Wednesday, October 30, 2019

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Fun "shot from the front" of the happy sled dog trio towing me to the finish of this morning's skijor!
Such a happy trio! Love being towed by these three!
Today's skijor took us up & down Boreas Pass. We were thrilled to find a snow berm at the trailhead preventing cars from driving the pass.  As a result, we found ourselves laying fresh tracks up Boreas in 1/2 to 2 inches of new snow.
Laying fresh tracks up Boreas in about an inch or so of new snow.
We were cruising up the trail as a nice speed when suddenly my partners slammed on the brakes and planted their noses in the snow. What did they find? Well, FRESH moose tracks!!! You have to stop and smell moose tracks!
Two moose footprints behind and to the left of Zorro. All three noses in more moose prints.
I could tell from my partners' intensity that these tracks were FRESH.  By everyone's actions, it was clear the moose had recently come from the trees to our left, crossed the trail and then went up the right shoulder. Zorro was determined to track down this delicious smelling moose!
"Kids - THIS WAY!!!!!" declares Zorro following the trail of moose tracks you see in front of him.
"But they smell sooooo good!" adds the silly kids too distracted by the smell to notice Zorro has
found the path of tracks to follow :)
You can see the tracks go up the trail a short distance before dipping off the trail into the trees to the right. My partners really wanted to dip off the right too. I vetoed that request :)

Eventually it was time to turnaround and head back down. I am becoming convinced that Jack thinks the "turnaround" command means "stop, drop, roll and then turn around" :)
"Turning!" states all business Rudy.
"Um, Jack is clearly confused on this command!" reports Zorro.
"Got it - stop, drop, roll and THEN turn around!" demonstrates goofy Jack.
Jack finally got upright and completed the turnaround. But, then, they all had to wait for the slow human to move his skis around. Come along and watch my "barely patient" trio trying their hardest to wait for me to turn around. Once around I give slack on the gangline and utter a soft "OK" and that is all it takes to launch us down the trail. I have a little trouble getting my ski poles on right; but who needs poles when you have a sled dog trio :)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Closing shot of the day - usually you get incredible views of the Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley from this point on Boreas. But, the resort was barely visible through snow and clouds this morning. Look really close and you can make out some white strips on the mountains across the valley - those are the ski runs of Breckenridge.
Pretty view of the sled dogs. Come back another day for a stunning clear view of the ski resort.

Fun day up/down Boreas with some fresh moose scent for added entertainment: 5.6 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 11 days on the trails covering 62.7 miles with 6350 feet of elevation climbed.

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