A canine-delightful cornucopia of treats welcomed any dog who entered the confines of the forested ravine yesterday. The forest floor was liberally sprinkled with all manner of woody detritus, large and small, from stripped bark to twigs and branches, all beckoning dogs to feast on them. Their presence stood out, stark, dark, against the snow. Irresistible to chewing-addicted dogs who saw the tidbits as their opportunity to indulge ... and indulge. And they did.

The raging wind gusts of 70 kmh the day before had done a bang-up job of sweeping dead (and some very live) organic matter off the forest canopy to litter the snow-steeped ground below. A delectable feast for all those dogs who savour the opportunity to grind their teeth on wood, and most do.  Jackie and Jillie, for example, are always on the lookout for bits and pieces of wood handily fallen onto the ground from the forest. They even love to munch on spruce needles.

So every few steps yesterday as we ascended the long swoop into the forest meant a brief stop as they reconnoitered the generous offerings available to them. There's no point telling them to cease and desist out of concern that they'll end up swallowing sharp pieces of wood; they know what we mean when we advise them to stop, and they may drop something they're currently busy with, but swiftly trundle ahead to pick up another and another and another....

Of course they're not alone in this preoccupation with gnawing, chewing, relishing wood bits. As we progressed along the trails, there was ample evidence of larger dogs' leavings; thick pieces of what once was part of a branch well chewed, often with some of the chewed remnants lying nearby. We came across a lovely young woman up on the flats accessed after a long upward haul, and watched while her young Husky sprawled on the icy surface of the snow in leisure contentment focused on chewing up a good-sized piece of wood.

Jackie and Jillie stood nearby, alert to any opportunities that might fall their way, as the larger dog satisfied his instinct to labour his teeth, allowing them the grace of slipping in to grab a discarded piece now and again. Jackie and Jillie will now have very fond memories of Taz, the generous Husky.

The temperature high for the day was -8C, and there was still enough wind with sufficient force to send its icy fingers across our faces making them piercingly cold. We had decided to take a longer circuit, moving steadily along the trails now in quite good condition with snow packed well over the underlying ice. The day before we had heard quite the crash on another trail that descended into a valley, and in an excess of caution decided to head off onto another trail, avoiding that one.

Yesterday we swerved off onto that avoided trail, curious to see if we would come across a downed tree or even a tree limb which could be matched to the size of the thump we had heard the day before, but as it happened nothing we could see looked out of the ordinary, which is just as well since there are more than enough downed trees in the forest.

As we finally exited our hike for the day we came across little Newton dressed in his winter coat. He lives in a house directly adjacent the ravine entrance. He was only a few metres from his backyard but was already shivering. Unlike Jackie and Jillie, Newton wasn't wearing boots to protect his tender little paws, and it was cold, exacerbated by the wind. So he and his human didn't get very far, before turning around back to the comfort of home and hearth.

By then we could see that Jackie and Jillie after their long walk and consequent exposure were also feeling the cold ... so 'just in time' we got them into their house to warm up and snuggle in the comfort it provided for a nice, well-timed snooze.