Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Join Them

Zorro finally gave in... If you can't beat them:
At our turnaround point of the morning and the kids doing their usual "stop, drop & roll"
as Zorro looks on.
Join them:
Turned around and the kids start rolling angels again. But, wait, what's this? Zorro rolling a snow
angel too. Look at his head buried as he rolls.
"You amateurs, I've been rolling angels since before you were born! Just watch!" demonstrates
veteran Zorro.
"Hey cool big bro - nice face dunk with your roll!' says onlooking Rudy just finishing his own angel.
"Face plant, huh? Ok!" adds Jack.
Zorro has been known to roll a snow angel now & then; but nothing like the frequency at which Jack & Rudy do it (i.e., EVERY outing). But today Zorro gave in and showed the kids how it's really done. If you can't beat them,  join them :)

We skijored the upper elevation trails of Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. So beautiful up high:
Great view of flying Zorro on the left, hovering Jack in the middle and trucking Rudy to
the right. Oh yeah, nice views of the snow covered Rocky Mountains too :)
It was a gorgeous bluebird morning to get out on the trails. Today's video highlight has us flying past Kathy's Viewpoint warming hut and then flying, flying, flying along the fast trail. Fun to watch how Zorro & Rudy got into a synchronized groove running shoulder-to-shoulder on the hard packed center of the trail while powder Jack flirted in the soft & untouched corduroy shoulder most of the way.
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Another fun shot from the morning. I love the shadow of the taut gangline as we come around a left bend in the trail.
Beautiful morning, beautiful skijor cruising!
Some well-earned end of run treats this morning from a fast & fun skijor:
"You have our FULL attention!" says the focused trio.
It's not unheard of to get a snow angel from Zorro; but it is a rare treat. An "if you can't beat them, join them" outing with Zorro this morning: 6.3 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 21 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 55 days on the trails covering 374.0 miles with 36,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Oops

Slow? Huh, what does that mean :)
Flying by a "slow sign" on the trail. Zorro, Jack & Rudy may be smart, but they
do not speak "slow" :)
We had such fun skijoring amongst the dog sled teams from Good Times Adventures for my birthday on Friday that we returned to the same trails for Rudy's 2nd birthday this morning! Happy Birthday to 2 year old Rudy!

Similar to Friday, we cruised around the trails flirting with the dog sled teams from a close but comfortable distance.
Cruising along one trail with a paused team on a nearby trail to the right. You can see the
dark red lead dog of the paused team to our right.
After lots of fun flirting and passings on wide trails, we encountered a team paused on a somewhat narrow trail. I collected my partners on a shortened gangline, instructed them to move over to the left and was prepared for a perfect albeit close on by...
Everyone nicely over the left we me as we can make it by easily IF the paused team
stays on their side of the trail. 
Well, oops, as we started to pass by, the team got too excited and moved across the trail until they were eventually in front of us.
We are trying to continue on by but that happy red guy in front of Zorro and the two
behind him are getting very frisky...
Well, come along for the video outcome of the prior photo. We are almost "on by" the team when at about 25 seconds into the clip and the red guy and 2 behind him from the photo above move completely across the trail to the point that we cannot continue. Oops.... After exchanging a few pleasantries, I get Jack and then Zorro and finally Rudy to leave the accidental party and continue on the trail. No fault to Zorro, Jack or Rudy for today's oops - as you see they were perfectly willing and able to pass by closely until the team moves across trail and blocks our way. Oh well, a good "things don't always go as planned" lesson for Rudy :)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

End of the morning's fun run and preparing for end of run treats, kind of:
"Ready!" says front & center Jack.
"Coming, ready too!" adds happy approaching Zorro.
"Wait, need to roll in the snow first!' demonstrates comedian Rudy.
Despite one short "oops encounter", it was a very fun birthday party for young Rudy this morning: 7.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 54 days on the trails covering 367.7 miles with 35,300 feet of elevation climbed.

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Crest-n-Go

Fun shot of the happy kids at a momentary pause on the trail this morning:
"We LOVE skijoring - so happy!!!!" declares the happy pair.
We had a big outing with Zorro yesterday and another planned for tomorrow; so today we gave him most of the day off while I skijored Sally Barber and French Gulch with Jack & Rudy before adding Zorro in the team to end the day.

Nice shot of Sally Barber Mine as we crest on the trail before heading down the other side:
Zipping by the historic old mine.
Today's video highlight goes along with the prior photo. Come along as we crest at the mine and then take off down the other side. Perfect conditions to really open up the skijoring engine! Wheeee!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After going up/over/down Sally Barber, it was time for an out & back in French Gulch. The lower section of the trail as hard packed with a trace of new snow; but the upper section of the trail was untouched snow - laying fresh tracks in 3ish inches of untouched snow far out in the gulch:
Untouched snow all to ourselves - freshies!!!
Since we did an out & back in French Gulch, eventually we had to turn around. Well, you guessed it...
Turning around means stopping, stopping means rolling!
"Rub a dub dub!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"Hey - nice form!" says Rudy to Jack as he just finished rolling his snow angel
to then watch Jack roll his.
Finally, we met up with Nancy & Zorro to add cool old guy into the team for a short & fast finish. Love the happy faces on the sprinting trio below:
"Hi Mom!!!!" says Rudy flashing Nancy a glance as we sprint on by.
"Wheeee - fun finish!" adds happy Zorro.
"Trucking!" declares happy Jack in the middle.
With Zorro along, we skijored by Nancy, then through the French Gulch winter gate and finally did a mini sprint down French Gulch Road for a short distance before stopping for the day:
Airborne Zorro & Jack next to sprinting Rudy as we add a "road sprint" down French
Gulch Road to end the day.
Great exercise for the youngsters today with a restful day for Zorro in between two big days: 9.2 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 53 days on the trails covering 360.5 miles with 34,700 feet of elevation climbed.

Friday, December 27, 2019

Perfect

For my birthday today, Zorro, Jack & Rudy gave me a perfect day interacting with the dog sled teams on the trails from Good Times Adventures!
Flying by a stopped team to our right. This is an 8 dog team to our right (in pairs of two).
Look closely and you should be able to see 6 of the 8 dogs watching us :)
Today was young Rudy's first time encountering the teams from Good Times on the trails. He did an amazing job keeping under control and listening to his brothers and me about how to behave! Way to go Rudy!!!

Here we are approaching a team stopped on the trail as we prepare to go on by. I have shortened the gangline for safety, but it wasn't really necessary as my perfect partners flew on by!
On the approach with first time Rudy on the inside! Wow!
Continuation from the prior photo and we here we are executing a perfect on by pass:
Way to go Zorro, Jack and Rudy! Especially young Rudy!!!
You can see some of the paused dogs jumping (and talking) as we go by.
Past the stopped team and a final glance from Rudy as we open up the throttle to continue along the trail:
"Bye friends - that was fun!!!!" says cute Rudy.
Today's video highlight puts together the prior three photos plus more. We start out flying along the trail by ourselves until I notice a team on the trail to the right of us coming along too. Their trail and our trail are about to intersect so I stop until you see the musher appear around the corner and wave us on since the team is stopped. This was perfect as I had reliable Jack on the inside to approach and pass the team. Pass we do and then, moments later, we come upon another stopped team on the left shoulder. I did not plan on young Rudy being on the inside for his first visit with the teams from Good Times, but this is how we found ourselves. So, I simply shorten the gangline and give some encouragement as we execute a perfect pass with Rudy on the inside!!!! WOW!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

More fun from the morning as we are stopped on a side trail watching a team go along the main trail. As you can see by Zorro, Jack & Rudy's posture, I am about to let them go as we play chase with the team in front of us :)
"Ready!!! Let's GO!" says the intensely focused trio.
Finally, happy boys coming the the end of a very entertaining day on the trails with lots of dog sled teams to interact with!
"Now that's how you throw a birthday party!" declares my sled dog trio.
A fun, flirtatious and perfect day on the trails for my birthday: 7.3 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 52 days on the trails covering 351.3 miles with 34,000 feet of elevation climbed.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Moose Meadow

Good thing we all like each other as our noses are almost touching as we await 'end of run' treats this morning :)
Everybody happy and in tight awaiting the treats to come out!
We gave Zorro most of the day off this morning to let him rest. I took Jack & Rudy to terrain they have never skijored before. We started off laying fresh tracks for over 4 miles:
3+ inches fresh snow all to ourselves in an untouched winter wonderland of snow.
Our goal was to get to a place I refer to as moose meadow. I have never been skijoring to this meadow without Max or Zorro; but they two of them always loved to reach this point. It is regularly full of the scent, prints and occasional sighting of moose - thus moose meadow. As I said, the last time I skijored to this meadow was with Max & Zorro. After Max passed unexpectedly, this was too far a skijor for solo Zorro and then it was too far for young Jack & Rudy. Well, Jack & Rudy can now make it to this meadow but, unfortunately, it is too much for Zorro to do at his age. I had a great time introducing Jack & Rudy to moose meadow, but it was still a bittersweet event for me. Here we come, exiting the dense forest and dropping into moose meadow. As you can see across the meadow, this habitat is surrounded by dense trees - a magical moose meadow in the middle of the forest!
Cruising along as we drop into Moose Meadow.
What did Jack & Rudy think of moose meadow? Well, they missed the point at first and thought we were in rodent meadow ;)
"Great meadow, I sense rodents under the snow - DUNK!" demonstrates silly Jack.
"I agree - rodents galore! Incoming!!!!!" performs swan diving Rudy.
After searching for rodents, Jack's head popped up and his focus was taken across the meadow. Yes, moose!!!!! Jack's moose sensor has developed into a very accurate device. Rudy's is still coming along. I knew by Jack's intensity that he was locked on moose. By the time I spun around with the camera, all I saw was a big moose butt disappearing into the trees.
"Whoa - forget the rodents, I smell and see MOOSE!" declares moose detector Jack.
"What? Where? Why do I always miss it?!?" asks young and still a moose amateur Rudy.
I am not sure if Rudy saw the moose or not; but Jack definitely did. The torch has now been passed and Max & Zorro's moose meadow is now Jack's moose meadow with Rudy almost there.

Done with the meadow and time to head back the way we came. How about this for a postcard picture of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley with pretty sled dogs in the foreground?
Postcard shot.
I love today's video highlight of maturing Jack & Rudy. Come along as we are flying along a straightaway until we approach a tight right. I use my right ski to snowplow a moment to slow everyone down as we enter the turn. I do not need to say a thing to Jack & Rudy as they use the "feel" to automagically slow down until they feel my skis back in "fast mode" when we exit the turn and open up the throttle again. Skijoring by feel without the needs for verbal commands - perfect!!!!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Nearing the end and we added Zorro in the team for a fast and fun sprint to the finish - wheeee!
Happy, happy boys towing me quickly to the finish!
A very entertaining and impressive skijor from young Jack & Rudy but also a bittersweet day to visit moose meadow without Max or Zorro for the first time ever: 9.1 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 18 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 51 days on the trails covering 344.0 miles with 33,400 feet of elevation climbed.

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the right jolly old elves (Zorro & me) and the right jolly young elves (Jack & Rudy) on the trail this morning!
"Ho, ho, ho!" says Rudy.
"Wheeee - Merry Christmas!" says Zorro, Jack and myself.
Note the Santa hat I am sporting on my head :)
We got everything we wanted for Christmas on the trails at Gold Run Nordic Center this morning.

We got a synchronized hover husky trio flying along the perfect groomed terrain:
All three airborne as we hover along the trail!
Jack and Rudy got to roll snow angels at every pause on the trail:
"Rub a dub dub!" demonstrates the silly kids.
"Goofballs!' declares onlooking Zorro.
Silly Jack & Rudy got to dig and search for rodents in the snow!
"Dunk!" performs Jack.
"Incoming!" declares Rudy - not his best rodent swan dive; but still a dive :)
"I'm going to check if they really got anything!' adds Zorro.
We got to entertain and put smiles on all the people we encountered on the trails:
"Hi, bye - made you smile!" says the performing trio.
We got to top 23 MPH skijoring the fast terrain. Come along and watch as we are flying along the recently groomed upper trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. This is the second time this week that elder Zorro has topped 23 MPH skijoring this section of trail (23 today and 24.8 a few days ago). He is really getting into the groomie zoomie this season!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

We got 'end of run' treats from festively clad dad:
"Merry Christmas - now dish them out!" says the happy & focused trio.
Merry Christmas to all from the three happiest sled dogs around! 6.6 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 50 days on the trails covering 334.9 miles with 32,500 feet of elevation climbed.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Entertaining

The snow angel twins doing their usual at turnaround time while we get a nice view of Breckenridge Ski Resort across the valley.
"You may have stopped for the view, we stopped to roll snow angels!" declares the snow
angel twins Jack & Rudy.
We had a very entertaining skijor this morning. We did a split run where I took out young Jack & Rudy first before adding Zorro for the second half of the outing.

The youngsters & I skijored up & down Prospect Hill, taking in the nice views of the ski resort you see above. After finishing Prospect Hill, we were to meet up with Nancy & Zorro at a nearby but different trailhead. The plan was to skijor the shoulder snow of the road connecting the two trailheads. But, to our delight, we found a snowmobile track on the shoulder to use. It was pretty interesting and entertaining to be on a perfect track next to a plowed, paved and often exposed road!
Perfect track on the shoulder while the road is thin & dangerous to our left!
Today's video highlight is the shoulder snowmobile track. Come along as we glide along this perfect path while being so close to a plowed & paved road! Fun end of the video as we meet up with Zorro & Nancy and my perfect youngsters slow to get me over the road to Zorro safely!
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Once we added Zorro, it was time to get a proper "view shot" of the ski resort (instead of the comical view shot at the top of today's blog :)
Zorro keeping the kids in line as we skijor taking in the views instead of rolling
snow angels :)
Nearing the end of the morning run and look at the happy & curious trio:
"Hi!" says the trio glancing at Nancy as we go by.
Why such curiosity? Well, we had some friends in town this morning and they came along with Nancy to meet us at the end of the day's run. None of Zorro, Jack or Rudy had met these friends before, so imagine their curiosity at the two strangers with mom!
"Hi mom - but who are the guests?!?" asks the curious trio.
Pretty impressive, though, that they were able to maintain focus and skijor on by even
though Nancy was with two strangers!
End of the run and time to meet the guests then pose for a group photo:
"Hello sir, who are you? Why are you taking my picture?" asks ultra curious Rudy.
"I'll pose for ANYONE!" says mellow Jack.
"Do you have treats?" asks curious Zorro :)
A very entertaining split run this morning with unique terrain for Jack & Rudy and the surprise guests for Zorro, Jack & Rudy: 7.7 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 49 days on the trails covering 328.3 miles with 31,800 feet of elevation climbed.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Rec Path

Skijoring the Blue River Recreation Path from Breckenridge to Frisco - wheeee!
Nice shot of the fast & fun trio towing me along the rec path.
The rec path is a paved trail for cycling between the towns of Breckenridge and Frisco in Spring, Summer and Fall. But, in winter it is transformed into a groomed ski trail between Breckenridge and Frisco. The path follows the shores of the Blue River between the two towns. Along the way you get the unique experience of skijoring on bridges crossing over the river.
Crossing the Blue River as we skijor a bridge - a unique experience we do not get on any
other trails!
The rec path does intersect with many road crossings along the way. Time to pause, take off the skis and walk over the road. Remember to look both ways everyone :)
"All clear to the left, let's go!" says the smart trio checking left (and then right) before
crossing the road.
Of course, each road crossing caused us to stop. Yes, I said we stopped, you know what that means:
"Are they really going to roll after each road crossing?" asks Zorro.
"We don't care why we stopped - a stop is a stop and a stop is a snow angel activity!'
demonstrates the goofball kids.
There were four road crossings along the way this morning. At each crossing everyone paused while I took my skis off to cross. At each crossing the silly kids rolled snow angels on the other side of the road while waiting for me to put my skis back on. At least they are consistent :)
"I give up, I cannot watch them any longer!" says Zorro.
"Conjoined snow angels!" demonstrates the silly kids. Where does Jack end and
Rudy start? I have no idea :)
In between the road crossings, though, it was a beautiful trail to uncork the skijoring engine this morning. Come along for today's video highlight as we skijor the Blue River Recreation Path.
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

End of a fun morning and time to celebrate with 'end of run' treats:
All smiles in anticipation of the upcoming treats!
A peaceful cruise along the rec path with 4 road crossings and, thus, 4 snow angel episodes for the silly kids: 5.8 miles traveled with 300 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 20 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 48 days on the trails covering 320.6 miles with 31,100 feet of elevation climbed.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Zoom

Happy boys towing me to the finish of a fast & fun day on the trails!
"Wheeee - we had so much fun!!!" declares the happy trio.
Jack & Rudy have topped 24 MPH skijoring 3 times this season on outings where they started the day without Zorro. Before today, our top speed with Zorro in the team had been 22 MPH. When Zorro was in his prime (with Max) we regularly hit 26 MPH as our top speed and even topped 27 MPH once. I was thinking 22 was probably going to be older Zorro's top for this season. Well, I am happy to say that I was WRONG! Zorro still has an incredible speed burst when he is feeling it. This morning's top speed: 24.8 MPH!!!!! That rounds out to 25 MPH making today Jack & Rudy's fastest ever skijor and 11.5 year old Zorro still showing us how it is done! Wow!
Zoom! Just plain ZOOOOM!
Topping 24 MPH means the trail was in excellent condition. As you can see above, we were first on the freshly groomed upper trail at Gold Run Nordic Center. This is the same patch of trail where Max & Zorro topped 27 MPH one season. Ok, so the "groomie zoomie" certainly helped us top 24 MPH. But, we had an additional assist - MOOSE tracks on the trail!!!
Look next to my left ski and you see a two-toed moose footprint and then a trail of
tracks extending along the trail.
Today's video highlight is, of course, the stretch were we hit 24.8 MPH skijoring. The moose tracks are on the trail from about 16 seconds to 32 seconds of this clip. Consider this, though, I am SLOWING us down once I see the tracks and was ready to throw my body on the ground in an instant if a moose appeared. So, Zorro, Jack & Rudy had "moose motivation" to top 24 MPH while I was deliberating trying to slow us down!!! Wonder how fast we would have gone if I wasn't scared of moose? :)
[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Jack & Rudy took a break from "rodent dunks & dives" this morning but they kept their streak of rolling snow angels alive:
"As if you did not expect this!!!!" says mature Zorro.
"Rolling, rolling!" demonstrates silly Rudy.
"Incoming, I'm going to roll too!" adds goofy Jack dropping into a snow angel roll.
So impressed that Zorro still has 24-25 MPH bursts left in the tank! Time for some well earned end of run treats:
"I never had any doubt - now dish them out!" adds happy Zorro.
"We knew Zorro was still as fast as ever!" says smiling Jack & Rudy.
A groomie zoomie trail with a little extra speed motivation from moose tracks: 6.4 miles traveled with 700 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 25 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 47 days on the trails covering 314.8 miles with 30,800 feet of elevation climbed.