Pros

Young Jack & Rudy's first season with over 1200 miles skijoring (1202.1 miles as of this morning). Woo Hoo!

The flying kids surprising me and pulling out a 1200 mile season!

I expected 1000 miles from the kids this season, I entertained thoughts of 1100, but I never thought we'd surpass 1200! Keep in mind this is Jack & Rudy's FIRST season skijoring without training wheels (i.e., we held them back for training and growth in the 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 seasons). Wow, these youngsters have grown into quite the professionals!!!

We returned to the same groomed track as yesterday near Walton Peak at Rabbit Ears Pass. We figured the trail could not deteriorate too much in 24 hours and we got to the trail early in the morning. What did we find? PERFECT (especially given that it is May 27th)!

We started the day doing a short & fast lap with elder Zorro. Catching air with the threesome:

Whee - the triple hover huskies.
Look closely at the shadows to see that all 12 feet are off the ground in unison!

As usual, all smiles as we completed the initial leg with Zorro to then drop him off with Nancy:

All smiles, all power! Wheeee!

After dropping Zorro, the kids and I went out for an extended run with the goal of surpassing 1200 miles for the season. The groomed trail from yesterday was still in excellent condition; but we could not leave the set trail as the conditions "off trail" were too bumpy to ski safely (for ME especially). So, I was wondering how I was going to convince Jack & Rudy to repeat the same trail multiple times. Well, all it took was a little flirting to keep them entertained.

We encountered a handful of other kindred spirits doing laps on this same perfect trail. There were about 8 people doing laps with us on the same trail. Few enough people to keep our social distance but enough people for Jack & Rudy to have a ball play "chase, follow & pass" with all the other skiers :)

Flying along as we flirt with and entertain an oncoming skier.

But, here is the most impressive story from the morning. One of the other skiers we encountered was wearing a "U.S. Ski Team" jacket. As I watched this guy skate ski, I said to myself, "Wow! He is GOOD! That jacket is real!" Seriously, this guy flew over the trails with absolute perfect and effortless looking strides. He looked just like what you watch in the Winter Olympics!

Now, here's the real impressive part. We got behind this pro for 4 laps on the trail (out, back, out and back). Whenever the trail was flat, Jack & Rudy would match his pace. Whenever the trail had an uphill grade, Jack & Rudy would close the gap on the pro!!! Whenever we hit a downhill dip, he would open up space between us as downhill skis are faster than dogs can run. But, with the flats & uphills mixed in, we kept pace with a member of the U.S. Ski Team for 4 laps! He even looked back at us a few times (on the uphills) and smiled and shook his head in disbelief that he could not shake us. He was lapping all the other people on the trail repeatedly while Jack & Rudy simple kept pace. Wow, these kids are impressive!

Uphill grade so we are closing the gap on the U.S. Ski Team pro in front of us!!!!

Now on to today's video highlight. We have a fun "combo video" for your viewing pleasure today. Come along as we start the clip with Zorro as the team tows me to the finish of Zorro's leg of the outing. Then the video transitions to fast Jack & Rudy propelling me along the beautiful terrain as we also come upon a skier to "on by" in the oncoming direction.

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

Besides showing they are professional athletes this morning, Jack & Rudy had other talents to showcase:

Deer prints in the trail (look next to my right ski for one of the prints).
"Smells DELICIOUS!" states print inspecting Rudy.
"We roll in deer prints, right?" demonstrates goofy and always rolling Jack :)

Finally, reconnecting with elder Zorro to dish out the 'end of run' treats to all my hard working partners:

"Happy and READY!" says the focused trio.

Quite an impressive day from Jack & Rudy as they showcased their professional endurance skills as we flew on by 1200 miles for the season: 8.9 miles traveled with 800 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.

2019/2020 Season to Date: 175 days on the trails covering 1202.1 miles with 110,700 feet of elevation climbed.