In the spring, summer, and fall the fields at Creamer's Field are reserved for the birds. In the wintertime, though, they become a playground for many different activities. Skijoring is one of the popular ones. There are a lot of cross-country skiers here, and also a lot of of sled dogs who love to run. Put the two together and you have a fun activity. The cross-country skier provides power with his skis and poles and the dogs provide additional power by running and pulling.
The skier wears a skijoring harness and the dogs wear a dog sled harness and the two are connected by a rope. There are no reins or other signaling device to control the dogs. The dogs just like to run and respond to their owner's voice for direction.
The dogs in the photos below can hardly wait to get out on the trail.
It's hard to contain yourself when you are so excited.
The skijorers follow a trail that loops around the side field and then around the front field. It's a nice flat trail with no obstacles to dodge, so it's the perfect place for a good run on a sunny afternoon. I took these photos on the same day as several previous posts when it had warmed up above zero after a long stint of 40 below. Yes, it did drop back down again, but it crept back up today to 15 below for a while, but we are looking at nighttime temps to be hitting 40 below for the next week at least.