Canela wanted to play with every one of them.
We spent most of our visit exploring the Bent Creek Road trail which travels alongside the Creekside trail which runs along Bent Creek. The trail was beautiful and we met a lot of very friendly folks with their dogs. Though we had to keep a safe distance as Canela gets very hyper with other dogs and I never want to risk an altercation with someone else’s dog.
Most of my day was keeping myself from getting totally tangled in leashes, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching Cabela, Ravyn and Canela’s excitement exploring all the trails.
All in all it was a beautiful spring day and a great time was had by all.
March 11 – a walk along the Oconalufte River trail.
One of the trails that Cabela and Ravyn have always enjoyed taking is the Oconalufte River trail from Cherokee to the Oconalufte visitors center in the Great Smokey Mountains. We usually park at the Cherokee visitors center just before the park entrance. The trail starts right across the street and goes for 1 1/2 miles to the visitor center. It runs right alongside the Oconalufte River which flows from the Smokey Mountains towards Cherokee. –
The day was supposed to be up near 70 degrees, so we all piled into the truck and headed to Cherokee just outside the Smokey Mountain National Park. We took the 3 mile round trip walk up to the Oconaluftee Visitors Center. It turned into an absolutely beautiful day. The first chance Ravyn got she strolled into the Oconaluftee River. The day was so nice that even Cabela hopped into the river and splashed around.
A little ways further up the trail we came across a group of elk lounging in the woods on the side of the trail.
We ended up sitting on the visitors center porch in the warm sunlight watching out over field and river. It was truly a real nice day after such a frigidly cold January. Ravyn kept stopping and sitting on the trail enjoying the warm sunshine and taking in all the smells and sights.
Cabela, Ravyn and Canela always enjoy meeting other people and never tire of hearing the compliments of how really well behaved they are. It was always nice for me to see the smiles on their faces as they met other people, until I started to notice the smiles on other peoples faces who stopped to meet the girls. Cabela, Ravyn and Canela always seem to be great ambassadors of good will to the Husky breed.
A morning walk with our neighbors –
Our awesome neighbor with she and her husband’s dogs (Baloo & Button) with Cabela & Ravyn.
For the first time in almost a month, the temperature has been above freezing. So we decided to do a group walk with our neighbors Baloo, Button and Diane…
At home with Cabela and Ravyn
January 10 brought the first winter’s snowfall to the mountains of western North Carolina – six inches of beautiful white slippery powder. Cabela and Ravyn were both sitting by the door gazing impatiently out at the layer of white powder that had blanketed the forest floor. When the old man finally got ready, “geeeesh old man!!! ….what’s with all the layers of clothes?” “Hey! I don’t have the fur you girls have”, the three of us bounded out the door and off they went, dragging me behind.
It wasn’t but 5 minutes out and Ravyn already had her face buried in the snow searching for whatever was moving below the white surface.
Her head popping up with icy snow stuck to face and a wonderfully content smile. One thing huskies love is digging for anything living small enough to chase. Mostly moles burrowing underneath the powdery surface.
Cabela was having fun maneuvering through the tangles of grape vines along the edge of the trail.
We continued up the trail along the edge of the National Forest Service property, me hanging on for dear life hoping they would not pull me down the steep slope. I have always loved watching the two of them maneuver the narrow trails side by side.
We reached the far corner of the property and stopped a while to enjoy the view. Cabela sat for a while in the snow while Ravyn did her usual digging for anything that moved.
We had a really great walk in the woods on the first snowy day of the year. It always puts a huge smile on my face to watch Cabela and Ravyn running and jumping and playing in the snow. It’s even better when we get to meet my neighbor on the trails with her dog Baloo (an Aussie) and her husband’s dog Button (a Pomeranian). At first there were a lot of growls and lunging, but after several walks the four of them have gotten along very well and are cautiously playful together.
An overnight trip to Asheville
The last couple of days of the year we took Cabela and Ravyn to Asheville for an overnight trip. We wanted to see the Christmas lights at the North Carolina Arboretum. Though dogs were not allowed to enter the actual Christmas exhibit of lights, I did walk them around the perimeter that still had a pretty impressive display of lights.
I was pretty impressed with the display of lights. It was hard to believe that anyone could actually put something like this together. Lucky for us it was a delightfully mild evening out. Fairly crowded but still able to get around to all the displays. I was kinda sad that the dogs were not allowed to wander around with us. I know they would have really enjoyed it. The arboretum is generally a very dog friendly place and Cabela and Ravyn have been to it several times, so I could not get too worked up about it so I made sure they had a good walk around the perimeter.
We booked a room at the Hilton Biltmore Park hotel in the Baltimore Plaza for the 4 of us (my brother was with us). The Hilton is a pretty fancy place but they actually allow you to bring dogs to stay with them which I was pretty impressed about. Of all the places we have been, Asheville is on of the most dog friendly places to visit.
My brother rushed up to the room so he could get first pick of the two beds before Cabela rushed into the room and took the one she wanted. Quickly we all settled into the room. Cabela took her spot on the bed and Ravyn wanted to see what was on TV. This was the first time Cabela and Ravyn stayed at a fancy hotel which they seemed to like, except when it was time to go out and pee. We had to take an elevator down to the lobby which they did not like one bit!!!!!
At 3:00 AM they decided they had to go out and pee. Both of them!! At 3:05 we were standing in front of the elevator door, Cabela refusing to get on the elevator. As the elevator door kept opening and closing they kept running out of the elevator refusing to take it to the lobby. So off we went around the halls to find the stairs. But Cabela decided she didn’t want to pee that bad that she needed to walk down this creepy stairwell. After convincing her that she needed to walk down we went out the door only to end up in the basement with all the washing machines, maintenance rooms and boiler rooms. We took a tour of the basement trying to find the exit door. When finally we found our way out onto the street both Cabela and Ravyn realized they needed to pee really bad. The first shrub we came to worked just fine for them.
So at 3:30 AM we decided to walk around Biltmore Plaza with all its high end stores and beautifully manicure streets. The only one out at this time was a lone security guard who looked at us and decided he was better off to just drive away and not tangle with two freshly peed huskies.
In the morning the old man got his wish and got to go to Another Broken Egg for a deluxe breakfast. A fine payoff for a night of little sleep.
After breakfast we headed over to Barnes & Noble bookstores where Cabela just started to get all excited…. WOW!! Look at all these books I could eat!! (Cabela has eaten several of my books when she gets mad at me.). After that my brother decided it was time for him to drive back home to South Carolina as the 3 of us went off to REI outdoor store.
My hats off to the staff of the Hilton Biltmore Park in the Biltmore Plaza in Asheville. They do an awesome job there, are very pet friendly and have super nice accommodations. When we went to check out in the morning Cabela and Ravyn jumped into the elevator and as we descended to the lobby Ravyn looked at Cabela as if to say, “Cabela, isn’t this much better than taking the stairs?”