Fast to Deep

What a day - we ranged from laying fresh tracks at 20 MPH on popular trails to breaking trail in up to 12 inches of snow on lesser used trails. All in the same day - woo!

Breaking trail in about 8-10 inches at this point, and it kept getting deeper!

We started our day on the very popular Sally Barber Mine Trail. There had been light snowfall overnight, so we were the first tracks of the day on this trail. A light cover of snow on otherwise fast packed trail: that is the recipe for speed, as shown below:

Hitting 20 MPH as we fly along the Sally Barber Mine Trail.

Perfect conditions to unleash the Siberians and GO!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After we finished our sprint up & down the Sally Barber Mine Trail, we hung a right and headed out & up into French Gulch. This trail is also very popular for the first mile or so, but quickly becomes less and less used until finally we found ourselves breaking trail in up to 12 inches of untouched snow! Wheee!

Laying fresh tracks in lower French Gulch. The snow is getting a little deeper, but this is
still a heavily used section of trail.

We are now past the point where the typical cross country skier ventures.
Breaking trail in increasingly deeper snow - fun!

We are now way past the "common trail" and breaking trail in about 12 inches of powder.
A fun Siberian workout!

Time to head back towards the trailhead; but my partners are looking at the untouched
trail in front of us, "Head back down? Why? Look at the beautiful trail this way!" they
both express.

We were originally planning a 8.5 to 9 mile tour today; but breaking trail in 8-12 inches for extended distances really slows us down. No complaints here, we'll take powder over distance any day! Totals for the day: 8.1 miles, 950 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.