Polite

Fun skijor in the morning's new snow - did everyone have a good time?

"You bet! Such fun!" says the 'all smiles' trio at the end of our outing.

Today we get to showcase just how far along young Jack & Rudy have come. They are really maturing into perfect sled dogs with a wonderful politeness towards older Zorro.

We planned an out & back trip in French Gulch and got out early to be first on the new snow. We found a couple of inches at the trailhead and it gradually got deeper and deeper as we went out & up the gulch. At 11.5 years old, we know Zorro is not really able to break trail any longer. As the snow started getting deeper in the gulch, the trio automatically moved into the configuration below. This is just PERFECT - Jack & Rudy setting the trail while Zorro trots behind them using the trail they are setting. Using the youngsters to set trail while preserving the elder. What a team!

Jack & Rudy setting the trail while Zorro happily trots behind
them and uses their trail. What an amazing "teamwork photo"!

Ok, ready to be impressed again? Well, once we turned around and headed back, here's the team configuration for the entire return leg: Zorro running in the track we set on the way out while Jack & Rudy make their own trail in the fresh snow to the right. Once again absolutely PERFECT teamwork as we let elder Zorro have the easier part of the trail while polite & young Jack & Rudy take the hard terrain!

Which "teamwork photo" is more impressive - this one or the prior? I'm still
undecided.

Now for the video showcase of polite Jack & Rudy. Come along for a glimpse of the return leg in French Gulch as Zorro runs in the track we set on the way out while Jack & Rudy take the untouched snow to the right of the trail.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Eventually the snow got too deep for Zorro to continue (even behind Jack & Rudy), so we turned around sooner than usual. As a result, we got back to the trailhead with enough time to jog down unplowed French Gulch Road to finish the day. So fun to be up ahead of the plows and get a fast road all to yourselves!

Zorro, Jack & Rudy jogging in tire tracks on French Gulch Road while
I ride in the deeper snow on the shoulder. Fun!

An absolutely perfect day with Jack & Rudy leading the way so older Zorro could come along too: 5.2 miles traveled with 400 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 19 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 97 days on the trails covering 660.9 miles with 60,850 feet of elevation climbed.