Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What Weather Alert?

After powering through 40-50mph wind gusts and the
occasional wind-made snow drifts, Max exclaims, "Never
been so hot, must roll in the snow to cool off!
"
It was around 15 degrees when we left the trailhead this morning and we were heading up into terrain currently under a "high wind warning". Yes, we had the occasional 40-50 mph head on gusts to power through; but take a look at the picture to the left. Max needed to douse his body in snow at our midpoint on the trail - "Never been so hot!" he thought...

It is really fun to watch Max & Zorro take on the challenge of head on wind gusts. They both lower their heads a bit, lower their bodies a bit and power forward - never a thought of stopping because of the wind, just an obstacle to power through. I, on the other hand, am cowering in my wind proof coat and ride out the gusts via Siberian power.

We did our "Shrine Pass Route" at the Vail Pass Recreation Area today: (1) From the Vail Pass trailhead, skijor out & up Shrine Pass (constant wind with 40-50 mph gusts); (2) Skijor across Shrine Pass through heavy winds and gusts; (3) Dip into a more heavily wooded section of trail and get a slight break from the winds; (4) Take a break at the Turkey Creek/Lime Creek trail junctions; (5) Repeat the same route back. Weather Alert, Shmeather Alert - it was just some extra wind to challenge the Siberian muscles - piece of cake ;-)

Vital Stats: 8.1 miles; 93m total time; 86m skijoring time; 21 MPH top speed, 1350 feet of elevation climbed.

More "Max Snow Angels" to cool off at our midpoint.
Zorro is not as into snow angels as Max. Instead, his "cool off" tactic is to gulp
snow by the gallons - send freezing water down his pipes to cool his jets. Look
closely in this picture, Zorro is chomping down on some snow.
One of the nice after effects of doing snow angels - your head is covered in
snow once you are done. Max looks quite content and happy with his snow head!
Another favorite activity at our "break point" - hop off the trail and dig & dive
into deep, deep snow!
Max takes over Zorro's "snow hole" from the previous shot while Zorro starts
and investigates a new hole in the snow.
The threat of storms were all around us today; but nothing other than big
wind gusts materialized while we were out & about.

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