Work, Sprint, Work

The GPS clocked us at 26 MPH on today's skijor outing!

Ok, so it was really "25.8 MPH" - that's 26 to us!

Our plan was to get to the 2.5 mile "groomed sprint loop" tucked away in the forest. The complicated part of this plan is getting in & out of the loop. It is a backcountry climb & drop to get to the loop and then another backcountry climb & drop to get out of the track. So, a lot of complex skijoring in & out with the reward being a 2.5 mile ZOOOOM in the middle!

The "in route" is a wind-exposed section of trail that found us laying fresh tracks over tons of wind blown drifts:

Climbing over one of the many, many drifts we needed to navigate today.

Zorro trying the high part of a drift wall while Max & I are hiding from the wind below the wall.
Zorro hopped down from his perch as soon as the next wind gust came blasting through.

The reward for navigating the heavy drifts - hitting 26MPH on the "groomed sprint loop". We were flying the entire 2.5 mile loop; but I believe we hit 26MPH during this short clip...

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Done with the sprint loop, so it is time to lay fresh tracks & break trail back to civilization:

Laying fresh tracks as we trot back into the forest.

A little further and now breaking trail in 6-8 inches as we continue the climb out of
the sprint loop and back to the trailheads.

Hard work to get in, fast sprint once there and hard work to get out. What is worth it?

"YES! We love the 'hard work' and we love the 'sprint loop' - fun day!" say the happy
Siberians when I asked "who is having a good time?"

A "work, sprint, work" day covering 7.2 miles with 1300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 26 MPH.

2013/2014 Season to Date: 91 days on the trails covering 773.2 miles with 89,850 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 26 MPH.